Why would he be? He’s a fucking vampire!
“And you, Millie.”
“Me?”
“A bit.” He holds up his hand and pinches his fingers close together. The gesture isn’t lost on me. “It healed up beautifully, by the way. Your neck.”
One hand flies to my neck again. There’s nothing there. “You bit me?”
“You were very…willing.”
My chest constricts uncomfortably. “Willing? So we did fuck!”
“No.” He shakes his head, smirking. “Not in the way you think.”
“Oh my god.” I press my back into the wall as the realization sinks in. The pain I was in, the feeling of fire under my skin, it only went away when he…touched me. Even now, that touch is what jump started this whole thing. “Oh my GOD.”
“If it’s any consolation”—Gray ducks his head to my level again, a sultry expression on his handsome face—“in more ways than one, you were… sumptuous to taste.”
Not a single thing about him gives away any sort of lie. He’s telling the truth. The feeling of his solid arms holding me close, the press of his mouth to neck; it was all real. My legs shiver as my thighs press together, pulsing from the memory of his fingers moving inside me.
Holy shit. I try to swallow my shock, but it gets stuck in my throat.That’s what he meant when he called me a snack.
“I don’t do stuff like that with strangers,” I sputter, managing some sort of defiance. It’s a thin lie that I’m hoping he won’t question.
“I would never insinuate.” He backs away and sips his coffee, all business. “My blood had an unwanted response. If anything, what I did spared your suffering while it healed you.”
“That makes me feel a little better.”I guess.
“Don’t get me wrong.” He smiles wryly. “I did enjoy itimmensely.”
My face heats. I bite my bottom lip and suck in a deep breath, hoping it helps to calm my shaking nerves. “Did I black out? How did we get back here?”
Before Gray can answer, my phone blares, vibrating against the aged hardwood floor, flashing Dax’s name across the screen. He’s probably calling to see why I’m not there yet. There’s no good way to tell someone that a vampire cornered me in the kitchen. Even so, Gray reaches down and picks it up, passing it to me with ease.
“Better answer it,” he says.
The uncertainty I’m feeling mixes with anxiety and fear. If I was going to be a meal, I’d be dead by now, right? I reach for the phone and bring it to my ear.
“Cheeks? You there?” Dax is on the other end, his panic reflecting mine. “Did you leave yet? Where the hell are you?”
Unable to break my gaze from Gray, I manage a weak, “Sorry, Dax. I won’t be able to make it. Go ahead and put Trish up in my place.”
“Mil—”
I hang up, licking my lips. “Now what?”
“Well…” Gray leans against the counter languidly, as if he owns the place. “That’s entirely up to you now, isn’t it,Cheeks?”
“Sounds like you and I are in for a long night together.” Gray smirks and then straightens. He stretches his arms above his head, lifting the hem of the shirt to reveal his toned, flat stomach. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to freshen up in your bathroom.”
“Sure thing.” My jaw is on the floor, metaphorically speaking. I’ve never felt like a guest in my own home before, but there I stand, unsure of myself. Gray disappears from the kitchen in a flash of inhuman speed. There one minute, then gone the next. I hear a door shut down the hallway a second later, followed by the unmistakable sound of aged pipes rattling in the wall to bring in the water.
I take a breath. Then several more.
Don’t lose your shit, I tell myself.Use this time to get it together, okay?
My phone goes off in my hand again. I know it’s Dax without even looking. Hanging up on him mid-sentence is a cardinal sin. If I don’t answer, he’s just going to keep calling and texting until he shows up at my house unannounced. The problem withanswering him, though, is that I have no reasonable explanation.
