Unafraid (8 page)

Griffin opened the door to allow the manager
of the restaurant to enter. The man froze in his tracks and stared
at Tessa. She glared back at the man. These two obviously knew each
other. The insanely possessive beast that had claimed Tessa as his
own long before Griffin had seen the truth reared his head. Griffin
didn’t believe the pudgy man was a threat to their relationship
like that slick human who’d spent time in Tessa’s bed had been. The
thought of the darkly handsome son of a bitch still made Griffin’s
blood boil.

This human looked at Tessa’s worn shoes,
nondescript shirt, and jeans with distain. He looked around the
well-appointed living area. He inspected Griffin in his designer
apparel and turned back to Tessa. The beast in him realized the
human male found Griffin’s female lacking. A growl built in his
chest that he didn’t realize had escaped until both Tessa and the
man looked at him with frightened eyes.

“Do you have a problem?” he growled at the
manager of the restaurant.

“N-no Mr. Vaughn, I was just surprised to see
my employee when she hasn’t reported to work for weeks,” he
stuttered.

“Your employee?” Tessa snapped, “I was fired
for not allowing a customer to grope me or assume it was acceptable
to offer me money and demand sex. I am not your employee, Sal!”

Sal looked perplexed, standing between a
hissing Tessa and Griffin who was finding it difficult not to
strangle him. Taking deep breaths to calm himself before his eyes
shifted to black, Griffin snatched the bag of food and sat it on
the entry table before digging out his wallet. He could feel his
fangs beginning to press into his lower lip. The sooner this
asshole was gone the better.

“Sebastian assured me that your dismissal was
a mistake. Even though I believe you deserved to be let go for
taunting a customer and then assaulting him when he took you up on
the offer,” Sal whispered in a tone too low for anyone but Tessa to
hear.

* * *

Oh shit!

Griffin was fishing through his wallet when
Sal issued his insult. She didn’t think he could possibly have
heard the whispered slur, but it was obvious that he had when his
head whipped around and eyes black as coal burned a hole through
the back of Sal’s head. Griffin’s fangs were biting into his lip
and he seemed to grow. Pure rage pumped into the air like a wave.
Even Sal seemed to feel it and shrunk in on himself like a
terrified child.

Tessa had to get Sal out of the apartment
before Griffin did something he would regret. They were having
enough trouble dealing with their differences. Griffin had strict
ideas about the proper behavior with humans that Tessa understood
were ingrained in his people in order to protect them from
discovery. He had already crossed a major line in his relationship
with her. If he injured a human because of her, Tessa feared it
would only compound the issue when he calmed down.

Sal hadn’t seen Griffin’s eyes or fangs, but
a very real sense of menace made the air thick. He began to slink
toward the door and freedom. Tessa would help him go. She shoved
Sal, getting him moving faster and blocked Griffin’s path to the
man when they passed. Thankfully, Griffin seemed frozen with
rage.

“Take the money for the food out of my check.
You haven’t paid me for the last week I worked.” She nudged Sal
harder.

“Shall I inform Sebastian that you will not
be returning? He hasn’t allowed me to fill the position because he
insists you will be returning any day.” Sal just couldn’t keep his
mouth shut. Griffin was growling again and moving toward them. Sal
tried to peer around her to look for the source of the noise.

“Tell him I will call him very soon. I have
to get back to work. I have rent to pay.” She reached around Sal to
open one of the large cherry wood double doors, but froze at the
all too calm sound of Griffin’s voice.

“Stay where you are, Sal.” A chill ran down
her spine. This was bad. She tried to push Sal out of the door but
he didn’t budge.

“Yes sir, Mr. Vaughn,” Sal replied
tonelessly. Tessa looked up to find Sal looking completely absent.
He stared straight ahead as if examining something off in the
distance. Griffin must have put the vampire whammy on Sal. He
approached slowly, clenching and unclenching his fists as he
crossed the room. He gently moved Tessa out of his way.

“Sal, you will tell your employer he will
never see Tessa again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mr. Vaughn,” he replied with no
expression.

What the hell? Griffin had no right to make
that decision for her. “Sal, you will do no such thing!” She turned
her anger on Griffin. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. You
have no right to decide who I can speak to.” He growled and stepped
toward her, but she didn’t back down, even if he did look like the
human nightmare version of a vampire. This had to be where some of
the myths about vampires originated. It was as she said; there is
always some kernel of truth.

“I need a job, Griffin! I have to pay rent
and feed myself.”

“Sebastian paid your rent until the end of
your lease,” Sal piped up.

“What?” Griffin nearly shouted the question
at a dazed Sal.

“Yes. He worried she’d be displaced if she
had no income so he had me pay the rent up until the end of her
lease. Why he bothers with her I don’t know. She’s pretty enough,
but he can do so much better. The fool is infatuated with a
good-for-nothing waitress. The place is a shit hole. I hated going
in there,” Sal deadpanned. Griffin lunged at Sal and pinned him to
the door with a big hand wrapped around his throat.

“Griffin, stop it now! You can’t hurt a
human! You know you don’t want to do that,” Tessa pleaded. She knew
he would regret anything he did in rage. Sal’s thoughts of her
meant nothing to Tessa. Griffin released the offensive asshole with
effort.

“He insulted you, repeatedly,” Griffin
hissed.

“Yes, he did and I’m sure that’s not the last
time. I’ve been looked down upon most of my life. I don’t care what
he thinks of me. Please send him away now.” She used her best
‘soothe the wild beast’ voice. Griffin stood there glaring at Sal
and taking deep, calming breaths. He dug in his pocket for several
hundred dollar bills and stuffed them in Sal’s shirt pocket.

“Leave,” he said through gritted teeth. Sal
promptly turned and exited the condo.

Griffin stood with his back to Tessa, his
chest heaving. He was so angry Tessa couldn’t stand to be in the
room with him. The seething rage pouring off of him was stifling.
She didn’t know why he was so angry. Sal was a jerk. Now he was
gone so she didn’t get his overreaction. She was the one that
should be angry at his highhanded behavior. It had been a bad idea
to go to his place. Grabbing her coat and her purse from the entry
hall, she went to the door. He still hadn’t turned around.

“I’m going to head home now. I’ll catch a
cab. Good night, Griffin.”

“Don’t even think about opening that door,”
he threatened.

“Excuse me? Look, I don’t know where you
suddenly got the idea that you’re in charge, but you aren’t. If I
want to go, I will,” she scoffed. She didn’t give a damn if he was
vampire or the president. She had been on her own for too long to
have somebody stroll in and try to take away her choices. She was
going out that damn door.

She turned the knob but before she could pull
the door open, she was slammed against it and trapped by a very
large, very menacing vampire between her legs. His hot breath
rushed over her face and his fangs glistened under the dim hall
light. His hands held her tightly but not painfully. Her heart was
pounding against her rib cage while she watched Griffin struggle
with some emotion she didn’t understand. He was looking at her with
a mixture of anger, need, and reverence.

“You are mine. Do you understand me? You are
mine to defend and mine to love.” He kissed her deeply and his
fangs cut into her lip, causing an intense stinging sensation.

Tessa’s mind was reeling from his declaration
of love. At least she thought it was a declaration of love. She
tasted her blood but she didn’t stop kissing him or pull away. He
was devouring her mouth and pressing tight against her body.
Griffin groaned and lapped at the blood on her lips. This was what
she needed. This was where there was peace for them. When he loved
her body nothing else mattered. There were no vampires or humans,
no rich or poor. They didn’t think about their differences or the
difficult road ahead of them. There was just Griffin and Tessa.
That was enough. That was everything.

He pulled back to rip open her shirt and bare
her breasts to his hungry gaze. The chilled air tightened her
nipples. She’d purposely not worn a bra. He seemed to enjoy the
slight sway of her breasts when she went without one. He took one
taught bud into his mouth and suckled, unintentionally grazing her
with his extended fangs. He licked and sucked both breasts, but
didn’t linger long before he was tugging at the clasp of her
jeans.

“I will teach you that you are mine, Tessa.
No other man touches this skin. No other man tastes my kisses.” He
took her mouth in a punishing kiss. “This is my mouth, my kisses,”
he snarled.

“Griffin, I told you I’m not seeing anyone
else anymore,” she tried to explain but he was busy wedging her
against the door and ripping off her shoes and jeans.

“That bastard had no right to pay your way.
No one provides for mine but me.” He grabbed her chin and forced
her to look into his black eyes while he circled his hips, grinding
his impressive length into her softening heat. The rasp of the
material covering his erection against her skin had her nearly
ready to lose it. She said nothing and that seemed to anger him
further. His rage still hadn’t cooled. The room vibrated with
it.

“Did you hear me?” he asked and gripped her
ass to hoist her up high on the door.

“Griffin, I don’t know what you want from me.
I’ve told you I don’t want anyone else and you still completely
exclude me from your life. I know nothing about you or where you
come from. And I’m not even talking about the vampire stuff. I
don’t know what you do for a living. Do you have siblings? I don’t
know why it took you so long to bring me to your home.” He blinked
and an odd emotion that could have been guilt crossed his face but
quickly disappeared.

“I only know your last name because Sal said
it in front of me just now. You give me nothing to work with at
all. You can’t give me nothing and expect everything in return. I
love you, Griffin, but I won’t bow to the wishes of a man because
he demands it. You have to learn how to love me back.”

There. She’d said it out loud. She told him
she loved him. He may think it was too soon for love but there was
no taking the words back now. If she wanted him to give himself
completely, she had to do the same. The ball was in his court now.
He looked surprised to hear the truth of her feelings for him put
so bluntly.

“I do love you.” He kissed her while he
shoved his pants down his thighs. “And you will learn to obey my
wishes.” Tessa was pressed tightly to door when he positioned
himself at her entrance and parted her heat with one long, forceful
stroke.

Tessa wanted to argue his ridiculous dictate,
but he had stolen her breath and every thought from her head that
didn’t involve intense pleasure coursing through her body. She
clutched his broad shoulders and held on while he took her hard
against the door. She couldn’t move at all. She could only take
what he gave her and hold on for the ride. His thick arousal filled
her to near pain that quickly transformed into blinding
pleasure.

“Tell me you belong to me, Tessa,” he
demanded, and their first night together came rushing back to her.
She had given him what he wanted that night with limits. From now
on Griffin would only get what he was willing to give.

“I love you,” she confessed again. He pumped
harder and scraped his fangs across her neck. Tessa cried out his
name.

“Are you mine, Tessa?”

“My heart is yours, Griffin. I love you.” She
hoped he would understand that she wouldn’t be his until he
belonged to her. Griffin roared in frustration and lifted her
higher, changing the angle of his penetration and hitting that
perfect spot over and over. She was so close when he sank his fangs
into her. It surprised her and the shock of adrenaline followed by
the intense ecstasy his bite always brought made her scream her
release to the ceiling. A few more short digs and Griffin followed
her into the blinding pleasure of climax.

They collapsed to the floor and he held her
to his chest, her legs still wrapped around his waist. He kissed
her neck where he had bitten her and told her again.

“I will show you, Tessa. You belong only to
me.”

SIX

Tessa tried to go home every night but
Griffin always found a way that usually involved the most
interesting parts of his anatomy to get her to stay. She’d given up
the thought of putting some space between them days ago. She felt
uncomfortable in his home, especially during the day when he went
to work and she had nothing to do, but she didn’t really want to
leave him. What she wanted was to feel like a real part of his
life. It was obvious he was keeping his relationship with her a
secret but he wouldn’t admit it.

He had shortly answered her questions about
his family by explaining that he had a sister but she died some
years ago, making him an only child. The loss of his sister had
changed his parents. They were in politics so they buried
themselves in their work after her death instead of dealing with
the pain of losing a child. Tessa imagined that had to have made
things even harder for Griffin. He’d lost his big sister and his
parents weren’t available to help him get through it. So he had
basically been on his own since he was in his teens. Other than
giving her the basic Vampire 101, Griffin avoided her questions and
distracted her with sex every time she wanted to talk.