Unafraid (4 page)

That’s when it hit him. He hadn’t enthralled
her at all. He hadn’t masked her mind from the bite. Now there was
no way to separate the sex from the bite in her mind. When the
Council came to scrub her memory of any knowledge she had of
vampires, they would take her memory of him with it. For the first
time in his life Griffin had completely lost himself to a female
and all of his careful training and the precaution that protected
vampires from exposure to the world were lost in that moment as
well. The mistake would come with a price his rational mind didn’t
want to explore. He shouldn’t care that the human would have no
memory of the experience. For God’s sake he didn’t even know her
name! He had just committed a sin that made him no better than the
vampire that taught her about their kind and he didn’t even know
her name.

* * *

How could she be terrified and more turned on
than she’d ever been in her life at the same time? Tessa’s dream
man dropped her on the bed and she bounced slightly, the sagging
springs gave under her weight. He had been scaring the shit out of
her ever since they entered her apartment.

When they arrived, he had looked around her
home with barely concealed disgust before proceeding to glare at
her for long, agonizing minutes. She was embarrassed but she
refused to let him see it. She had never allowed Sebastian to come
to her place. She always met him at the restaurant. This man, this
vampire, was the first person she ever allowed to enter her private
space. This was the best she could do on what she made and judging
by the quality and cut of his clothing and the arrogant air of
authority he wore like a second skin, he was used to far
better.

He was going to be very disappointed when she
informed him that she was his mate. It would then be his decision
to take her or leave her. He was beautifully made and way out of
her league. She wasn’t sure why he had followed her home but was
sure she was going to find out when he stood, staring a hole
through her head as he waited for an explanation. What the hell was
she supposed to say? She didn’t know what to do with him now that
she had him alone. He was a big man that took up so much room in
her home that it seemed even smaller.

When his coat came off she knew he planned to
stay for a while and that was good. In spite of how much he
frightened her, Tessa wanted to be near him. She wanted him to stay
there, in her crappy hole in the wall, until they figured out what
fate had in store for them. Not only that, she had the crazy urge
to rip off his clothes and lick every inch of that long, muscled
body before she had her way with him. The attraction was obviously
one-sided because he continued to look at her with seeming
aversion.

The tension in the room could no longer be
contained and he snapped. With blackened eyes and long, razor sharp
fangs, he descended on her, believing she had a traitorous vampire
lover and he needed information to apprehend him. That was why he
had followed her. Somehow after all of her dreams of this man, she
had allowed the silly notion that he might actually want her to
bloom in her chest. He gripped her face roughly and a tear for the
loss of her fantasy escaped to trickle down her cheek. How could a
man like him want someone like her? He wouldn’t.

Now he looked down at her nude body sprawled
on the bed after demanding that she give him her body. He obviously
had no idea that she would give him anything. She’d hesitated for a
time because she didn’t know if his idea of giving him her body
meant giving up her life. Her dreamed hadn’t prepared her for his
reality. His erect manhood and hungry eyes said he wanted her but
Tessa couldn’t be sure if he truly wanted her or if he was simply
trying to seek out the information he needed using his magnificent
body. She didn’t care anymore. Even if she could hold him only for
a short time, she wanted him.

The exquisite torture went on and on
throughout the night when he finally took her body and her blood.
Tessa experienced climax after climax that seemed to grow stronger
until finally her body couldn’t take any more. It seemed that he
was trying to prove something to her with his demands that she take
only what he gave her, but eventually he relented and gave into her
needs for a bit of rougher play. Though hesitant at first, he
seemed to enjoy it when she asked him to redden her ass with his
palm while he drove her into the mattress. It likely played into
the control of her body he was so obviously trying to
establish.

By the first morning light he had made good
on his promise to make her forget everything but him. Tessa admired
his gorgeous, sleeping form and was glad the thing about vampires
burning up in sunlight was a myth, because she didn’t have
curtains. That had her wondering how much of humanity’s idea of
vampires was colored by misunderstanding and fear.

Tessa didn’t fear anymore. She’d fallen for
him in her dreams and had become addicted to his body in her
reality. She still had no idea if this was just about an easy screw
and the need for nonexistent information for him, but for her it
meant the world. Even if he rejected her now, she would never
regret their night together. He had been rough and demanding, but
generous, just the way she liked it. In the aftermath he held her
close and drowsed on her flimsy sofa bed. When he left, Tessa knew
he would take all that she was with him and possibly never return.
He would take her hopes and dreams and she didn’t even know his
name.

THREE

Tessa dozed off wrapped in his arms, feeling
warm and drowsy after a long night of rough loving. When she woke
some time later it was to find him leaning on an elbow while he
looked down at her. With a bemused expression on his beautiful
face, he traced the lines of her lips with a feather soft touch.
She lay languid and sleepy while he continued to explore the curves
of her body from her chin, down her neck and across her collar bone
to her shoulder where he placed a tiny kiss and inhaled deeply,
breathing her in.

His fingers traveled over the swell of her
breasts and traced a line down the valley between before proceeding
to the dip of her belly button. The look of wonder on his unguarded
face made her wish she could read his mind. When his blue eyes
finally met hers, the gasp of surprise and sudden warming of his
cheeks told Tessa he had been so engrossed in his task that he
hadn’t realized she was awake and watching him.

They stared into each other’s eyes, both
seeming to be searching for answers where there were none to be
found. She was forced to accept that her life had changed forever.
Her dream was indeed a premonition of the future. The stunningly
handsome man in her bed would change her life and her view of the
world forever. Whether those changes were good or bad, she couldn’t
say.

She was now forced to accept that vampires
were real beings, not just creatures born of the human imagination.
Tessa had been terrified and oddly turned on by the sight of her
dream man’s once sapphire blue eyes turning black as coal and the
fangs dropping slowly from his gums. She’d seen and felt the truth
of his vampirism when his passion and hunger drove him to sink his
sharp fangs into her flesh while he rode her body hard. The bite of
his fangs stung for a heartbeat before the most intense orgasm of
her life slammed her into a mindless storm of ecstasy she feared
she would never know again. Finally he spoke.

“Tell me your name, little one. I need to
know. Then we will talk about your boyfriend.” He said that last
part like it tasted foul on his tongue.

* * *

Her name was Tessa. The name suited her. It
was simple, unique, and lovely, just like the woman. Griffin
showered in the tiny tile stall he could barely turn around in.
There surely wouldn’t be any slippery shower sex happening in
there. Through the curtain that was attached to the ceiling to give
the illusion of privacy in the bathroom that had no walls, Griffin
could hear her moving around the kitchen area. She was making
breakfast.

It was Monday morning and he would have to
leave the shelter of Tessa’s humble abode in another hour or so. He
had been with her in a suspended state of unreality since their
meeting on Friday night. They had argued and she attempted to throw
him out on Saturday when he repeatedly demanded that she confess
the name of her lover. She was enraged that he didn’t believe her
but she gave him no choice because she didn’t want to explain her
knowledge of his people.

Finally, she confessed that she believed
herself to be clairvoyant. She feared telling him because people
always thought she was crazy or evil after she shared her ability
with them. This was also very hard for him to swallow. He knew that
very rarely vampires were gifted with foresight, his own sister had
been widely known for her dream vision before her death, but he
wasn’t aware that humans also carried the trait. After listening to
her explain the story of her life and her mother’s family history
of the talent being passed down through the women, he began to
believe.

It had been a leap of faith in her own
ability and intuition that led her to the alley Friday night.
Though she was reluctant to share any details of her dreams, Tessa
admitted that she knew he would be hunting and find her in the
alley. She explained that night after night she saw him come for
her until finally her fear of the unknown had turned into
curiosity. She blushed furiously when she told him he had kissed
her over and over in her dreams until finally she could convince
herself that he meant her no harm.

Griffin had to concede that he didn’t know
all about the human race and it was very possible that they had
precognitive abilities just like vampires. It was known that
vampires had evolved from humans by the amount of shared DNA they
carried. So logically, the trait could have originated with the
humans. Put in that scientific light, Griffin could accept her
explanation. It also made him feel more comfortable with the ease
with which she had taken him to her bed. Yes, he had bullied her to
gain her agreement, but a woman with a boyfriend wouldn’t have
given in unless she was the unfaithful sort. Not that Griffin was
one to judge. He had never been in an exclusive relationship.

It had taken him some time to get her to
allow him to once again ravish her delectable little body after
their argument, but she eventually gave in to his bullying once
again and stopped trying to kick him out. The rest of the weekend
had been spent in a lazy dreamland where long bouts of sex,
conversation that was mostly about her, sleep and the occasional
sandwich, were the natural order of things. Griffin had neatly
avoided answering any direct questions she asked, but the annoyed
gleam in her eyes said he hadn’t fooled her. She knew he was
holding back.

Griffin marveled at how simple and
uncomplicated Tessa’s life seemed to be. She worked as a waitress
to pay her bills, she did a lot of reading in her spare time and
she enjoyed photography when she could afford the film. Not being
able to afford things was a completely foreign concept for Griffin.
He bought whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it and never
thought twice about the cost.

His weekend spent in the company of a woman
that didn’t want him for his money or position had been refreshing.
They hadn’t once set foot outside of her door. He had ignored the
buzzing of his phone in his coat across the room until the battery
finally died. He wasn’t trying to fool himself into believing he
would like to move into a hole in the wall and rough it rather than
face his responsibilities, but he had to admit that the life of the
lower class was not as horrible as he had always believed.

Now his little hiatus was coming to end.
Griffin had to get to work today. For all he knew his family had
the entire warrior class out scouring the streets looking for him,
but he was reluctant to leave his little human beauty. She had a
fire in her that was infuriating and exhilarating at once. She
argued with him in a way that no one ever dared in his world. His
word was law outside of her door but on this side of the door he
was just a man like any other. After his initial rush to claim her
body and feed was satisfied, Griffin knew he should have gone home.
The impulse to be near her should have quickly faded but it
hadn’t.

Again and again when he thought of leaving
her, the beast would raise its demented head and demand to possess
her. Tessa was a prize for any man and he knew others would covet
her beauty. They would want her as he did and it made him crazy.
Again and again over the course of his short time with her he had
tried to show her with his body that he was the only male worthy of
her charms. He had tried to make her concede to his dominance and
admit that she was his, but she would qualify her responses with a
firmly spoken ‘for now’ every time she admitted that her body and
blood belonged to him.

She had a sexual appetite to match his and
she liked it a little rough. At first he had hesitated with some of
her requests, but once he was assured that he could control his
considerable strength and not harm her beautifully delicate body,
it had become a turn on. The sight of her rounded ass bearing his
hand prints while she writhed and climaxed around his length was
highly satisfying. Then, she would turn the tables and tie him to
the flimsy bed rails while she tortured him with her hands, mouth,
and body. Of course he could have broken free at any moment but he
allowed her the fantasy of power over him for a short time.

Tessa was perfect in every way, except for
one, she was human and that would never do. The fact that he was
considering anything beyond a few nights in her bed had him shaking
his head. It had been fun but the time to end his little vacation
had nearly come. Once he returned to the real world, no doubt he
would quickly forget her. The primitively possessive lunatic pacing
in the back of his mind completely disagreed. He was working out
ways to keep his little human prize.