CHAPTER FOUR
"I thought you might be hungry." Willow sat down on the edge of the desk and pushed a basket of food toward Chase.
Since the two kid vamps had turned up missing, Chase hadn't left their side, staying at the training facility around the clock. His eyes were starting to droop and he had bags the size of apple slices.
"Thanks, yeah." Chase opened the basket and pulled out a sandwich and a few containers of rice, cheese, and some sort of pastry. Willow hadn't actually prepared the food, so she wasn't completely sure what everything was.
"I hope you like that stuff. I wasn't positive what you preferred, but your twin said that you would like everything." She crossed one leg over the other and avoided eye contact. She hadn't seen him since the kiss, and for some reason, she felt weird about it. Not that she needed to. It wasn't even the first time she'd kissed him.
That one night, a few months prior, they'd been drinking together and talking. She'd felt comfortable with Chase, more than she'd ever felt with anyone besides her own brother. It had frightened her at first, but the alcohol calmed her anxiety.
And then she kissed him.
And he liked it.
"Yeah, it's all good. Thanks a lot. I really don't want to leave them until we know they aren't targets."
"There is an entire team set up to keep an eye on them. Surely you can leave long enough to eat and sleep?" Willow grabbed one of the cheddar chunks and popped it into her mouth.
"Probably, but there was security when they went missing, too. It can't hurt to have one more set of eyes." Chase took a massive bite off the sandwich and chewed briefly before swallowing. He must have been hungrier than she thought.
"How are things working out with the new guy?"
"Tristan?" Chase answered around another huge bite of the sandwich.
"Yeah, I guess that's his name." She watched him eat, mesmerized for some strange reason.
"He's okay, I guess. Just met him a few hours ago. He hung around with me, then went to work with Jayce. I guess we'll see how things go with time."
She wasn't really interested in the new vampire. Normally, Willow wasn't all that interested in anything that didn't concern her. She'd learned to take care of herself first. She'd needed to in order to survive. Now though, she couldn't seem to stop thinking about Chase. It was infuriating.
When she'd heard that he'd been holed up in the facility watching over the kids, not even taking food breaks, she felt some strange urge to make sure he got some nourishment. Nurturing wasn't her thing. Yet, there she was, watching him eat the food she'd packed and brought him.
"You're lost in thought," Chase said without looking at her.
"So about that slap…" The words were out of her mouth from somewhere in her subconscious before she could stop them.
Chase's eyes came up with a raised brow. "Yeah?"
"I guess I should say sorry about it." Willow wasn't big on apologies, but for some reason, she felt she owed Chase one. And apparently, it had been on her mind. Somewhere behind the mothering and creepily watching him eat.
"Okay, then go ahead." A small smile curved up the corners of his mouth and he leaned back in his chair to await her next move.
Willow glared at him, almost ready to hop off the desk and leave him there without another word. Maybe she would even take her food back with her. Instead, she found her mouth moving without her permission once again. "I'm sorry I slapped you."
"Well I'm not sorry I kissed you." Chase crossed his arms over his chest and his smile widened.
A spreading heat came over Willow as the memory of the kiss, coupled with the way he was looking at her, took over her thoughts. She wasn't sorry he'd kissed her either. Not that she would admit that to him.
Chase stood and walked around the desk to stand in front of her. "And I won't be sorry when I kiss you again."
Willow's mouth went dry and her heartbeat increased. She wanted to tell him to back up, that there was no way she was letting him kiss her again, but her voice refused to come. Her body screamed out for the kiss, begged for it, despite the clear protest in her mind.
Okay, maybe the protest wasn't so clear, but she couldn't allow him to think he could just kiss her whenever he wanted.
Before she could formulate any sort of coherent opposition, Chase slid a hand behind her lower back, and pulled her flush against him. His mouth was mere millimeters from her and she could feel his breath burn against her lips. Their breath mixed together and all rational thought evaporated from her brain. She wanted him to kiss her. No, needed it. And his smile told her he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Chase gave her a moment longer of anticipation, then closed the small gap between them, crushing his mouth against hers. The kiss wasn't angry and raw, like the last one had been. Or sweet and awkward, as the first one was. This one was all need, desire and sex, in the form of his tongue over hers. He may not have had a lot of experience with females, but by that kiss, there was no telling it.
Willow wrapped her legs around Chase's waist and pulled him against her. The heat from her need burned against his growing erection. There was no doubt what either wanted in that moment, and if they hadn't been in the middle of the training facility, with sleeping vamplings all around them, they would likely be naked and impaling each other in seconds.
Still lost in the kiss, Willow's hands came up to tangle into Chase's blond hair. She used it to pull him closer into her, to keep him from breaking the kiss before she was ready. She wasn't sure she ever wanted it to end.
Everything about Chase's body made her want more. It didn't matter that she found him infuriating, or that there were no good reasons for the way she felt. She couldn't fight it and it pissed her off.
With a split second of self-control, Willow pushed Chase off and hopped off the desk. He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed her with a smile.
"What?" She spat at him.
"Nothing. Just seemed that you were enjoying that kiss an awful lot, then you pushed me off. Do you have multiple personalities?" Chase chuckled and she fought back the urge to punch him in the throat.
"Maybe I wasn't enjoying it as much as you think I was. I'm not sure you should trust your inexperienced instincts anyway."
It was a low blow to throw his lack of experience up at him after he'd told her that in confidence during their long talk that one time, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to let him have the upper hand. No male would have control over her ever again.
Not even Chase Summers.
Not even when he looked at her with those blue eyes and those pouty lips.
Not even when he kissed her like it was foreplay to the most amazing sex ever.
Chase stepped toward her and let her feel his breath hit her neck. It was scorching hot and sent tingles up her spine. "I know how much you were enjoying it." He leaned in and whispered against her ear. "I'm pretty sure I have a wet spot on the front of my jeans from you. And I can smell how much you want more."
He took a deep breath in, taking in her scent, and winked.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice was soft and breathless, not at all what she'd intended.
Chase walked back over to his seat behind the desk and sat down. "Okay. Whatever you say."
He looked down at the papers he'd been working on when she came in and ignored her presence. She wanted to grab him by the shirt and shake him, maybe slap him again, anything, but allow him to pretend she was no longer there. It was her own fault. She was the one who pushed him away. It had been what she wanted.
So why was she so angry all of a sudden?
***
"So is there something going on between you two?" Finn sat on the chair across from Chase and propped his feet on the desk. It was nearly two in the morning, so Chase wasn't in the mood for the nosy vampire.
"No."
"Just no? Because it really seems like you're lying."
"Is there something going on between you and the other witch?" Chase looked at Finn with a blank expression.
Finn's eyes widened and he sat up straight in the chair. "No. Of course not. Why would you ask me that?"
Chase rolled his eyes. "Come on, Finn. You two aren't fooling anyone. Why hide it?"
"I'm not hiding anything. There really isn't anything going on. Why? Did you hear that there was from someone? Has he said anything about me?" Finn leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I mean, he hasn't, has he?"
Chase almost felt bad for the guy. Being gay wasn't something he should have to hide, but still, he hadn't met any gay vampires, so maybe they weren't as open as he thought they would be.
"No. He hasn't said anything. But you like him, right?"
Finn nodded sheepishly.
"So why not just tell him? Ask him out for a drink, or dinner, or whatever you vampires do for dates."
"You realize you are a vampire too, right?" Finn's typical amused half smile was back.
"Yeah, whatever. So why not ask him out?"
"I don't even know if he's into guys. And what if he is, but he just doesn't like me? We have to work together, so it's best if I just keep things professional." Finn shook his head, more for his own benefit, than for Chase's. It was his own mind he needed to convince.
"I don't know. That just seems like a bunch of excuses to me, dude."
Finn raised an eyebrow. "You mean like you do every time someone brings up Willow with you?"
"It's not the same." Chase stacked the papers he had been shuffling around, not really working on, and yawned. "There's nothing going on between Willow and me. I'm not into her. You are clearly into her brother."
"Maybe we should have Gabe around next time you say that."
Gabe was basically a lie detector, thanks to his vampire ability, and for a brief second, Chase wondered if what he told himself was all bullshit. He was attracted to the witch, that wasn't in question, but was it more than that?
"Whatever. Look, if you are going to stick around, I'm going to get some sleep. Keep an eye on those kids." Chase stood and walked over to a free cot. The last thought before he drifted off was of the little whimper Willow made when he'd kissed her.
Maybe he was in deeper than he thought.
***
Hayley crouched behind Jack in the small cell. The only light came in through a small crack in the wall, about fifteen feet above their heads. The space was cold and damp, the kind of place you might imagine yourself being locked away and forgotten about. As much as she'd hated being herded together in Vampire City, Hayley would have given anything to be back there.
"Come closer if you're cold." Jack pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "We are going to get out of here. I promise you."
"You can't promise that, Jack. You don't even know where we are, or how we got here." Hayley shivered, despite the added warmth from Jack. She could handle much colder temperatures being vampire, but not knowing what they were facing, she couldn't control her own body.
"I can and I am. Look, I don't know what is going on, but I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. Even if that means giving my life for yours."
Hayley snuggled closer into Jack. She'd grown up with him, lived next door to him her whole life. He took pleasure in tormenting her for as long as she could remember, but he never let anyone else so much as tease her.
When she was little, Hayley used to imagine that one day she would grow up and marry Jack. They would have three kids and live in a house far away from the vampires. Now they had both been turned and were facing certain death before she even entered puberty.
So much for her happily ever after.
"Hey." Jack hooked a finger under Hayley's chin and lifted her face up to him. "We are going to get out of here."
"Alive?"
"Alive."
Hayley nodded, but she didn't believe him for a second.
***
"You can't fight me, Willow." Julian smiled down at her with his usual, arrogant toothy grin. She wanted to use her magic to hurt him, to knock out all of his teeth, or explode his face, anything to get him to stop looking at her in that way.
Her nightgown was pulled down over her knees, but she felt naked. Gripping the thin material, she tried to pull it further down, cover every bit of her skin, so his greedy eyes couldn't have any. But it would do her no good.
Julian yanked the nightgown up and it tore. It was her favorite one and now she would have to sew it if she wanted to wear it again. It was something magic could fix, but she was forbidden from practicing any. The iron cuffs on her hands made it near impossible. At least until she learned spells that would work around them.
And Julian would never allow that to happen.
"Please, Julian. Don't." Willow scurried into the corner of the bed. She didn't want him to touch her, not even like he did when she was younger. Especially not the way he did now. He promised it wouldn't hurt, but it always had. Julian was a liar, but her own father had sold her to him, given her away like an old couch.
"You know what will happen if you don't behave. Or do you need me to remind you?"
She didn't need to be reminded. The contraption he strapped her to when she didn't comply was her worst nightmare. The first time he put her in that thing, she wanted to die. The second, she tried to actually kill herself. If there was a third, she didn't think she could bear it.
All she could do was hope he didn't do the same things to Michael.
"Now are you going to be a good girl and come here, or am I going to take you into the blue room?" Julian waited for her answer. She got the impression that he would be happy either way. He liked when she went along willingly, if you could call it that. But he also liked it when she fought, kicked, screamed, and bled.
He might have liked that just a bit better.
So she wouldn't give it to him.
"Okay."
"Okay? Does that mean you will play nicely?"
Willow nodded and slid over to the edge of the bed toward Julian. She would give in again. As if she had much of a choice at all. As if her own, and the life of her brother, didn't depend on it.
Willow lifted the nightgown over her head and put it on the chair next to the bed. She found the place in her mind where she could hide, where Julian could never go, and she went there. It was all she had.
"That's a good girl."
He always said that.
Good girl.
Behave.
Do as you're told.
Willow swallowed the bile in the back of her throat as he touched her. One day she would kill him. She would spill his blood and spit in his face. She would use her own strength, maybe even magic, to take his life, but she would do it slowly. He would pay for what he'd done to her.
"Hey, sis, wake up."
Willow jumped up with a start, smacking her forehead into Michael in the dark. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she felt like she couldn't catch a breath. She'd been dreaming. It wasn't real. Not anymore.
"Sorry." Willow rubbed the bump forming on her head and flipped the light on next to the bed. Michael was sitting next to her with that same look he always had when he woke her from a nightmare.
"This was the first one in months. What's going on?" Michael handed her the glass of water from the nightstand and she took a grateful sip.
"I don't know, nothing."
Michael was right. It had been awhile since she'd had one of the awful dreams. They'd come regularly for years, then started coming less frequently as time went by, as she learned to feel safe again.
"He's dead, Will. He can never hurt you again."
"I know that." Willow pulled her hand away from Michael and gripped the blanket around her. "I killed him, so I know exactly how dead he is."
She hated being weak, vulnerable, and if it were anyone but Michael, she would have lashed out. But Michael already felt bad enough about what happened to her, that he couldn't help her all those years.
"Is this because of Chase?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Willow pulled herself into a sitting position with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees and pressed her lips together.
"Come on, Will. This is the first guy you've been interested in for more than sex, ever. And now, the nightmares are coming back, and you're doing stupid things like trying to screw the vampling in the training center. This can't be a coincidence."
"First of all, I don't have any feelings for Chase, other than a mild physical attraction. Second, it was one dream. That doesn't mean they're back. And third, my interest in Issac is none of your business. He's a grown male, with a rocking body. I can do what I want with him and it doesn't mean a thing."
"Okay, I guess we're getting real here then. First of all, if you don't have feelings for Chase, why were you calling his name in your sleep two nights ago? Second, that one dream had you screaming, crying, and trying to claw my eyes out when I tried to wake you. And Third, if that was true about Issac, you would have pursued him on your own time, not in the training facility, when you knew Chase was going to walk in on you. Look sis, you're not a helpless little girl anymore. You can do what you want, but I'm still your twin brother, and I'm going to look out for you. We look out for each other. No one else will."
"You're one to talk. What about Finn?"
"Willow, this isn't about me, so just stop it. It's okay to give up the badass chick act for a minute and let yourself feel something real. Chase is a good guy. Give yourself a chance to find love and be happy. Stop trying to screw things up."
"Love." Willow snorted and forced a laugh. "I am not going to fall in love with Chase Summers."
"Are you sure you already haven't?"