by Crissy Smith
He shook his head. “Paige…I know what you’re going to say.”
She didn’t think so. If he did, he would be on the bed with her and not on the other side of the room. But she would show him. “Grant,” she said again.
“I’m sorry Paige. I was going to tell you. I swear to you I was going to tell you,” he said still standing away from her.
He sounded so sad, she started towards him.
He held a hand out which she accepted and let him draw her to his side. “I’m so sorry Paige,” he put his arms around her.
“It’s not your fault Grant. Surely you see that.”
He cupped her cheek moving his thumb over her mouth. “I just brought the worst demon ever to walk the earth into your life. I was supposed to protect you, instead I just put you in even more danger.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked as she ran her hands over him, trying to offer him comfort.
“That was my father, Paige.”
She already knew that. “Okay.”
“He will do anything in his power to make my life Hell. To bring me to his side.” His eyes narrowed. “He’s already done horrible things and now he’ll come after you.”
“To hurt you?”
“We have to get you out of here. Sam can take you somewhere and stay with you,” he said as he moved away and started to pace the floor. “Yeah, that will be best. You can’t go alone.”
Paige watched him run a hand through his hair as he planned. “I’m not going anywhere Grant,” she told him with conviction.
He turned and started back to her. “Just for a little while Paige.”
“I’m not running again. You told me you wanted me with you. I’m staying with you.”
He growled and yanked her up to her toes. “Now’s not the time. We need to get you out of here.”
“No.”
He blinked. “No?”
“I said no. I’m not leaving.”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not, Grant. I’m not leaving you.”
“Paige. You’re leaving and that’s the end of this,” he yelled, for the first time losing his temper in front of her.
She pulled out of his grasp. “I’m not leaving!” she yelled even louder. “I love you and I won’t leave.”
“Paige,” he whispered and sat heavily on the bed.
She knelt next to him. “I love you.”
“I love you,” he told her with tears in his eyes. “He’ll know that.”
“Then we fight. But we do it together,” she told him, meaning every word.
“And if we can’t fight him?” Grant asked.
“We will.”
“He’s after me, not you. If you disappear, he might forget about you.”
“He might not,” she argued calmly. “Why? Why is your father after you?”
He tried to pull away but she kept her hands on him.
“To punish me,” he whispered.
She kept quiet, knowing he needed to get this out.
“A few years ago he showed up and wanted me to join him.” He looked away as his voice broke. “I had grown strong enough and he thought it was time for me to join ranks in his army.”
“What did you do?” she urged him to continue the story when he paused.
“I told him to go to Hell,” he said with a bitter laugh. “I’d always thought my father was dead. I just didn’t know he was undead. He had Jess changed,” he added the confession with a ragged breath.
Paige gasped.
“No one other than my mom knew what he’d become. She thought we were safe. It’d been eighteen years since she’d left him.”
“Grant—” she started.
He shook his head. “I went to confront my mom, and while I was home…he had Jess taken.”
“It’s not your fault,” she assured him.
“I didn’t protect my sister. I won’t let him take you away from me too, Paige.”
She smiled. “But that’s what he’d be doing if you tried to send me away. And notice I said tried. I’m still not going,” she told him with a soft kiss.
He ran a hand through her hair, pulling out the holder. “You have no idea of the evil we are up against.”
Paige leaned into him again and rubbed her lips over his. “Maybe not but I know we can defeat him.”
“I wish I knew that for sure.”
“Let me show you what I do know for sure,” she said with a smile and pressed him back on the bed.
They kissed deeply before she took her time undressing him. When she took his hard cock in her mouth, he finally relaxed and let her lead.
* * * *
Later that morning, Paige was finally able to talk Grant into letting her visit Tasha. He promised her Tasha was okay but Paige wanted to see for herself.
He walked her to the same room they had gone to the night before.
“Visit with her, and I will come back for you,” Grant told her before he kissed her forehead.
“I think I can find my way back to your room,” she teased.
Grant grabbed her chin and lifted her face until their gazes locked. “Last time I left you alone with another of us, you ran away,” he said seriously.
Paige dropped her eyes, unable to deny it. She hadn’t see Adam yet and was kind of hoping she wouldn’t. She didn’t know why he had told her the things he had but she wished he never had.
She knew what she and Grant had was special.
“Don’t think I won’t get to the bottom of it either,” he warned and dropped his hand.
He started to walk away but Paige quickly grabbed a hold of his shirt. “I’ll wait here for you,” she told him quietly.
He smiled. “Thank you.”
“I love you,” she confessed. “I won’t be going anywhere.”
Grant wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her strongly. “Take your time. I will be here when you’re done. I love you too.”
Paige opened the door after he walked away and stepped inside. Marisa sat in a chair next to the bed, writing in a notebook. She smiled at Paige as she entered.
“I wondered when you would visit,” Marissa said softly.
Paige tore her eyes from the fragile woman on the bed. “How is she?”
“She’s going to be just fine.”
“Tasha?” Paige called out to her friend as she made her way to the bed.
Tasha opened her eyes and gave her a small smile. “Hi.”
Paige laughed and hugged her gently. “Hi.” Tasha returned the embrace and Paige felt tears of joy fill her eyes.
Marissa cleared her throat. “I can see she will be in good hands with you. If you wouldn’t mind me stepping out for a few minutes, I promised Grant I would get you set up with a computer.”
“A computer?”
Marissa smiled. “Yes, he told me that you would be working with him and Sam. You are his partner, after all.”
Paige couldn’t help but grin. Grant hadn’t said anything to her but she liked the idea of being able to help Grant with his search.
“Thank you,” Paige told Marissa sincerely.
“No, thank you. You’ve made him very happy.”
With surprise, Paige watched Marissa walk out of the room after her declaration.
Tasha nudged her. “You okay?”
Paige smiled at her friend. “I am. How are you?”
“I’m sorry, Paige,” Tasha said and dropped her head.
“Hey,” Paige ran a hand over Tasha’s hair. “You have nothing to be sorry about, honey.”
She sighed. “I wish I haven’t been caught. I wish I’d never come here.”
“I know honey, but you’re here now. We don’t have to hide anymore,” Paige tried to calm her.
“Paige,” she said as tears fell. “I can still feel him inside me. I can feel how he felt when he saw you with that man, his son. You’re not safe here.”
Paige nodded. “I know Tasha. I know all about it.”
&nb
sp; Tasha grasped Paige’s hand. “We have to get out of here.”
Paige shook his head. “I can’t leave. I have to stay here. With Grant.” Once she said it out loud to someone else, it felt very real. Something must have shown on her face because Tasha sighed.
“You love him?” Tasha asked.
Paige nodded. There was no reason to deny it. Grant was more than just someone she bonded with.
Tasha nodded. “That woman Marissa has been nice. She says she can teach me how to use my gifts. That you’ve gotten stronger being here.”
“I have,” Paige admitted.
“One of the other girls from that night was here earlier. She looked much better too. With two of you here, I do feel like it’s as close to family as I’ll ever have again.”
“We’ll get through this.”
“It seems like as good of a place as any I guess,” Tasha ended with a shrug.
“Yes. I’m just learning about the compound and everyone here, but I trust Grant. He wouldn’t let anyone harm me,” Paige tried to convince Tasha. “Plus this is where we can find the answers as to why.”
“Why?” Tasha asked.
“Why us,” she whispered.
Chapter Eleven
Paige stared at the screen of her laptop, where she was documenting vampire sightings for Grant as she thought about the past few weeks.
She was finally getting answers to her questions. Marissa turned out to be a great teacher. Plus with the help of Tasha and Samantha, they were digging up everything they could find out about being taken.
For the first time in a long time, she was happy. She had two good friends she spent her days with. They trained together, laughed, talked, joked around like woman their age did.
At night she spent her time with Grant. They took great measures to learn each other’s bodies and to spend as much time alone as they could.
It always took a few hours after he’d return from his night of hunting for him to settle down. Between looking for his sister and looking for a way to destroy his father, he always came back revved up. Paige liked to burn up his excess energy.
Sam had agreed to be Tasha’s guardian and if she wasn’t mistaken, Paige thought she saw some sexual sparks there. She hoped for the best anyway.
She hadn’t seen much of Adam since she returned. She wasn’t sure if she was avoiding him or if he was avoiding her, but as long as he kept his distance, she was happy. There were a couple of times when she thought she saw him watching her but when she turned to get a better look, he was gone. She hadn’t mentioned anything to Grant, because she was almost certain it was just her imagination. At least, Adam couldn’t do anything to her at the compound. And she never left without Grant.
Paige jumped when arms wrapped around her waist pulling her from her musings. She turned and stood within the circle of Grant’s embrace.
“Thinking pretty hard there,” he murmured as his lips brushed her cheek.
She could feel the tension in his body, even as he tried to relax against her. She pushed up to her tiptoes and placed her lips over his, hoping to give him the comfort he needed.
Breaking away to draw a breath, she was surprised when he lifted her off the ground. Wrapping her arms and legs around him, she relished in the feel of his hard body.
“Grant,” she breathed against his neck.
“Baby, I need you.” His mouth came down hard on hers. With one hand around her waist holding her to him, he used his free hand to pull her shirt over her head then drop it to the floor. She hadn’t put a bra on after her shower, so her naked flesh pressed against his bare chest.
Paige moaned deep in her throat. She loved the feel of his body against hers.
“Take me, Grant,” she urged rubbing her body against his.
He didn’t need another invitation. She flew across the room, landing on the bed with a bounce. Her laugh cut off into a moan as he stripped her pants off and placed his mouth on her already wet and aching pussy.
“Oh yes,” she cried as his tongue dove through her slick folds and inside. His hands held her open as he feasted, drawing out moans as her pleasure built to a fevered high.
Two fingers joined his tongue as she bucked her hips, riding his face. She screamed when his lips covered her clit and he sucked while she broke apart.
He stood and shed his pants with vampire speed. Before she could keep up with what was happening, he stood beside the bed, pushed her knees up to her chest, and plunged inside.
Paige screamed as he filled her with long deep strokes. Her inner muscles clenched trying to keep him inside each time he withdrew before slamming back home.
Grant rode her hard, bringing her quickly to climax once again, and continued to pound as one orgasm ended and another began.
“Open your eyes, Paige,” he said through gritted teeth.
She did. Seeing the control he kept tightly reigned in teetering on the edge, she knew what he needed.
“Bite me, Grant. Take all of me,” she coaxed breathlessly.
His eyes flashed as he thrust harder.
“Yes! Grant!” she cried over and over as she scratched at his back trying to hold on.
Intense pleasure spiralled through her body and her mouth opened and closed, releasing sounds but no words as she burst.
His mouth dropped to her neck, and he bit while shaking and finishing inside her
It took several minutes for Grant’s breathing to return to normal. His body lay atop hers, and Paige kept her arm and legs wrapped around him.
Finally he lifted his head. “Did I hurt you, baby?”
Sated, she sighed, “It was great.”
His deep chuckle caressed across her body. “I…”
Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a knock on the door. Groaning, he laid his forehead against hers. Laughing, she hugged him. “At least they waited until we finished.”
Grumbling, he nipped her lip as he got up. Wrangling herself under the covers, she watched Grant put back on his jeans.
“It’s such a shame to cover that body up,” she teased before he reached the door.
He sent her a pained look before yanking the door open. Paige could tell it was Sam at the door but couldn’t hear what they were saying. She watched Grant jerk back at something Sam said and could feel the tension start to rise around him again.
“What is it?” she called from the bed.
Grant turned and she could see his emotions swirling in his eyes. His face softened as he looked at her, though. He nodded before turning back to Sam.
“Let me get dressed,” Grant said then shut the door.
“What’s going on?” she asked once he turned back.
“An enemy was spotted in town.”
He headed to the closet. She knew this meant he would be wearing all black—his hunting clothes. And perverted as it was, she loved to watch him dress.
“Someone you know?” she took a guess.
Grant paused from dressing and walked over to the bed. Paige scooted and made room for him.
“What is it, Grant?” she asked when he didn’t answer right away.
“My brother,” he answered softly.
Shock must have shown on her face because he rushed to continue.
“I know I didn’t tell you about him. Honestly, I didn’t think he was still alive.”
“Why not?” He’d never mentioned a brother. She knew about his father and his sister. He never once had mentioned a brother.
“He left the same night I did.”
“You never saw him again?”
Grant shook his head. “No.”
Paige watched his face. The pain was evident. “But if he knew you were here in town, maybe he came looking for you.”
“Or maybe my father sent him.”
“You think he’s working with your dad?”
“I don’t know, baby.” He gripped her hand. “I just don’t know. It’s been five years. Where the Hell has he been? Why come here now?”
“I will, always,” he granted her with a smile. “I know how much these clothes turn you on, so I’ll have to hurry back before you’re asleep.”
Using her teeth against his neck, she lightly nipped. “Oh yeah.”
Regretfully he pulled away, dressed, and kissed her one last time before leaving.
* * * *
Grant knew they were chasing ghosts. He sighed and nodded for Sam to move up in front of him.
Sam motioned the all clear signal and Grant dropped his head. They’d been out for three hours and still no scent of his brother. If Trevor had been around, Grant would have been able to at least pick up something.
Sam circled back to join him, and they both leaned against the brick building. “We’ve been had,” Sam muttered.
Grant nodded. “Damn it.”
“Let’s head back,” Sam suggested.
Grant ran his hands roughly over his face. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Not sure,” Sam admitted.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Grant mused. “Who would make the call about seeing my brother? For what purpose?”
He froze at the same time Sam gasped.
“To get us away from the compound,” Grant whispered.
They took off, using every trick in the book to quickly get back. In his heart, Grant knew it was already too late.
Not ready for bed, Paige had decided to go up to the gym to work out while she waited for Grant to return. She’d only been in the gym for half an hour before Adam came in.
“Hey,” she greeted cautiously, wiping her face with a towel.
“Hey,” he greeted back with a nod. He didn’t meet her eyes, but they had been avoiding each other, so she didn’t think it was too weird. “Grant just called and he wants me to take you to him.”
“Take me?” she started. Grant never wanted her out of the compound at night.
“Yeah, it’s about his brother.”
Paige looked around and realised she’d left the cell phone Grant had bought her in their room.
Adam looked up at her and smiled. “He wants you to meet his brother, but his brother won’t come here.”
Well that made sense. And she did want to meet Grant’s brother. So far the only family member she had met was his father, and she really didn’t want to think about that. “Okay.” She followed to Adam to the elevator. “Just let me shower and change real quick.”