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  “Well, I am.” Her eyes narrowed at my tone, but I wasn’t in the mood to fight with her. “Are you ready for tonight?” I asked, even though the last damn thing I wanted to do was bring her to vampire headquarters.

  Her expression instantly cleared, her blue eyes bright with excitement again. “Yep! I’ve got my laptop all packed up and ready to go. I don’t think I should need anything else besides that, right?”

  I shook my head. “They’ll provide you with a computer that’s hooked up to Parliament’s network.”

  “Oh, okay, then I’m definitely ready.”

  I took a moment to notice the professional clothes she had on, my dick twitching at the tight skirt that ended at her knees. I gritted my teeth and turned away. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Wait,” she called.

  I spun around reluctantly. “What is it?”

  Her eyes narrowed at me again. “Aren’t you going to feed?”

  My mouth watered at the thought of her blood, but I resisted. Maybe I was already trying to distance myself. Despite the fact that I hadn’t actually made a decision yet, it seemed like denying myself her blood was the right thing to do at that moment.

  I shook my head. “I don’t need to feed every night.”

  She snorted. “Could have fucking fooled me.”

  I winced as I turned back around and headed toward the front door. Her high heels clicked furiously behind me as she ran to catch up. She grabbed my arm, and I stopped walking with a loud sigh. “What is it, Charlotte?”

  She stomped around to face me, her hands already on her hips. “Why are you being an asshole already? You just fucking woke up.”

  As if I didn’t already have a dozen things to be pissed off about despite the fact I’d only been up for a few minutes.

  I shrugged “I’m just not looking forward to tonight.”

  “Are you worried something will happen?”

  I looked at her hard. “Of course I am. It’s you we’re talking about.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me before looking away with a shrug. “You’ll be there to protect me. I’m not worried.”

  I snorted but didn’t answer. If she only realized I was the biggest threat against her. I was the one stealing her from the sun, I was the one taking her blood every night. I was the one who dreamed about being able to keep her permanently…

  I shook my head before that thought could take root.

  “You know, I bet you’d be less crabby if you ate before work.”

  I rolled my eyes, but my heart still pounded as she closed the distance between us and ran her hands up my chest.

  “I know I always have a better day when I have a big breakfast.”

  I chuckled once. “So, you’re my Wheaties now?”

  She smiled up at me and my fucking heart rioted. “I bet I’m even more nutritious than that.”

  I laughed again and grabbed her hips, grinding my seemingly always-hard dick against her. I buried my nose in her soft hair and whispered, “Do you really want me to feed? Or do you just want to come?”

  She gasped softly as her whole body began to tremble. “Do we have time for both?”

  Somehow, I got harder. “I’ll make time.”

  ***

  Charlotte

  “Why do you always confide in that human?”

  I turned away from the rainy New York City streets to stare at Alexander. “Ashton?”

  “Yes. Him.”

  “Um. I don’t know. He’s around a lot and things just come up sometimes.”

  His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. “You’re around me a lot too.”

  “Yeah,” I said, almost like a question. I really didn’t know where he was going with this.

  “Why don’t you ever tell me things about your past?”

  Oh.

  I sighed and leaned back, the leather seat creaking beneath me. “It’s different with you.”

  “Because I’m not human?”

  “No!” I turned to stare at him again, harder this time. “Why would you think that?”

  He just shrugged, his lips pressed tightly together like he was preventing any more words from slipping out.

  “It’s just…” I trailed off with a sigh before trying again. “You know how you are, Alexander.”

  He turned his angry eyes toward me, and I could feel a fight brewing in the air. “No, Charlotte. Tell me, how am I?”

  I pointed a single finger at him. “That. Right there. That temper is why I haven’t told you shit.”

  “Is it my temper or is it because you don’t trust me like you trust that human?”

  “Where would you even get an idea like that?” I yelled.

  He shook his head, his lips moving, but he wasn’t making a sound loud enough that I could hear.

  How had he gotten things so twisted?

  I sighed again and reached out to wrap a hand around his tense forearm. “I don’t trust Ashton more than I trust you. I barely know him.”

  “You barely know me either.”

  “No. I know you.”

  He scoffed.

  “I know your temper is mostly a defense mechanism. When you start to feel something you don’t want to feel, you just get angry instead, so you don’t have to deal with real emotions.”

  He was quiet, so I continued.

  “I know you like to watch history shows because they remind you of your past.”

  He said nothing, so I kept going.

  “I know you donate to a lot of charities for women and children every month, but you do it anonymously.”

  “How do you know that?” he finally asked.

  I tried to fight the smile from my lips. “I found some papers in your office.”

  I could tell he was trying not to smile too. “What were you doing in my office?”

  “You said to make myself comfortable.”

  “I didn’t say you could rifle through my personal documents.”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, but you also didn’t say I couldn’t.”

  He laughed then, just once, but it was enough for me.

  “I also know that if I told you all the fucked-up things my dad has done, you’d hunt him down and kill him. I don’t want that on my conscience, and I don’t want his blood on your hands. He’s not worth it.”

  The steering wheel groaned as it was bent out of shape.

  “You know what it does when you say shit like that, right?” he growled from between gritted teeth.

  I pointed at him again. “That is why I don’t tell you that kind of stuff.”

  He took a couple deep breaths before speaking again. “Just because I don’t like the truth doesn’t mean I don’t want it.”

  I looked out the window because I had nothing to say to that. Despite what he said, I knew how he’d react if I told him the truth and it just wasn’t worth it. My dad was in my past. He didn’t need to have any part of my present or future.

  “Will I ever get the whole truth?” he asked quietly.

  I shrugged again. “Maybe one day.”

  He huffed and I could tell he wasn’t happy about my answer, but it was the truth. I didn’t like talking about my past, and I didn’t like thinking about my dad.

  For some reason, when I tell Ashton about this kind of stuff, it feels like I’m talking about someone else’s past. But it’s different with Alexander. He made it all so… real. His deep blue gaze made me face shit I’d spent years trying to forget. I wasn’t in a hurry to dig all that up.

  We pulled into a wide alleyway and I looked around curiously. “This is where vampire Parliament is?”

  “Yes and no. This is the building here, but we’re going in a back entrance.”

  “Why?” I deadpanned.

  He clenched his jaw tight before answering. “Because I’m taking no chances with you. We’re going in the back way, up the emergency stairs, and we’re avoiding every vampire in this place. Understand?”

  I rolled my eyes. “How are you g
oing to avoid an entire building full of vampires?”

  “By being very careful. Let’s go.”

  He climbed out of the SUV and appeared next to my door a second later. He helped me out of the truck before escorting me to a discreet steel door. He pulled out a keyring and unlocked it before ushering me inside.

  We had to be in a seldom used part of the building because there were cobwebs and broken office furniture littering the hallway.

  “This way,” he said as he walked us over to a flight of stairs.

  I looked up the rickety wooden steps warily. “Will these even hold us?”

  He shrugged before pulling me into his arms. “I’ll be so fast it won’t have time to collapse,” he said before taking off up the stairs.

  Several dizzying seconds later, he came to a stop and opened another steel door. This led to an ordinary-looking hallway. Something I really hadn’t expected to see in a vampire government building.

  He didn’t bother to set me on my feet as he rushed down the hall and behind one of the office doors. The room passed in a blur as he ran behind another door.

  “Hey, Alex–”

  He finally let me slide to my feet, but the room was still spinning, and I had to hold on to him for a moment. “Who was that?”

  His eyes darted around the room like he expected danger to jump out from any corner. “Just the guy who shares this office. He’s kind of like my second in command.”

  “I didn’t realize you were the first in command.”

  He shot me a small smirk. “I’m really not. I’m just higher up the ladder than that guy.”

  A knock on the door froze us both in place.

  Alexander cursed under his breath before he pushed me behind him and turned to answer it.

  “Hey, Alexander, you’re back!”

  He held the door only partially ajar. “Yes. I am.”

  “That’s great. Talbot’s got a shit ton for us to do.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  They both paused for a moment, and all I could see over Alexander’s big body was the door closing a few more inches.

  “What was the rush about?”

  Alexander shrugged. “Just need to get to work.”

  I heard the man on the other side of the door sniff loudly and cringed.

  “You brought breakfast with you?”

  I wasn’t sure what happened first. Alexander’s menacing growl or his hand wrapping around the other vampire’s throat.

  “You stay the fuck away from her,” he said, his voice so deep and chilling even I was afraid of him in that moment.

  “Alexander, what the fuck?”

  He shook the vampire hard and slammed him against the wall. “I’m telling you right now. You don’t acknowledge her. You don’t speak to her. You don’t come anywhere near her.”

  The other vampire coughed and stuttered as Alexander’s hand tightened around their neck. “Man, what the fuck? I didn’t do shit. Let me go!”

  Alexander tossed the man out of the room and stood in the doorway, his frame taking up more space than usual. “I’ve claimed her as my own. If I find you anywhere near her, I will kill you. Do you understand?”

  I still couldn’t see the other vampire, but I could hear his rasping coughs as he tried to get himself under control. “You’ve lost your fucking mind, man.”

  Alexander answered by slamming the door and turning the lock.

  I had a feeling that had been only a mild reaction and feared for the next vampire that got too close.

  Chapter 4

  Alexander

  “Are you planning on breaking that pen too?”

  I glanced at Charlotte before looking down at my hand. It was still covered in ink from the last pen I snapped in half, and this one looked like it was about to meet the same fate. I set it down and stretched my fingers.

  “I think things are going to be okay,” she said softly.

  I turned to look at her, my expression harder than I’d have liked, but I couldn’t help it. For the past couple of hours, every possible scenario where Charlotte could get hurt had zipped through my mind. There were hundreds of ways I could lose her to this building full of monsters.

  And I was the asshole who’d brought her there.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She sighed. “It’s been hours. No one knows I’m even in here. Can you just relax a little?”

  I bit my tongue hard as vitriol filled my mouth, but I swallowed before I could spew it at her. She was the last person who deserved my wrath.

  “Michael knows you’re here. He could have told any number of others by now.”

  “You mean that vampire you tossed across the room?”

  My lips twitched despite my ire. “Yes. Him.”

  She shrugged. “It didn’t seem like he was trying to cause trouble either. I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.”

  “And I think you’re taking the matter of your safety and your life far too lightly. There are thousands of ways you could be attacked, tortured, or killed in this building and you don’t seem to be afraid of any of them.”

  She shrugged again and I swear, I almost lost my fucking mind. “You’ll protect me.”

  I blew out a deep breath, an incredulous chuckle sliding out with it.

  If she only knew.

  The last time someone trusted me to keep them safe, I’d failed. I was a soldier. My job was to protect my people, and I couldn’t even protect my own family. What made me think I could do any better with Charlotte?

  “You’re unbelievable.”

  She smiled, and despite how wound up I was, it still had the power to ease something deep inside me. “Thanks.”

  “That wasn’t a compliment.”

  “Yeah, but I’m choosing to take it as one.”

  I shook my head and turned back to my computer screen, willing the hundreds of words to make sense so I could finish my work and get the hell out of there.

  Usually I didn’t spend much time at my desk, but I’d bribed Talbot into letting me do paperwork instead of shadowing him like I usually did.

  Maybe it was the lack of action.

  Maybe it was the waiting.

  The listening to every little sound that was driving me out of my mind. It felt like I’d crawl out of my skin if I had to sit in that room and wait for a disaster to strike for another minute.

  My phone rang, and I sighed in relief, thankful for something else to focus on besides the constant fear and anxiety.

  “Hausle.”

  “Alexander, you need to report to the Board,” Nicholas said.

  Fuck.

  I knew this had been coming. I’d been expecting the call for days.

  “When?”

  “Now.”

  My stomach dropped as I shook my head. “No.”

  “Alexander, you don’t have a choice. This is a trial. And it’s starting in fifteen minutes.”

  “I need more time!” I yelled as I jumped to my feet.

  My wide eyes searched the office like I could find something that would help in this situation.

  “I’m sorry. You’ve been out for over two weeks and I’ve been able to hold them off. But now that you’re back, they want answers for why you ripped that man’s head off.”

  “He attacked her,” I spat.

  “He drank from her. That’s allowed.”

  I growled so loud the sound reverberated through the small office. “No one is allowed to drink from her but me!”

  “Yes, now that you’ve claimed her, that’s the case. But when Peter Jones bit her, she was just another human.”

  “Is that the fucker’s name?”

  Nicholas sighed through the phone. “Yes. It is. And we’re lucky we were able to save him or the consequences would be much worse for you.”

  I hadn’t even bothered to question whether he’d lived or died after I’d pulled him off Charlotte’s throat and then beheaded him. He was just luck
y I’d tossed his body parts into the lightless bathroom before I left him there. The old me would have left him to burn in that hotel room.

  The me before Charlotte.

  I glanced over and found her staring at me, a little crease of worry between her light brows. She was the reason this Peter asshole was still alive. She was the only goddamn reason.

  “Nicholas, I’m not going anywhere. They’re going to have to reschedule.”

  “They’ve rescheduled twice already! There is no other option. You need to get up here now.”

  I was still shaking my head, my eyes searching the room again for an answer I knew I wouldn’t find. “But she’s here with me. What am I supposed to do with her while I’m gone?”

  “Lock the door.”

  I growled so loud Charlotte winced. “You know a fucking lock isn’t going to stop a vampire, Talbot.”

  “Then I can send Adrienne to watch her. She’s here with me today.”

  “Because that worked out so well last time.”

  Nicholas sighed. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

  “I’ll bring her with me then.”

  “You know humans aren’t allowed to witness trials.”

  “But she’s claimed.”

  “But she’s still a human. You have to leave her there and come yourself.”

  “Nicholas, I’m telling you right now that’s not fucking happening. Figure something else out.”

  “Alexander, you have two options,” he said, his voice clipped and curt. Seemed like I’d finally found the usually stoic vampire’s last nerve. “You either show up for your hearing and explain your actions, or you’ll automatically be found guilty. I can’t promise what your punishment will be, but I’m sure there will be some jail time involved. Then you’ll have to leave her permanently for who knows how long.”

  My stomach hollowed out completely as I sat down heavily in my chair and closed my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. There had to be some way around this. There had to be another option.

  “I can’t leave her, Nicholas. Not here.” I sat up straight as an idea formed in my head. “I can bring her back to my place and then come back for the trial.”

  “Your trial starts in twelve minutes.”

  That wasn’t enough fucking time!