Max Ride is a tall and stunning bartender from Ohio. But one night her life is suddenly turned around when she meets Fang Nikolias. In time, Max begins to develop feelings for the mysterious man but she doesn't yet know he's hiding a terrible secret from her, one that could possibly end her life.
Fang sat down on his leather couch, dropping his head into his hands. She barely knew who he was; yet he knew everything about her. That night at the club, it wasn't by chance that he was there to save her. He was sent there. He was there to watch her, to take care of her. Max didn't know the truth about her father and her true heritage. A dull throb eased its way into his head; making itself comfortable just beyond his temple. He lifted the bottle of Jack Daniels to his lips, tipping his head back. The whiskey burned his throat as the liquid travelled to the pit of his stomach.
She was so beautiful. The pictures he'd seen couldn't begin to illustrate how gorgeous she was, like a princess. His lips formed into a grimace as he remembered the sudden nickname for her.
I felt my hood slipping as I turned to look back at her and my breath was taken away once more. I don't think I'd ever get sick of a sight like that. After quickly mentally shaking the thought from my mind I continued the conversation. "So what's your name, Princess?"
"Max," she even sounded beautiful when she wasn't scared out of her wits.
Fang thought back to the man who had attacked Max, shifting through the stack of pictures on his coffee table. The man wasn't targeting Max in particular, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time; but Fang was grateful he was there to help her out. Suddenly, a flashback of Max from last night decided to rule his mind.
It was either time decided to slow down or discontinue moving at all. In that moment, she was all I could see. I let myself trace my eyes across her features, getting lost in her chestnut brown eyes before finding myself staring at her lips. Beautiful. I don't want to hide in the shadows to protect her, I want to be by her side.
"I'll give you a call some time tomorrow then," I found myself saying.
"I'll be waiting," her lips pressed so softly against my cheek I had to stop myself from turning my head and kissing her.
He took another swig from the Jack Daniels before putting it back in the cupboard for the night. Yawning, he took off his shirt and threw it in the hamper as he walked into his room. As he lay on his bed and closed his eyes, the darkness became soothing and he welcomed the silence of slumber with Max on his mind.
"Max!" I was jostled awake with Nudge jumping on top of me. "You scared the crap out of me! I came home and there was a note on the bench saying that you were being taken to the hospital and to call your cell." I blinked at her. "And when this guy answered I completely freaked out and dropped my phone and look," she pulled out her phone and pointed towards a miniscule crack on the corner of the screen, "He made me drop it and completely ruin my phone! Who is he anyw-" I lifted a finger to her lips.
"Shh, Nudge; shh," Pushing her head away and rolling over. A dull throb sat in the temple of my head.
"Five more minutes." I closed my eyes and tried to block her out.
"Max! I let you sleep through the night now I deserve some answers." I cracked open my eyes and glared at her until she became a blur in my vision. I sighed.
"Fine, this is what happened." I explained the details to her, carefully leaving out the whole 'Max-about-to-get-shanked' part, and was left with silence by the end of it. She looked at me for a moment.
"So…is he hot?"
"Oh my god, Nudge!" I shrieked and threw a pillow at her face.
"No seriously, Max, I need to know the juicy details!"
"Okay, okay; Maybe a little," I could feel my cheeks turning red.
"Did you fuck him?"
"Ew! Nudge, no way!" I sat up and tried to push her off the bed with my other pillow while she beat furiously at me with the one I threw at her.
"So can I have him?" She wriggled her eyebrows at me and winked. A sudden feeling washed over me, one that I wasn't familiar with. Jealously?
"No, I have dibs on him," I caught myself saying. Before Nudge could say anything my phone started ringing. I caught Nudge's eye before she went and dived for my phone. "Nudge, oh god don't you dare answer that phone," I moaned as she pressed Answer, "Nuuuuuuuuudge."
"Hello?" She answered in a sultry voice. I almost face palmed before remembering it'd probably knock me out because of the head wound. She looked at me and grinned while she listened to the other end. "Oh she's here, but wouldn't you rather want to talk to me?" It went quiet again and I almost lost it when she handed me the phone while pouting. I raised an eyebrow as I took the phone from her. Another grin lit up her face and she shook her head before making her way out of my room. I lifted the phone to myself.
"What the hell did you say to her?" I started to interrogate him.
Fang's deep chuckled carried through the line. "I just told her that if she didn't hand the phone to you I wouldn't introduce her to my super attractive friend."
"Ah, and does this super attractive friend exist?"
"Of course he does, otherwise I wouldn't have said it."
"Ah, a man true to his word." A smile flittered across my face.
"That I am. How is your head feeling today?" I raised a hand to my head and prodded the stitches.
"Honestly, not that bad, and I feel much better than last night."
"That's good," I could almost see his smile on the other end, "Actually, Max?"
"Yeah?" My finger twitched in nervous anticipation.
"Don't take any more of the pills the doc gave you, I have a bad feeling that you were reacting to them weirdly."
I cocked my head to the side before remembering that he couldn't see me. "What do I take when it starts hurting then?" It went silent on the line for a moment.
"A few shots of whiskey should do the trick." A chortle of laughter left my lips and I heard Fang's chuckle on the other end. "Nah, generic painkillers should do the trick, at least it isn't a bullet wound." I froze.
"Why would it be a bullet wound?"
"Oh," Fang stuttered for a moment before finding himself. "My uncle got himself shot once and was complaining all the time until the thing healed up."
"That's horrible! How did that happen?"
"Hunting accident, his group ran into another part and they each thought the other were bears, now that would've been a sight to see." There was a pause. "Well, I'm way off topic here, there's an actual point to this call. I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me tonight? There's a carnival going on nearby and I thought it'd be fun…" He drifted off as he begun to ramble. "Actually, you can bring Nudge along and I can bring my friend, it'll be like a double date."
"Double date?" I mused.
Nudge's head poked around my door. "Did I hear double date?" Fang chuckled, obviously hearing Nudge.
"Yeah, Fang wants us to go on a double date with you and his friend tonight. At the carnival." I gave her a pointed look, "So no body-con dresses." She groaned and rolled her eyes but agreed anyway. Fang and I agreed for them to pick Nudge and I up at six o'clock. I glanced over at my clock. It was almost twelve already. "Alright, I guess I'll see you soon?"
"Of course, see you at six, Princess." The line went dead. The silence reminded me of the throb that sat in my temple. I groaned, rolling out of bed and heading towards the kitchen. The floor where the blood had once been was spotless now.
"Hey Nudge!" I called out, "Did you clean the kitchen at all?"
"Nope," she yelled from the other side of the apartment.
"Thank you, Fang," I muttered to myself. I went to the medicine cabinet and popped some painkillers into my hand, washing them down with a glass of water. I thought back to the night before when Fang first took me home. I couldn't deny how much I wanted to kiss him right then. I guess I could've blamed alcohol for the feeling, but I didn't even feel buzzed. Dragging myself back to my room, I opened my closet to choose what I was going to wear. I can put clothes together, but only if I see them on mannequins first. Nudge is my personal styler. As if hearing my thoughts, Nudge walked into my room. She had already changed from her slept in work clothes to a leather mid-thigh skater skirt with a bright pink oversized jumper tucked into it. She managed to look chic without even trying.
Without even asking, she walked to my wardrobe and pulled out a pair of dark blue faded jeans and a grey low cut tee shirt, throwing a darker grey jacket on top. She walked out again and came back in a few minutes later with nude flats in one hand, and some bracelets and a necklace in the other. She set them all on my bed and looked up at me with a grin. "I know I'm a genius."
"You definitely are Nudge, where would I be without you?"
"Oh, probably still dressing like your high school self."
'I didn't dress that bad did I?"
"Trust me, Max. You did," She grinned again and left me to get ready. I shut the door behind her and walked into my ensuite to hit the shower. Half an hour later, with my head wrapped in a towel, I began pulling on the jeans and top. Afterwards I ran a brush through my wet hair, rifling it with my fingertips afterwards. Nudge knocked on my door and walked in without waiting for a reply. "All ready to get made up?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." I was already feeling nervous and there was still a few more hours to go. Nudge took her time applying my makeup, making sure that it wasn't too heavy for a carnival. In the end she ended up giving me a cat eye flick with the eyeliner, coated my eyes with mascara and put highlighter on my cheekbones. I had to admit, I looked good. When she had finished I applied a touch of pink lip gloss to finish the look. By that time my hair had dried into nice waves that gave it that 'casual' finish.
"I make such a masterpiece out of you, every time." She sighed happily as she looked at her complete work.
"Well you've had enough practice on me as is." I grinned and hugged her tightly, "Thanks again, Nudge."
"Any time." I left her to start her own make up. My stomach growled. I checked my phone and it was already half past one. The fridge began to call for me. "I wonder if there's any food in the fridge." When I made it to the kitchen and opened the fridge, the cool air washed over me, calming the nerves that I hadn't noticed before. Why am I getting so worked up, it's just Fang.
But that was it, he was someone I barely knew, and this will be the third time seeing him in three consecutive days in a row. To which the first two times were unplanned. Maybe the feeling will be less intense with his friend there. And it will definitely be nice having Nudge around; but knowing her she'll probably ditch me if Fang's friend is actually attractive.
I sighed as I grabbed a three minute meal and popped it in the microwave. My headache was gone by now. I lifted my hand to the stiches. Nudge had done a great job at covering them up. Her ingenious idea to put a clear band-aid over it and putting makeup on top of it had work, plus my hair covered a lot of it. The microwave beeped at the same moment my phone did. I pulled it out to check the text I received.
I know where you live.
I checked to make sure it wasn't Fang who had texted me, but it wasn't. I quickly sent a reply back asking who it was.
I am your worst nightmare.
My heart beat sped up; this week just continues to grow more interesting.
This is another raw chapter. It's been a bit rushed through because I haven't posted anything in ages. I plan to write a little every day so I'm not as lazy and just leave the story sitting there unfinished. Comments and feedback are welcome! Thank you guys!
