T. A. Grey (13 page)

“Thank you.”

He was silent for a long time. As they crossed over into Kategan land he said, “You’re welcome.”

The black cloud finally lifted from the pack and streaks of brilliant sunlight flooded the landscape. Though, Dmetri thought, it wasn’t a particularly nice sight. Two of the homes were destroyed and now in the process of being rebuilt and the pack was agitated. Rightfully so, too.

Dmetri finished lugging some of the bigger pieces of debris into the big pile that’d be burned in a bonfire later. God, this was not what he’d expected when he came here. Helping the Kategans, okay, but now he was cleaning like a maid.

A look at the sun overhead told him it was about noon so he made his way to Christine’s house. He hadn’t had much time to be around her in the past few days with all the clean-up and rebuilding going on. He planned to rectify that today. The last time he saw her she’d been adamant about not being his and not moving in with him. While he loved a good challenge, he wished she’d agree already. He was growing impatient...and worried.

He made his way down Christine’s street. The narrow concrete walkway to her cabin was covered in black silt and ash. He stepped through it in his black loafers and knocked on the front door. A strange excitement filled him, made his heart feel heavy in his chest and beat faster than normal. If he wasn’t careful she might get under his skin. As soon as he thought it, he laughed.

Yeah, right.

The door swung open, and his smile turned into a grimace. The woman who answered was older than Christine with curly blonde hair that reeked of hairspray. The woman eyed him like he was a disgusting insect she wanted to squash.

“Yes?”

“Where’s Christine?”

She arched a thin eyebrow at his command then stood in the doorway blocking him. “She can’t see you. She’s busy.”

“Doing what?” He’d rather have his teeth pulled then have to ask these questions. Did none of these lykaens know who he was?

“I don’t see why that’s any business of yours, vampire.” He narrowed his eyes on the shrewd woman. “She’s mine that makes everything she does my business.”

The woman’s mouth dropped open in astonishment and then she tossed her bi-gheaded hair back and laughed.

“Yours? She’ll never be yours. And if you know what’s best for you you’ll stay away from her.”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked in a low voice.

She crossed her arms but didn’t back down. “Consider it what you will. Christine is my daughter and I will only see the best for her. Not a vampire.” She almost sneered when she said it.

He’d had enough of this. “Where is she? Christine,” he called out. No response came.

“As I said, she’s busy.”

Dmetri’s patience snapped like a piece of thread. His palm slammed against the front door sending it flying open. He stalked past the little woman and made his way through the house. She trailed after him in outrage.

“Christine!” When he found the house empty, he turned back around on her. “Where is she?” he asked slowly.

She must have seen the lethal intent in his eyes because she took a step back, eyes widening a fraction. “She’s taking care of Vanessa.”

Dmetri spun out of the cabin before she could mutter another word to him. He made his way to the spare cabin Vanessa was staying in since Brayden rescued her. When he reached it, he didn’t bother knocking but flung open the door.

Christine and Vanessa turned to him with wide stares.

“I was looking for you,” he growled.

The shock left her eyes and turned to laughter. “I’m honored, Dmetri.” Yeah, yeah, she should be. He closed the door and took a seat across the room in the only other available chair. Vanessa rested on a futon and looked as though she’d been in a war zone.

Christine applied some kind of salve over the girl’s eyes and lip where busted skin showed.

“All right, all done.” She put her supplies back in her brown satchel. “Who do you want to come and hang out with you? Rome, Darien, Vane, Vera?”

“No, no one right now. I’m just going to go to sleep for awhile.” They said their goodbyes and left the cabin.

“You look lovely.”

She turned to him and laughed. “I do not. My hair’s a mess, I have sticky ointment on my fingers, and my jeans are dirty.”

Dmetri looked at all the problems she just noted and realized he hadn’t noticed any of them.

“Still lovely.”

She blushed and rolled her eyes but he could see her eyes glittering at his words.

“I would like you to come with me.”

“Where?”

“Many places. My home, France, Russia, Venice. I could take you anywhere you wanted.” She gasped in surprise. He hadn’t even meant to say it though it was all true. “Just say you’re mine.”

She shook her head as if she had a bee stuck in her hair. He almost laughed...almost.

“All right then, I’ve made arrangements for us to have lunch together.” Her smile made his skin warmer, the day brighter. “Another date?”

“Of course, I like dating you.”

* * *

“Come in and have a seat.”

She sat down at the small dinner table and fiddled with the white tablecloth. “What are we having to eat?”

“You, my sweet, are having chicken Florentine and I’m having a glass of B.” She chuckled. “Sounds great.”

He made his way to the fridge, pulled out a casserole container, and started plating it.

“Did you make this yourself?”

“No, since I can’t stand to taste the food I’m sure what I’d make would taste horrible. I talked to Alison Kategan and had her make it for me. I hear she is quite the cook.” He set the plate in front of her and poured himself a glass of red liquid, thicker than wine.

It was an odd sight to see and she found herself surprised even though he’d just told her he’d be having some.

She didn’t hesitate to dig into the food. She finished chewing a big bite and said, “You’re right. This is amazing.”

He inclined his head to her before taking the seat across from her. Once again, his much larger body seemed to take up the entire space, yet he wasn’t a bodybuilder type that physically took up space. He just had a presence about him that spoke of power.

“Any news on Claude?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not yet, but he’ll slip up again. I’ll get him before anyone else gets hurt.”

“How’s your leg?”

He shifted until he was leaning back in his seat with one arm thrown across the back, his long legs stretched out in front of him. The dark look he gave her sent her stomach fluttering.

“Why don’t you pull my pants down and take a look?”

She choked on the bite of food she’d taken and swallowed hard over the lump of meat in her throat. As soon as it was down, she started laughing.

He sighed in defeat. “Forever laughing at me.”

She controlled her twitching lips, barely. “I can’t help it. You’re so funny!” He looked up as if searching for guidance. “I am not amusing, Christine.”

“Disagree.”

He jumped out of his seat in the closest thing to rage since the attack. The change was so sudden, she could only sit there, stunned.

“I am not funny!” Instead of his usual contained, seductive voice, he shouted. Christine pushed herself as far back in her seat as she could as she gaped up at him.

He started to speak, then closed his mouth and jabbed his hand through his hair several times. “I...” He shook his head, sending his long blonde hair slapping around him. “You...” After a moment, he seemed to get control over himself. He took several deep breaths then leveled a hard look on her. It was the only way to describe it, the look pierced her, rooted her in place as if she were frozen in ice.

“What are you trying to say, Dmetri?”

He flattened his palms on the table and towered over her. “I’ve had enough of this. I always get what I want, Christine.
Always.
When I want a woman, I have her. When I want a house, I buy it.”

Christine had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and at the same time her breathing quickened with an emotion that scared her too much to think about. As the protest formed on the tip of her tongue, he made a slashing move with his hand that silenced her.

“No, now you get to hear me talk. I want you, and I get to keep what I want. I’m going to bring Claude Phelans to justice, and then I’m taking you with me. Do you understand me?” Her mouth opened but no sound came out.

His frustration boiling, he rolled his neck and asked again. “I said do you understand me?”

Christine never had a problem with words yet in that moment, they failed her. He stood, waiting for her answer, the tic over his right eye growing more and more agitated.

“But you’re a vampire.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “Yes, we’ve established that,” he said slowly.

“But I need to mate with an Alpha. You’ll never be one.” He closed his eyes as if trying for patience. “No, I won’t. I’m better, stronger, wealthier, and I want you. That’s all you need to know.”

Tired of him towering over her, she stood too and glared back at him. “I have a duty to honor my mother and father’s wishes. I’m not going to ignore that for my own selfish reasons.

No matter—” she caught herself before she made the slip.

“No matter what, Christine? No matter what
you
want?” His point hit too close to home. Christine took a step back then another, when he followed she turned and ran for the door. He caught her before she’d taken three steps.

“No fair, you’re faster,” she said as he turned her to face him.

“We’re finishing this discussion now, Christine.”

But I don’t want to,
is what she wanted to say. The topic was too sensitive, too close to home.

“Listen, I’m not changing my mind no matter what. I may not like what my mother wants me to do, but I’m going to do it. She deserves that much.”

“God dammit, Christine. I’m not asking you to mate with me—”

“No, you just want to keep fucking me.” Her crude words surprised them both, and the vehemence with which she said it took them both by surprise.

“This isn’t about your damn...body, Christine. You’re a puzzling woman whom I want to be around.”

Anger surged inside her, white-hot and quick. She embraced it because she understood it.

The anger was easier to accept.

“So let me guess, after you get the ‘puzzle’ figured out you can drop me off to the side like you did with Vera. Oh, wait, no, that was because she told you she loved you.” He stiffened like a board, his face turning into a dark mask. For some reason his response only riled her anger even more.

“So what happens then? What happens
if
I go with you against my mother’s wishes, and against what is right for me, and then I fall in love with you? Do I keep my mouth shut else you’ll dump me like yesterday’s paper?”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “It isn’t like that.” She laughed, the sound hollow. “I’ve heard about you and Vera. I know how that went down, and now you want to do it with me. How am I supposed to look you in the eye and not say I love you every time I look at you? How can I ignore that? You know enough about me to know that I don’t hold my words for anybody. I’ll say it. I’ll say it until you maybe even start to feel a little something back.”

Her little speech came to a careening stop when he spoke. “You think you could love me?” he asked in a soft voice. He looked at her strangely, an odd light to his eyes.

A blush crept over her cheeks and she struggled to keep from looking away from his piercing eyes. “I...I, no. Of course not. Besides, what would it matter to you?” He looked away, the piercing connection broken. “Indeed.”

“Listen, I’ve got to go.” She reached behind her for the door handle, curling her fingers around it.

She paused before opening the door as if waiting for something. She was met with silence. She rushed out the door without a word.

Christine ripped the carrots from the ground like a madwoman tearing out her own hair.

The leaves broke in her hands and the bundle of carrots only came out part way. She growled and grabbed hold of the vegetables one last time before giving a vicious yank. The soil gave way and the carrots burst forth, spewing clumps of soil on her face and clothes.

Christine sat back, panting, and spit a clump of dirt off her lips. Normally with a bright warm day like this she’d love to sit outside and enjoy the sun, but she was in no mood. Not today, not since her fight with Dmetri. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand why he’d gotten to her so badly. A fling while he stayed here was one thing, but going to live with him?

Impossible.

Why did the man have to be so...frustrating? She marched down to the row of herbs and began yanking on basil leaves.

“Stupid vampire,” she muttered.

She no longer knew what she was more angry at: that he wouldn’t budge on the matter or that she actually liked the idea of going with him. She had so much fun with him, well, when they weren’t being attacked. She loved how uncomfortable he got when she laughed at him or did something he thought was unexpected. He lived such a controlled life, and she got a huge kick out of knocking down his tough exterior.

“One kick at a time,” she muttered

Plus, he just made her feel good. She stood with her bundle of vegetables and came face to face with her problem.

“Damn, how long have you been creeping on me?”

Today Dmetri wore...casual clothes. She’d never seen him in anything other than a suit.

Even when he’d been helping to clean the bombed houses he’d done it in loafers and a suit.

Today he wore a pair of khakis and a neat button-down shirt. It still looked more expensive than anything she owned, but it was an improvement. And damn if he didn’t look great in it.

“I don’t creep. As I said before, I can’t help it if you can’t hear me.” She glared at him. “Now’s not the time to piss me off, Dmetri.” Genuine surprise flitted over his features. “I wasn’t trying to piss you off. I just wanted to see you.”

“Oh,” she said softly. How did he do that? With a simple word he sent butterflies scurrying in her belly and her heart racing like a bunch of galloping horses.