“I have lost myself in resentment!” he roars so loud, an animalistic, monstrous tone has gripped his words. “I have lost myself in rage. In sadness. I have lost myself because Iam doomed to live a very long, unnatural life, while everyone around me dies and I stay the same.”
“I do not fear storms, Nariko. I hate them. With a burning fucking passion. I wait and wait and wait for one to finally take me. It never does. I should have died with my brother twenty years ago. Instead, I was made into something that outlives everything he comes to love. It’s a lonely life, and how I choose to manage it is no one’s business.”
“It’s my business!” I yell, tears gathering in my eyes. “You’re my business.”
“And you’re mine!” Another animalistic growl leaves him, my soul awakening to his call.
I want to be. I want to be his.
The moonlight illuminates his shadow, the silhouette of his shoulders rising with every angry breath. “You’re all so reckless with your lives. I’ll never understand it.”
I keep my chin high, but my bottom lip betrays me as it quivers. “It isn’t for you to understand. At least we live our lives. At least we take risks. At least we make every second count. You keep yourself on your ranch, all safe and sound,” I whisper with a hint of disparagement. “Afraid to live life by allowing others to get close to you because you don’t want to lose anyone else. Loss is part of life.”
“Get back to me when it becomes all that your life is.”
“What are you talking about? I’m surrounded by loss. Tornadoes destroy everything in their path. I’ve seen people lose everything. I’ve seen houses ripped from the ground. I’ve seen people fly through the air, screaming, reaching for someone to grab their hand, and you think I don’t understand loss?”
He places his hands on his hips, shaking his head. The metal roof clinks under his boots while he paces back and forth. “Seeing it is one thing, experiencing it is another.”
“Are you so afraid to live that you’re willing to die?” I whisper when the truth sets in, when I really listen to him speak. His words soak into my mind, replaying on a loop.
Waiting for the storm to take him.
He should have died with his brother.
“You didn’tdie with your brother because you got changed into a vampire, didn’t you?” The words are soft and full of emotion, sadness, and understanding, controlling my tongue.
He whips his head to me; the truth shining in those crimson moons. “Yes,” he admits, rubbing the middle of his chest. “I would have died. I should have. I was with him during that chase, and we drove right into the bear cage. The tornado was rain-wrapped. There was nowhere to see until it was too late.”
I gasp, covering my mouth with my hands. I can’t imagine. Rain-wrapped tornadoes are one of the most dangerous. As a chaser, it’s imperative that we are educated enough to know when it’s heavy rain or a tornado hidden within.
“We tried to drive away, but it was one of the worst tornadoes in Oklahoma’s history. It was too strong. It pulled us right off the ground.”
“You were in it?” I take his hands, wanting him to know he isn’t alone. “In the tornado?”
He angles his face away from me, the sadness evident in the way his eyes glisten. “It was the worst experience of my life.”
I cup his strong, defined jaw and slide my fingers across his stubble. He leans into my touch, hiding his eyes as he closes them, and the most beautiful iridescent tear glitters in a straight line down his cheek.
“Talk to me. I’m not going anywhere. Let me see you.” Lifting my other hand, I palm the other side of his face, begging him with a touch to give in to me.
The hot coals sear me again, his lashes like dew clinging to a blade of grass in the morning.
“You’ve seen more of me than anyone else ever has.” He presses his forehead against mine, clutching our hands between us. “You’ve gotten closer than anyone has.”
“Let me get closer.” The words are a phantom over his lips. “Please.” My mouth hovers over his as I fight the need to break the distance to feel him take me in a heated kiss.
I’m not the begging type, but if he needed to me to, I’d fall to my knees.
“You should run. You should run away screaming. Doesn’t it scare you to be in the arms of a vampire?” He pushes my hair out of the way, dipping me over his knee, baring my neck to him. “Knowing I could drink every drop of your blood.” He caresses my jugular, tracing it with his calloused fingertips.
“Knowing I could be the reason for your death?” Oklahoma bends down, teasing me with the sharp points of his fangs. “All I have to do is bite,” he moans the last word, fighting the urge to sink his fangs into me.
“I’m only afraid that you won’t,” I admit, turning my head away to give him better access.
“Mmm,” he moans, pressing his nose against my throat. “Your body calls to me.”
“Answer, then.”
