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It was his fault. He’d used the ruse of helping her with her hair to get under her skin.
To remind her of what she couldn’t have.
Him and freedom.
She had to choose. Back then, and now, her choice hadn’t changed.
“Please leave,” she said with the last bit of her dignity and composure.
His face betraying nothing, he inclined his head and returned to the living area.
Gabby took a deep breath, blocking out the scent of their mingled arousal around her. No, she would not cry, or breakdown, or do anything to relieve the pressure in her chest. She turned back to the mirror, kicking Felix out of her mind, and focused on finishing up her hair.
It was dry and silky soft. Whatever Felix had used had been magical. She’d have to remember its name and buy some more later. She had no time, or the ability to put her curls up into any type of fancy hairdo as she was used to. Allowing her locks to cascade over her shoulder, she tied it with a blood-red ribbon she had found rummaging in the vanity drawer.
For a second, she stared at her bare skin. The thought of Felix’s lips there returned with a vengeance.
No. Stop.
She went to the bedroom to get dressed. She’d picked out a deep purple and gold dress made of velvet. The long-sleeved dress covered her shoulders and reached down to her ankles. It was the best they could do with the time they had. She missed the pomp and circumstance of preparing for a party, of taking a luxurious bath, of getting her hair done, and getting new dresses, of gossiping with her cousins and the maids.
If only Maria was here.
After she dressed and put on the sapphire necklace and earrings that accentuated her eyes, Gabby dared to look back in the mirror. The necklace, with its heavy gold chain with the sapphires spaced evenly apart, made her neck look less bare.
Less inviting to unscrupulous vampires. Exposing one’s throat in a party full of vampires wasn’t the smartest move, but it would show everyone she wasn’t afraid.
She was the head of the second oldest House in North America. She would not cower before anyone.
Felix waited for her outside. Since he was her mate, he would escort her to the Gala, as per tradition. Steeling her nerves, she smiled at him, projecting the confidence she would need to face groups of immortal, calculating, and power-hungry vampires.
“Let’s do this.”
Chapter Six
Astheymadetheirway to the ballroom for the Opening Gala, Felix stayed one step behind and marveled at the change in Gabby. She strutted with her head held high and her spine straight, the epitome of a queen marching to court. Her dress with gold trim flowed loosely around her figure except for the satin sash tied under her breasts. He jerked his eyes away before other thoughts, dark and sensual, distracted him.
His gaze landed on the smooth skin of her neck. She had swept her hair to one side and worked a red ribbon through the ends. His throat went dry at the memory of minutes ago. He could’ve seduced her then, go beyond one kiss. Both of them had been drunk with lust denied far too long.
It had taken all of his willpower to stop, to step away, and to leave, even for a few minutes. If things had progressed, she would’ve put more distance between them.
No, he would wait until she was ready to welcome him back into her life, not just physically.
If that meant taking cold showers and working off his frustrated sexual energy in other ways, then so be it.
“The castle, what happened to it?” Gabby asked once the elevator closed. She stood against one wall, as far from him as possible, but her gaze was direct and challenging.
This wasn’t a side of Gabby he knew. She’d been angry, terrified, and desperate when she’d left him. Before that, she’d been an innocent beauty growing up with all the love and care one could wish for in the world.
She’d grown into a powerful vampire without him. A pang of regret hit his chest. He hadn’t been there for her.
She hadn’t wanted him there for that part of her life.
No, he was the reason she’d had to grow, to change in order to live in their world.
Felix pulled himself away from those grim thoughts and how they had destroyed their relationship.
“The Hunters found it about a hundred years after you left. They blew it to pieces.”
