by D. C. Gambel
“I am not misguided,” she coughed. “You are, if you think I will ever stop until I find justice,” her words trailed after us.
I stood on the third floor taking deep breaths with my head buried against Grayson’s chest; his arms were gently wrapped around me. My body shook with the rage I was struggling to contain. Part of me had wanted to kill Ava. It would have eliminated any potential threat she posed, but I couldn’t. Anton had deserved death over what he had done, but Ava had only made threats. If I killed her for just words, it made me no better than Anton.
“There you are, Gabriella,” my mother called making her way to me. “So you needed to know something about your father?”
Warmth spread deep into my stomach as fingers strummed across my hip. Hot breath whispered against my neck before being replaced by soft, gentle lips. I moaned leaning into the pleasure.
“Are you awake?” Grayson whispered softly against my neck then carefully nipped at it.
“Getting there,” I mumbled sleepily.
“Good.” Grayson pulled the sheet down my bare skin that was suddenly assaulted by cold air. I gasped before he covered my body with his and settled between my thighs. His lips fell against mine with a groan.
It had been three weeks since our visit to the nest and the talk with my mother. Grayson knew I was becoming frustrated with our lack of results. My mother had explained that she left my father in Seattle, but after several phone calls to all the local nests, there wasn’t even a hint of his whereabouts. Although I couldn’t help but feel she wasn’t being completely forthcoming. I didn’t know why, but I believed she was hiding something. It might have had something to do with her rapid heart rate every time we spoke about my father.
Grayson’s hand glided up my thigh, over my hip and up the side of my body before coming to rest on my breast. He rolled my nipple between his thumb and forefinger causing my back to arch into him and my head to tilt back. Lowering his head he claimed the other peak with his mouth sending a rush of erotic sensation between my thighs. I shifted my hips trying to coax him to the place I most desired, but he wasn’t having any of it. His heavy body pinned me down not allowing me to move.
He was now almost my level of strength, but my position had me at a disadvantage. I had never heard about anything like him before. No matter the creator, all new vampires started off at close to the same level of strength. Grayson was different. He was powerful enough that he’d have no problem taking on one as old as my mother or even one as old as what Anton had been. It gave me a little peace of mind knowing that Ava would be no challenge to him. I was anxious with her out there and knew that if something happened to Grayson because I chose to let her live, I’d never forgive myself, but until she actually did something, I couldn’t hurt her. I wouldn’t become Anton, simply killing because it was convenient.
Leaning back, Grayson pulled me into the sitting position. Grabbing my thighs, he had me straddle him then lowered me down to his ever ready, hard length. I gasped as he filled me; my mouth forming an O. My arms hooked around his neck. Locking eyes with him, we began to move together. I leaned in, wanting to feel his lips against mine, but Grayson pulled back.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. He shook his head, continuing to move me. I tried again but was met with the same reaction. “I want to kiss you,” I whined.
“I know, but I want to watch you. Every second. Until you crumble and I feel your body clench around mine.”
Hearing his words almost made me explode that moment. Placing my hands on his shoulder, I took control, bouncing on him, rolling my hips, grinding my pubic bone against his chasing my pleasure. Grayson’s hands remained on my hips moving with me, guiding me, but letting me find my own rhythm.
My orgasm hit me by abruptly. Instantly I was crying out, begging him not to stop, to keep going. Gripping me tightly, Grayson lifted me up and slammed me back down using his newfound vampire strength and speed. My orgasm ripped through me with no end in sight. My fingernails dug into his shoulder needing something to anchor my body to the real world while part of me floated into the heavens.
Even after Grayson’s body spilled into mine, he kept up the motion and his speed until my body began to come down. I fell against him burying my head into his neck, inhaling his sweet scent mixed with sweat and sex. It was a heady mix.
“And that was without a drop of blood.” Grayson declared with a cocky grin that I could hear even though I wasn’t looking.
“Mm…” I lifted my head so I could look into his smoky eyes. “Yes, Mr. Alexander, you do have some mad, sexual skills that do not require any enhancing.”
He raised a single brow. “I just wanted to remind you,” his fingers brushed my hair back into place, “that as much as I love what exchanging blood does, we can have mind blowing sex without it.”
I giggled. “But you still need my blood.”
Disengaging us, he laid me down on the bed. My body ached in a delicious way. Grayson shook his head. “Nope, not gonna do it.”
“But Grayson…” I prepared to argue, but was silenced when Grayson laid his finger against my lips.
“I’m not going to feed from you now. You’ll have to come have lunch with me today in my office or rather, be my lunch.”
“Grayson you know what happens when we share blood.” With the exception of when Grayson first turned into a vampire, when we fed from each other it always led to sex. Amazing, mind altering sex.
“I know.”
“And plus you know I’m busy. The Seattle nests haven’t returned my calls and…” I was worried that a physical trip would be required to look for clues. I didn’t know how that would go. Grayson needed my blood, but he couldn’t just up and leave New York. His empire wouldn’t run itself, especially not to chase a ghost. Damien, my father, was just a myth to vampires. And those who knew of his existence had not seen or heard from him in years.
“I know, but for today we are going to forget about it.” I opened my mouth to argue. “No buts, Gabriella. I refuse to feed from you now so either you can come to my office and have lunch with me or you can risk me disintegrating into a pile of dust. It’s your choice.”
“I truly doubt that you’d disintegrate by the time the sun sets.” We had never really tested to see if my blood was truly the way he day walked, all we knew was he couldn’t feed from blood bags. It had taken some convincing and a lot of fast talk, but I had finally persuaded Grayson to drink from a human, even that didn’t work.
“You willing to risk it?”
I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
As much as I wanted to continue my research to locate my father, I knew Grayson was right. One day wouldn’t kill me.
I was dressed in a white maxi dress carrying a large bag of takeout, from the deli on the corner, when I arrived at Alexander Holding Incorporated for lunch. It wasn’t necessary for us to eat as vampires. Food held no nutritional value, but the pleasure of eating wasn’t something I had ever wanted to give up. Plus with both Grayson and I trying to live in the human world, it would seem odd to those around us if we never ate.
I rode the elevator up to the top floor that held Grayson’s office, where I was greeted by his secretary, Betty.
“Go right on in, Miss Carmichael. He’s expecting you.”
“Of course he is,” I mumbled to myself just before I stepped over the threshold of his office.
“Let them know the agreement was for five and I will take nothing less.” I heard his authoritative voice as I shut the door behind me. The sound of the lock engaging had Grayson’s eyes shot up. “I’ll have to call you back. Something just came up.” Hanging up the phone, he held his hand out to me. His gaze gripped mine drawing me in like we were tethered together.
Stopping beside his desk, I set the bag of food down on the ground before placing my hand in his. Grayson pulled me until I stood in front of him which caused the edge of his desk to press into my lower back. His head fell against my st
omach while his arms wrapped around my waist. Instinctively, I trailed my fingers through his dark hair.
“Long day?” I wondered.
“Excruciatingly,” he whispered with his head still down. His hands glided down my outer thigh. Slowly he pulled the fabric of my dress up until he held the hem in his palms. Hiking it to my hips he held it there as he lifted me onto his desk.
“Thirsty?” My voice quivered with excitement as I asked.
“Extremely.”
“Regret not drinking from me this morning, don’t you?”
He raised his head letting his gray gaze pierce straight into my blue one. “I most certainly do not. It means I get to have you now.”
“But your secretary?”
He shrugged. “I guess that means you need to be quiet.” He looked over my outfit, almost as if he was pondering something.
“What?” I was curious.
“White, Gaby?” Not comprehending the issue I looked down, realizing he meant my dress. Grayson grinned wickedly. “I guess that means I’ll just have to take it off of you. We wouldn’t want to risk it getting stained with blood.”
He pulled the dress from my body and let it fall to the floor. His eyes raked over me as I sat there, perched on his desk in nothing but my white lace bra and matching panties. He eased me back until I was lying flat against his desk, my head just barely on the desk. He adjusted my leg and his chair until he found the perfect angle. Without warning, he struck, jarring me. It caused me to gasp then instantly groan as I felt the wetness begin to pool between my thighs that wasn’t from the blood. My toes curled and my body writhed wanting more than just the lustful build that his feeding from me was creating. Without breaking the connection, I felt his fingers trail up my inner thigh to my junction rubbing over my sensitive nub. My back arched off the desk wanting more. Shoving my panties to the side, he slid two fingers effortlessly in.
“Ah…” I moaned.
With a groan, Grayson withdrew himself entirely from me, leaving my empty. He gripped my thighs pulling me to the very edge of the desk. I laid there panting with anticipation when his mouth claimed my sex. I knew I should be quiet, but that moment I couldn’t help but cry out his name.
His tongue invaded my folds, tasting me and caressing me. He slipped his fingers back into me letting them work in tandem with his tongue when his desk phone rang.
“Will you answer that for me, baby, and tell them I’m busy,” he spoke only breaking his mouth from me for a moment while his fingers kept up the penetrating torture.
“What?” In my libido driven state I couldn’t absorb his request, so he repeated it. “Can’t you just let it ring?” I huffed even though I knew he would have to break from the exquisite torment he was causing to answer me. He shook his head causing his tongue to roll over my clit.
“It’s Betty, she knows I’m here. Just answer it otherwise she’ll come in, unless you want me to stop.”
Groaning, I fumbled for the phone. “Mmmister Alexander’s office,” I stuttered while my voice came out higher pitched than normal.
“Gaby?” I recognized the voice as his secretary.
“Hey Betty,” I inhaled sharply. “What’s up?” I panted as Grayson thrust his fingers faster into me.
“Uh…” I could tell she didn’t quite know how to handle me answering. “I need to speak with Mr. Alexander about a phone call on line two.”
“Well,” I swallowed hard passed the lump in my throat. “Mr. Alexander is occupied…eating… right now.” I heard Grayson chuckle, but he didn’t stop his movement. My cheeks flushed, feeling completely embarrassed. I hadn’t realized what I implied until he chuckled. “Lunch,” I added hastily. “He can’t talk,” I let out a deep breath. I could feel myself racing towards the edge. “Tell them he’ll call back…later.”
“But Gaby…”
I hung up just as the orgasm ripped through me. I buried my fingers in his hair clutching him closer until I eased back into my skin.
“That was the best lunch I’ve ever eaten,” he whispered as he pulled me up to sit claiming my mouth with his. I could taste my blood and arousal on his tongue and even though he had just given me an earth shattering orgasm, I wanted him again.
“Wait,” he demanded pressing against my shoulder when he saw where I what I was planning. “I have to tell you something.” Cocking my head to the side, I looked at him curiously. He rolled his tongue over his lips he hesitated.
“Grayson! What?”
“Your mother called my office last night leaving a message on my voicemail. I got it this morning when I arrived.”
My brow knitted. “My mother called you?”
He nodded. “She heard back from the Seattle nests.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Apparently no one has heard from him in nearly two decades,” my mother explained to me. We were talking on the phone. I had called her shortly after the sun had set wanting to discuss with her the message she had left for Grayson. She hadn’t wanted to wake us with her exceedingly early morning call and instead opted for calling his office.
“Could he have changed his name?” I pondered. It wasn’t unusual for a vampire to change their name over the years. We lived so long that your given name wasn’t always used in the common day.
“I suppose it is possible, but I have known him for decades Gabriella, and he never has. Not once. I don’t know why he would now.”
I looked up as Grayson walked towards the room. He didn’t enter. He just stood leaning against the door frame staring at me with a devious look on his face.
“What?” I mouthed.
“Food,” he whispered.
I nodded, holding up my index finger, letting him know I’d be there in a moment. I watched him, admiring the view of his retreating muscular backside. I untangled myself from the spot on our bed and shimmied myself to the edge. “I don’t know mother. We’re running out of ideas. Our sources are nil. I just… I don’t know what else to do. I need to find him. I need to know how to help Grayson.”
“Is your blood still working?” she asked. I had never mentioned it out loud, but the possibility that the effects would wear off was one of my biggest fears.
“It is, but…”
“But what, Gabriella?”
I sighed, “He won’t say anything, but I don’t think it’s having the same effect on him anymore.”
“What do you mean?” I could hear the apprehension in her voice.
I listened for Grayson. He was in the kitchen where I could hear water flowing. It would be almost impossible for him to hear me over it, especially if I whispered. “He doesn’t think I notice, but he’s been feeding from me more and more lately. He tries to push it off as other things.” I hinted, not really wanting to talk about my sex life with my mother.
“Maybe that’s all it is. Your relationship is still exceedingly new not to mention the mating bond can be quite strong when it comes to those other feelings.”
That was the closest my mother and I had gotten to talking about sex. “Maybe, but why is he taking more blood from me during each feeding?”
“Have you tried letting him feed from a human directly?” My mother’s best guess with Grayson’s blood intolerance was that he needed to drink directly from the vein, whether it was mine or not.
“It didn’t work and he refuses to try again. You and I both know that vampire blood will not sustain him forever.”
“I know. I promise I will help you find your father, Gabriella. I will help you in any way I can. I feel somewhat responsible for what has happened to Grayson. Perhaps if I had but listened to you when you explained your lack of desire towards Anton then…” Over the recent weeks, she had said this to me many times. I had constantly asked my mother to not share information with Anton, but she had, even against my wishes, and continued to assure him that I would come around. I knew now that her motives behind her actions were to keep me safe and hidden from other vampires who held a grudge against my father.
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“No mother. You can’t do that. I feel guilty, all the time, but Grayson has told me time and time again that this was what he wanted. He would have eventually chosen it anyways.”
“Gaby?” Grayson’s voice startled me. I wondered how long he’d been standing there. How much did he hear?
“Mom, I have to go. Call me if you hear anything.”
“I will darling and try not to worry too much,” she mentioned before we hung up.
“She’s right, you know?” Grayson stated as I climbed off the bed heading towards him.
Wrapping my arms around his waist I asked, “How so?”
He grinned crookedly. “You do worry way too much.” He placed a soft kiss against my temple.
As the weeks passed, the air grew cooler and the seasons changed. Thanksgiving was our first real holiday together. Grayson and I spent it with his family in Boston. It had been hard to arrange my blood situation, but we managed.
He showed me around the city. He knew it so well that I was a bit surprised when he told me that his parents only moved out there at the end of his junior year in high school. He had originally grown up in Vermont.
“They talked about moving back,” Grayson explained when I asked about Vermont. “Dad refuses to quit working and had a job offer from back home. I think it gives him something to do, but it would have required more hours. Instead a competing offer came in from here in Boston, for more money and a flexible schedule so he jumped on it.” He shrugged but refused to look at me.
I looked suspiciously at the man I loved as he drove me by Boston Harbor. Living in Manhattan my entire life I had never learned how to drive. It was a bit remarkable that Grayson did and was a bit of a turn on when I watched him shift gears in the sport car he rented.
“What?” he questioned, seeing the quizzical gleam in my eyes.
“He just happened to get a job like that or did his son make some kind of arrangements?”
