Maybe she was just being sensitive. She didn’t like being rejected when she had literally thrown herself at him like some kind of fool who had no idea what she was doing. Christian had made it extremely clear that they could not mix business and pleasure and she thought –
It didn’t matter what she thought because the truth of the matter was that she was wrong. Just because Christian claimed her and looked at her with lust in his eyes and touched her with a gentle intimacy and she could have sworn something had shifted between them… But she was wrong. Clearly she was wrong when he had jumped out of her grasp like her touch burned him; not with pleasure but with disgust, with pain, and he wanted nothing to do with her.
Was she really that disgusting?
Considering he left her in a men’s bathroom, he had basically told her to get the hell away from him.
She pressed her lips together.
Okay, she could handle rejection. She had been rejected before, like that one time she asked the cutest guy in school to dance in front of all of his friends back in junior high and he flat-out refused. Somehow, Maggie had bounced back from that; she would be able to bounce back from this.
The problem was, she could have sworn he liked her, just a little, in that way. He had said as much. Hell, he had claimed her as his. And yes, he had done so to protect her but she could have sworn there was more to it than just that. Perhaps that was why it was so hard for her to wrap her head around everything.
Maybe this whole thing wasn’t real. Maybe she was so stupid, so naïve, that she thought her feelings for Christian were legitimate when it was clearly just a show, when it was the endorphins and the sexual arousal that accompanied the feeding process. And she had bought into it like the amateur she was. She still couldn’t believe he hadn’t fired her on the spot and gotten a refund for the week she still had left in her 30-day contract.
Maggie shook her head. She needed to get her head on straight. This wasn’t conducive to her health, not if she was believing delusions and stressing out over vampires who literally only hired her to drink her blood.
She sucked in a breath. “No more,” she murmured to herself, her dark eyes flashing at her reflection in the dirty mirror. “No more of this.”
She stepped out of the restroom and headed over to where her friends were. Alek and Danielle were dancing in a way that left little to the imagination about how they spent their sex life, Taylor was dancing with a random but devilishly handsome vampire, and Ashley and Kasandra were dancing with each other. They looked like they were enjoying themselves. They looked like they weren’t pretending. And that was more frustrating than anything else. Maggie had been pretending to be something she was not long before she met Christian. The truth was, she was an inexperienced virgin who had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, missed her grandparents more than she could put into words, and was hurt by her uncles’ betrayal. This whole talk of sex and tight dresses was just a way to seem important when she wasn’t.
And Christian?
Maybe Christian was someone she had decided to throw herself into as a way to run away from all of her problems at home. Maybe there really wasn’t anything between them besides lust and the feelings she got when he bit her neck – which had only been once. She wouldn’t count him pretending to feed on her even though his fangs pierced her skin.
“Maggie.”
Maggie turned, surprised to find Christian leaning against the wall behind him.
“Christian,” she said. “Listen, I’m so sorry for what-“
Christian silenced her by placing his lips gently on hers. “Perhaps you were right,” he murmured against her. “There is something here, between us. I just can’t…” She clenched his jaw and pulled away from him, only slightly. “If my uncle knew I cared about you, he would try and hurt you to hurt me.”
Maggie shook her head. “I don’t understand why you guys have such issues between you,” she told him. “It’s none of my business but if you don’t want to be around him, don’t.”
“It’s not that simple,” Christian said. “I just can’t let myself be around you because I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. You are everything that is pure and good and I don’t want to be responsible for tainting you.”
“Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have propositioned you in a gross men’s bathroom,” Maggie said. “And maybe I’m being totally naïve about everything but I’ve never felt this way before for anyone. I don’t know if I love you yet. We’ve only known each other a few weeks but I can’t stop thinking about you and I know that it’s not just because of the residual feelings from the feeding.”
“Maybe,” Christian said, his voice tight. “Maybe it is.”
Maggie took a step back. “What are you saying?” she asked.
“How do I know that this isn’t the effect of the feeding?” Christian asked, furrowing his brow. “You don’t think this hasn’t happened to me before? Why do you think I keep business and pleasure separate?”
“Then why show up?” Maggie asked. “Why come here? I know you-“
“I know how I feel,” he said, “what I don’t know is how you feel. You were willing to lose your virginity to me in the bathroom of a nightclub. Do you think you would do that if you weren’t thinking clearly? If your endorphins weren’t messed up because of the feeding?”
He clenched his teeth together and looked away. "Listen, if you are what we think you are, you are affected differently by a feeding similarly to the way I, a vampire, am. Fairies fear vampires because once they get a taste - if the vampire doesn't completely consume the fairy, something in the fairy switches on. As in, the fairy wants the vampire to consume him or her. They lose their mind. They lose their senses. Nothing matters more than to feel the vampire's teeth invade her flesh." He rubbed his lips together, his eyes dropping to her neck. "I need you to know that, to understand that your feelings for me aren't real. They're just emphasized because of my feeding. You don't feel anything for me and I'm not going to take advantage of you even though..." His eyes dropped to Maggie's lips and he popped his jaw. "Even though it's exactly what I want, more than you'll ever realize."
Maggie felt her breathing get shallow. She couldn't keep her eyes off of Christian if she tried. "So," she says, her voice scratchy. She allowed Christian's words to sink in, even though she didn't want to hear them. "Where do we go from here?"
Christian pushed his brow up, like hadn't even thought of that.
"I don't know," he told her.
Maggie nodded. "I was told that even though these feelings were enhanced, there still had to be a grain of truth to them," she said. "A fire can't come from nothing, it has to come from a spark."
Christian shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps for vampires," he agreed. "I don't know how it works for fairies. I've heard there's something in your blood that protects you from... but that doesn't make sense because if a vampire drained you dry, wouldn't the defense mechanism kick in?" He ran his fingers through his hair and he looked away. "I don't know how you mate but there's a bond that kicks in, something that offers protection from others who want your blood. I don't know, though. I don't know much about fairies."
"What made you start researching them in the first place?" she asked. The music vibrated through the walls but somehow, Maggie could hear Christian clearly.
"My uncle told my clan that fairies killed my parents," Christian said, "and the only way to face these fairies was to turn. But that isn't true. Fairies did not kill my parents. I didn't even know fairies existed." He shook his head. "I have no idea what to think anymore, if I'm being honest. There's so much I don't know, and everything I do, there are more questions and barely any answers." His eyes flashed over to her, his green clashing with her brown. "I know that when I saw you talking to that vampire in my house, I wanted to put a stake through his heart. When I heard you were coming here, I knew I had to check up on you. When I saw what you were wearing, it drove me crazy to think others would see you, smell yo
u, want to taste you.”
He clenched his teeth together and looked away. Maggie could clearly see a war brewing in his dark eyes and she had to bite her lip to keep from saying anything. “You don’t know what you do to me, Maggie. I want you in all ways, in every way. I don’t want you to even look at another vampire and the thought of him tasting you, sinking his fangs into flesh that belongs to me drives me absolutely insane.” His eyes pierced hers and she couldn’t help but stare at him, couldn’t look away if she tried. “And I know you want me, too. I can smell it on you. Your desire. I can tell you want me in the same way I want you. So when you throw yourself at me, insisting I take you in a men’s bathroom in public for anyone to see, it takes everything in me to restrain myself.”
“Why?” Maggie breathed out. She hadn’t realized she actually spoke until the word was out of her mouth but when it pierced the air, she didn’t take it back.
“Because,” he finally said. His hand reached out and toyed with a strand of her brown hair. “Because it’s not safe for you. Being with me. My uncle is a bad man. There’s a reason why I’ve avoided attachments. I don’t trust him and… I don’t trust myself.” He didn’t elaborate, leaving Maggie frustrated, confused, and hurt. “Maybe it would be best if I let you out of your contract. You can have as much time as you need to find a place and I’ll pay you in full, but…” He let his voice trail off and he brushed the back of his long fingers against her cheek. “I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you. I don’t know what I would do if I’m the one who hurt you.”
Without another word, Christian dropped his hand and took a step back. He held her eyes for one last lingering look before turning his head and walking away. Maggie’s eyes welled up with tears as she stared at his back as long as she could before it disappeared into the crowd of people.
She gave herself a moment to be sad, a moment to feel sorry for herself. And then, that was it. Christian could come up with whatever bullshit reason as to why he doesn’t want to be with her. That was his choice. But that didn’t mean she had to believe it.
“Hey,” a voice said before a hand was gently placed on her shoulder. Maggie looked up only to find Barry staring down at her, a hesitant look on his face. She shook her head, hoping to shake Christian out of her system. “Everything okay?”
What was Barry doing here?
It didn’t matter. She didn’t want to be around anyone relating to Christian but it wasn’t Barry’s fault Christian pushed her away.
“I’m sorry, I happened to see you talking to Christian,” he said. “Did you tell you that the results are in? The lab tech just called. We’re heading over there right now. He’ll meet us there. Do you want me to drive you or are you going with him?”
“No.” The word flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. She glanced at Barry with a light blush. “Sorry. I’ll go with you since Christian… since Christian has already left.”
Barry smiled. “Perfect,” he said, even though it did not feel that way.
Chapter 18
“How’s Christian treating you?” Barry asked as he led her back to Stewart Enterprises. He sat next to her in the black town car, keeping a respectful distance and tilting his head to the side.
“Good.”
Maggie shouldn’t be here. She knew it the moment she walked out of the club and didn’t tell her friends anything. Danielle had done that once and she hadn’t gotten back to anyone until the next morning because she was having sex with her hot professor. Maggie, on the other hand, was being led back to a building she never even liked to get blood test results from someone who hadn’t even ordered her test. Did Christian know her results had come in? Barry said Christian was going to meet them there, which was the only reason she agreed to go with Barry in the first place. Plus, if Barry really had done all those things for Christian, had sacrificed his life just to ensure he didn’t leave his friend’s side, he couldn’t be all that bad. Could he?
She didn’t know. It wasn’t her place to judge. She just knew she had made the wrong decision to get in a car with Barry – however nice he seemed – without Christian. She didn’t know why but Christian should be here.
Her heart started to pound against her chest, her pulse racing against her neck. She tried to control her responses, tried to portray herself as calm and cool, but it wasn’t working very well. She hoped Barry was too wrapped up in something else to realize it. She knew he had the ability to hear her body’s responses to her emotions. He could probably smell her fear but he wasn’t commenting on it.
“Yeah, I’m glad he found you,” Barry continued. It was a beat too late, causing the entire conversation to turn awkward and forced. “He was not his usual self the past few weeks. The guy needed to feed but he’s so picky, it’s tough for him to settle down. The last feeder he had quit on him because she was tired of his inconsistent schedule. Christian can get grumpy if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
Maggie pressed her lips together, not quite sure how to respond to that, so she didn’t. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders and looked out the window, trying to figure out how to text Danielle without him noticing. She didn’t think she was in danger, exactly, but she at least wanted her friends to know where she was going.
Just in case.
The town car pulled up the Stewart Enterprises building. Barry leaned over to the driver’s side and handed the driver what looked like a hundred-dollar bill.
“Hang out,” Barry instructed. “We won’t be long.”
Maggie felt her shoulders sag in relief. That sounded good. They wouldn’t be here long. Which was a good thing, considering the building looked dark and creepy when all the lights were off, save for the lobby’s and it loomed over her like a tall tree in the middle of a rainstorm at midnight.
Barry opened the door and got out. Maggie meant to follow him out, sliding across the leather, but he dashed around to her side of the car and opened the door for her.
“Allow me,” he told her with a grand sweep of his arms.
She murmured a soft thanks, making sure to grab her clutch, and followed him to the entranceway of Stewart Enterprises. Barry produced a key card from inside his blazer pocket and swiped it against the door knob. A green light flashed and the door popped open. He held it for Maggie before following her inside and locking it behind them. He placed his hand on the small of her back, leading her toward the elevator.
Maggie tensed underneath his touch but hoped he didn’t notice. She didn’t feel comfortable with a lot of people touching her, but there was something off about Barry, something she didn’t entirely trust. However, he seemed nice and he was Christian’s closest friend. That had to make him somewhat trustworthy, didn’t it?
They rode up the elevator in silence. Instead of heading up to forty-third, they went to the very top.
“Where are we going?” Maggie whispered. She wasn’t sure as to why she was whispering when it was only the two of them. There was no one around to overhear them, no one around to question what they were up to.
“I told you,” Barry said as the elevator doors slid open. “We’re going to get your results.”
“I thought you said you already had them,” Maggie said. She followed Barry out of the chute, keeping a small distance behind. Just in case she needed to run.
“I do,” he told her.
“So you can just tell me what they are and we can go,” Maggie said. She stopped when he reached a corner office overlooking the city. This had to be Tristan Stewart’s office. Why would he take her to Tristan Stewart’s office?
“I can’t,” Barry said, glancing over his shoulder at her. “Remember? Christian told me not to open the envelope.”
“Why would it be here?” Maggie asked as Barry knocked on the closed oak door of the office. Her eyes widened. Why was he knocking? Who was there? She knew it wasn’t Christian. Who else could it be?
At that moment, the door opened and there stood Tristan. He loomed over her in a bla
ck suit with a red tie. When his midnight blue eyes found hers, the corners of his lips curled up into a smirk and his allowed his eyes to roam over her body.
“You look scrumptious,” he said when his eyes found her face again. “My, my.”
Maggie clenched her jaw, her eyes shifting over to Barry. He wasn’t looking at her, however. His focus was on Tristan.
“Is there anything else you need?” Barry asked.
“No,” Tristan said, shaking his head. “You can leave, Barry. As usual, this will just be between me and you.”
Maggie's heart stopped. She looked at Barry, her mouth hanging open in shock. She probably looked like a fish but she didn't care. Barry had gone behind Christian's back and given him her test results. Which meant that Tristan knew who and what she was. It also sounded like this wasn't the first time Barry had been doing things for Tristan, things Christian didn't know about. And the fact that she knew this meant they assumed she would never see Christian again. Which meant they were either going to kill her or they were going to take her away and never allow her to return.
Maggie's heart went from complete stoppage to jumping back up, racing against her chest like it was trying to escape. Tristan cocked his lips into a feral smile and he reached out to trace a finger down her cheek. She flinched and pulled away, causing Tristan to laugh. A cold sound that didn't reach his eyes and sounded hollow.
"I didn't realize you were a fighter," he said. He took a step towards her and then another. "This will make it so much more fun. Shall we call Christian? Have him watch me claim you?"
"You can't claim me," she said. Her words were filled with confidence even though her words were shaky. "Christian already did that."
Tristan laughed again and Maggie felt another shudder slide down her spine. "Do you take me as a fool, girl?" he asked, raising a brow. "If Christian truly claimed you, he would be right here with you, wouldn't he? Because he'd be able to feel your fear the way I can. I can smell it, you know. Your scent tells me exactly who - and what - you are. I know you aren't like the other donors. I'm not sure if Christian knew it when he swooped you up or if he fell into you due to dumb luck but you smell like love and life and joy. It's the same scent fairies possess." He ripped open the envelope and pulled out the papers neatly placed inside. "I'm sure my nephew ran blood tests in order to see for himself just what you are. Blood tests I'm holding right here." He held up the paperwork but before he could do anything with it, Maggie reached out and snatched it from him.
An Education in Scandal: A Somerset Novel (Somerset Series Book 5) Page 11
