Passions Page 18

  In the process of writing, both of them had subconsciously channeled their fictional counterparts, role-playing their scenes back and forth in an effort to make it all truly believable. It was a wonderful method, and Chloe enjoyed it. These parts were fun to write, as opposed to the pages of reflection that she wrote while Gavin relaxed in the armchair, waiting for her to finish so he could take over and write his own parts.

  She never knew writing with another person could be so fun and just as fulfilling as writing alone. Gavin was a blessing in many ways, but this was the greatest way.

  He lifted his head. “He probably wouldn’t initiate contact so willingly after their last conversation. I presume she’s on the beach, thinking about everything she had said to him.”

  Chloe nodded. She and Alleia were so similar in the way that she often said things she didn’t mean. “Yeah. She was a little too open with him, and it turned awkward, remember?”

  As soon as she said it, she remembered how their own experiences seemed to mirror what was happening in their story. The only difference was that Alleia dumped all of her problems on Ben in a moment when he didn’t want them or need them, and he unloaded on her in a not-so-pleasant manner.

  Gavin nodded. “And Ben’s still feeling guilty about the way he behaved, so he wouldn’t approach her readily.”

  After a few beats of silence, Chloe exclaimed, “What if Ben’s dog ran up to her, and when Ben called to him to heel, he didn’t budge.”

  Gavin bobbed his finger, a gesture she was familiar with as well. He did that when he believed she was onto something. “Yes. I’ve read that dogs can sense a human’s emotions. If Alleia is upset, Spike will notice and go to her.”

  Chloe scooted to the edge of her chair. “Right! And when Ben can’t call him from a distance–”

  “He’ll have to approach her and–”

  “That starts the conversation.”

  Chloe was beaming, thrilled to no end that she and Gavin were on the right page, literally.

  She turned around and began furiously tapping away on her keyboard, fleshing out the scene up to the first point of dialogue, which would be for Ben. In the meantime, Gavin continued to pace, probably playing out how he imagined the kiss would go.

  Chloe was still nervous about it. She wondered if he was thinking about his first kiss with his late wife. Would he try to recreate it, or stay true to the story and only let the emotions of that moment in his life bleed through to Ben’s character?

  When she was finished, she glanced back over her shoulder and saw that Gavin’s expression was hard and pensive. It sent a cold shiver down her spine to think he was fully into character now, prepped and ready for the serious task ahead.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  Broken from whatever dark thoughts he was brooding over, Gavin looked up and nodded. “Ben says, ‘I’m sorry if he disturbed you.’”

  Chloe typed out the dialogue but did not turn around as she recited what Alleia would say in reply.

  “No, he didn’t bother me. He never has.”

  This was a contradictory statement to how she reacted to Ben’s dog the first time they met. Their first conversation was an argument over whether Spike should stay in the coffee house with Ben while he ordered his drink, or leave the dog tied up outside. Alleia’s first words to him had been cold and harsh, calling him out for bringing a filthy animal into a restaurant establishment.

  Gavin thought, then said, “What are you doing out here by yourself?”

  Thus it continued where Gavin would speak and Chloe would type. The only sounds in the cabin were her quick hands working the keyboard, Gavin’s light footsteps across the floor, and their make-believe conversation.

  “I was just–” Chloe cut herself off for a moment. “Alleia wouldn’t openly admit to what she’s thinking, would she?”

  “I suppose not,” Gavin replied. “She can make up some excuse.”

  “But she hates lying, especially to him.”

  “But is a lie worth it to avoid another deep conversation? Also, is she still ashamed of her outburst from before?”

  Chloe nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. She says, ‘I was just… on my lunch break and thought I’d come and enjoy the view.’”

  Gavin laughed.

  “Do you want Ben to laugh, too?” Chloe asked.

  “No. I was just thinking about how terrible of a lie that was.”

  She turned in her chair to look at him. “How so?”

  Gavin’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “From what your plot outline says, it’s a Tuesday. She doesn’t work on Tuesdays. And Ben would know it. Also, her work is not within walking distance of the beach.”

  Chloe admitted that she could see the silliness in the lie. “Well, because she hates lying, she doesn’t do it often, so she can’t think of a convincing one on her feet like that anyway. Plus, maybe it would get Ben thinking that something was wrong.”

  “But he won’t call her out on the lie. He’s trying to avoid how he behaved before.”

  Chloe nodded and added that extra narrative commentary before waiting for him to give her the next lines.

  “Ben looks at her with concern. He asks, ‘Are you ok?’”

  Chloe paused after typing the dialogue, trying to debate what Alleia should say. Gavin was right in saying that she wouldn’t dump on him again like she did before. But the girl had no one else to talk to. Her family had deserted her after the supposed scandal, and her friends didn’t want to have anything to do with her. Alleia was alone.

  “Alleia replies, ‘It’s nothing, really.’ And she turns away to watch the water.”

  “I know that look. You’re not alright.”

  “I just have a lot going on right now.”

  “Maybe talking will help.”

  “It never helps.”

  “Do you want her to push Ben away?” Gavin asked.

  Chloe shook her head. “No, but she’s not going to spill her guts so easily without a little reassurance.”

  Gavin paced a little more and then sighed. “Ben says, ‘Talking always helps. I talk to Spike a lot.’”

  “About what?”

  “Ben shrugs. ‘All sorts of things. It helps to get it out of my head.’”

  “Alleia laughs. ‘What could you possibly need to talk about? You don’t have any problems.’”

  “She’s being snappy again,” Gavin added out of character. “Ben sighs. ‘I have a lot of problems. But I talk about them so other people don’t have to deal with my being a sourpuss.’”

  Hearing Gavin say the word sourpuss in his British accent brought a soft giggle out of Chloe. “Alleia’s not laughing. I am… Alleia would be slightly offended by that. Did you mean for him to imply that everyone has to put up with her attitude unnecessarily?”

  She could hear the smile in his voice. “If it gets her to open up, he’ll say just about anything.”

  Chloe bit her lip and imagined if she were in Alleia’s place. Would she take the bait and bare her soul? Would she reveal her darkest secret? If she had a chance to go back in time to last night with Gavin, Chloe wouldn’t have made herself so vulnerable.

  But was it worth it for Alleia?

  “Alleia seems nervous but then takes a deep breath and says, ‘I’ve been thinking about us.’”

  It was a serious moment for her star characters, but Chloe couldn’t help but revel in the emotional chaos to come. It certainly would be a fun scene to write, just not to experience. She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.

  “What about us?”

  “Everything. What you mean to me and why I feel this way. I can’t stop thinking about you all the time, and I want to drown myself in this ocean just to make the madness go away.”

  The cabin was filled with a warm, dense intensity that even made Chloe feel a little breathless.

  “I know what you mean.”

  “You do?” Chloe caught the surprise in her own voice.

  �
��Yes. Do you know what it’s like to dream the same dream every night and wake up to realize it might never come true?”

  Chloe swallowed hard. “Yes. This may sound crazy, but I always feel on edge when you’re not around. It’s like–”

  “Like I want you to be there when I turn the corner but hate the agony of realizing you’re not there.”

  She didn’t understand why, but Chloe’s fingers had a difficult time typing out the words correctly.

  “Exactly. You’re just saying all of this to make me feel good, aren’t you? You don’t really know what this is like. I’m just wasting my time,” Chloe recited. “Alleia turns and tries to walk away.”

  “Ben takes her arm and turns her around. ‘No. I’m not just saying things. I might have before, in the past, but not now. I think about you. I dream about you. I’ve talked Spike’s floppy ears off every day about you. You say I don’t understand, but I do. You don’t know how much I do.’”

  Chloe detected the breathy tone as if he were reaching his own breaking point. She turned to make sure Gavin was alright and saw him standing much closer to her than he had before. Now, with his feet firmly planted at the end of the sofa, she could see the odd mix of terror and conviction in his eyes.

  He was really getting into character.

  She turned back to the computer and typed out more narrative, mirroring Ben’s expression with Gavin’s.

  “Alleia is a little shocked and says, ‘I had no idea.’”

  “I’ve spent so much time perfecting this stoic appearance. I never wanted you to know because I had no idea if you felt the same way. You’re shy and abrasive sometimes, but that’s what I adore about you. I’ve never met anyone like you in my whole life. Other girls are flimsy and weak, so shallow that they could be mistaken for a wading pool. But you’re like a drinking well. Deep and sometimes dark, but I long to see how deep you can go, and if you’ll permit me, to refresh myself in your soul.”

  Chloe held in her grin, pressing her lips tight together as she tried to type out his speech as quickly as she could. This was getting good. Now she was glad that she got Gavin’s input on this scene rather than conceal it from him.

  “I didn’t know you were so poetic.”

  “There are many things you don’t know about me. And every day that passes, I want to share everything with you. I’ve never been more candid with anyone. But I get the feeling that you don’t care to know. You sometimes act like you don’t want to have anything to do with me.”

  “Alleia shakes her head,” and Chloe did too. “No, that’s not it at all. I want to know more about you. I have from the very beginning. I just didn’t know how to talk to you, how to communicate.”

  Chloe heard Gavin take a few steps forward. “I’m always here for you. You say the word, I’ll be there, and we’ll talk all night and all day if that’s how you want it. I can’t stand to be parted from you; to have you leave me, as everyone else has. I can’t stand the loneliness anymore.”

  Suddenly, the truth of their conversation dawned on Chloe.

  Ben had a family, he had friends, he had a pet dog, and coworkers that would fly to the moon and back for him. What Gavin said didn’t match up with his character.

  Gavin wasn’t playing anymore.

  Chloe turned in her seat to meet his emerald gaze, fierce and full of an emotion that she hadn’t seen before. Unrequited longing for the one he looked upon now.

  She opened her mouth to stop him, to break whatever spell it was that she had inadvertently cast on him. But he didn’t. He only continued on, his words tumbling out a little faster than before.

  “Before, my world was dark and full of death and despair. I didn’t want to continue that way. I couldn’t take the silence, the loneliness. I needed someone. And then you came. It was as if the sun had come back after centuries of night, but you didn’t burn me. You stayed and accepted me. You gave me hope. I could never repay you for the miracle you’ve worked for me.”

  Chloe somehow found the strength to stand, and she rushed towards him, hands raised to stop his mouth from confessing anymore. It was too much.

  Gavin grabbed her wrists before she could. “Please, Chloe. Don’t turn me away now,” he begged.

  Where was this coming from? Gavin had never led her on to suggest any of this was truthful. How long had he been playing himself and not Ben? What he said about keeping up a stoic face, was that Gavin? It was convincing enough.

  But how could this man, this vampire, stand in front of her like this with such a pleading expression, asking her for the thing he must have been craving for centuries—a friend, a companion, someone to love and protect. He didn’t have to say it for her to read it in his eyes.

  Chloe felt confused and troubled all at once. Never had a man thrown himself at her like this. Brent never did. Their relationship was slow, gradual. It was months before they really opened up the way that Gavin did now.

  The longer she stared up at him, her eyes wide with fear, she realized that this is what she had wanted all along. She needed Gavin just as much as he needed her. But where was this terror coming from? Was it fear of the future? The present? His past? Hers? How far would this go? How could it work?

  In a moment of reckless abandon, Chloe denied the doubt and fear. She wanted to be the woman Gavin deserved. Chloe knew she could never replace his late wife, but he wanted her to try. He wanted her.

  And then, it was like the floodgates had opened. Before Chloe could stop herself, desperate tears and words poured out.

  “I could never reject you. Yes, I was scared at first. But it wasn’t necessarily of you. I was scared of how I’d make it through this whole thing in one piece. I don’t want to be hurt again. I told you how Brent used me and helped to destroy my life. Now, at rock bottom, I didn’t want to chain myself here.

  “This was supposed to be my new life, my new adventure. I was going to start fresh and make things right again. When I found you, I thought maybe I was about to get on the same train I should never have gotten on in the first place.”

  The tears flowed a little heavier now. “I feel things for you that I never felt with Brent. I don’t even know if this is right. All I know is if you left me today, I don’t know how I could recover.”

  Gavin reached out and used his thumb to wipe away the moisture on her cheeks. His touch was soft and warm. “I will never leave you, as long as you still want me here.”

  Chloe felt intoxicated by his words, entranced by his nearness and everything he was. “I will always want you here.” Then, an unwelcoming thought entered her mind.

  This was all happening so fast. How had they gone from mere friends to declaring their deepest feelings for one another? It wasn’t natural, but it still felt right somehow.

  She said, “Are you making me feel this way?”

  Knowing that Gavin could do such remarkable things as healing her twisted ankle, make an entire household fall asleep, and make her as immobile as a deer in headlights, it wasn’t a far-fetched idea that he could plant ideas in her head to mold the situation to his liking. He might be able to make her fall for him so fast that she wouldn’t know how it happened.

  Gavin shook his head. “I can’t control your mind. I can only control your body in some ways.”

  She knew he spoke the truth.

  Chloe didn’t understand how it had come to this, and somehow, she didn’t care. The way he looked down at her, with such affection and need in his eyes, she could have died now and gone contented to heaven.

  But Gavin decided to give her one more thing.

  He bent down towards her, and she closed her eyes as their lips touched. The heat would have made her melt into a puddle on the floor if Gavin’s arm hadn’t wrapped around her waist to hold her up.

  His fingertips pressed into her ribs, pulling her in tight against his body. She could feel every contour of his body, every sinuous line that seemed to match perfectly with her own.

  Explosions of intense passion fil
led her core, making her knees tremble. His lips played against hers, grazing in ever-so-gentle movements. Shocks surged through her body, setting her blood on fire, traveling from her core to her fingertips.

  Chloe swooned, the noise muffled against his mouth and lost in his own groans of pleasure. Her arms somehow found their way to wrapping around his neck, her fingers tangling in his thick dark hair. His free hand was splayed between her shoulder blades, drawing her closer still.

  His scent filled her nostrils, and it was all she wanted to smell for the rest of her life. She wanted to wake up to this smell, go to sleep to it, and spend every waking moment just like this.

  Gavin’s tongue slipped between her lips and explored her mouth, tempting her to tease as he did. And Chloe obeyed, though she found it hard to avoid his sharp incisors.

  As their kissing grew more passionate, Chloe began to feel that subtle ache low in her belly grow as well. It begged her for release, an end to the repression that had existed since the first day Chloe had laid eyes on Gavin.

  Gavin sensed the need and began to kiss around the curve of her jaw and to her neck. Every touch sent sparks through her body, driving her mad with longing. Chloe had never felt this desire so furiously with anyone, not even Brent.

  But Chloe was thrown from her climb to ecstasy when she felt the prickly edge of teeth glide across her skin. It wasn’t painful, but firm enough to cause alarm.

  The promise of sex was shattered and replaced with a new threat of death.

  The fangs broke the thin skin, and Chloe felt a tiny droplet seep out. Gavin’s moist tongue slid over the tiny cut, and Chloe let out a short cry of distress.

  Gavin went rigid and his lips closed over his teeth, sheathing the weapons he had just used on Chloe.

  The next few seconds were a whirlwind.

  Gavin let go of Chloe and moved away with such force that she fell on her knees. Unable to support herself, she watched in horror as Gavin screamed out in rage and slammed his fist against the stone around the fireplace.

  She heard it crack and a sprinkling of dust fell to the hearth.