Page 20

ZAVIER

" Y ou look stunning. You’re such a catch anyone would be lucky to have you. Me? Oh, please you flatter me.” Batting a hand at the mirror I chuckle and turn away.

My reflection doesn’t respond, but Midnight watches from his cat bed with one eye open and one closed. A paw outstretched making air biscuits, the end of his tail lightly sways while he sprawls like he’s king of the castle.

“I have to practice, Mr. Meow Meow. You don’t get it.” Midnight harumphs before closing both eyes. I run my fingers through my hair, the nervous tremble impossible to ignore. “You’ve obviously never been nervous to go on a date with your dream girl.”

At this point I’ll have to comb my hair again with how many times I’ve run my fingers through it.

Being a three-hundred-year-old vampire doesn’t mean I’m invincible from human emotions and I can say for a fact I haven’t been this nervous in a long time.

I’ve dreamed about spending time like this with Celine since the day I spotted her in the warehouse, and now that it’s here I’m floundering.

I don’t like feeling like this … so out of sorts like I don’t know what to do or how to act in my own body.

“This has to be perfect. By the end of the night, I am kissing this woman and convincing her we’re meant to be together.”

Sure, a first date is probably too soon for that, but we’re mates. How can anything be too soon when you have an eternity together? I’m steadfast in my need for Celine to turn, but I still have to go at her pace.

“Meow.”

“Exactly, my friend. You and I know she and I are meant to be together, but she has to admit it to herself.” Bending down and stroking Midnight’s fur I smile. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. This is precisely what I need.”

“Meow.”

“I’ll see you soon, bud.”

With the silence and swiftness of my kind, I slip into my apartment when I hear the elevator and Celine’s scent becomes stronger. Did I sneak into her apartment to get a pep talk from my hype kitty? Absolutely. Midnight is my best friend. I just can’t let Tom find out or his feelings will be hurt.

Our earlier run in today has had my non-existent heart racing and my fangs refusing to retract as per usual. The fangboners are getting out of control. It’s a miracle I get away without her noticing my lisp that happens when they’re in the way.

Honestly, I’m not sure how much longer I can stay away from Celine. Well ... I already don’t do that great of a job at it, but my inner beast is clawing at its cage every time I walk away from her without staking my claim.

It goes against every animalistic cell in my body to not mark her slender neck with my bite for all to see. It’s part of being mates—the animalistic need to claim one another.

Although, in our case, I’m the only one with those urges it seems. As a human she’s certainly drawn to me, but she doesn’t appear to have the same need to claim me.

I’ve always been told that during the time of claiming—before the bond completely snaps into place—that it’s possible to lose all rational thinking. But it’s not something I ever gave much thought to before. After all this time alone, I didn’t think a day would ever come where I’d meet my mate.

Stepping out onto my balcony my nostrils flare as her perfumed berry scent floats from her patio door.

The sounds of her getting ready meet my ears—the opening and closing of a drawer, the smooth glide of a brush through her hair.

If I didn’t know it would freak her out, I’d come in right now from the back and watch her get ready.

I head back inside and busy myself straightening up around my apartment and call my contact to make sure everything is in place for the date since I had to move the timeline up.

“T-minus five minutes until pick up.” Rubbing my hands together in anticipation I sit on the couch and bounce in place.

Figuring I should have a snack just to be on the safe side, I snag a small glass of blood from the leftover supply I got from Luna.

While I sip, I think about the possibility of turning Celine one day.

How she might look as I drained her of nearly all of her blood and gave her mine to replace it—solidifying our bond and forever changing her into a vampire.

I’m so lost in my thoughts that when I finally look at the clock it’s two minutes past the time I’m supposed to get her.

Shit.

I’m out the door in a flash, fist raised to knock on her door. The knock sounds impossibly loud to my ears as the fresh blood fills my veins.

The door swings open revealing the most ethereal being I’ve ever seen in my life.

I think my brain short circuits at the amount of skin on display with the dress she wears.

It’s not the same as the one she wore to the club when we danced, but similar in style.

Black and lacy it hits her mid-thigh and is topped with a black leather jacket.

The sweetheart neckline showcases her gorgeous tits.

Her hair is pulled up in its signature high ponytail, which I love since it gives me direct access to her scent that is strongest at the pulse point in her neck.

As I continue my perusal up her body, I let out a whistle of appreciation that makes her cheeks stain with the prettiest blush.

Her brown eyes flutter when they finally make contact with mine and I can see the desire reflected in hers while she gives my body a once over.

I made sure to wear a black sweater and pants that would match her outfit, she didn’t need to tell me what she was wearing for me to know.

The dark clothing serves to make my hair and eyes stand out. A silver watch glints on my wrist in the light, and I spare a quick glance at it. I don’t want to look away from Celine for any longer than I have to, before offering her my arm.

“Your knight in shining armor is here.”

She accepts it with a smirk.

“Knight in shining armor,” she says in a playful, mocking tone. “I'm no damsel in distress.”

“No, you aren’t,” I concede. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t sweep you off your feet.” My brows waggle and she lightly swats me with her free hand.

“Let’s go, Casanova.”

Celine locks her door behind her, but not before I wink at Midnight who sits on the counter and watches us go. “See you later,” I mouth at him. He swishes his tail in response, and I swear his eyes are all too knowing in that moment for a simple cat. Huh.

“Where are we going?” she asks as we step onto the elevator, and I’m surprised it’s taken her this long to ask and that it wasn’t the first thing out of her mouth when she opened the door.

I smirk at her. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.”

She grumbles but accepts my answer as we make our way out and I walk her to my car. I backed it in earlier, blocking the sign I painted. I know Celine isn’t an idiot. If she sees it she’ll begin to connect the dots on exactly who I am and I’m not ready for her to know that part of me.

I hold the car door open and her eyes rove over me for the fourth time—yes, I’m counting—as she slides into the passenger seat.

I cross in front of the car and slip into the driver’s side.

The engine purrs to life. I wet my lips with my tongue.

She tracks the movement, and I smell the faint irresistible scent of her arousal.

Metal crunches slightly under my grip but thankfully Celine doesn’t notice.

Oh fuck. Pressure in my gums. God help me. These insufferable fangs. Incoming boner of both kinds.

As much as Celine pretends to be unflappable the mating bond is an inevitable bitch. That’s not to say mates can’t reject the bond, because they can, but it makes it hard if there’s a natural attraction present like we have.

I take a moment to center myself before I pull out.

Pull out.

Pull-out method.

Get your head out of the gutter, Zav!

Sitting in a confined space with my mate while she’s aroused is going to test my limits and it’s just the start of our date.

Dead puppies. Tom in his underwear. Pineapples.

My breath whooshes out of me, and when I finally feel composed enough and confident my fangs won’t come out, I head toward the parking exit.

The drive isn’t too far, and we make small talk on the way to our stop. If I had the capability of sweating, I would be, but I try to keep my expression as smooth as possible.

“Willis Tower?” Celine questions as soon as she sees the sign.

There’s incredulity in her voice and I’m sure it’s because the tower isn’t anything special when she’s lived in Chicago all her life. Sure, it’s an amazing sight but doesn’t hold the sparkle like it does for tourists.

Grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it, her eyes snap to mine. “Trust me.” She melts a little under the gesture and I head out to open her car door.

“Thank you,” she mutters when I tuck her under my arm.

There’s stiffness for a second before she lets herself settle into my warmth.

Her tiny body fits perfectly, dwarfed by mine, and the urge to protect her from everything bad in the world rides me hard.

I can tell she’s been dealt a shitty hand in life and can handle herself but that doesn’t mean I can’t try my best to keep her away from it in the future.

Remnant puddles litter the streets and the last thing I want is Celine falling as we make our way to the front door of the tower.

It also serves as the perfect way to slow my steps and hold her as long as possible.

Strands of her hair blow in my face and I soak in the sensation before she pulls it away in apology.

“Did you get everything squared away for your case you were investigating?” I question.

“For now. I passed off my findings to the detective who’s going to continue investigating since it’s not my main case but…” she trails off.

“You’re too deep in it now?” I muse.

“How could you tell?” Celine chuckles. “There’s just something nagging at me about it all. I’ll tell Detective Waters to keep me in the loop on what happens.”

She smooths out the windblown ends of her ponytail to sit on her shoulder and picks a few fly aways that have stuck to her lip gloss. The shimmery pink color accentuates the natural pigment of her lips, and I’d love to have it smeared all over both her mouth and mine.

She gives a slight shiver, and I use it as an excuse to tug her closer. “Come on, small fry. I can’t have you freezing out here before our date really begins.”

“Small fry? What are these nicknames?” She shakes her head, lips curling in amusement.

I drag her toward the front door and tamper down my excitement.

I can't wait to show her my surprise. Even with the date timetable moved up, I easily pulled off what will soon be the date of the century. It’s amazing the things you can pull off with an unlimited budget.

Sure, if Celine knew how much this had cost me she might go into cardiac arrest which would be unfortunate, but my girl deserves the best.

The wind is picking up and I smell rain in the air, a storm coming in no doubt.

As we enter the building it greets us with an open, modern, and slightly industrial looking lobby.

There are lots of benches to sit at and large windows throughout the space to highlight different floors.

I don’t let us linger too long and we take the escalator down to filter through the expedited entry lane.

I already handled everything with my contact’s help and rented out the tower so it would only be us.

I see her wide-eyed expression as we walk through without anyone intercepting us, but Celine continues to blindly follow me as I lead her.

“Have you been here before?” She breaks the silence with a question.

When I turn to look at her my glasses slip lower on my face. I make a move to adjust them when her delicate hand comes out of nowhere and pushes them up for me. To say I’m shocked would be an understatement and she giggles before walking ahead and observing the exhibit we’re now walking through.

“Uh no, actually.” My sheepish admission has her backtracking to me in surprise.

“Never?”

I shake my head. “I don’t get out much.”

She narrows her gaze on me, head cocked to the side. “Zav, be for real. You have like twenty odd jobs.”

I laugh. “Those are jobs. Usually, I’m just at home by myself.”

You know, if I’m not out killing people who deserve it.

Her eyes scan the train exhibit as we continue to walk through the long hallway.

Simulated windows showcase different Chicago scenes as we stroll, and the lights reflect off her skin like little fireflies.

Our hands are so close right now they could touch, and I strain my pinky to brush hers before stopping myself from grabbing her hand.

Celine’s lips tilt like she knows what’s happening but doesn’t comment.

Good. I want her to know what she does to me.

“Are you a true Chicagoan if you haven’t come here once?” A light touch has me glancing down to see her pinky wrapped around mine.

Ahh. Oh fuck. She’s touching me again.

“Skydeck is this way,” she says with a little hop, using my pinky to tug me along.

Her smile undoes me. If I wasn’t a sucker for her before, I am now. In my long life I’d seen all kinds of “beautiful” things. Beautiful places, beautiful people, beautiful acts but never something so beautiful as Celine.

As the elevator goes up and we get closer to my surprise I begin to grow nervous all over again.

Turning to face the opposite direction, I hope to filter out some of her delicious scent while waiting for the elevator to climb. Of course it doesn’t work, and I let out a tense breath. Finding a sense of composure, I allow myself to face forward again.

I must’ve been so focused on myself that when I turn, I jolt at Celine being right next to me.

God how long was I standing in silence.

Her brow is slightly wrinkled at my behavior, and I give a small smile in an effort to ward her off.

The door chimes as it opens to our floor, and I let her walk ahead of me for our first date—her last first date if I have anything to say about it.