Fate (The Edge of Forever) (8 page)

“I know that,” he said with a half-smile.

“Even if you react badly and want nothing to do with me.” 

“I’m not...”
 

I raised a finger to silence him. He smirked rolling his tongue over his lips, but quieted.
 

“Remember how we were just kissing on the couch...”
 

A knowing amused look spread on his handsome face. “Yes?”
 

“You remember how it ended?” His brow furrowed. I tried again. “You remember how quickly it ended. Like I was there, then I wasn’t.” His face stayed colored with confusion, but he nodded. “I can move really, really quickly.”
 

“Is that your secret, Gabriella? Because that’s not much...” He silenced as I blurred across the room, faster than his eyes could track.
 

“That’s part of it.”
 

Startled, Grayson turned seeing me sitting on his kitchen counter. “Holy. Shit.” His eyes grew wide with shock as he gaped at me.
 

“I’m going to move again. Please don’t scream.” He slowly nodded. I blurred again coming to sit next to him. I was surprised he didn’t flinch away. “There’s more,” I whispered. Grayson tilted his head up, eyes blinking slowly. I knew he was trying to process it. “If you don’t think you can handle it, I can stop.”
 

He licked his lips, wetting them. And even in the tense moment, it was still sexy and made me think dirty thoughts. “How much more?”
 

“A bit.” His eyes widened, so I quickly continued, “but it all sorta wraps around the main thing.”
 

“Which is?”

I shook my head. “If you’re not okay with just this little bit, then you will definitely not be okay with the big part.” 

He shook his head, “Gaby, it’s not that I’m not okay with it. I’m trying to make sense of it and I can’t. So please, just tell me.”
 

I looked down at my hands. I was wringing them in my lap. “I’m sort of a vampire.” It took me a minute before I could look up to see the expression on Grayson’s face. It was confused.
 

Before I got a chance to speak, he asked, “How are you ‘sort of’ a vampire? I mean I’ve seen you out in the sun. I’ve watched you eat, food, with garlic. I don’t understand.” So I laid it all out for him. My mother, the transition, the nest, the blood bank. All of it. “So how old are you really?” He raised his eyebrow jokingly.
 

I giggled, “I really am twenty three.”
 

“You look younger.”
 

I nodded. “Once I hit maturity, I stopped aging. The elders aren’t sure if I’m stuck or if I’m aging very slowly. There are very few like me, and none that can go out in the daylight, so the vampire are stumped.” He chuckled then pulled me into him, holding me tight against his chest. My heart raced and tingles spread throughout my body from surprise or just the thankfulness that he wasn’t asking me to leave and never come back. My head rested over his heart listening to it pulse blood through his body.

“So you’re like Blade, the only day walker?”

I giggled. “Yeah, I guess so, except I’m no vampire hunter.” I let the humor fade away and the seriousness of the situation over take me. “Are you okay with this?”
 

Grayson let out a long breath, “Gaby, you’re not killing people. You were honest and gave me all the details. This is who you are. I’d accept you even if had a dragon tail under that dress of yours.”
 

I giggled, “No tail that I know of.”
 

He gently eased me back until he could see my face. His expression was suddenly serious. My heart pounded at his tense demeanor. “Can you show me?”
 

“What?” That caught me by surprise.
 

“You said earlier you had to stop kissing me because...” He trailed off and gestured to his mouth as if to remind me. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He noticed my discomfort. “If that’s out of bounds, I apologize.”
 

I briskly shook my head. “It’s not that.” I looked into his gray eyes and they held me. His expression changed and I know he saw my eyes darken, but not with anger, with something I still wasn’t all to familiar with. “If you want to see me like that you have to get me there,” I whispered, my voice almost airy. “I’m too tense to relax enough to show you.”
 

Grayson’s lips pulled in the corner creating a sexy half grin. “I think I can do that.” His hand wrapped around my hip, pulling me down until my back was flat on the couch. Slowly he slid his hand up my side causing my head to tilt back from the pleasurable sensation. When his fingers curled around the back of my neck, he paused. “Look at me,” he demanded with a hushed voice carrying an edge of hunger. His forcefulness was such a turn on. My eyes fluttered open finding his face hovering above mine. Grayson’s free hand pushed my knees apart, allowing him to slide on top of me. His eyes danced over my face before he brought his mouth to mine. He took it, claimed it with his lips and tongue, kissing me with a bruising intensity. My heartbeat pounded erratically against my ribs, but my nervousness didn’t stop my fingers from tracing the contours of his chest before easing to his shoulders. His tongue invaded my mouth coaxing my desire to build. The flame inside me was beginning to roar into a scorching inferno. Grayson’s lips found my neck where he placed light wet kisses along my pulse. I moaned with delight, and then gasped when I felt my fangs descend. I squeezed my eyes shut then slapped my hand over my mouth. Grayson heard my reaction and lifted his head to look at me.
 

“Open your eyes, Gabriella.” I shook my head trying my best to gain back my control, but feeling Grayson’s body pressed against me was not helping. “Let me see you.” He whispered running his hand down my cheek. I slowly opened my eyes looking around before finally resting on him. He smiled. “All of you.” He tugged my hand away from mouth. His eyes locked to my fangs, then flickered to my eyes. “Why would you want to hide yourself from me? You are so beautiful.” His lips crashed against mine.

My hand ran up and down Grayson’s muscular back before slipping under his shirt finding his warm skin beneath it. I slowly began to ease my hand up his spine bringing his shirt with it. Grayson broke our kiss. His eyes searched my expression. I smiled at him reassuringly even though my fingers were trembling against his flesh. He shifted his weight making it easier for me to pull his shirt over his head. God he had a nice body. I marveled at him. His chest and abs were well defined, which added to my lust. He sat back on his knees allowing my eyes take him in with a knowing smirk cast across his face. He knew what his body was doing to me, of that I had no doubt. Slowly he moved back on top of me covering my body with his and kissed me gently. 

Gripping my hands in his silky hair, I pulled him tighter to me. I wanted more, but all he would do was kiss me softly. I lifted my leg, hugging it around his hips urging him towards me. My finger nails scraped, not so gently, down his back. I could hear his heart racing. He was struggling to keep his kisses soft. When I thought I had pressed his control as far as it would go, he suddenly broke away resting his head on my shoulder. I listened to his breathing for a moment hearing it fast and ragged matching mine.
 

“We don’t have to do this tonight.” His breath was warm on my neck. I pressed my hand against his chest easing him off of me. He looked confused and a little hurt, but he moved anyways. Once his weight was gone, I scurried off the couch at human speed. “Gaby?” He sighed resting his head in his hand. I stood a few feet away.
 I knew he thought I was upset about him stopping, but little did he know I had no intention of stopping tonight. Not unless he physically removed me and even then my strength out matched his tenfold.

Reaching behind me, I found the zipper to my dress. The sound of it coming undone got Grayson’s attention. His eyes darkened with lust and a hint of panic. Once the dress was completely unzipped, I turned my back to Grayson. I let the dress fall in a pool at my feet. Stepping out of it in only my black bra and matching boy short panties, I gradually, with as much confidence as I could muster, made my way down the hall toward his bedroom while casually undoing my braids.

I didn’t even make it to the hall when I heard, “You’re going to be the death of me.” Then Grayson rushed toward me at an almost inhuman like speed, then lifted me in the air and carried me to his room.

Chapter 4

Firsts

The
 morning sun beat against my skin, warming my back, entreating me to awaken. My eyes fluttered open half-hooded with sleep. There was a rhythm pounding against my ear that I found comforting. Raising my head, I relaxed it on my elbow. A thrill ran down my spine at the sight of Grayson lying beneath me with white linens draped around us. His heartbeat against my ear was how I had fallen asleep last night and how I awoke. It was complete perfection. I used the moments before he woke up to look around the quiet room. The bed we were lying in was against the wall farthest from the door. The closet door, in front of the foot of the bed, was slightly ajar. A light wood chest of drawers stood beside the head of the bed. The memories from the previous night came flooding back just as clear as if I was reliving them.

Grayson had eased me gently down onto his bed until I was sitting. Our lips locked. Our tongues tangled together, tasting one another. He broke away abruptly. Standing there before me, he looked like a Greek god that had just descended down from the heavens. In that moment, a thought crossed my mind; he was mine. I delighted in that knowledge.
 

I ran my fingers down every defined muscle from his chest to the V shape at his hips, feeling every hard indentation. He groaned as his head tipped back with delight. My fingers came to rest at his waistband. Unable to control their excessive shaking, my fingers faltered in their attempt to undo his button. I couldn’t help but feel nervous. Part of me felt that I would be inadequate in some way. I didn’t know how many lovers Grayson had had over how many years, we never talked about it, but I knew it was more than me. He was
 
no 
virgin. Grayson grasped my hand, forcing me to stop. 

“We can wait, if you’re not ready. There’s no pressure.” I softly smiled at him. I was done waiting. I wanted this. I wanted him more than my next breath. Blanketing his abdomen with warm wet kisses, Grayson’s hand relaxed on mine. With a deep breath, moving faster than human eyes could perceive, I quickly undid his pants, easing them down over his hips. Grayson took a tentative step back. For a moment I thought I might have frightened him with my speed, but he gave me a small half grin before carefully removing his pants the rest of the way.

I leaned back on my elbows and let my eyes slowly drink him in. He was phenomenal in every way just standing there, his desire straining against the fabric of his boxers. He held his hand out to me. With a shaky inhalation, my gaze locked on Grayson’s smoky gray eyes and I gently placed my hand in his. The moment our skin touched I felt an electric current pass up my arm raising the hair in its path. Grayson pulled me until I was flush with his body. His mouth crushed against mine with a bruising intensity. Erotic pleasure coursed through me as I felt his hands glide down, gently exploring, and worshipping my body. Head tilted back and eyes closed, I tried to absorb the pleasure. Without delay, Grayson took the opportunity to rain soft kisses down my neck. His lips moved down my shoulder as he walked around to stand behind me. 

I could feel the heat of his body against my back. He softly kissed my shoulder blade, moving to trail his lips down my spine. I felt his fingers trail up my spine, meeting his lips in the middle. My body went rigid when I felt the clasp of my bra give way. My breathing increased more, matching the pounding in my chest, as my bra slid further off my body. Grayson placed his hand softly on my hip. “Nervous?” he whispered softly nuzzling against my neck. I licked my lips. They felt so dry. I hesitantly nodded.

Grayson’s hand pressed against my hip, urging me to turn to face him. My body was trembling but I turned anyways. I placed my hands against his chest to steady myself, worried my knees would give out on me any moment. I wasn’t used to being vulnerable. I was a predator. I was strong, but in this moment I felt entirely human. I kept waiting for his eyes to drop to take in my body, but Grayson, still being the perfect gentleman, kept his gaze from wavering from my face. His knuckles traced down my jaw. He opened his mouth to say something, but I placed a single finger over his lips, silencing him. I didn’t want him to tell me that we could wait again. I had never wanted a person more. In fact, I had never wanted another person ever and I doubt I ever would. 

His eyes finally dropped, taking me in. He smiled crookedly at me before placing a chaste kiss on my mouth. I let my fingers flow down his body until I came to his boxers. My hands were shaking. Grayson placed his on top of mine, steadying them. Together we pushed them down his body. I took a few steps back, sitting down on the bed. My eyes took him in in all his glory. I had never really found the male form beautiful, but Grayson was. He was what the Renaissance artists were looking for when they carved their nude sculptures. My breathing became more ragged when my eyes took in his length. Nerves fluttered through me. He was very well-endowed. Seeing my reaction, he spoke, “I promise your body will adjust to mine.” If I hadn’t been so nervous, I’m sure I would have giggled at his playful tone.