To my fans and followers: It was your emails, prodding, and pleading that lead me to dive back into Taylor's story. To be honest, I wasn't going to. I did not feel a connection to the characters or the story anymore; but, you all never stopped hoping for that next chapter. You probably checked my profile, looking for updates and were sorely disappointed when I was still absent. I can only ask your forgiveness. When I received an email the other day about this series, I knew it was time...that I had to do this. I spent most Sunday night and Monday morning re-reading all the previous chapters and making mental notes about the story and characters, then I dove into picking up where I left off. I hope this chapter brings the story to the forefront of your mind and helps you fall back in love with WATD.
To my new readers: What's up? I'm totally glad you guys chose to click on this story and read the words I've written. Now, if you're tuning in just for this chapter, it's not going to make much sense at all. Go back and read the first six chapters, at your leisure, and get to know the story and characters.
Everyone: As always, please feel free to leave comments! I love to hear from you all! Take a look at my other stories, as well. If you're into interracial romance between a student and teacher, take a look at Mr. Lewis (which I'm going to be updating soon). If you want to latch on to a blooming romance between a cop and a college student who is engaged to an accountant (gasp!) take a look at the first chapter of my newest work, Cuffed.
Well, I certainly have talked enough! Take pleasure in Taylor And Damian's reunion!
<3
Happy Reading!
*****
Chapter Seven
I finished gathering the fish and made my way inside the cabin as if nothing was about to go down. I was poised for the fight; not that our impending altercation would turn into anything physical, but I knew he would be angry and demand answers and maybe even apologies. Boy, was he in for a surprise.
"So you're going to act like you don't even see me?" Damian was right beside me in the kitchen, but he didn't catch me off guard. I heard him exit the car and run up to the cabin.
"How's it going, Damian?"
"'How's it going'?" He took a glass off the table and hurled it at the opposite wall. I didn't even flinch as it shattered and hit the floor in hundreds of pieces. "Don't you have anything else to fucking say to me, Taylor?"
"How about, calm the fuck down?" I wheeled around to face him and he jumped backward into a crouch. He knew what I was, and it didn't surprise me.
"You've mastered it."
I huffed. "Like I had a choice. What are you doing here?"
He rose out of his crouch. "I came to bring you back home. Where you fucking belong."
"I, actually, belong here. Without me coming to this place, I wouldn't have learned everything you've been keeping from me." I turned away from him and began gutting the fish with excessive force, throwing the innards into the trash can.
"Do you have any idea what you put us through, Taylor? What you put me through?"
I tossed the knife onto the counter and waited for the clatter to end before I spoke. "What about me? You think all of this has been easy? Well, it hasn't. Yes, I left! Of course I did! You could have come after me, but did you? No. So, don't make it look like I'm the bad guy, Damian. I left, but you let me."
He sighed. "I tried to run after you, but it was raining and the water washed away your scent. Look, will you at least turn back around so we can see each other?"
"I'm gutting fish, Damian."
"Well put the damn thing down, Taylor. I'm trying to talk to you."
I laughed without humor. "That's your problem. You come in here and think you're running stuff. You don't run shit here, Damian Andros. This is my cabin. If I want to have my back facing you while I cut this fucking walleye, I will do it. You don't own me. As far as I'm concerned, we aren't even a thing anymore; so, it was nice fucking knowin' ya, but I think you should leave." He didn't answer, so I continued. "Would you have come peacefully and not have broken one of my parents' glasses in the process, maybe I would have been more receptive to you being here; but, in your normal Damian Andros way, you came in on your high horse and messed everything up."
I saw the turmoil in his mind. I'd hurt him; he never thought I'd ever be able to pull the plug on our relationship. He didn't even think there was a plug. He questioned the mating bond and if it was truly forever. He saw exactly what I wanted him to see, me being a good actress.
"Taylor," he ground out.
I turned around, my eyes wet with tears. "Damian." I lowered my guard and let him into my head.
He groaned. "This is your game?" He moved toward me and laced his fingers into the hair at the nape of my neck. "You wanted to hurt me as much as you've been hurt?" He released me and backed away. "Taylor..." he shook his head as if he couldn't believe it. "Did I do this to you?"
"Every time you decided to keep the truth from me, you made me feel like you didn't want me. Like I wasn't really your partner. Partners are supposed to share everything with each other. I understand you wanted to protect me...and I knew you didn't want me to run away from you when it came to you and the other women but..."
"Taylor, I am in much better control of myself these days. Trust me. What happened was a long time ago—way before I ever knew you. I didn't set out to hurt anyone. You have to believe me."
"I know. You...you just should've told me."
"How, Taylor? When did I ever have the chance? That's not something you bring up in casual conversation."
"I know. And I realize I overreacted. It was just the weight of everything coming down on me. The prisoner, you not telling me everything about Jerusalem and the Rogues...my new vampirism. I snapped. I guess I was trying to be stronger than what I was."
"You...are so strong, Taylor. You have dealt with more in these past few weeks than most people deal with in their entire lives. I just thought I could save you from this. I never wanted this life for you."
"How could you want anything for me? This all just happened."
"I knew what you were before anyone, Taylor."
"How?"
"We didn't meet just a few weeks ago. I have known, and loved, you for quite some time."
"Hold on...are you about to tell me you've been one of those creepy, vampire stalker guys?"
My attempt at humor worked. I watched as he tried not to smile. "I am trying to tell you the truth, Taylor. The entire truth. If you would let me finish."
I waved my hand at him, signifying that he should continue.
"You were still in high school and I was a wanderer; not much to do in my free time, so I studied people. I saw you at the mall once and I followed you. I followed you for quite some time. I knew, then, what the mating bond was and I felt it as soon as I saw you; but you were much too young to be taken. Way too young. You still had your entire life ahead of you. I could wait, and I did."
I couldn't help but ask. "Did you know what I was then?"
"Not until the accident." He laughed lightly, looking into the distance as if trying to remember every detail of the story. "That night, my feelings were all over the place. I saw you interacting with your parents, and they interacted with you. I hated myself for what I had become. If I wasn't this," he motioned to himself, "I could have had a longer relationship with my parents. If they didn't hate me, I could have publically gone to their burials. I followed you that night because I was lonely and jealous and wildly turned on. I was jealous of how you could spend time with your parent and it was obvious how much they loved you. My parents hated the thought of me at the end," he shook his head. "Your scent as I followed you was...God. Butterscotch in way, but not...with vanilla...it's hard to explain, but I was hard most of the night. When I wasn't loathing myself or being sad because my parents hated me, I was fighting the urge to follow you into the bathroom and make you mine. But I stayed my distance and continued to follow. I went to the same restaurant as you guys, I went to see the same movie...I went to get ice cream at the same place. It was a wonder how no one noticed my presence.
"Then, on the way home, a drunk driver was headed straight for you guys, but by the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. I saw a flash of blue light that alerted me to the fact the Bridge was in the car. I knew someone in the vehicle had escaped, my money was on you, of course. I went to the wreckage and saw you were out and safe; I knew, then, what you were. Your parents...they were gone. The drunk guy stumbled out of his car being an idiot, as most drunks are. I knew your life was about to change and the changes were going to be tough. No one, especially at your age, should have to be without their parents. I knew the feeling and that, coupled with my earlier angst, I snapped the guy's neck, punched a hole in his windshield, and made it look like he went through it."
"You have a habit of doing that."
"What's that?"
"Punching out windshields." I didn't say anything about Damian killing the man that killed my parents because he deserved to die. He took some of the people most precious to me and it was way before their time. I didn't hate the man anymore, but forgiveness was something I had to work on.
Damian smirked. "People can't lock their windshields, now can they? Anyways, I went back to your house and found you sleeping as if the night never happened. At that point, I decided it was better for me to leave you alone. The Bridge should never be tied in with someone like me. And I did stay away...up until I passed by Bar Louie a few weeks ago. I picked up your scent and was bidden like a ship to a siren's song. I was going to walk away, but then I caught Tony's scent and thoughts. He should've died that day. But anyway...here we are. I couldn't stay away. Everything about you drew me in. I was a goner before I'd even talked to you. Since I first laid eyes on you, I had never desired another. I was celibate until we started seeing each other."
"But, how will I ever be enough for you? I mean...is it true...what the prisoner said?"
He didn't need to ask what I meant. "In some ways, yes. It is true that the women could not sate the hunger; but, that was until I met you. We are mates for a purpose. You satisfy me in every sense of the word. That asshole prisoner, Karn, knows that. He was just wanting to upset you."
"Well, it worked," I grumbled. "So you aren't going to get tired of me and...you know?" I sounded weak in my own ears, but I didn't care. I needed Damian in my life, and I would let him know it.
"No," he opened his arms and leaned toward me but retracted. I guess he was still trying to assess whether or not I would cook him alive.
I closed the gap between us and wrapped my arms around him. It felt like home. I breathed in his scent—pine and something else. Sexuality...can you bottle sexuality?
He relaxed into my embrace before wrapping his arms around me. "You are my mate, but I must confess, I am new to this relationship business. I am not used to having to be accountable to anyone, and I did not handle it well, but I promise to try and be better. I don't want us to keep hurting each other like this."
"I just want to be included in your life. I want us to talk, and often. I want us to have some sort of normalcy aside from all the vampire stuff. I want you to trust me with the information that goes on in your clan and the others. I want us to be partners...not just you running stuff and me being hidden in the dark."
"My primary instinct is to protect you, Taylor. I cannot change that, but I can redirect, I think. It helps knowing you can take care of yourself." He released me and held me at arm's length. "I should not underestimate your strength. I have been a bad...boyfriend," he tested the word on his lips and it made me laugh.
"Boyfriend, huh?"
"Yeah, well...you said you wanted normalcy. Boyfriend is a normal term, is it not?"
I laughed. "I guess."
