Page 15

ZAVIER

C eline touched me.

Celine.

Touched.

Me.

“Zavier? Hello?” Her delicate hand waves in front of my face and cars honk behind us. I startle and step on the gas. Catching me off guard is no easy task and yet Celine does it effortlessly.

My brain short circuited when she brushed an eyelash off my cheek a second ago. It’s the first time our bare skin has touched, and I want to cement the memory so five-hundred years from now I still know how it feels.

“Are you okay?” she presses. “I shouldn’t have touched you without your permission,” she apologizes.

“No, no, it’s not that.” I swallow down my desperation to say yes, please, touch me some more. Touch me everywhere. Touch me any time you want. “Just lost in my thoughts,” I finish with instead.

“Thanks for driving me home. I would’ve hated to make Ava and Spencer go the opposite way of their apartment just for me.”

My steering wheel squeaks in alarm when I squeeze too hard in an attempt to calm myself down. Her words are going in one ear and out the other as I focus on deep breathing just like the yoga instructor in the class I popped into a few months ago told me to do.

My teeth grind together, and I bite down to cover my fangs that have popped out involuntarily.

No. No .

Now is not an appropriate time for a fangboner!

I can’t seem to control them around her and that’s going to quickly become an issue because I fully plan on spending more time with her.

“Mhm.” The garbled response is uncivilized at best, but it’s all I can do.

Celine leans forward to look at me when she finally realizes something’s wrong. I try to lean away and let the collar of my coat hide my face.

Go away! I will the pesky canines to retract, but so far they’re not going anywhere.

“Are you okay?” Her sweet voice holds so much concern, and I jerk when she lays her palm on my thigh.

I’m already dealing with a fangboner. The last thing I need is an actual one too.

“Just started to feel a little weird.” I mumble around my fangs, willing them to recede.

Stupid fuckers never listen.

“Do I need to drive? Do you want to stop?” The concern in her voice amplifies and I curse myself for worrying her.

Wait. She’s worried about me?

If I could blush, I most certainly would be. My sweet girl is worried about me, when all that’s wrong is me wanting to take her to pound town and mark her as mine.

“No, I’m fine.” I try to reassure her. “We’re close to the apartment.”

She makes a noncommittal noise, and I know she doesn’t believe me but keeps quiet otherwise.

The remainder of the drive is spent in silence, and I hate it.

I haven’t had much one-on-one time with her, and I want to ask her so many questions.

What’s her favorite color? What makes her laugh?

What makes her heart race? How can I make her smile?

I look forward to finding the answers out to everything and more when the time is right.

Rolling into the parking garage, I pull up to the nearest elevator and stop the car.

“I’m going to drop you here.”

Confusion wrinkles her brow when she turns to me. “Is your spot far away or something?”

“Yeah,” I choke out, and will her to head upstairs.

As much as it pains me to leave her, my episode has caused me to burn through the remaining donor blood in my system. Any that remains has rushed straight to my dick and I need to visit my supplier stat, or I won’t be able to hold myself back.

I’d never hurt Celine but a vampire in bloodlust, even a more mature one like me, is bad news.

Mix in the fact Celine is my mate and I’ll be trying to claim her before she’s ready for it, which I refuse to do.

Mates are a temptation like no other and it’s rumored their blood is a rush of adrenaline.

“I’d rather you get out here, so I know you’re safe in the elevator. I … have an errand I need to run,” I add when she hasn’t made any progress on getting out of my car.

“An errand? This late?”

“I need to pick up something from a friend.”

“Oh, okay.” She looks a bit disappointed.

Does she want to spend more time together?

Annoyingly for me, it doesn’t matter if she does, I need blood.

Tightening her purse strap on her shoulder she opens the car door and steps out.

“Thank you again.” She dips her head in and slides out, heading for the elevator.

I don’t dare pull away until I know she’s safely inside. Blowing out a breath, a wheeze of pain escapes and I dig out my phone. Speed dialing my contact she picks up in one ring.

“What do you need?” Her voice is young sounding. A stark contrast to her age.

“Five pints. Stat.”

“Rough night, huh?” The teasing lilt in her voice is not appreciated.

“Shut up. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just have it ready.”

My wheels squeal on the road and splash rain everywhere as I drive like a bat out of hell.

“You’re so fucked.” A chuckle and the line goes dead.

An aggressive clang of metal on wood sounds as I throw open the front door to my supplier’s business. The bells tied to the top nearly fall off in my rush to get blood.

“Slow your roll, Speedy.” The blond-haired woman scolds me and places a cooler in front of my face on the countertop.

Without any acknowledgement I tear open the lid and rip into a bag of O negative.

A moan slips out as I feel the rush of liquid into my system.

I’m sure I look like an absolute savage but the burning in my throat was almost too much to bear up to this point.

I haven’t been this close to falling into bloodlust since I was first turned.

“Celine’s really got your panties in a twist, doesn’t she?” Luna arches one perfectly manicured brow and taps her fingers on the table while I start on my second bag.

I give her a scowl while I continue to drink and only when I’m finished with my third bag do I finally feel like myself again. Sighing, I sit down on the barstool of the coffee shop bar and level her with a no nonsense look.

“How’d you know?”

“I could see you perched on the roof of the building across the street like a ginger gargoyle the other day watching her. You’re not slick.

You killed one of my patrons.” She raises a brow at me, but I don’t apologize.

“I’ve known you for twenty years, Zav, you don’t stick around unless something catches your eye, and I think that something is a five-foot seven-inch-tall brunette.

Spill.” Her smile is teasing, but curious.

“You’re too nosey for your own good, Luna.” My empty blood bag lands next to her, narrowly missing her face when I launch it her way.

She wipes a fleck that’s landed on her wrist. “How else do you expect me to live out my eternal life? Gossip is what makes the world go round.” Wavy hair cascades over her shoulder as she grabs all the emptied blood bags and tosses them in the incinerator she keeps in the closet.

Luna and I met in the early 2000’s in New York City. A one-night stand gone wrong solidified her fate as a forever twenty-four-year-old. The bastard was a one pump chump who turned her and ran—the guy nearly drained her by accident and felt bad about it so he turned her.

I’d be lying if I said we didn’t mess around in the beginning, both lonely and needing companionship, but we quickly found we were better as friends. She was someone I made sure to stop and say hello to if I was in town.

Plus, she keeps a blood stock for vamps in the area. A coffee shop by day and blood bar by night, it was the perfect cover. Humans would never be able to fathom what walked among them right under their noses.

“She’s my mate.” I drop the bomb figuring I should get it out of the way.

It’s probably wrong of me that she’s the first person I tell, but I’m pretty sure Celine would run screaming from me if I told her. Or worse, laugh.

A clunk echoes throughout the room when she drops her phone on the ground. Her mouth is a perfectly round “O” shape that would be comical if the shocked expression on her face wasn’t as annoying as it was.

Here come the twenty questions.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The shrill squeak she lets loose makes me cringe. She gives me a punch in the shoulder.

“Why would I joke about that?” Already exasperated by the conversation I start to sip on my fourth blood bag thankful my fangs have fully retracted now. I’ve already run through my head how ludicrous the situation is, not that I’d trade Celine for anything.

“Zavier Lockwood.” Her face holds the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.

“You have a mate. And it’s Celine.” Her face morphs back to shock.

“A human. That’s rare!” A slight breeze tousles the hair falling over my glasses when she rushes over in a blur.

Plopping down on the barstool in front of me, I lean back when she encroaches into my space.

“Tell me everything. How did you find out? Does she know? Of course, she doesn’t know, that means you'd have told her what you are. When are you going to tell her you’re a vampire?

You’ll have to since she’s a human! Will you turn her? How will she rea?—”

“Luna. For the love of God shut up.” Already fed up with her questioning I cover her mouth with my palm and pull it away once she stays quiet.

Her teeth nip at my hand like a little fledgling and a hiss comes out.

I bop her on the nose. “You brat. I’ll tell you if you promise to keep your lips zipped. ”

She mimes zipping her lips and I smirk.

“I was leaving one of my … art scenes,” I say for lack of a better idea of what to call it.

“When something tugged me toward her.” Luna rolls her eyes at the mention of my “art”.

I know she hates when I talk about it, but I continue.

“She took my breath away. It felt like I got hit by a truck. When I finally caught her scent, the world was ripped right out from under me. It’s like my life starts and ends with her now and I can’t let her go.

The fact she’s a human and I’m a vampire doesn’t matter.

I know it’s rare, and definitely odd she’s human, but it doesn’t change anything. ”

Mates aren’t all that rare for those of us who are of the supernatural variety—vampire, fae, shifter—but having one that’s human is. It’s uncommon enough that I’ve only ever met one pairing in my three-hundred years. It was a wolf shifter and her human mate.

My eyes flutter shut under my glasses at the memory of how she looked that first night on the scene. Celine was a stunning and intelligent creature and all mine .

“You’ve got it bad,” Luna laughs and pats my hand. “I’m happy for you. Truly. Celine is one of the nicest humans I’ve ever met, and I know she’ll be good for you. But shit. A human.”

“I won’t be good for her?” I balk, pure offense sharpening my words.

Spinning around from me on her stool, and walking away she volleys back, “She needs to keep her wits about her around you. You’ll corrupt her, Zavier.”

“That’s what I’m counting on,” I chuckle, but stop when I remember a crucial detail. “Wait. You were the one that encouraged Celine to go to Vex’s grand-opening weren’t you?” I cross my muscled arms over my chest and glare.

“Yeah. I’ve heard whisperings that something is going on there. She’s a damn good cop and I pointed her in the direction of a case.” Shrugging her shoulders she continues to put away clean dishes.

“It was a club! One where she wore essentially nothing and looked like a walking snack.” Raking a hand through my hair, I fight back my anger and remember the men and women who stared at her with covetous eyes.

I stepped in to stake my claim as quickly as I could, but the damage had been done.

“Do you know how horrible it was to watch her basically dance naked in front of everyone?”

Pursing her lips, she rebuttals, “She deserved some fun and you’re not her parent. Let the girl live. Plus, like I said, she was investigating a case. And how was I supposed to know she’s your mate? She doesn’t smell of you yet.”

“What exactly did you have her investigating?”

“I think it’s a drug front that’s dabbling in trafficking. It’s been hard for even me to get the straight of it.”

“Luna! You sent Celine there knowing that?” I explode, standing straight up.

The anger I feel is all consuming and if this is a peek into what I have to look forward to I don’t know if I can handle it. If I’m a possessive bastard on a good day, I’ll be downright murderous on a bad one. Celine is mine and she’ll come to no harm under my watch.

“Chill.” A dirty dish rag hits my face. “She was obviously fine and can take care of herself.”

Grabbing the soiled cloth before it stains my shirt I lob it back at her. We push each other’s buttons, but I need moments like this to rein myself in and she knows it, too.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” A sigh leaves my body, and I deflate.

“You’re already dead.”

Silence fills the space as I stare at her for a few beats before I turn on my heel and walk toward the door. “I’m leaving.” The door jingles as I open it. “And you’re an idiot.”

Luna’s melodic laughter follows me, and I stop, remembering my reason for initially coming in. My feet pound on the wooden floor as I sprint over to her backup cooler and steal a few extra bags of blood.

“You greedy little pig,” she calls out. “I’m adding that to your tab.”

I stick out my tongue and dart out into the night.