The Vampire’s Redemption

“He may be what?” Michael prompted. “Say it, Danielle.” His green eyes had hardened now.

Danielle forced herself to finish what they had started. “Dangerous,” she said. “I’ve got a feeling like he may be dangerous.”

Michael stared at her. She waited for him to go off on her. She waited for him to tell her that she was insane, and how dare she even think that of his brother? She waited for him to deny it. But Michael didn’t. He didn’t get mad, and he didn’t deny it. Instead, he heaved a deep sigh that had Danielle’s heart galloping within her chest and slamming against her ribcage.

“What?” she said, finding that her voice was choked and barely there. “What is it?”

“Stephen, he…” Michael hesitated. “He made mistakes, in the past.”

Danielle was afraid to ask, but she asked anyway: “What kind of mistakes?”

“The kind of mistakes that get people hurt. It wasn’t his fault,” Michael hurried to explain. “It was an accident. But he’s been carrying that burden with him for years now. He’s convinced himself that he’s a bad person. He’s not.”

Danielle watched him warily. “He isn’t?”

“No,” Michael said fiercely. “He isn’t. He’s just a little lost and a lot angry.”

“So he’s not going to hurt Jack?”

“Why would he hurt your friend?” Michael seemed genuinely confused.

Suddenly, Danielle felt like an idiot. She shook her head at herself. “I don’t know. I just…your brother makes me uneasy,” she admitted.

Michael smiled a little. “He can have that effect on some people. Hell, I can have that effect on some people.”

“You don’t make me uneasy.”

Michael stared at her. He seemed almost surprised by her admission. “I don’t?”

“No.” Danielle smiled gently at him. “Why would I stick around if you did?”

“The good food?” Michael joked.

Danielle shook her head with a smile. “Seriously, Michael. You make me feel…” She trailed off, hesitating. Should she say it? Dare she say it?

“What, Danielle?” Michael prompted. “I make you feel what?”

“Like myself.” There, she’d said it. Michael was very close, close enough that Danielle could lose herself in his green eyes. “You make me feel like I’m home. I think I’ve fallen for you. I think I love you.” There, she’d said it all.

Michael looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. He was silent for a very long time—so long, in fact, that Danielle eventually convinced himself that she had gone too far.

“I’m sorry,” she said, breaking the horrible, soul-crushing silence. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not?” Michael finally spoke. His features were still unreadable, but they were beginning to soften. “Didn’t you mean it?”

“Yes,” Danielle said. “Of course I meant it.”

“Then I’m glad you said it.”

The silence was back. Danielle’s mind was racing. She wasn’t necessarily expecting Michael to say it back, but she would have expected him to say…something. Anything, really. She would have expected for her offering of her heart on her open palm to at least be acknowledged. Instead, it didn’t look like Michael was even going to touch the subject. Michael was staring pensively into the flames, and the fire that earlier on had given her the impression of setting an atmosphere now felt way too warm to Danielle in this already-tepid summer night.

“You know, you don’t look all that glad,” she finally ventured, sneaking a sideways glance at Michael.

Michael looked over at her. “No, I am,” he said. “I am glad.”

Danielle arched an eyebrow. “Forgive me if I’m not convinced. I mean, it’s not like I was expecting you to say it back or anything, it’s just…well, you could at least say something.” The last thing she wanted to do was to put any pressure on him, but she really couldn’t stand the silence.

Michael sat up straighter. He turned his body so that he was fully facing her. His green eyes had gone very dark and very intense, and suddenly Danielle wasn’t sure she wanted to hear whatever it was that he had to say.

“I love you, too. I’ve fallen for you, too.”

Danielle stared at him, speechless. Of all the things she would have expected him to say, this definitely wasn’t it.

“Really?” she asked, unable to keep the note of insecurity from her voice. “You’re not just saying?”

Michael gave her a kind smile. “I’m not just saying. I just wasn’t sure if I should tell you, even now.”

Danielle frowned. “Why not?”

Michael briefly looked away. “Because Stephen is right, Danielle. I’ve made mistakes in the past. I’ve hurt people.”

“I don’t really care about your past,” Danielle said, and as she said it she was surprised to find that it was true. “I care about your present. Would you hurt me?”

“No,” Michael said forcefully. “Never.”

Danielle smiled. “There you go, then.”

Michael stared at her incredulously. “‘There you go, then’? That’s it?”

“I love you,” Danielle said, surprised at how easy that was to say now that she had said it for the first time. “You love me. As far as I’m concerned, there isn’t anything else to say that would matter.”

The silence that fell over them then was a stunned one as Michael tried to take Danielle’s words in.

“You should kiss me now,” she said.

Michael did. Danielle savored the by-now familiar feeling of Michael’s full, soft lips on her own. She savored the ever-sensual energy of Michael’s kisses. But there was something else there this time, a sense of newfound tenderness that radiated off Michael in waves. When Michael wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, there was a sense of sheltering to the gesture that had not been there before—it was as if Michael was trying to shelter her from the world.

Danielle pulled away and back just enough to look at him curiously. “Are you all right?”

Michael looked down. “I tried very hard not to fall for you,” he admitted quietly. He almost seemed to be embarrassed by his own feelings.

“Why, Michael?” Danielle asked. “Why have you tried not to fall for me?”

Michael shrugged. He didn’t say anything.

“Michael, look at me.”

Michael did, and Danielle’s heart clenched. For the first time since she had met him, his confidence disappeared. He looked lost.

He swallowed visibly and licked his lips. “I’m terrified Stephen may be right.”

“Well, he’s not,” Danielle said forcefully, surprising even herself with the vehemence in her voice.

“How do you know?”

There was a hint of hopelessness in Michael’s green eyes that tore at Danielle’s heart and she vowed to disperse it.