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He let himself out of the suite, leaving me naked on the bed, hugging my knees.
* * *
Islept until almost noon, but when I woke up, Gabriel was still in his suite. The guard on duty said he’d left orders not to be disturbed.
Sharp hurt twisted my insides.Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I nodded coolly. “Thank you.”
I downed one of Lougenia’s amazing brunches without really tasting it, and then headed out to explore the beach house, trailed by the lean, curly-haired man who followed me everywhere. I’d tried to talk to him, but all he’d said was his name, Paco, and that he was a dhampir.
“Like the boss,” he’d added, unsmiling, but with obvious pride. The dhampirs, at least, were on Gabriel’s side.
There were two other bedrooms, both unoccupied. Gabriel’s security force apparently slept elsewhere, probably underground, since the only buildings I’d seen other than the beach house were a massive garage and the pool cabana. The gym was occupied by two hard-faced, tattooed men, so I backed out and returned to my suite.
I worked out in the living room for a while, practicing my self-defense moves and wishing again for my switchblade. Still, pretty as my suite was, it was starting to feel like a cage.
My workout finished, I took another walk to the pond. Gabriel was still nowhere to be seen, so I donned my bathing suit and went for a swim.
Gabriel wasn’t at dinner, either. After eating, I hung out with Lougenia for an hour before wandering onto the balcony. The sky grew heavy, gray. Far out to sea, rain began to fall. It swept across the water toward me in a shining silver wave.
I raised my face to the cool droplets, letting them run down my face. Drinking in their clean scent. Catching them on my tongue.
I don’t know how long I’d been standing there, allowing the rain to wash over me, when I felt someone watching me. I didn’t have to turn my head to know it was Gabriel.
I wrapped my arms around myself. “Hello.”
He moved up next to me, touched my wet T-shirt. “You’re going to get cold.”
I moved a shoulder. “It’s a warm night.”
He placed his hands on the rail. Together, we gazed at rain falling on the ocean. To the west, the setting sun painted the storm clouds a red-tinged purple.
Gabriel’s fingers tightened on the rail. “You’re not going to stay, are you?”
My head snapped around. “I can’t leave. You said so yourself.”
“That’s right, you can’t.” A pause. “Unless I give you permission.”
I stared at him.What did he mean?
“Would you?” I asked. “Give me permission?”
“To leave?” His jaw worked. “I don’t know. It depends on you, and why you accepted the blood bond.”
My insides constricted. God, I wished I could tell him.
I shook my head and moved away, but he followed, clamping his hand on top of mine when I tried to open the sliding door.
His body was hot against my back. I stiffened, even though what I really wanted was to lean into his warmth. To surrender. I was so tired of running and hiding and lying.
“I know why you came back, Mila.”
I set my forehead on the wet glass. “Stop it,” I said through numb lips. “Please.”
But he was relentless. “What I don’t know is why you left in the first place.”
“Don’t do this,” I begged. “It was for the best, and you know it.”
