Chapter 12

Why couldn't she see that I didn't want anyone else? I was trying so hard not to say or do the wrong thing. She kept saying she wasn't into Tim, but that blush a few minutes ago said something happened.

I walked up to her and said, "I'm not looking for anyone else. I'll wait as long as it takes for you to come my way."

"Um, okay. Where would you like to go?" Dominique asked.

"I would like to take you back to La Nobles. You seem to like it there. Then we can go to a movie. And perhaps after that, we can just go walking so we can talk."

"Sounds like an all-night event. However, it sounds like a nice evening. Are we taking your car or mine?"

"Mine," I said as I pulled her against me and kissed her.

I couldn't help it. My jealousy was raging. She kissed me back, and her hands pushed through my hair as I pulled her body tight against mine. I broke the kiss and started kissing along her jaw and down her neck when she pushed me away.

"I'm sorry, Nathaniel. I can't do this. I really do want to be friends. I don't want to get wrapped up in someone and get hurt. I just can't take that chance right now."

"I can't help but want you, Dominique. You are a beautiful woman, and I love our conversations. Furthermore, you already know I want more than your friendship. And for you to kiss me like that, you want more than friendship as well."

"And if I said I was just horny?" Dominique asked, her face blushing.

"Yes, I can tell that. Nevertheless, if you did not desire me, then it would not matter. You would not want just anyone to fill those needs. Did you kiss Tim the same way?" I asked, needing to know if she actually had kissed him.

"I didn't kiss him. He kissed me. And I put a stop to that real quick."

I felt my eyes narrow. Dominique's face was extremely red. I was hoping she wouldn't actually tell me that she kissed him today. I was hoping that she would tell me she did or didn't use to kiss him like that.

"So, you have been with Tim?" I asked, but I knew my anger was evident in my voice.

"No, I. He came by earlier to ask about taking me to work. He grabbed me and kissed me. That's it. Nothing more happened. I yelled at him, and he left."

I couldn't help myself as I grabbed her. My rage was burning. I felt her tense up right before I kissed her, and I wasn't gentle about this kiss. It was possessive. I began to move my hands over her body as she responded to me.

Dominique finally pulled back and said, "Wow. I can say I have never been kissed like that."

"I'm sorry, Dominique. I should not have done that, but I warned you that I am very jealous," I said.

"Well, I'm going to say I'm not sorry about the kiss. I am, however, not going to deal with jealousy. Either get yourself together, or we are done here."

"So be it. I shall not show my jealousy. I wish to remain your friend. Shall we go out?"

"Yes. I think we should let this go. If you still want to go out, we can."

"Yes, I would very much like that. I hope you can forgive me," I said as I held my arm out for her to take.

Dominique took it, and we walked out to my car. I opened the door for her, and once she was in, I closed it. I got in and took her to the restaurant. We ordered and talked. Dominique ate her food, but I didn't eat mine. She didn't question it, but I could tell by her face that she was wondering about it. We went to the movie and went to a local park after the movie was over.

"Something is bothering you, Dominique. Is it my actions from earlier?" I asked after noticing how quiet she was.

"Yes," Dominique said. "I've never had to deal with jealousy before. I don't think I like it. You were outraged, and I was just wondering how far you would go."

"I would never hurt you, Dominique. I do hope you can forgive me. Perhaps we can...," I was cut off by someone hollering at us.

I instantly knew they were wolves. I could smell them. Shit. I didn't realize this park had wolves in it. I should have taken her back to my place. I thought she might be more comfortable in a public place like this.

"What's your name, pretty lady?" A man called out to Dominique.

"Dominique. Who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Jacob, and this is my park. These are my friends," he said, waving his hand towards the others.

I felt Dominique tense as she looked at the other wolves. I knew the two women had been at the bar one night. Is that what was bothering her?

"This is a public park. The city owns it. Furthermore, if you think we're scared of you, you're wrong," Dominique said.

"You, I'm not worried about, Dominique, did you say? Him, well, his kind doesn't belong here. So I suggest you two move along," Jacob said.

"His kind? He's a person just like you and me," Dominique said, naive to the fact that I was a vampire.

"Right. Just like you and me. What do you say?" Jacob asked me.

"We don't want any trouble. The lady just doesn't understand about boundaries," I replied.

"Hmm, so she doesn't know. I'll let this one slide. Don't come back here," Jacob said.

"Alright. We will be leaving now. Come, Dominique, we don't want any trouble."

I took Dominique's hand and started leading her out of the park. I knew she wouldn't understand why we were leaving a public park. She tried to stay, but I kept walking faster, and she could barely keep up. Finally, I picked her up when she stumbled and walked even faster to my car. I couldn't have the wolves coming after me and ruining everything. Once we were at the car, I put her down and opened the door. She got in, and I quickly came around and got in on the driver's side. She was looking at me like I was crazy. Then, I took off so fast that the rubber on the tires was burning. I could smell it.

"What is going on? Why did we just leave like that? They can't claim that park," Dominique said.

"Trust me when I say those are bad people. You do not want to get mixed up with them," I responded.

"What did he mean when he said I didn't know?"

I tensed up but didn't answer her. Instead, I just drove. I couldn't tell her anything about those people without giving myself away. I was pretty sure she was already suspicious of me. I heard her take a deep breath and saw her turn towards me out of the corner of my eye.

"Nathaniel, are you going to answer me? What was that guy talking about?"

"That guy is a menace to society. He's a bad guy who's big into crime. So just stay away from him."

"So, are you a bad guy? He acted like you were the problem. Your kind isn't welcome there? What does that mean?"

"I'm just a businessman and nothing more, Dominique. I'm not hiding my personality from you. Please, don't think the worst because some guy, who isn't a good guy, says something utterly stupid. When the time is right, I will tell you more about myself. But not now. I want you to get to know the real me."

Dominique sat back in the seat and looked out the window. I internally sighed that she had stopped asking questions. I drove us to the field near my house. All of it was my property, but it wasn't close enough to the house for her to actually see it. I pulled to a stop and turned to her.

"We can walk here and not have any visitors. This field is deserted," I said as I got out.

I came around and opened her door, and Dominique got out. I held my arm for her, and she put her hand on it as we began walking. I started asking her how she had been with everything going on.

"I'm doing better than I thought I would with everything. Lisa, Shane's wife, called me yesterday. She's made funeral arrangements, and it's actually tomorrow at 2 o'clock. So if you wanted to go, we could ride together."

"I'm sorry, Dominique. I have a meeting tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it, but please tell Lisa I'm sorry. If there is anything she needs, I will be more than happy to help out."

"Sure," Dominique said. "Maybe we can set up something during the day since I'll be returning to work this weekend.

I could feel her disappointment. I didn't know how to get out of this without sounding like an ass. I couldn't come out during the day, but I also couldn't tell her that. So I had to think up a lie.

"Dominique, you know I run my business during the day. I'm not available then," I said.

"You can't take a day off?" Dominique asked.

"Not right now. I have a lot of important business deals going on. Perhaps at a later date, we could do something, but for now, no."