Affinity

Chapter 28: Night Fall

Just as she opened her mouth, a loud commotion from downstairs snatched their attention. The party was still in full throttle in the absence of its host. Basking shamelessly in the heat of their kiss, she had blocked out all the noise.

"I swear if they broke anything. Let me go, I have skulls to bash. And those imbeciles have the music too loud," she groaned, becoming tense in AJ's arms. "Last thing I need tonight is for someone to call the cops. Pam's mom doesn't know she is throwing this."

He stepped back with hands up, but his words stilled her. "Relax. Everyone's just having fun. I'll go check on everything, so you don't have to explain any skull-bashing to any cops."

"You're laughing, but I'm not joking."

"Noted. I'll take care of it. Don't try to run off. I'll be right back. We're not done talking."

She took a deep calming breath. Her irritation was just a cover up. She wanted to sneak away from this party with AJ more than anything, but she was scared of the outcome of their next conversation. "Okay. But we should talk somewhere more private." In case you have the urge to stake me.

"Meet you outside then?"

She nodded and they separated. She prepared herself for what would come next. First, she checked on Pam again. The girl was still sleeping, snoring softly, and Anastasia had to resist temptation to shake her awake with an update. With her heart racing, she took extra precautions: applying her whole therapy regimen and dousing herself with perfume.

Twenty minutes later, she met the hunter outside in the backyard. He had managed to get the music turned down inside though she could still hear the low bass drops. He reported the band they heard earlier was just a lamp that was knocked over. They settled on the mesh-lined trampoline in the dark, his boots and her wedges abandoned on the ground. Earlier in the night, there had been others outside jumping and shaking the crumbling dead leaves off its tarp, but the cold eventually chased everyone back inside to warm their blood with alcohol.

Nastia curled up in her jacket to conserve body heat, but she didn't mind the weather since it offered them peace and quiet and gave the two teens a good excuse to be as close as they were. They sat with his good arm outstretched behind her to where she could lean back and use him as a back rest, though she didn't dare since that would make it hard for him to keep balance with his casted arm caught in his sling.

Despite the peppermint oil she had dabbed on her lips, his scent was teasing her senses. A combination of teenage hormones, helpless emotions, and vampiric urges had her snuggling into the crook of his shoulder and clearing her throat. She liked to think two of those three factors was stronger than the third. She pressed her lips together every time she shifted, wondering how much longer she can stay wobbling on this crazy tightrope of control. So much for relaxing...

But it got her thinking about their future. How can they ever get closer when even the four layers of fabric between them is not enough to simmer down the bloodlust? The thought of being skin to skin, like in her dreams, was such a tantalizing thought, full of sin and danger. And of course, he asked her what she was thinking when her thoughts started going down this abyss of depravity.

"How cold it is and how warm you are," she said trying her hardest to be honest, but not revealing to him just how much of a perverted monster she was becoming.

"Do you want to go back inside?"

"No."

"Me neither. You have questions?"

"Yes..." She didn't want to ruin the mood by diving into the hardest truths. With his heartbeat doing strange things to her insides, she grasped for distraction. "I haven't signed your cast."