I took a sip of my drink. “I don’t know. It all happened so fast. When we met, there was something instantly there. I just didn’t realize that I was in love until later. I suppose it was love at first sight. Or at least lust at first sight.” We chuckled together. “But don’t tell him you love him yet!” I snapped.

  Shawn raised his eyebrows. “Do I look nuts to you? I’ll scare his ass off.” Our waiter came back dropping off our food. “You have to tell Grayson thanks for the set up.”

  Wednesday, I sat in Grayson’s office with him for my lunch break. We were sitting at the small table resting in the corner of the room that was set up for two. “If I told you my parents wanted to go out tonight instead, would you object?” Grayson asked out of nowhere.

  I pondered his question for a moment before I spoke. “No. They’re only here for a short amount of time and you barely get to see them as it is.” I took a bite of my grilled chicken salad.

  Grayson was poking at his food, rolling a tomato across his plate. “Would you still not go Thursday to see Anton?”

  I set my fork down. “Is that what this is about?”

  He wouldn’t look at me. I stood, making my way over to him. I pulled his chair away from the table, and when he still made no move I crawled into his lap, curling my arms around his neck. “You have asked me not to see him. Every time I do, something bad happens and each time seems to be getting worse. I’m just done with it. I want to enjoy my time with you, not spend half our week together trying to get over the few hours I spent with him.”

  He nodded. “I just had to know.” He tapped my hip. I got up and went to sit across the table from him.

  That night, my mother called. “Gaby, this is getting ridiculous. This thing between you and Anton needs to stop.”

  I sighed into the phone. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

  “Then you’ll come home?” She asked hopeful. “He’s been furious that you haven’t been staying here.”

  I shook my head even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Not yet.”

  She sighed heavily. “Gaby, tomorrow when you’re here we can all sit down and discuss this like adults.”

  “I’m not coming tomorrow, mother,” I stated blatantly.

  She hesitated, “but Anton...”

  “I’m done playing this game of his.” I cut her off.

  Her voice was stern. “Gabriella, Anton has every right to court you, according to the old law.”

  “Well, maybe I’ve been playing by vampire law for too long. According to human common courtesy, no one can force you to be with someone you despise. So, I think I’m going to play by human law, seeing as how I am half one.”

  “Gabriella, you are not...” She let her voice trail off.

  “I’m not what?” I asked, curious to see where she was going.

  “Anton will not be pleased.”

  “I know,” I breathed. “Just don’t tell him I’m not coming until tomorrow, preferably after the time I should be there.”

  “That’s just going to make it worse,” she sighed.

  “It may, but really what is he going to do?”

  I was planning on being locked up inside nice and tight before Anton found out. Of course things never work out the way you plan.

  Chapter 16

  Thursday, my stomach was in knots. No matter what I did throughout the day, I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread I felt. I hoped the ominous feeling I had was just a false alarm, but there was too much riding on today. Any number of things could go wrong.

  Work was slow, as it had been all week. Shawn took me out to lunch, bringing Clive along for the BFF approval, after I reminded him how he did it to Grayson. It may have seemed like Shawn and I were a little codependent, but that was just how we were. After lunch, the dread was temporarily forgotten.

  Watching Shawn happy took my mind off of things. I hoped things with Clive worked out, although then Shawn would have to come out of his rainbow-streaked closet and tell his father.

  I took a cab to Grayson’s when I got off work at five. I knew I would be pushing it to be ready on time, but I could always just speed through the process. The hard part was just getting home. I couldn’t risk people seeing me speed down the streets in a blur.

  When I exited the elevator half an hour later, I hurried to open the door to the apartment. Stepping inside, it was completely quiet. Not just human quiet. There was no sound coming from the apartment that I could hear. I grabbed my cell calling Grayson to see where the hell he was.

  “Hey babe,” he sounded out of breath.

  “What’s going on? Where are you?”

  He sighed deeply. “I meant to call you. I’m running late. I already had my secretary call the restaurant and my parents. I had to move the time an hour later. I just wanted to be the one to call you. I’m sorry. I got distracted, but I’m on my way home now.”

  I took a deep breath, calming the anxiety I felt from rushing to get home with plenty of time to get ready. “Alright, baby. I’ll see you when you get here.”

  “I love you, Gabriella,” he lowered his voice barely whispering.

  “I love you more.”

  Now that I had actual time to think, what was I going to wear?

  At six-thirty on the dot, Grayson was dragging me downstairs to the car waiting at the curb to take us to the restaurant. I wasn’t surprised when John dropped us off to see that the restaurant was one Grayson owned. I had been becoming more and more familiar with things Grayson owned, not wanting him to spring another survey on me again. Of course I’d still give my honest opinion. After a lifetime living with vampires who could tell when you were lying, old habits really did die hard.

  Grayson wrapped my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “You nervous?” I shook my head, giving him a soft smile. “Good. No reason to be.” He leaned in close to my ear, whispering, “Did you feed tonight?”

  I tilted my head to the side, giving Grayson an expression that said, ‘come on!’ “I’m not making that mistake again, Grayson. That’s all we need is for your parents to think I’m odd when I’m eyeballing them like they’re mouthwatering steak dinners.”

  His lips pulled up in a half smirk, “That’s not what I meant. I’d be more than happy to. . .satisfy. . .any craving you might have.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

  I took a deep, cleansing breath. His offer was very tempting. I grabbed Grayson’s wrist checking the time on his watch, we were already a few minutes late. The drive had been hectic, full of people rushing to get home from work.

  “Rain check?” I bit my lip letting him know my disappointment.

  Grayson leaned in placing a chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth. “Definitely.” His voice was full of hunger, but not for food.

  Once inside, the hostess led us back to a private dining area. Both Charles and Josephine were already there waiting.

  “So how did you two meet, Gabriella? Grayson hasn’t told us the story.” Josephine pried after the waiter left with our orders.

  I turned to Grayson smiling, remembering the day. He gripped my thigh a little bit tighter, giving me the go ahead. I turned back to Josephine. “I was meeting a friend who was running late. I pulled out my phone to send him a quick text, you know, where are you at?” She nodded. “I wasn’t paying attention and ran smack into Grayson, who just happened to be playing with his phone, too.”

  Telling the story, reminded me I really needed to thank Shawn for being late that day. If he hadn’t, I would have never met Grayson. He and I would have walked right past each other that day. That was a very depressing thought. In fact, I needed to thank Shawn for a lot. He brought us together and brought us back together when I was being an idiot.

  The conversation continued much the same way. Grayson’s parents asked me about my job. They were shocked to find out how much money my company made on simply arranging for other companies to do stuff.

  “And what about your family?” Charles asked. Our entrees had been served, but it did nothing to lighten the conversation. They wanted as much information as they could get about the woman dating their son and I understood that. I just wouldn’t be giving them all the supernatural details.

  I took a sip of my drink, “It’s just my mom.”

  “Oh?” Josephine looked up from her plate. She and Charles had been going back and forth asking questions. “What happened to your father?”

  “He died before I was born.”

  Josephine reached across the table, clutching my hand. “My dear, I’m so sorry.”

  I shook my head, trying to brush off her sympathy. “Don’t be. I never knew him to miss him.”

  “Yes, but...”

  “Mother!” Grayson cut off Josephine’s comment. She looked up at him but said nothing more on the topic.

  By the time dinner concluded, two hours had passed. It was amazing how quickly it flew. We all gave praise to Grayson over the quality of his restaurant. Charles and Josephine had insisted that Grayson bring me home with him soon to meet the rest of the family.

  “It was lovely seeing you again, Gabriella.” Josephine pulled me into a tight embrace. “Don’t break his heart,” she whispered before pulling back a polite smile on her face.

  We said our goodbyes outside the restaurant. Grayson began tugging me away down the street. Where the hell was he taking me?

  “Where are you going?” Charles called out asking the question I wanted answered.

  Grayson turned to respond to his father. “We’re parked over here.” He pointed to the parking garage.

  “You drove?”

  Grayson nodded pulling me along again. “Where are we going, Grayson?” I asked once we were far enough away from his parents.

  He didn’t pause in his strides; he just kept pulling me along. “I wasn’t lying to them Gaby. We really are parked over here.”

  He pulled me into the concrete building. I looked around, not seeing the car we rode in. Before I could even open my mouth to ask again why we were there, Grayson pulled be against his hard body, his mouth instantly on mine. My body moved with his like a magnet. My finger gripped his hair pulling him in deeper. His hands glided up and down my back, coaxing desire to spread to my core. I felt the harsh, cold concrete against my back as his hands found my hips pushing me against the hard wall. I hadn’t even been aware we had been moving. That was the effect Grayson had on me. He could make everything in the world fade away except him and me. And being a vampire with heightened senses, that was saying something.

  I slid my fingers down his chest feeling every defined hard muscle hidden under his shirt. I quickly undid the first few buttons before Grayson grabbed my hands pinning them above my head. He then rained kisses down on me. My neck, my shoulder, my breasts. He released my hands before dropping to his knees, trailing kisses down my stomach.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, breathless.

  Grayson’s hands slowly were slipping under my dress, coasting up my thighs. “Rain check, remember?”

  “This is more than just a rain check,” I moaned.

  Grayson’s hands paused in their ascent up my dress. His eyes locked on mine, while his fingers stroked my thigh lightly going back and forth. “I appreciate everything you did for me tonight. Everything,” he pressed. “Now shut up and let me show you my appreciation.”

  His started pushing my skirt up to my hips. Every inch it rose, my breathing became heavier. “We could get caught, Grayson.”

  He looked up at me again, eyes smoldering. His hands rested on my hips, holding up the fabric of my dress. “You’re a vampire, Gaby. You can hear everything.”

  I nodded hastily. I probably would have agreed to anything he said while he held that gleam in his eye. Grayson licked his lips. Throwing my leg over his shoulder, my body began to shake with anticipation. The fact we were in public made everything so much more intense. He pushed my panties to the side and slowly descended onto my sex. I groaned when his tongue did one long swipe across it. Then, he latched on with his tongue swirling around my sensitive nub. Using one hand to hold my dress up and hold me steady since I was writhing against him, Grayson eased his other hand down.

  “I want you so bad,” I moaned.

  He eased a finger inside of me. I cried out with pleasure of it all. He was building me closer to the edge. “I know baby,” he whispered against my sex. His warm breath and words only added to my pleasure.

  I had forgotten that I needed to be listening out for people. I’m sure if any were around they would certainly know what we were doing. I wasn’t exactly being quiet. Keeping my eyes closed, I opened up my hearing, noticing nothing unusual before I relaxed back into the exquisite torment Grayson was causing me. I tangled my fingers in his hair, holding him against me as I came hard, screaming his name.

  My cheeks were flush with the pleasure of it. My skin tingled everywhere as I slowly relaxed back into my skin, feeling a warm blanket of bliss surrounding me. I opened my eyes and that feeling was short lived. It washed away and was replaced immediately by dread. Staring across from the other side of the garage stood Anton.

  He was no more than one hundred feet away. I felt all the blood drain from my face. Grayson felt my body tense up. He looked up at me, but I couldn’t break my gaze from Anton. The rage and disgust I saw building in his features had me terrified. Grayson noticed my expression. He disengaged himself from me, realizing someone else was there. He pulled my skirt down letting it fall back around my knees.

  “Is this what you’ve been doing, your many nights away from home.” Anger leaked from every surface of Anton. “Him?” He spat gesturing his hand in the air.

  Grayson stood trying to block me with his body from Anton’s view. I held my hand up gripping his arm. “Don’t,” I whispered easing him behind me.

  “Yes, human. Don’t,” Anton sneered. His eyes narrowed in on something on Grayson. If I thought he was angry before... “YOU FED ON HIM!” Anton seemed as if he was more stating a fact than asking a question. Fury rose in his eyes as they locked onto the old puncture wounds on Grayson’s neck, his collar not quite covering them since his shirt was still half undone.

  My breathing was heavy and quick. My heart pounded in my stomach. I tried my best to ease them both, knowing Anton could hear them with his senses.

  “Did you fuck him?” What little blood that remained in my face drained away, and I thought I was going to faint. I didn’t think it was possible, but my heart raced faster. I thought it might explode. Anton glared at me upon hearing it. He knew the unspoken answer. His expression, already contorted with anger, turned completely hostile. “YOU ARE MINE!” He shouted at me.

  I cringed but stayed in my spot in front of Grayson. “I was never yours, Anton,” I whispered through clenched teeth, knowing he could hear me even though it came out airy.

  He ran his hand through his midnight black hair. Lowering his tone he hissed, “I should kill you for your indiscretion,” I refused to turn away from him. Instead I locked my blue eyes on him. A wicked smile spread on his face, “but I have a better idea. One that will teach you a lesson and that will also allow me to keep you.” His eye flickered back to Grayson. “I’ll kill your human as punishment.”

  What happened next was almost impossible to see. I barely caught it, I knew no human could. Faster than a bolt of lightning, Anton moved at superhuman speed across the garage towards us. Even with my enhanced vision, if I would have blinked I would have missed it. He was a master and could move faster than any normal vampire could. I guess the fates were looking out for me that day, because I didn’t blink. I saw Anton move, speeding towards us. He had his hand raised to knock me out of the way. As if I had hours to decide what to do, my brain processed on instinct. Quicker than I had ever moved before, I shoved Grayson in the corner then turned to meet Anton. I crouched down. My shoulder made contact with Anton’s chest. Using all the strength I could muster, I pushed against him with my forearm sending him flying through the air. He crashed against the hard wall across the garage, cracking the cement. Before he stood, I was crouched down in a defensive position in front of Grayson. My black hair swung over my shoulder, almost like a curtain around my face, darkening my features.

  Anton stood taking me in, his lips curled over his teeth, snarling at me. He made to take a step towards me. A growl escaped my lips. Yes, an actual growl. I sounded like a mountain lion protecting her young. Grayson may not have been my young, but he was certainly mine. I had never heard a sound like that come from me. I never expected it. Apparently, neither did Anton.

  He stood there, glued to his spot. His anger melted to disgust. “You would choose a human over your own kind?” His face wrinkled as he spoke.

  Not moving from my position, I glared at him with what I knew where honey green eyes, I spat through closed teeth, “He is just as much my kind as you.”

  Anton rolled his shoulders back while straightening his clothes. Running his fingers through his disheveled hair, he did his best to tame his appearance. “That’s right, you little half-breed. You don’t really belong anywhere.” His eyes were cold as he continued. “You want to choose a puny, insignificant human over us.” He shook his head in disapproval. “They are food, Gabriella. Cattle ripe for the slaughter. We are the superior race.” He took a deep cleansing breath, holding his hand out to me. “Come with me now. You belong with us, with your mother.” I didn’t move. “Or do not think about returning. You will be an outcast in our world, just like in his.” I still didn’t move. I was ready in case this was a ploy and he tried to make a move toward Grayson again. Anton’s eyes darkened with hatred. “Fine!” He bellowed, dropping his hand, “but this isn’t over.” With that, Anton turned and blurred out of the parking garage.

  I stayed crouched. Frozen. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. I had been exiled. I don’t know how much time passed before Grayson placed his hand on my shoulder. I turned looking at his hand, and then flicked my eyes to his face. Seeing the love and sadness in his expression caused me to relax. I blinked and I knew my eyes had changed back to their regular deep blue color. All the fight drained out of me as Grayson pulled me into his arms. My head rested against his white linen shirt as the tears spilled down my face. Grayson held me through it all.