Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2)

by Stevie J. Cole

  I nervously shot a smile back at him.

  Dan’s face wrinkled up. “Oh, that’s not good news. Let me pull up the calendars and see if there’s a time that may work.” Dan put his wire-rimmed glasses on, scrunching up his nose as he looked closely at the small print on his screen. “What happened?”

  “Hemorrhaging. They’ve had it in five patients so far.”

  “Well, that’s alarming,” Dan muttered to himself as he scanned through the various schedules.

  Gavin leaned against Dan’s filing cabinet and flipped through his phone. His hair hung down in his face making him look very enticing. I studied him and damn, his hands were even sexy. I was certain there wasn’t a thing about that man that wasn’t amazing — except for that stethoscope draped around his neck.

  He must have felt my lusting eyes drilling into him because he abruptly looked up from whatever he was reading on his phone. He caught me gawking at him, possibly drooling over him. I panicked and tried to act like I was reading the spines of the books in the cabinet behind him. The heat from my embarrassment at having been caught raced up my chest, throat, and over my face. I shifted my gaze to the pad in my lap and pulled at the frayed paper at the top of the page.

  “Okay, G, it looks like three will work for the group. I’ll go ahead and send out an email,” Dan said, typing on his keyboard.

  I was trying to hold in my laughter. I couldn’t believe he’d just called him “G.”

  What a dweeb.

  Gavin drew in a breath. His eyes closed halfway and his eyelashes fluttered. Gavin was obviously put off with him. “Thanks, Dan.”

  The soothing sound of his accent forced me to glance back up at him. He was running his hands through his luscious locks and staring out the window. This man had to know what he was doing because I am pretty sure it is impossible to just look that seductive.

  Glancing back down at my pad, I heard Gavin say, “You know, Brooke, it would probably be a good idea for you to come to the meeting. You and I will be working pretty closely on some of these studies. It would be a great learning experience for you.” Gavin raised his eyebrows as though he was waiting on me to respond.

  “Ummm, sure. Okay,” I replied, my heart pounding in my chest at the thought of having to go anywhere with him.

  Dan stopped typing and his eyes shot up from his keyboard. “Uh, well — we have a lot of training to do. I just don’t know if today would be a good day.”

  Gavin placed a hand in his pant pocket and glared down at Dan. “I need her to come. It’s important for her to see how situations such as these are handled, Dan. I insist she be there. It wasn’t a request, it was an order,” Gavin said with a slight primitive growl resonating in his tone.

  The assertiveness in his voice made me swoon. I wanted to believe that he was trying to rescue me from that dirty little man. Gavin walked to the doorway to exit the room, but stopped beside me.

  “I’ll come get you around two-thirty and we can walk over together, okay?”

  “Sounds good to me.” I smiled, praying that my red lipstick was still even.

  Dan’s stare bore into the back of Gavin’s head as he left the room. He rolled his eyes and worked himself up into a rant. “I told you he was an asshole. So egotistical, just because he’s a doctor. They wouldn’t be able to do a thing if it wasn’t for me!” He stood up and slammed his door shut. “So arrogant!” Hatred and sheer jealousy exuded in every word.

  “Now, where were we?” he pulled his chair back up to his desk and straightened his tie over his gigantic, mound-like belly.

  The next two and a half hours were spent with Dan talking about his life experiences and world travels. All I did was daydream about Dr. Gavin Hunter, except I kind of ignored the entire doctor thing for the sake of the daydream.

  Finally, noon arrived and Dan said it was time to break for lunch. “Where do you want to go? My treat.” He stood up and pulled at his slacks.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I already made plans,” I said as I hurried out his door. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Suit yourself. We’ll just do lunch tomorrow,” he called out from his doorway.

  After lunch I snuck back to my office, praying Dan wouldn’t see me come back in. I had been sitting in a complete daze just staring at my computer screen for so long that I didn’t even realize what time it was.

  “You ready to walk over?” a very soothing and sexy voice asked.

  I glanced over to the door and saw Gavin. His broad shoulders all but filled the doorway, and he stood holding a stack of papers in his hands.

  Peggy didn’t even look up; she was too busy sighing loudly every five minutes because she was so “swamped.”

  “Yep,” I said, grabbing my notepad and pen as I headed toward the door.

  I made eye contact with him, which proved to be a mistake. It was as though I lost control of myself from just looking at the damn man. Gavin was honestly like the perfect culmination of every physical feature I found utterly sexy in a man down to his accent and the way he carried himself.

  He didn’t budge from the doorway. Looking down to my hands he said, “You may want to go ahead and grab your other things. This meeting will most likely last until it’s time for you to leave.”

  I snatched my purse up and followed him out to the lobby. I was so nervous around him it made me sweat. I’d never had this kind of reaction around a man before and was absolutely pissed at myself for getting so worked up over him.

  We came out to the elevators and didn’t say a word to each other. The doors opened. “Sixteenth floor, going down,” the automated voice announced.

  We walked in and I leaned up against the left side of the elevator. Gavin pressed the ground floor button and casually rested against the hand rail on the back wall. I had yet to see this man pose some way that didn’t look like he should be in an ad for some underwear. The silence was awkward and I clutched to my notepad for dear life.

  “So, where are you from? Are you from Atlanta?” he asked.

  I looked up from the floor, forcing myself to make eye contact with him. “No, I’m from Orange Beach.”

  “Oh, a beach girl? I see,” he paused and narrowed his eyes. “Where’s Orange Beach?”

  I smiled timidly. “The Gulf, along the border of Alabama and Florida.”

  “So, what brought you to Atlanta?”

  “I got a scholarship to Emory.” I glanced back up from my notebook and made eye contact with him again.

  “Emory, aye? That’s a good school. What’d you get your degree in?”

  “Masters in Public Health.” It fell silent again. “Are you from here?” I blurted out. As soon as the words rolled from my lips I panicked. I had just asked a British man if he was from Atlanta, Georgia.

  Oh, my God, I just made myself look like a complete freaking idiot.

  “Wait, I know you’re not from here. Where in England are you from?”

  He tried not to smile as I stumbled over my words. Clearing his throat, the serious look returned to his face. “Canterbury, Southwest England…Kent.”

  “Oh, I’ve been there. I went after I graduated high school. My parents took me.” I pushed my hair behind my shoulders. “It’s absolutely amazing. The Canterbury Cathedral’s beautiful. The entire city is beautiful.”

  “Yes, I’m quite fond of it.”

  The doors to the elevator opened. I could feel that my face was still bright red from embarrassment at my stupid comment.

  We stepped off and made our way toward the exit. The glass doors slid open; the warm, humid air outside was a drastic change from the cool air of the building. And… silence, again. Uncomfortable silence as we walked down the sidewalk. I stared straight ahead of me, afraid to look over at him.

  “You should find this meeting quite enjoyable,” Gavin said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “You and I will work together a good bit. I’m going to depend pretty heavily on you to make
sure everything is being carried out according to institutional regulations. I’m going to need you to anticipate the questions I’m about to ask. There’s absolutely no room for error here, Brooke.”

  He glanced down at me as we crossed the street. I couldn’t help but ogle over the way the sun caught the golden highlights in his hair. When my eyes found their way back to his face, it looked very serious. I must have had a look of sheer fear plastered to my face because he reached over and gently touched my shoulder. “I’m joking. Only joking. I promise I’m not near as horrid as Dan has made me out to be.”

  I honestly thought I may have had a small orgasm when he touched me. I’d never been so nervous around a man in my life; of course, I’d never been around a man with a foreign accent that radiated beauty the way that he did either. Something about him seemed so mysterious and so damn alluring.

  “You sure are quiet.” Turning, he made his way up a set of large concrete steps. He opened the glass door and waited for me to walk through.

  “Thanks,” I said as I stepped into the atrium.

  There was a spiral stairwell to my left and the wall to my right was covered with bronze plaques honoring Dr. E.A. McKinley, who had generously donated his money to research. I followed Gavin down a long hallway. His steps were so light his dress shoes barely made any noise on the marble floors. I tried to tiptoe behind him, but my heels still echoed loudly down the silent hallway.

  We came to the double doors at the end of the hall and he opened them. Gavin walked over to the end of the conference table and pulled out a chair for me. I sat down and he took a seat to my right.

  “I always like to get to meetings early. Too many of the other doctors are habitually late to their own meetings. It sets a bad impression.” He fiddled with his lab coat as he tried to get comfortable in his chair.

  I sat there tapping my leg, trying to think of something intelligent to say to this man. Nothing came to mind. I couldn’t even think straight around him.

  Relief washed over me when the door opened and two older men walked in. Gavin rose to greet them as they approached the table.

  “This is Brooke Davis, she’s replaced Diane.” Gavin’s eyes darted over to me. “Brooke, this is Dr. Harrington and Dr. White.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I replied.

  Within five minutes all but one of the seats at the conference table were filled with various doctors and other medical staff. I was the only coordinator in attendance which made me wonder if Gavin really had been trying to save me from Dan that afternoon. I didn’t really care why I was there because I was able to sit and stare at Gavin for over an hour as he stood at the front of the room leading the meeting. Listening to him say all those medical terms in his ridiculously sexy accent was a complete turn-on.

  As the meeting concluded one of the gray-haired physicians stood up. “You know, it’s ironic that we spend our entire careers trying to prolong life… in one-hundred years we’ll all be dead.” He shook his head and furrowed his brow. “Such a shame that death is inevitable.”

  Gavin laughed, drawing my attention to him. A smile snaked across his lips. His teeth didn’t show as one side of his mouth rose slightly higher than the other, causing the dimples on each of his cheeks to deepen. His eyes widened briefly, almost gleaming, and his smile grew, revealing his white teeth. There was no other word to describe the way that smile looked than wicked.

  “Thankfully I don’t have to worry myself with death, seeing as how I’m immortal and all,” he said, laughing again.

  The rest of the room chuckled. The metal legs from the chairs scraped against the floor as they rose from the table. I scooted my chair out, standing to follow the herd of white coats toward the door.

  “Quiet and in a hurry?” Gavin’s voice came from the back of the room.

  Stopping, I turned around. He was shoving his notes into his satchel, his gaze focused on what he was doing as he said, “You know, your name suggests you shouldn’t be so quiet…” He gave a halfway smile. “You’re not going to make me walk back over alone, are you?”

  For a minute I thought that he was flirting with me, but then I remembered what Ashley had said about him being so ethical. I reminded myself that I’d sworn off doctors, even the ones resembling a statue one would find in a Grecian amphitheater honoring the god of beauty and sex, and quite possible relentless pleasure.

  I waited at the doorway. “I’m sorry. I figured you may have to hang around or something.”

  He pulled the strap of his satchel over his shoulder. “No,” he said and pushed past me to the door.

  We walked back to the building in silence. I stared at the ground, my feet following the walkway that led into the building.

  “It’s almost five o’clock. Aren’t you supposed to be heading home?” Gavin said, stopping me.

  “Oh, yeah.” I glanced down at my watch. “I guess I should go home.”

  “Come on then,” he said and headed to the parking deck. “Where did you park?”

  “On the third floor.”

  “What a coincidence, so did I.”

  We came to the old elevators and the doors squeaked open. Gavin pressed the button and stared at me. The stare was intimidating, causing my feet to shift nervously underneath me.

  I grasped for conversation topics to break the uncomfortable silence. “Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

  “No, I’m just a lonely bachelor who has no life outside of work,” he grinned, and I highly doubted that this man was lonely. “What about you?” he asked.

  “Me and my friend will probably go see a local band or something. That’s what we usually do.”

  The doors opened and I quickly exited. Gavin followed me as I walked to my car. I couldn’t figure out why he was still behind me and my stomach knotted up. I couldn’t allow myself to get sucked into his allure. I absolutely refused to stoop to the level of shacking up with one of my bosses. I was absolutely not that girl. As soon as I reached for the door handle, he brushed my hand away, pulling it open it for me.

  “You have a good weekend. See you on Monday,” he said and closed my door.

  I was trying to deny that I was insanely fascinated with him as I started my car and backed out of my parking spot. Looking in my review mirror, I caught a glimpse of Gavin as he opened the trunk to a charcoal gray Porsche.

  I rolled my eyes.

  So typical, the “I’m a doctor” car. Flashy car, flashy title, flashy looks and accent: Exactly what I don’t need.

  He pulled his satchel over his head; the strap caught some of his ridiculously sexy hair. He gently placed the bag in his trunk, shut it, and walked to the side of his car.

  I was just looking, no intentions of touching. I mean, I looked at stuff all the time that I had no intentions of buying, no matter how absolutely delectable it may have looked. I tried to use the same rules for men that I did food: if it looks that good it’s most likely horrible for you.

  Chapter Five

  Gavin

  We all have secrets; some more dark than others. The secrets I have aren’t simply an addiction, a preference, some type of shortcoming; it is, as unfortunate as it may seem, a lifestyle. It’s who I am, what I am — I can’t help the psychological imprint that the experiences of this world have left me with.

  The desire, the need for control flows through my blood. I must have control of situations at all times. When a man loses control of himself he makes himself too vulnerable, too willing to be taken advantage of. I’m not one who will be taken advantage of, not one to submit to another. Ever.

  I guess you could say that women are my weakness. After all, it was the relentless urge to taste — to know a woman that brought me to this desolate place. Women truly are remarkable creatures, the most aesthetically pleasing creation ever to grace this planet. So seductive, women are born with an inherent ability to infest your mind and tempt you with nothing more than a mere flip of their hair, a slight sw
ay of their hip, and I swear I’ve never been more drawn to the soul of anything else the way I am to that of a beautiful woman. Women can make you want, need, desire, and hunger for them, and I have found that some are inexplicably evil and manipulative.

  Human emotions are the most difficult aspect of one’s life to control. They are so primitive, instinctual, and can be all too destructive in the hands of the wrong person. For this reason I’ve found it’s in my best interest to refrain from relationships. The devastation that could come from one of my kind falling for a mortal is indescribable. Though enjoying the pleasure of an unmarked mortal could bring absolute destruction to this world, it’s not a vice I can so easily forego. Over the years I’ve found a way to satisfy my weakness, without giving in completely, and as much of a monster as it may make me appear to be, I’m absolutely satisfied with these arrangements. I have control, and after all, throughout my long life I’ve noticed that’s what man chases more than anything – control.

  She walked from the bathroom and stood in front of me. Her presence diverted my eyes away from the mirror where I had been staring at my reflection, reminding myself how deeply I needed the feeling of control, and above all else reminding myself of the agreement that had been made many years ago. This one had been trained, but was not marked – which meant I could use her for nothing more than sexual gratification.

  “Sit down,” I said.

  My fingers curled into my palms as I watched her make her way toward my neatly made bed, her heels echoing from the tall ceilings.

  I stopped her just as she ran her hand across the edge of my bed. “No. Not on my bed.” Widening my stance, I pointed my finger down. “On the floor,” I said in a low, controlled tone. I didn’t like for them to lie on my bed.

  I hadn’t invited her to my house, she’d just shown up unannounced. She wasn’t aware of what I was, so I felt it to be safe, a nice change of scenery. She was, after all, trained, which meant the risk was low.