Eddie nodded slowly. “Got it.”
Alexander straightened up and sighed. “I think that’s probably all this moron knows.”
“What the hell, man?” Ashton exploded.
We both turned to look at him, his eyes wide and incredulous.
“What?” Alexander asked.
Ashton pointed to the man still tied up. “If you could do that shit, why the hell was I beating the tar out of this guy?”
Alexander smiled a predatory grin. “I was letting you get in a few hits first.”
Ashton’s mouth fell open before he snapped it closed and shook his head. When he looked back at Alexander, his eyes were lit with appreciation. “You know, you’re not half-bad, Hausle.”
Alexander chuckled. “Neither are you.” The humor faded from his face when he looked back at their beaten captive. “Think you can escort this dickhead outside?”
Ashton threaded his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. “Be happy to.”
I took a quick step forward. “No more hitting him though.”
Both men turned to me, their faces exasperated. Finally, Alexander nodded. “Fine. No more hits. But feel free to toss him out the back door.”
I pursed my lips and shot Alexander an unimpressed look, but he just shrugged.
“That son of a bitch almost got you killed today. I’m not sorry he got his ass kicked.”
I guess Alexander was rubbing off on me, because when he put it that way, I wasn’t sorry either.
Ashton bent down and began untying the ex-doorman as Alexander crossed the room to stand beside me again. “How are you feeling?”
I looked up at him, noting the heavy lines creasing his face and the bags beneath his eyes. “I’m okay,” I said, which wasn’t technically a lie.
I wasn’t dead, and I wasn’t paralyzed.
I wasn’t going to complain about anything else.
But it didn’t matter what I chose to say or to keep to myself, because when I tried to step into Alexander’s embrace, my weakened legs gave out, and only his strong hands kept me from falling on my face. Seconds later, I was lifted into his arms, cradled against his chest.
“Let’s get you to bed.”
I sighed as I let him carry me through the penthouse. “You need to sleep too.”
He shook his head. “Not today.”
“Alexander.”
“Charlotte.”
I let out an exasperated sigh and let it go. For now.
We made it to his room, and he gently set me on the bed before kneeling before me to take off my sneakers. I watched this big, powerful vampire taking such great care with something as stupid as removing my shoes, and it brought tears to my eyes.
“I really am sorry,” I said, my voice wobbly. “I’m sorry my father came here. I’m sorry he wrecked your place. I’m sorry you got caught up in my drama.”
Alexander looked up at me, his brows furrowed and his mouth a thin line. He wrapped his hands around my waist and tugged me closer to him until I was perched on the edge of the mattress with him between my thighs.
“I don’t even know where to begin with you,” he muttered before leaning closer and pressing his lips to my forehead. He sighed. “Charlotte, none of this was your fault. And I don’t give a shit about my things.”
He looked up at me, the fear so clear in his dark blue eyes it cramped my stomach. “I almost fucking lost you today,” he whispered. “Again.”
Alexander turned his head, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth a few times before looking at me again. “You are my life. My entire fucking world. Whatever happens to you, happens to me too. Whatever you have to deal with, I have to deal with too.”
He wrapped his big hand around the back of my neck and pulled me close again. “I love you, and I’m never going to let something like this happen again.”
“Then make me a vampire.”
He nodded, the hesitation I once saw in his gaze nowhere to be found now. “I will. Tonight.”
“Why not right now?”
His eyes widened as he pulled away from me. “Didn’t you hear that bastard out there? Your dickhead father told others about this place. We’re not safe here anymore. I refuse to change you in this apartment where you’ll be more vulnerable than ever.”
“Then what do we do?”
“I was thinking we could go to my boss’ house tonight when the sun sets. I’m sure he’ll let us stay there while you go through the change. He’s the only other person I’d trust with your safety.”
I nodded. Okay. We had a plan. That made me feel a little better.
I closed my eyes and swayed toward him as I fought off the fatigue that threatened to pull me under.
“You need to sleep.”
I shook my head. “I’m not tired. I just feel so weak.”
He rubbed gentle circles on my back as he spoke, his voice softer than I’d heard it in a while. “You went through a lot of trauma today. You’re still healing.”
I nodded, enjoying the feel of him caressing my back.
“I should give you more blood.”
I cracked my eye open to look at him, my heart already racing in my chest. “Okay,” I whispered.
He slid his hand from my back to my chest, resting his fingers on my pounding heart. “Are you nervous?”
I shook my head, words failing me in the moment.
“Then why is your heart beating so hard?”
“I like drinking from you.”
His eyes darted to mine, his lips curling with a smile. “Is that right?”
I nodded, a grin stretching across my face too. “Yeah. I like it even more when you feed from me too.”
His once clear eyes instantly heated, the blue so molten it felt like it would burn me. “You’re too weak for that.”
I cocked my head to the side and his gaze slid to my neck. “I can take it.”
His jaw clenched as he stared at my throat, likely watching my pulse pound beneath my skin. “Not this time, Charlotte.”
I scooted closer and pressed my lips against the corner of his mouth. “Please,” I whispered, my breath tracing a line across his face and down his neck.
“Charlotte,” he warned.
But I didn’t listen.
“Please,” I said again.
He groaned, and it actually sounded like he was in pain. In the next instant, we’d switched places, with him on the bed and me straddling his lap.
“I won’t take much,” he murmured.
I started grinding against him. I couldn’t help myself. “Just bite me.”
He blew out a deep breath before pulling his thumb into his mouth. I watched him bite down, and the blood bubbled to the surface before he placed it against my lips.
I licked the droplet off his finger before sucking it into my mouth. Alexander hissed, his eyes bright as he watched me.
“Fuck,” he grunted before pulling me closer and sliding his fangs into my neck.
I gasped, my hips gyrating against his as he pulled from my neck and I drank from his thumb. He wrapped his free hand around my waist, and seconds later, I was naked on his lap. In the next breath, his hard length was splitting me open as I moaned around his thumb.
“That’s right, love. Take me. Feel me fill you.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, my orgasm already so close to the surface.
“I love this,” he said, his voice rumbling across my collarbone. “Love feeling your hot little mouth sucking on my finger. Love the way you milk my fucking cock.” He growled softly under his breath as he lifted my hips and slammed them down over and over again. “I fucking love you. And I’m never letting anyone take you from me. You’re mine.”
I pulled my mouth off his thumb and threw my head back, the first waves of my orgasm washing up on my shores. “Yes,” I whispered.
Yes, I loved him too.
Yes, I was never leaving him.
Yes, I was his.
Only his.
&nb
sp; Alexander roared loudly and sank his teeth back into my neck as he erupted beneath me, his body quaking with the force of his climax. I rocked my hips back and forth, riding out the last of both our orgasms as he slowly quieted under me.
When he looked up into my eyes, I swore his were as blue and deep as the ocean. He cupped my face, his fingers stroking my skin. “That was too much for you.”
I shook my head and turned to kiss his palm. “No. It was perfect.” I closed my eyes and reveled in the feel of his cool hand on me. “I love you,” I sighed.
His hand slid around my face to cup the back of my neck, his lips meeting mine seconds later. This kiss was slow, and sweet, and so reverent it stole the breath from my lungs. “I truly love you too,” he said against my mouth.
I smiled and felt his lips curl with a grin of his own.
When he pulled away, his eyes were less troubled than last time, and I called that a win. “You should get some rest.”
“So should you.”
He shook his head, jaw tight again. “I’m not sleeping until I know you’re safe.”
I would have argued, but I knew by then it would be a waste of time. And truthfully, I could barely keep my eyes open. I climbed off his lap, not bothering to get dressed again before crawling under the covers and closing my eyes.
“We’ll leave for Nicholas’ place as soon as the sun sets,” Alexander said, his voice soft as he leaned over and kissed my forehead. “We’ll start your change tonight, okay? I promise.”
I smiled, my eyes still closed. “Okay.”
Unfortunately, neither of us could have known he wouldn’t be able to keep that promise.
Chapter 5
Charlotte
“I just talked to Mildred. She’ll be here in about an hour.”
I rolled over just in time to see Ashton in the bedroom doorway give Alexander an incredulous look.
“Who are you sending to take care of this body, Hausle? Your great grannie?”
Alexander laughed as I pulled myself up on the bed and wiped the sleep from my eyes. Thankfully, it seemed he’d dressed me after I passed out. I did not want to know what would have happened if Ashton accidentally saw me in any other way than fully clothed.
“I assure you, Millie looks no older than I do.”
Ashton narrowed his eyes at him, his face full of suspicion. “But I’m guessing how old she looks and how old she actually is are two different things.”
Alexander shrugged and the bodyguard just shook his head.
“Whatever, Hausle. As long as she can take care of this, I don’t care who or what she is.”
Alexander reached out to slap Ashton on the back. “And that’s why you still have your memories.”
The guard stepped back and eyed my vampire warily. “You were gonna do that shit you did to the dickhead doorman to me too?”
Alexander shrugged again. “I’m supposed to.”
“Then why aren’t you?”
“I’m finding you’re more useful to me with your memories intact.”
Ashton stared at him for a few moments before replying with a shrug of his own. “Whatever you say, Hausle. Just keep that hypno voodoo shit to yourself.”
Alexander laughed, and I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped my lips too. Both men turned to me and I covered my mouth.
“Getting glamoured really sucks. Be thankful he’s not doing that to you,” I said.
The men looked at each other before Alexander nodded and Ashton disappeared from the doorway. My vampire turned my way again before crossing the room to me.
“How are you feeling?”
I stretched my arms high above my head, letting the tension of the past twenty-four hours dissipate from the muscles and tendons. “I feel great.”
His eyes were heated when I met them again, and I swallowed hard. Alexander looked away. “Why don’t you get ready so we can leave?” He glanced back at me, his eyes still like burning sapphires. “I need to go in the other room and do something.”
I frowned at his back as he walked away from me. “Do what?”
Alexander didn’t turn back around until he was in the open doorway. “Honestly, I need to get out of this room before I fuck you again and we waste even more time.”
My face instantly heated as the butterflies took flight in my stomach. “A few minutes shouldn’t make a difference.”
In the next instant, my back was pressed against the bed with Alexander’s weight on top of me and my hands trapped above my head. “A few minutes would not be nearly long enough,” he whispered against the side of my face. “I haven’t taken my time with you in far too long.”
I gasped as Alexander nipped at my collarbone before soothing the sting with his tongue. “I require hours to devote to you. To worship you. To kiss and suck every inch of your hot little body. To make you come so hard you can’t remember your name. That, my love, cannot be accomplished in a few minutes.”
I was out of breath, panting beneath him, my chest rising and falling so fast and my heart thundering behind my ribcage. “Oh,” was all I could say to that. The only sound or syllable I could form in my dry mouth.
I wanted him so bad in that instant I didn’t care what we had to do that day or where we had to go. My body demanded Alexander’s. Nothing else would suffice.
Without warning, his weight was removed, and he was back at the doorway again. “As soon as you’re safely through the change, I’ll spend a whole night just making you come.”
I sat up in bed, my stomach chaotic with butterflies now. “Promise?”
He grunted, his eyes undressing me from across the room. “You can fucking count on it.”
I smiled and slid from the bed, stretching my arms above my head again in a show just for him. Alexander grunted and turned to leave the room, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll be out here, icing my dick when you’re ready.”
I giggled, my chest so light, I felt weightless. I guess I hadn’t realized what a burden my past with my father had been for me. Or how much I still feared him, even from a hundred miles away. Now he was gone, it felt like I could breathe again. Maybe for the first time in my life.
I quickly showered and dressed, putting more thought and effort into my clothes than I normally did. What did you wear when you were getting changed into a vampire? Something formal for the occasion? Something comfortable? Something I didn’t mind getting blood on?
I finally settled on jeans and a t-shirt and felt ridiculous for taking that long to decide. At the last minute, I grabbed my graduation gift from Candace for good luck. It had been the only gift I received when I finished high school, but it just made it that much more special.
I had one half of a silver heart and she had the other. She’d said it would always keep us connected, but even then, I’d known we didn’t need a piece of jewelry to do that.
I wrapped it around my neck to fasten in the back when I remembered vampires couldn’t touch silver. Which meant if I wanted Alexander anywhere near me, and I always did, I couldn’t wear this.
I stared down at the silver necklace for a moment before I shrugged and stuffed it in my pocket. I felt better knowing it would be with me at least, even if I couldn’t wear it.
When I left the bedroom, I found Alexander sitting on the couch, his eyes already trained on me. They were still heated, and I felt my body answer immediately.
“Haven’t I told you not to look at me like that?”
I bit my lip to hold back a grin. “Like what?”
His eyes slowly traced the length of my body before he met my gaze again. “Like you want to get fucked.”
His dirty words sent a thrill through me. “I told you, I do.”
He growled, the sound so deep it rumbled right through me. “Not now, temptress.” Alexander rose to his impressive height before joining me across the room. “First, we need to make you a vampire.”
I wrapped my fingers around his offered elbow. “That sounds good to me.”
&
nbsp; We left Ashton to deal with the aftermath at the penthouse as we headed to Nicholas’ apartment across town. The drive was quiet and peaceful for me, but I guess the same wasn’t true for Alexander.
“Are you… doing okay?”
I turned to him. “Yeah. Your blood healed me. I feel fine.”
He shifted in his seat before casting me a sideways glance. “I’m talking about what happened this morning.” He was quiet for a minute, one hand raking through his hair roughly before he spoke again. “I mean, I killed your father, Charlotte. You’ve got to be upset about that.”
His words surprised me, and I had to think about them for a few minutes before answering.
Was I upset that my father was dead?
No.
But was I supposed to be upset?
I guess he was still my blood relative, and now he was dead that made me an official orphan, but truthfully, I’d never felt like anything else. Kevin Wakefield had never been a dad to me. He’d never loved me. Why should I mourn his death when all he’d brought to my life was pain and fear?
“This might make me a bad person, but when I found out he was dead, all I felt was relief.” I turned to Alexander. “Is that horrible of me?”
He was shaking his head before all the words had even left my mouth. “Hell no. That son of a bitch abused you for years and almost killed you today.”
I shrugged. “So, I guess I’m not upset then.”
He shot me another glance out of the corner of his eye. “And you’re not mad that I killed him?”
“Alexander, you saved my life.”
He fidgeted in his seat again. “But it wasn’t painless.”
I nodded. “Does it make me a bad person that I’m kinda happy about that too?”
Alexander watched me for a few moments before laughing. “You know, I think you were made for me.”
His laughter was already doing crazy things to my insides, but hearing those words from him, no matter if he meant them as a joke, absolutely killed me. Because I knew without a doubt that he was right.
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