“Who the hell are you?” Grant tried to barge in through the door. With a side step, Devil effectively cut off the man’s entrance.
“So we’re done with the niceties, are we? Good, that’s just how I like it,” he stated. “What do you want, Harrison?”
“I came by to see my sister. Now who the hell are you to Gabby?”
“Her fiancé,” he replied, rubbing the now stiff Gabby at his back.
“Bullshit! She doesn’t have one.”
“She does, and if I hear you using that kind of language around her again, I will rip out your tongue,” Devil warned. Gabby’s wriggling form tested the muscles in his arm. “I don’t know what kind of women you generally hang around, but Gabby deserves better language than that.”
That had his mate settling down and her half brother stunned. This gave Devil an insight into the man who was for all intents and purposes, his brother-in-law. He had already established that Grant Harrison was not a gambler like his father. Otherwise he would have known exactly who Devil was. Any serious gambler and addict would ensure they were familiar with the owners and managers of the casinos in the area. Harrison’s reaction to Devil’s reprimand suggested this man hadn’t been spoken to harshly at any point in his life and was accustomed to getting what he wanted from people. That wouldn’t be happening where Gabby was concerned; Devil would make sure of that.
His mate ducked under his arm and stood beside him. Her backside’s only saving grace was the fact that both of her arms were wrapped around him. She didn’t look too happy about this man’s presence at her home. Her next words confirmed Devil’s suspicion.
“Grant, I thought I told you I would think about your dinner invitation.”
“You also told me you had work tomorrow,” came the man’s impatient reply.
“I do, hence the reason I am at home waiting on Chinese takeout for dinner.”
“Could I have a quick word in private?”
“Anything you have to say to Gabby, you can say in front of me,” Devil snapped, jumping back into the conversation.
“It’s private.” Thankfully, Gabby’s response to the man’s request was to remain where she was, at Devil’s side. “Fine, I get the message. I’m interrupting something here. I’ll talk to you later, Gabby.”
Devil refused to move from the door until he saw Grant Harrison’s car drive away. He made a point of memorizing the license plate, suspecting he would see that car again. As if on cue, as soon as one car departed, another car appeared. Their dinner had arrived, and just in time if his mate’s noisy stomach was any indication.
Kissing the top of Gabby’s head, he suggested, “Why don’t you go and get some bowls out while I deal with the bill?” With a gentle tap to her retreating backside, he added, “You might need a few serving spoons. I had no idea what you liked, so I ordered several different dishes.”
By the time he carried his delicious-smelling load into the house, Gabby had the table set, and she was carrying two glasses of wine away from the kitchen. “I hope wine is okay?”
“Of course,” he reassured, unloading the many different containers.
Reaching over, Gabby tore open the prawn crackers and began munching on one. His actions stopped. He was in trouble. He wasn’t sure he could sit through dinner watching her eat. The enjoyment she took from her food had him hard. The fact that her eyes were closed as she savored the small morsel was almost too much to take. And the soft groans that escaped her had him nearly coming in his pants.
Her eyes opened, and she caught him watching her. Her cheeks grew red, and she suddenly found her feet interesting. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I’m hungry.”
Moving over to her, he lifted her chin and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. Holding her chair for her, he indicated for her to sit down. Once she was seated at the table, he said, “Don’t you dare apologize for being hungry. That is my fault. I failed to take care of your needs. It’s my job as your mate.”
“Did you mean what you said to Grant? Are we engaged?”
“Angel, technically we’re married. I have claimed you, making you mine.” He emphasized his comments by piling food into her bowl.
“But still I don’t know much about you,” she replied, looking down at her hands.
“Ask anything you wish, just make sure you are eating as well.”
“You’re a vampire, right?” she asked after her first mouthful. He nodded. “Does that mean you can control people with your mind?”
“Alas no, though there have been more than a few times that I’ve been accused of such things. I do however have the ability to implant a thought into someone’s mind, but only when I’m drinking from them. It’s a vampire’s protection against being discovered.”
“Can you do that to me?”
“No. As my mate, you are immune to such things.”
“So that amazing orgasm was real?” Gabby asked, then flushed scarlet.
“I’m glad to be of service,” Devil replied, chuckling.
“You bit me. Will I become like you?” she continued.
“No, but as my mate your life has been extended.”
She stilled. “For how long?”
“As long as you continue to sample my blood you will live as long as I do.”
“And your blood, does it heal people?” she asked, leaning forward.
“Yes, but I must be selective about who I share it with. Whoever tastes my blood will be connected to me. The length of time depends on how much blood is drunk. I cannot allow outsiders that level of power over me, so my blood will be yours and yours alone,” he explained, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
At that, she looked slightly nonplussed, but she continued with her questions. “What sort of connection?”
“You would sample my heightened senses, speed, and strength while my blood ran through your system.”
“I don’t feel any different,” she said, squinting down at her hand.
“My blood has replaced that which I took from your body during our bonding. It mutes the effect my blood will have upon you.”
“Oh,” she replied. “Well…what about your brothers? Would you share it with them?”
“If there were a need, then yes, by all means. But each of my brothers have their own healing ability.”
“Can you fly?” came her next question.
“No,” he replied, laughing. “And I don’t turn into a bat. Though my vampire form is not completely human.”
“How so?”
“My fangs protrude from my mouth, my eyes are red, and claws replace my nails,” he explained. Taking another spoonful of food, he swallowed it before continuing. “Gabby, I’m just a guy who eats like everyone else. Except my body has an added dietary requirement, I need to drink blood. The only other thing that makes me different from any other man out there is that my senses are more sensitive and I live a long time.”
“How long?”
“That might not be a wise topic of conversation while we’re eating. I have already failed you once tonight. I won’t do it again by causing you to choke.”
“That long, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Okay, then tell me about your brothers. I know a bit about Judge, but what about the other two?”
“They are known as Viper and Chaos.”
“Okay, so how did the four of you meet?”
“That, unfortunately, is a story I will have to keep until I reveal my age,” Devil explained. “Why don’t you tell me about you and Nikki?”
“Nikki and I go back to middle school. We’ve been friends ever since. We bonded over the fact that neither of us had fathers and we lived in the same rundown apartment block. She’s my sister and best friend.”
“As your best friend, please tell me you have saved me some food. I’m starved.”
Devil hadn’t been surprised by Nikki’s sudden appearance. He had heard her car pull up in front of the house. Gabby had also been expecting her,
if the other place setting was any indication.
“There is plenty here,” Devil replied as he stood. With a slight bow he introduced himself. “I’m Devil. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself last night.”
“That’s okay. Gabby told me who you were.”
“Then allow me to apologize for scaring you and please know, I would never hurt Gabby.”
Nikki seemed to be reading him. That was fine because he had spoken the truth and had nothing to hide. “You seem to be genuine, Devil, and Gabby seems to like you. But let me warn you, as a nurse I know ways of hurting you beyond anything you have known.”
Instantly Devil liked his mate’s best friend. Her protectiveness of Gabby spoke volumes to him. So much so, he had no intention of destroying her delusion about hurting him. It would seem that Gabby had no such qualms.
“Nikki, he’s a vampire. There’s not much that could hurt him,” Gabby said before turning to him. “Right?”
“Right, angel,” he replied, reassuring his seemingly worried mate. “Now why don’t we let Nikki come and eat? She’s probably been run off her feet at work. Am I right?”
“You have no idea,” came the suddenly exhausted reply.
Devil sat back and listened as Nikki went on to fill Gabby in on the happenings around the hospital. Both women then went on to regale him with stories of the people they work with. This then led into their childhood and the trouble they had gotten into. He would have loved to have been around these two when they were younger. Though danger hadn’t found them, some of their adventures could have easily ended so differently. Jewel was a perfect example of that.
She had been living on the streets when he and his brothers discovered her. She had stolen an apple from a grocer. The grocer’s son took great exception to being robbed and went after Jewel. By the time Devil and his brothers had arrived, she was in a mess. While Viper and Chaos dealt with her injuries, he and Judge took great pleasure in teaching Jewel’s attacker a lesson.
They took her under their wings, protecting her, feeding her, and ensuring she went to school each day. She was now in college, studying to be an accountant. She planned on working in the hotel when she graduated, which would be in a couple of months. He looked forward to her being home, where she would now have some other women to guide her, instead of just him and his brothers.
He knew she would like both of the women in front of him. Though he had to concede having the three of them in the same room would prove interesting. He somehow doubted he would be able to get a word in. Gabby and Nikki were bad enough; adding Jewel to the mix would almost guarantee there would be no room for him and his brothers to join in, which would suit them perfectly. They were more men of action, rather than words. Yes, these two women would fit into their lives perfectly.
Chapter Nine
Gabby sipped her coffee, enjoying the short break on her first day back at work. It was a break that she had been yearning for. Without Devil’s constant presence, it gave her the opportunity to contemplate the sudden changes in her life that came with his erotic bite. She had effectively gone from having no boyfriend to having a husband. And from what she understood from Judge, there were no divorces where a mating was involved.
She knew she should have been annoyed at herself for being so weak and allowing it to happen, and at Devil for using her body’s needs against her to get his way, but she had never been one to dwell on things she could no longer change. Looking back to their joining yesterday, she realized that it was inevitable. Her overzealous hormones wouldn’t have allowed him to leave her without sealing their bond. She now had to find a way to make it work with her overbearing vampire.
There was no denying the chemistry between them. But would anything develop outside of that chemistry? She had always dreamed of having a perfect marriage. One in which she and her partner were not only lovers but friends as well. Friends who shared everything in life. Was Devil capable of that? Or the love she desired?
By the end of her break, little had been resolved, but more questions reared their ugly heads. She hadn’t expected miracles to occur and all the answers to appear within her ten-minute break, but coming away with nothing but more things to consider had her going into the ER in a less than cheery mood. At least she still had a tea break to herself.
But it would seem the fates had other ideas. Later, just as she was about to head to her usual café within the hospital, she heard her name being called from the front desk. She wasn’t happy to see the person walking toward her.
“Grant, what are you doing here?”
“I thought I would come and buy you dinner at work, since you’re so busy,” Grant replied. She could see something was worrying him. He kept looking over his shoulder as he spoke. Her curiosity was piqued.
“Is everything all right, Grant?”
He pasted a fake smile on his face, gently held her elbow, and walked away from the hospital foyer. After looking over his shoulder a couple more times, he said, “Yes, I just wanted to spend some time with my little sister. That’s all.”
Pointing toward her usual lunch and dinner hangout, she made a point of veering to the doors. Grant stopped her. He took in the whole café, sweeping his gaze over it several times before allowing her to continue. As she made her way to the nearest empty table, she was redirected toward an empty booth in the back of the café. Gabby began to feel unsure of her half brother’s motives. Her first thought was that she wished Devil was with her.
Before she had a chance to think on her sudden reliance on Devil, Grant spoke. “Gabby, I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to get to know one another. I take full responsibility for that. I’m also sorry to do what I’m about to, but you’re the only one I can rely on.”
Gabby took in Grant’s appearance and conceded something definitely wasn’t right with him. Moisture beaded on his forehead as his eyes continually scanned the busy room. Every loud noise had him jumping, then pushing his overweight body further into the shadows.
“You’re scaring me, Grant. What’s going on?”
“Gabby, I need you to do something for me.” She shook her head. Whenever either Jeffrey or Grant asked something of her, she ended up out of pocket. “No, it’s nothing like that. I promise. I just need you to hold something for me.”
“What? It better not be anything illegal, Grant.”
“No, it’s not. It’s just an envelope,” Grant explained. “I need you to keep it in a safe place.”
“Where is it?”
“I posted it to you.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I couldn’t be seen handing you anything. It would put you in danger, and whether you want to believe me or not, that’s the last thing I would ever want to do.”
“What’s going on, Grant? What danger?”
“I’m not too proud to admit it, but your big brother is a crook. Basically small-time stuff, break and entry, that kind of thing. Anyway it would seem I stole from the wrong person. What I thought was just a computer actually turned out to contain the accounts of one of the local drug dealers. I robbed his accountant.”
“What’s this got to do with the envelope? And why haven’t you gone to the police with it?”
“The police actually approached me. That’s how I found out about what was on the laptop. Before I handed it over, I took it to a friend to download the information, just in case I might need it for a rainy day. Anyway a couple of days later, another cop came to see me. He told me he knew what I had done and that I needed to store it in a safe place. He would collect it when the coast was clear. He warned me that the cops who had originally come to see me were dirty. That cop turned up dead last week.”
“I heard something about a traffic policeman being shot when he pulled someone over for speeding. The offender snuck up on him when he was writing out the ticket in his unmarked car.”
“Gabby, he wasn’t a traffic cop. He was Internal Affairs. There is no plausible situation that wou
ld have him working traffic.”
“You mean, he was…” She couldn’t seem to get the words out of her mouth. It was too awful to consider.
“Now you see how important this is. Will you do this for me?” Though there were plenty of other questions she should be asking, she found herself nodding. “I knew I could count on you. It’s already in the mail. Just keep it somewhere safe, and I’ll pick it up when I can establish who in the LVPD I can hand it to.”
Gabby watched as her half brother stood. She placed her hand over his and said, “Be safe, Grant.”
“I will. Now that you’re getting married, I’ve got little nieces and nephews to look forward to.” With that said, Grant walked away.
Gabby’s appetite had gone. In it’s place was a growing concern for Grant’s safety. She had no worry for her own because she knew Devil wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He had already proven how important her safety and health were to him. Even this morning, he had ensured that she had a filling breakfast, followed by an early lunch before she headed off to work. He seemed to love watching her eat, which suited her because she loved her food.
As her tea break came to an end, her mind was still playing ping pong with thoughts of two of the men in her life, Devil and Grant. Devil became a reassuring presence in her mind, offering her comfort. Grant just had her worrying.
As she returned to work after her break, she was given something else to think about. Her first patient was escorted in wearing handcuffs and a blood-soaked prison top. He was accompanied by two police officers. At the sight of their uniforms, her thoughts returned to what Grant had said. Those quickly flew out of her head when the prisoner began fighting the officers’ hold on him. He head-butted the one behind him, doing damage to the officer’s nose. Still he remained their captive. The other had been kneed in the balls. Gabby admired their fortitude as they forced him onto the bed.
Without thinking, Gabby threw herself over the prisoner’s legs as soon as the officers had him lying down. She was being jolted and jarred as his fight continued against being cuffed to the bed. It would seem that the stars were beginning to align themselves in his favor.
Devil Takes His Innocent Page 8