Chapter 7

She sucked in air like a drowning person and felt the world tilt at a weird angle. As he stared at her, she could almost feel his mouth at her throat and a part of her wondered desperately what that would feel like.

"Why didn't you then?"

Wincing, he rubbed one hand with the other and shrugged feeling self conscious.

"You were trying to help. Seemed ungrateful."

"A polite vampire?"

He laughed shortly and finding the liquor cabinet Phil had brought with him he served himself a bottle of German scotch that Bella could never pronounce. Taking a long gulp he dropped on one caramel colored armchair and lifted his feet on the light wooden coffee table.

Bella raised an eyebrow at his casualness

"Make your self at home"

She said sarcastically. Damon gave her a cheeky grin that brought a smile to her face, if you ignored the fangs and cut off seemingly twenty years he would make a very cute toddler.

"Thanks"

"So now what? I mean, now that, let's sa I believe you, what're you going to do to me?"

"Nothing"

He muttered and took another lengthy gulp.

"Why should I believe that you're not planning to bite me?"

"Because I give you my word."

"Uh-huh…"

Disbelief colored her voice. She'd heard promises before. And in the end promises didn't matter.

"Stay in the sunlight, Then you won't have anything to worry about."

"Until the night."

He speared her with a look.

"Look. I'm tired. I'm hungry."

She flinched. He saw it.

"You're right to be careful. I'm a vampire. Definitely not to be trusted. But you're safe from me, Bella. I won't harm you. And I'll leave. Just as I told you I would. Right after sundown."

Strange, but that assurance didn't make her feel any better. Oh, she believed he wouldn't bite her. She wasn't sure why she believed, but she did. It was his promise to leave that she didn't like.

It wasn't the same as when Edward made it. Then laying at that hospital bed the prospect of Edward leaving her was unbearable but... this felt different.

She wasn't sure why, but the thought of him disappearing from her life was not something she wanted to think about. Staring into his eyes, she saw pain and resignation and regret. The exact same mix of emotions that sent her to a downward spiral for so many months before she broke free.

He didn't speak again. And Bella studied him. Without the fangs, he looked like any other man. Better-looking than most though, even with the patches of raw, angry skin on his face and hands.

Every instinct she possessed told her she could trust him. Foolish? Maybe. Even though one might argue that her instincts were rubbish she knew she could trust them.

They kept her alive when psycho James tried to kill her. Those same instincts told her to join Renee in their crazy backpacking trip and later to leave Volterra. And, they'd guided her to choose to stay a bit longer in the Arizona heat and subsequently save this vampire's life.

There had to be a reason for it.

Before she could change her mind, she turned for the kitchen, grabbed the first-aid kit and headed back to where she'd left him. His eyes were open. Those deep, inviting light eyes that seemed filled with a strength and a loneliness that drew her to him in spite of his warnings.

Deliberately, she took a step out of the sunlight and into the shadowed part of the living room and the powerful presence of a wounded vampire. His eyes narrowed on her as she walked closer to him.

"I can't decide if you're foolish or brave,"

he said at last when she stopped alongside the table.

"A bit of both"

"You're taking quite a chance, Bella."

She held up the kit before setting it onto the table.

"You're hurt. I can help."

"Why would you want to?"

Good question. Her fear was still rattling inside, twisting her stomach into tight knots. But here she stood, alone with a vampire.

"Because I've been hurt"

His gaze narrowed.

"You should get the hell away from me."

"Yeah, you said that already."

Quicker than she could see, he shot out one hand, grabbed her arm and curled his fingers into her skin. The move was so startling, she jerked back despite her best intentions. He saw it and released her.

"You're afraid. I can smell it on you."

One corner of his mouth lifted and fell in a blink.

"To a vampire, that scent is compelling."

Her arm tingled where he'd grabbed her. His eyes caught and held her and while she watched, the startling icy blue orbs melt into the whites until all she could see was her reflection shining back at her from the depths of twin black pools.

"You're a tempting package, Bella."

His gaze swept up and down her body with the intimacy of a touch.

"I've been told that before"

"Don't mistake me for some wounded hero. I'm a monster."

"I've been told that one before as well"

Bella looked at him and shook her head.

"You might be a vampire, but you're not a monster. Trust me on this. I've seen a real monster. Up close and personal. You're nothing like him."

James had scared her deeply. Even though Damon was wounded and logically she knew she'd be in danger once he healed, her full being told her she didn't need to be afraid. His gaze narrowed on her but even as wanted to, he couldn't say anything to dispute her. Pleased with his silence, Bella opened the first-aid kit.

"How?"

"What?"

"How did you die?"

She picked up the tube of antiseptic lotion and unscrewed the lid.

"Doesn't matter."

He shook his head and glanced around the room.

"Okay. How'd you become a vampire?"

He glanced at her.

"Same question"

"Sorry."

"You're not reacting the way I would have expected you to."

He looked at her and while he watched her, his eyes softened, becoming again the dark brown they'd been when she first found him.

"More screaming, fewer questions?"

"Frankly, yeah."

"Well, here's another one for you, what are you really doing here?"

"I came here to die"

He said simply because even if nothing else in his life was simple, this was. Bella wanted to ask why but she didn't. Instead she picked up one of his hands and tenderly smoothed some of the lotion onto the reddened, already healing skin. Apparently, he didn't need her help. As if reading her mind, he said,

"We heal fast."

She put the lotion away and closed the kit with a snap. The doorbell rang making them both jump. Damon snapped a look toward the sound.

"Who knows you're here?"

Bella asked in a whisper. Damon shrugged

"No one"

"Well only my parents know I'm here and trust me, they wouldn't show up"

Damon closed his eyes and took a whiff.

"Whoever it is, they're human. And they can't know I'm here."

"Yeah. I figured that out on my own."

Bella deadpanned quietly. Biting her lip again and quickly running her tongue over it. Remembering she used to be somewhat stronger than a pathetic little girl followign blindly orders from a supernatural species she stood up.

"Behind you is a den with thick shudders"

She told Damon over her shoulder as she stood up, took a deep breath and walked around to the front door to see who it was.

All she felt was a breath of air as Damon moved faster than a Cullen to hide in the den Phil used with his pals for a beer after the game.