Two
An hour later, I was sitting on the bathtub, dyeing my hair dark blue, hoping it would show up on my hazelnut hair when Desmond walked in on me.
'Dude, I coulda been naked.' I scowled knowing he hated it when I spoke incorrectly. Just because he was a posh aristocrat, didn't mean squat to me. He needed to get with the program already. It was the twenty-first century now.
Wow, I was in a mood.
His glare was boring holes in my skull but I didn't react to it. I was immune to his disapproval by now. He was probably remembering the time I dyed my hair dark blonde to go hot pink. The memory made me smirk. The look on his face had been priceless. 'You cannot avoid Dominic forever.'
I thought I had agreed that we weren't going to talk about boys ever again, why couldn't he be like all the other dads? Nikolas wouldn't be talking to his daughter Dannielle like this about boys. Not that he had any say in what she did. She could teleport to Hawaii in the blink of an eye, bloody showoff. She was a year older than me and I wasn't exactly besties with her, since I was still pissed at her for zapping me in training, freaking cheater. Her twin Demitri, well he was cool, and he had a lot to live up to, considering who their parents were but still, I kept my distance from him. I had no intention of joining that family if I bonded with the Russian-American boy.
Dipping my gloved hand into the dye, I returned to dyeing my hair. The smell was a fruity scent and I breathed it in letting the scent calm me so I wouldn't piss my dad off anymore than I already had. 'Watch me.' Whoops. It looked like he was only going to get sass from me. Goodbye books and music. I was going to bored for the next week or so. Well, at least I'd be able to fill in the time with training. Maybe I'd start a competition with the trainees or something. That'd get him off my back. Isolating myself from everyone was something I did naturally. In some ways, I was just like my dad. In other ways I was the total opposite. Well, it's not like we shared DNA or something.
'Are you going to be in a foul mood all day?'
'Depends on whether you're going to continue to badger me, dad.' I replied looking him dead in the eye.
'You're becoming rebellious not to mention rude and I do not like it.'
'You know what? Maybe I will move in with the trainees or leave the compound looking for vampires. Hell maybe I'll even find the master. Oh wait, isn't that Dominic's job?'
'Belle, I know you are angry but do not sass me.'
'You're damn right about that. I'm almost seventeen, that freak is still out there and instead of trying to find him, Dominic has giving up, that's what he's doing!' I spat wringing my hair in frustration.
Dad only sighed and joined me on the bathtub. 'He is not the only warrior trying to track this master down. You are just scared about your crushon him,' he replied softly. I hated that he knew me better than anyone. I hated that everything always came back to my little crush.
'You don't know what you're talking about.'
'Sweetheart, I have lived a long life, I know what love is when I see it. You are running from him because you are scared. You need to put your emotions aside and train with Dom. He's a good trainer. Maybe one day he will realise he has feelings about you too.'
'Dad, if we were mates, we'd have bonded already.'
'Your mori may not be mature enough yet. There is a bone deep connection between you two. He always comes back to see you because he needs to.'
'I really don't want to talk about this anymore.' I muttered scooping more the of the hair dye out of the tub. Squeezing my leg right above my knee he smiled at me fondly and thankfully left me in peace.
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Later on, I was walking past one of the media rooms, when I found Seamus, Niall, Dom, Nikolas and Chris as well as a few other warriors I didn't know watching football. I winced when I saw the Patriots were losing. I sat down on the arm of the couch.
In one smooth movement, Dom wrapped his around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. Letting out a squeak, which everyone noticed, I was about to scramble off his lap when his grip tightened on me to the point where I whimpered in pain.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Niall grit his teeth. Oh dear god not him too! Did everyone fudging know about my silly crush? Or were they pissed that Dominic was manhandling me?
I decided that it was the latter.
'Nice hair.' Dom murmured into my ear. Deciding to annoy him with the scent, I leant into his chest just as the Patriot's quarterback took the ball and bolted away.
'Finally,' I muttered, toying with my very dark blue hair.
After ten minutes, I gave up on watching the television because it was getting harder and harder not to notice Dom's abs pressing up against my back whenever he exhaled.
Reaching over, I stole the JD bottle on the table. I finished it while Nikolas glared at me. Sheesh, why was he glaring at me for? He wasn't my dad, not that he and Sara hadn't tried to adopt me. Yeah, having that moody guy for a dad woulda been hellish. I fought a shudder.
'Hey,' Dom growled poking me sharply in the side, 'that's mine.'
'I don't see your name on it.' I said tossing the glass into the bin taking the bottle Niall handed me. I was getting to my feet stopping as a shadow fell over me. Looking up, I beamed as I saw luscious Eric, a korean warrior. I didn't even know he was here.
'Erik.' I trilled, scrambling over Dom, jumped onto the back of the couch launching into Eric's waiting arms. The five foot ten warrior swung me around before gently putting me down. Looking up at him he smirked down at me. Being half human, I was a shortie by Mohiri standards, being only just over five foot. He was what five-ten and wasn't exactly happy with his height. Personally, I didn't care how tall a guy was, only how good his butt looked in jeans. And he had a great butt.
'Wanna train, Shortie?' He asked with an evil glint in his eye. I bet he was still salty from when I had bested him last summer, which I believed was a total fluke.
'So you'll train with anyone but me,' Dom muttered under his breath.
'That pretty much sums it up.'
'Why is that?' He asked lazily as he folded his arms.
My anger spiked and I couldn't hold back the torrent of words I knew would probably kill him inside. 'Gee, maybe because you should be spending your precious time hunting the master that killed my parents. Or do I have to do that myself?'
'Belle!' The twins exclaimed while Dom turned slowly to glare at me. The other warriors looked between us and from the corner of my eye, I saw Nikolas start to stand.
'Belle,' he chided and I let out a snarl at the black haired warrior.
'You know what, forget it. My mum was only human after all. We don't matter.' I snapped stalking off. Eric pulled me up as I raced to the stairs. I really needed to start working on my demon speed.
'What the hell was that about?' Eric demanded yanking on my arm.
'Ow,' I complained. 'Trust me, you don't want to know.' I muttered yanking my arm out of his.
'I meant about you not wanting to train with Dominic. He's in high demand. Every compound wants him to be an instructor and you're turning him down? Why?' He demanded struggling to understand.
'Well if you like him so much you can send your future kids to train with him. I however wish he'd go back to tracking the monster that killed my parents.'
'That's not the only reason why you're pissed at him and you know it.' Eric retorted finally catching on.
'It's the only reason that matters.'
'Oh really?' He asked narrowing his eyes down at me.
'I don't want to talk. So either train with me or I'll find another punching bag.' I snarled at him.
When he didn't reply, I brushed past him. 'Hey, I was only joking, kind of.' He called after me. 'Jesus, Belle, wait.'
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Wind whooshed past my ears as I fell, landing with a thump. I was sore all over, and my left shoulder was throbbing, while Eric looked like he was having the time of his life. Getting up, I cracked my neck, and sighed. We'd been training for just over four hours but I refused to give in. I was going to get him down if it killed me.
'Wanna take a break?'
'Why, are you tired?' I asked walking to the wall to grab a staff. Maybe I'd have better luck with a weapon.
'You're in pain.'
'I've had worse.'
'Belle...' He trailed off as a door opened and shut behind me. Rolling my eyes, I let out a string of curse words that made Eric blink in surprise.
'Oh gee, what now?' I groaned, folding my arms. Eric appeared next to me taking the staff out of my hand, giving me a smug look. Well, I had been thinking of pummelling that stupid warrior who held my heart without knowing it.
'Wipe that smirk off your face, Eric.' I growled poking him hard in the stomach.
'Are you two done in here?' Dom asked Eric, his eyes slightly narrowed.
'Sure, man.' Eric replied easily as he took my hand and dragged me out. Dom glared at his hand but for the life of me I couldn't figure out why.
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Dad was sitting in our apartment, obviously waiting for me when I returned from the healing baths. My plate consisted of a pork chop, potato salad, bacon, corn on the cob, and steamed broccoli. Not feeling hungry, I sat down pushing my plate away while my dad started eating his usual plate of lamb chops.
'Do you want to talk about it?' He asked between bites.
'Who went running to you this time?' I drawled crossing my arms.
'Does it matter? Or are you looking for an excuse to punch someone? I know you are angry, but you're not the only person to lose your family. Your father's brother is searching for the master just as hard as Dominic is. It'll take time. You must have patience.'
'That line worked on me when I was ten, but not anymore. I want this over.'
'It won't help with the trauma you suffer from.'
'Whatever, I'm going to bed.'
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Waking up in the dark, my sheets clingling to my wet skin, I let out a sob as I drew my knees to my chest. A flutter inside my head told me that either my father or Dom was outside my door, I hoped it was my dad but when the door opened slowly, my heart sank lower than the floor.
'Hey,' Dom whispered while I looked away at the alarm clock. It was barely eleven-thirty.
'You wanna come with me?'
'No, go away.' I said as I scrambled out of my bed, not caring that I was only wearing my panties and a torn singlet that had more holes in it than actual fabric. I was tearing at the sheets with my shaking hands that refused to cooperate, when Dom appeared beside me and took the fabric from my shaking hands.
'I got it, Sweetness,' he muttered, bunching up the the sheets into a ball and tossed them into the washing basket without looking. I watched as he walked to my closet, grabbed a pair of dark green sheets and remade my bed before pulling off his t-shirt.
'What are you doing?' I squeaked, stepping away in horror. God, no, not again. I was thankful when dad entered my room to give me a quick hug but was baffled when he just gave Dom a look before releasing me. Kissing the top of my head, he exited my room closing the door behind him leaving me alone with Dom. After closing my eyes briefly, I let out a loud exasperated sigh, pressing my lips together as I heard the zip of his jeans. Naughty thoughts entered my mind. Screaming internally I held it inside waiting until he'd slipped into my bed before letting out the breath I had been holding onto. Turning, I crawled into bed and lay on my back while he lay on his side watching me.
'Belle...' Dom trailed off and I wondered what he was going to say.
'Just spit it out, Dom.' I muttered pulling the covers up to my chin. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it. Either he was going to admit he knew about my feelings, or he wanted to talk about my parents and I was already having a hard time trying to calm my erratic heart down.
He shifted closer to me and I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Leaning up on his elbow, he tucked me in, leaving his arm on my belly as he watched me thoughtfully.
'Stop fighting this,' he murmured.
'Fighting what?'
'Whatever this is.' He muttered leaning over kissing the top of my head. Dear god, he freaking knew. 'You know I'm the remedy for your nightmares.' I let out a breath, feeling relieved.
'Until you find a mate.' I bit out and he froze before cocking his head to watch me.
'Do I detect a note of jealousy?'
'Of course not.' I scoffed, rolling onto my side.
'Wow, the twins were right.' He muttered letting out a low chuckle. I couldn't tell how he felt about it and it irked me a little.
'Yeah laugh it up, asshole.'
'I wonder why I didn't notice,' he mused to himself still smirking.
'Maybe you still think of me as that little girl you saved.' I retorted.
Dom stayed silent for a few moments mulling it over. 'I haven't thought of you as a little girl in years.'
'Doesn't change anything.'
'Sure it does. It changes everything.' He said poking me through the covers.
'Why?'
He snorted. 'Because you like me and I don't ever want to hurt you.'
'You don't have to worry about that. I'll get over you after you leave.'
'but, I'm not going anywhere.'
'Well I can't get over you if you stay.' I pointed out, rolling over as my anger spiked.
Chuckling, he smirked at me. 'Well that's too damn bad, Sweetness, cause I'm not leaving anytime soon.' He whispered as he leant over and kissed my forehead. 'Besides, your birthday is in two weeks.' He reminded me, as he moved to my cheek.
'Not helping,' I gasped pushing him away as I blushed furiously. The mischievous glint in his eye made me want to push him out of bed. Before I could act on it, he rolled onto his back pulling me with him. The steady beating of his heart made my insides squirm and his steady breathing told me he was close to falling asleep.
'How do you fall asleep so quickly?' I whispered.
'Shh, sleeping here,' he mumbled pulling me the rest of the way to his chest. Closing my eyes, I let the erratic thoughts drift away until I was only away of his soft breathing. After a while, I wasn't sure when, but like always, I drifted off to sleep.
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I hadn't set my alarm so I wasn't surprised when I woke up just after eight-thirty. Dom's arm was still wrapped around my lower back and I realised that I was sleeping on his chest. He was texting one handed and hadn't noticed I was awake yet. I started to move but his grip on me tightened. Confusion ate at me. It took a few a moments to remember what had happened last night and I bit my lip. He knew about my stupid crush. What was I going to do? Anxiety gnawed at me.
'Morning.' He murmured as he turned to kiss my forehead.
'Who's texting you so early?'
'Family group chat. Mom reminded us that it's your birthday on the fourteenth.' He said with a grin. I sighed as he returned to texting.
'Are they planning another surprise party?' I didn't do surprises, it made my anxiety worse when people scared me.
'No, but I'm surprised you're not in our family texts.' He said shooting me a look. Suddenly my phone chimed. I reached over grabbed my phone and realised Dom had put me in the chat.
Me: Dead meat, you hear that Dom? DEAD MEAT.
Brody: Thats wat u want 4 ur bday? Okaaaaay.
Heath: I was thinking a g-string...
Mom: Heath!
Dad:...Uncalled for you little shit.
Me: Just because you like wearing them! ;)
Devon: Images, images.
Ian: Da. :(
Dom: What do you want then?
I searched through some images and found a picture of a half naked cowboy holding a saddle. Knowing it would piss them off, I sent it with a wicked grin.
Mom: woooooow he is a hotttie.
Dad: Hey now...:(
Brody: Our little sister has realized boys exist. Time to build that tower mom.
Heath: Dom will scare them all away ;)
Dad: Can we be serious right now?
Brody: So no to the sexy cowboy and g-string...anything else you want?
Mom: Brody...
Suddenly Ian put up a picture of a pitch black pony and my grin faded.
Me: No thanks, after Coco I don't think I want another horse :'(
Dom: Don't make her cry, I'll have to hug her...again. She's been touchy all week...
Me: Dom!
Mom: R u 2 2gether right now?
Heath: ;)
Dom: :D
Me: I had a bad night and no, I don't want to talk about it.
Mom: Im here 4 you babygirl.'
Dad: Ditto.
Me: You two talk like teenagers. SMH.
Ian: Im goin back to bed.
Devon: Same.
Mom: But we need to discuss Belle's birthday!
Devon: She'll be 17. Get her a car and call it a day. Night.
Ian: Yeah, a car. Maybe we can run this Incubus over with one.
Me: You'll get him...maybe I should come up and help.
Heath: We got it, thanks kiddo.
Me: Incubus's like girls, so well...I could be bait.
Dom: NO!
He shot me a furious glance that made me giggle.
Mom: Maybe when u r older.
Dad: Ditto.
Me: I can help. I killed a vampire on my own a few days ago.
Ian: Sweet.
Dom: Not sweet. She could have been killed!
Brody: Oh stop growling, I can hear you from SEATTLE.
Mom: Again, we are off track and now we have to go. We'll resume this discussion later.
Me: K.
Putting my phone down, I took a peek at Dom who sent me an angry look. 'I'm really going to have to lock you up in your room aren't I?'
'As long as that sexy cowboy is with me I don't care.' I said rolling over to put my phone onto the bedside table.
'Belle, you have no idea what I went through when I found out you'd been attacked.'
I frowned. 'That's going to happen when I'm a warrior.'
'I thought you didn't want to be one. Cooking is your passion, or it used to be.' He muttered.
'Dom, you're right. I love cooking, but those skills aren't going to keep me alive are they? And soon enough, I'll be a warrior and what are you going to do then? Are you going to try to keep me here or force me live at Longstone or anther compound for the rest of my very unnatural long life while you go off hunting monsters?'
Dom shrugged lazily. 'Maybe I'll give it up and train the kids. It's a great job.'
'Why would you do that though?'
'Because I'm beginning to believe that Chris, Tristan and Desmond are right.'
'Right about what?'
'They believe you and I will be mates.'
I grabbed his hand. 'Would ya look at that? Nothing happened. I am not your mate.'
'Not yet but your mori hasn't matured. Admit it, it's possible.'
'Or maybe I'm not your chosen one.' I replied bluntly as I got off the bed. 'Is this the only reason why you're here? You're being ridiculous.'
'Belle, of course not. I'm either going on missions with my family or working with your uncle trying to track this master down. We haven't got any leads and we've exhausted all possibilities, but that doesn't mean we are giving up. We will never stop hunting him. I just need a break that's all.'
'You've found him once before.' I pointed out.
'Belle, you know the only reason we tracked him was from your mother's phone. They missed a check in so we came looking.'
I nodded. I'd heard it all before. Deciding I didn't want to fight about it anymore, I walked to my closet, opened the doors and disappeared inside it. Moments later, I heard the sounds of him dressing and part of me wanted to walk out just to see his toned body. Luckily, I stopped myself just in time. Tugging the holey tank top off, I dropped it on the floor, pulled on dark purple leggings and a large grey t-shirt I probably stole from Niall, I pulled it on. Yeah, it was definitely Niall's, I mused to myself as I walked out.
'You're borrowing some other guy's clothes now?' Dom asked the second I turned to him. He'd yet to pull his shirt on. What had he been doing? Deciding I didn't want to know, I shrugged lazily as I searched for my sneakers.
'Would you prefer it if I stole your clothes?'
The corners of his mouth twitched. 'Sure.' Rolling my eyes I walked to the door and swung it open. Dad was already gone, probably hiding in the library. Maybe I'd take a leaf out of his book and hide in there too.
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I had to hand it to Dom, he was a good instructor. Fair yet pushy. If I started lagging, he egged me on, not that I did, but I wasn't exactly thrilled with him being my instructor. I still didn't know where we stood and adding another element was throwing me off my game. I'd seen a few of the other girl trainees giggling to each other when he walked into the room. Their giggles stopped when they saw how hard he worked everyone a few days later when Callum was called away. Hell, the first thing he made us do was run around the freaking lake in the freezing cold. His disapproval at our times made him push us further and now he was holding a competition for all of us, even the younger kids were having to join in. I'd already bested Cameron and Allie once. Allie's caramel hair was being tugged into a high and tight pony tail as she eyed me.
'What is this guys problem?' She whispered to me.
'I think he believes Callum is being too easy on us.'
'Or maybe you both are too busy whispering to each other to see the bigger picture.' He growled from right behind us.
We spun shrieking a little while he glowered down at us. Damn him and his demonic speed. He knew he'd scared me but that didn't soften him up. 'You two are going to spend your lunch time polishing the weapons in the training room.'
'I'll pass, there must be something we can do to get out of that.' I grinned while he stared at me.
'Fine, if you get me down you get to have a rest.'
I sprang at him while Allie let out a yell and went for his knees. We landed in a heap with our bodies landing on him. I didn't feel very sorry when he hit his head on the mat.
Allie blushed while we high fived.
'You were saying?' I teased as I sat on his chest.
'Who taught you that?' He asked through narrowed eyes.
I looked back at Allie who shrugged lazily. 'Nickolas, or was it Chris?' I asked her trying to remember.
'No I think it was Luscious Eric.'
'He is gorgeous.' I agreed.
'I did not hear you say that.' Dom muttered and I realised I was still sitting on him in an unlady-like position. 'You ever gonna get off me?'
'Depends, are you gonna show me more moves?' I teased while he smirked at me. With a jolt I realised what he was thinking and I blushed.
If I had realised that Allie had gotten off him, I probably wouldn't have said anything but suddenly he rolled pinning me beneath him making my cheeks redden even more.
'You know I think all the girls are jealous now.' I whispered.
'Good.' He teased as he stood up, yanking me to me feet. Rolling my shoulder to get rid of the tension, class resumed and I went back to my spot.
'Yup, you defs like him.' Allie whispered to me.
'Thanks, I didn't already know that.'
