My breathing was ragged. How dare he? I hadn't asked for this. Yet somehow I was evil. A thing to be destroyed. "Well then, what are you waiting for? If that's why you've come. Do it. Kill the evil vampire you just made out with." My words came out harsh, laced with spite. I closed my eyes and lifted my chest. If he wanted me dead, so be it. I wasn't sure how one would kill a newly created vampire. Was I considered a drone, or something else because I was Marked and Chosen? I didn't know. And it didn't matter.
Several minutes passed and nothing happened. I blinked open my lids. Tears crowded Gabe's lashes and streaked his cheeks. The haughtiness was gone, replaced by a desolate sadness.
I lowered my chest. He was so annoyingly complicated. "What? Am I making it too easy? Do you want me to run?" I asked, turning the palms of my hands toward him in supplication.
He shook his head, a strangled moan leaving his throat. Sinking to his knees, he bowed his head. "Why did you have to turn?"
Lowering myself to my knees in front of him, I said, "You offered yourself to me. I was there, I remember." My cheeks flushed at the memory of our kissing. "You wanted me to bite you."
"No," he growled. "I didn't. But..." His voice trailed off. "You-you tricked me. I wasn't strong enough to resist you, and you used your-" He paused.
"I used my what? Womanly wiles?" I snorted in disgust. "I wasn't a vampire until after you let me drink from you. I didn't use any kind of spell, or magic, or whatever you want to call it." I got off my knees and walked over to the window. The slivered moon glowed through wispy clouds. Frogs croaked, and the wind whistled lightly through the trees. "If you'd like I can show you the difference. I have the power to persuade you to do anything now." I didn't look at him, but heard his slight intake of breath. "Is that what you want?"
"Snowflake," he whispered.
I turned to face him. "Is that why you didn't die? Because you're a chayot? If your father has been alive as long as the Vampire Queen, it must be the reason," I stated, wrapping my arms around myself. "Is that why you act like you like me one minute and hate me the next? Because we are meant to be enemies."
He nodded.
My anger returned. I walked over and slapped his face. "This is all your fault. You know that, right?"
He flinched, surprised.
"If you had just told me what you were, instead of acting weird. I wouldn't have bitten you. I would've resisted," I said, fighting the trembling of my lower lip. Thinking back I wondered if I could have, but I had to believe it was true.
"You're right. But I was afraid," he said quietly.
"Afraid of what? That I'd bite you." I exhaled, and turned away. "Guess you had that right."
He swallowed, and turned me to him, taking my hands in his. "No. I was afraid you wouldn't talk to me anymore. That you would hate me." He hesitated, and closed his eyes. "I hate myself."
I yanked my hands from his, frustrated. He was still doing it. Acting all kind and sweet one second, and like a total jerk-face vampire killer the next. "Why? Why even care?" I went to my bedroom door, and pushed it wide open. "Let me make it easy on you. Either kill me or leave. This doesn't have to be difficult. Now that I understand what you are, just get it over with!" Fury made my canines grow, but I didn't care. I let him see the monster in me.
Tears filled his eyes. "I can't," he seethed. "Don't you get that?" His body teemed with desperation, shook with emotion.
"No. I don't," I said, my body moving toward him on its own. When I was inches from him, I continued, "Why can't you kill me, Gabe?" I asked, my voice low, my breathing erratic.
He grabbed my arms, and pulled me so that our chests touched. I had to look up to see his face. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt his pounded with mine. Beat for beat. I was furious, scared, and angry. Worst of all, I wanted him. To kiss me. And keep his promise to never leave me.
His mouth covered mine suddenly, his lips warm. Without hesitation I responded. Filling my kiss with all of the rage, confusion, and hunger pent up inside.
He seemed to be doing the same, and before I knew it we were back on my bed, his hands roaming under my shirt. I did the same, exploring the muscles on his back, his shoulders, and his chest. Our lips parted momentarily when I lifted his shirt over his head. Our eyes met. His were clouded with confusion, and something else. I guessed they were similar to mine. I wasn't sure what we were doing or how we would solve our problems, but in that moment I didn't care.
I grabbed his shoulders and whispered, "Why? It's who you are, so why?"
He groaned in response, pressing kisses into my neck, along my jaw. "I love you, Snow White. I've loved you since the day Professor Pops brought me home, and I saw your inquisitive, beautiful face in my driveway."
Chapter 9
I searched his eyes for any hint of a lie. My heart beat faster. "You love me?" I asked, hesitant.
He wrapped his arms around me, his elbows on either side, holding me a willing captive. "So much it hurts," he said softly, a smirk splaying across his lips.
I realized he was thinking about our first kiss, down in the training room, when I drank from him, and thought I killed him. "Won't your dad be mad? He knows what I did, right?"
He nodded, the smirk turning into a smile. "I've decided I don't care. The past several months I've tried to be the obedient son. Do what my father expects. Take on the family business. But where you're concerned, I can't." His face grew dark, full of determination. "I won't."
At his words, my heart melted. But I wanted to be sure, to be clear. "Is that really feasible though? Isn't it your sacred duty or something to destroy me and my kind?"
He pulled his arms from beneath me and brushed his fingers through my hair. We were so close our noses almost touched. The smell of toothpaste tinged his breath, and manly body wash surrounded his body. The muscles on his arms rippled and he flexed. I took in his dark lashes, thick like a girl's, but on him, they only increased the perfectness of his face. There was a slight arch in his brows. His dark hair swirled in disarray, and his bottom lip...
"Together, we'll figure it out." He kissed me tenderly. "I won't lose you. I made a promise didn't I? That is my sacred duty now. To make sure you're kept safe."