Sadey brushed her fingertip down the bandage on Dawn’s neck and whispered, “That’s a lie, and we both know it. I miss you around here. Nothing’s the same. Garret’s not…” Sadey inhaled deeply and squeezed Dawn’s shoulders. “Dawn, before you go in there, you should know something.”
Dawn frowned and gripped Sadey’s wrists. She was still one of Dawn’s best friends, even if Dawn wasn’t welcome here anymore. “What is it?”
“He’s…had a hard time since you left.”
Pain unfurled in her chest at Sadey’s admission. Despite what he’d done, Dawn still cared so deeply for Garret it scared her. She didn’t want him to hurt, but then again, she was hurting, and him struggling was fair. At least he felt something. At least she wasn’t the only one suffering. “I didn’t leave, Sadey. I was pushed out. By him. Whatever hard time he’s going through is self-induced. None of this was my choice.” She moved out from under Sadey’s grasp and shoved the basement door open, then jogged down into the darkness.
In the hallway, there was one single light, covered by a thick fixture that dimmed the illumination, but she knew this house like the back of her hand. Second door to the end was the Second of the Winterset Coven’s room. Over the last two days, her roiling anger had grown so deep and wide, any warning in her mind to be wary of a big, powerful vampire was snuffed out by the little devil on her shoulder that was telling her to “fuck him up.”
If her legs weren’t so brittle and wimpy, she would’ve kicked in the door like a badass—she was that riled up. To save herself from broken knees and embarrassment, she used the door knob like a normal human and shoved it open so hard it banked off the wall. Hell yes. She opened her mouth to spew magma-hot rage at him, but at her first glimpse of Garret, the words got stuck in her throat.
He was sitting on his bed, facing away from her, head in his hands. His skin was pale in the soft light. She’d never seen him without a shirt on, and his back was covered in scars. The marks were old, silver, different widths and lengths. She’d always known Garret was muscular from the way his clothes fit him, but she hadn’t expected his shoulders to be so wide and for every tensed muscle to show.
When a long hiss sounded from him, he shook his head hard to stop the sound. “I said I don’t want any feeders. I’m not ready.” His voice was gruff and nearly unrecognizable.
When Dawn closed the door gently behind her, Garret slid a hard glance over his shoulder. His eyes were black as pitch, and his face fearsome. He looked hungry.
When he saw her, Garret stood suddenly to his full height. Gads, she’d almost forgotten how tall he was.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, eyes on the wall, his desk, his dresser—anywhere but on her.
“I thought we were friends.”
Garret huffed a breath. “Friends?”
“Don’t do that,” she said, approaching slowly. “Don’t make me feel like I was nothing. How many hours did we spend in here, playing chess, talking, laughing? How much time did I spend with your coven—”
“My coven, not me—”
“To spend time with you, Garret! You were the draw. Surely you know that. I’m not here to beg you to make it like it was. I’m not here to plead with you to be my friend again.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I have questions. And I want you to know you hurt me. I was attacked by someone you know, who knows you. No matter what you say, we were friends once. You owe me answers.”
Garret’s black gaze ghosted to her neck and away. “Look where my friendship got you, Dawn.”
“Who is Asmund?”
Garret turned away from her, slammed his fists against his desk, and stood there frozen, snarling at the wall.
Not good enough. Dawn stepped closer and whispered, “Geir.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“It’s your name, isn’t it?”
“Eleven hundred years ago that was my name. Eleven lifetimes ago.” His dark eyes flashed dangerously when she stepped closer and he backed away, as though he couldn’t stand to be near her.
She’d done the same with the monster in the bar, backed away like this. “Are you really so repulsed by me you can’t stand for me to be close?”
“You don’t know what you’re saying. Don’t know what you’re talking about. Stop. Stop!” He held out his hand to keep her at arm’s length. “I haven’t fed, I’m fucking starving, and you come in here, looking beautiful, looking pure, looking like everything that’s right, and all I want to do is drink you up. We aren’t the same, Dawn!”
Dawn stomped her foot as her eyes burned. “You didn’t come for me!”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Bull. Shit. I was terrified. I was dying. I was calling out for you like you told me to. You told me if I ever needed you, just say your name. I tried not to. I didn’t want to give that beast anything, but I wanted to live, and you never came. I wanted you to save me, but you ignored me instead.”
“I couldn’t hear you,” he whispered raggedly.
“You could.”
“Not after I broke our bond, Dawn! I was here, playing fucking cards with Sadey, completely unaware you were even in danger. You were dying, and I was playing Spades. So I ask again. Why. Are. You. Here?”
“Why are you so hungry?”
Garret angled his face away, blinked slowly, and leveled her with those shining, black eyes.
“Why?” she asked again.
“Because the other feeders don’t feel right.”
“Because they aren’t me?”
Garret ducked his chin to his chest. “Yep. That.”
“Did you care for me?”
A hesitation, and then another nod.
“As a friend?”
Garret refused to answer, and that was answer enough. No, he hadn’t cared for her just as a friend. He’d cared about her as more. She hadn’t imagined it.
Dawn sat heavily on the edge of his bed and sighed. Nothing was what it had seemed with him. A hundred memories hit her at once. Countless feedings where she’d desperately wanted him to kiss her like some of the other vamps did with their feeders. She’d wanted him to touch her body and soul, but he had been so careful every time. A dozen times, she’d caught him staring at her, and then he’d look away quickly. A thousand smiles that were genuine. Smiles that she’d only ever seen him give to her.
And now she was beginning to think she hadn’t known Garret, or Geir, at all.
Pain throbbed in her neck when she turned her head, and she winced. The meds had worn off, and she’d forgotten to bring them with her.
Garret sat down beside her and pulled her hand away from the bandage where she’d been absently rubbing it. “Let me see,” he murmured. His voice was still too rough, and his eyes looked like a demon’s, but she trusted him. She always had.
There was a soft tearing sound, and the bandages fell away. His gaze lingered on the bloody one, but he dragged his eyes back to her neck. His face twisted with anger, but his touch over the cuts was gentle, like a butterfly wing against her skin.
“I can keep them from scarring,” he whispered. “It’ll look like he never touched you. I can take the pain away.”
Beautiful promises. Even if her insides couldn’t be fixed, Garret could fix the exterior trauma. But at what cost?
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, sliding her hand up his arm to his knuckles where he cupped her neck. She wanted to hold him in place and never let him go, but Garret had played a steady game for the last four months. Other than a little flirting, he’d feigned disinterest. “I missed my friend. I missed the man who always made me feel better after a shitty shift, and I’ve been trying really hard to get over the loss of that. If you put your lips on me…if you fix me…I’ll be right back where I was. I don’t want to go through detox again. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Garret drew his leg around the back of her, giving her something to lean on just like he’d always don
e. “You want to be my feeder again.”
It was hard to concentrate with his chiseled chest and abs on display. Garret was a warrior, and those inhuman eyes that should terrify her looked so right in his face. He’d grown his hair out longer on top, but cut his hair shorter on the sides. She could almost see the tattoos. Almost. Her mouth went dry, and she swallowed so her voice wouldn’t crack when she spoke. “This isn’t about money. I accept it if you can’t be more with me. I don’t understand it, but I can’t force feelings from you.”
“But you want feelings from me?” he asked.
Unable to find her voice anymore, she nodded. God, she felt three-whiskey-shots drunk right now, but she was to blame for that. Garret didn’t have extra mind control powers like his king did, or like his maker. Just brute strength.
Garret leaned closer, cradling her gently against his chest, his hand on her neck, supporting her. “What else do you want?” he whispered, his lips close to her ear.
To stay this time. For him to care for her like she cared for him. For him to take her out on a date, meet her mom, and come visit her at work. For him to stick around. For him not to push her away again after tonight. He couldn’t guarantee any of that, though.
Dawn closed her eyes and rested her hand on his chest, right over where his heartbeat should’ve been. His pec was hard as stone, and his skin cold as winter, and the need inside of her opened a little more. “I want you to touch me.”
Garret pressed forward and kissed her neck, right over the painful marks Asmund had left behind. For a moment, she thought Garret would feed right away. She thought he would be driven to take blood to sate his thirst, but he didn’t. He sucked gently, then ran his tongue up her stinging skin. The burn lessened and numbed until she felt nothing but the soft, methodic strokes of his tongue.
Now he would feed, surely.
Gripping her hair, Garret rolled her neck back and dragged his lips slowly to the other side of her throat. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?” he murmured against her skin. “Do you know how hard it was not to touch you when I fed? How hard it was not to kiss you after?” He slid his hand between her legs and cupped her sex.
Dawn gasped and curled in on his touch instinctively. His lips were on her neck again—kissing, sucking so gently. The points of his fangs scraped her skin, and she rolled her eyes closed at how amazing it felt. Her body loved the endorphin rush he gave when he drank from her. Maybe this was an addiction. She’d started it for the money, but stayed for Garret. For how he made her feel.
More fangs, and this was it—so different from what Asmund had done to her. Garret could erase him from her mind with this kind of adoration. Maybe that’s why he was doing this. Perhaps that’s why he was letting himself take her farther than he ever had before.
But just as she’d convinced herself he was doing this out of pity for a broken heart, Garret eased off her neck and gripped her hair in the back. His lips an inch from hers, he froze. His eyes were black as night as he stared at her mouth, and his chest heaved with the cool breath he panted.
Just a moment of hesitation, and then he pushed forward and pressed his lips against hers.
Shock zinged through her body and landed between her legs where he dragged his palm up slowly.
Dawn softened her lips and kissed him back, closed her eyes and got lost in the wave of pleasure that every gentle suck caused. It was everything she’d imagined and so much more. His fingers entwined in her hair stayed gentle enough not to hurt, but firm enough that she felt guided and safe.
Garret lowered her to the bed and climbed slowly over her with a lithe grace that could only come from a supe. And never once did he disengage or let her go. Not until he pushed her shirt up and pulled it from her. His arm locked on the bed, rigid and strong, he dragged his gaze down to her bra and stomach. He ground his hips against hers, and she let off a soft moan as he hit her just right at the apex of her thighs. Dawn drew her fingertips up the hard curves of his arms, across his collar bones, down the line between his defined pecks, over the mounds of his abs to the button of his jeans. All the while, she waited for him to stop her. She’d almost kissed him once when she’d been all wrapped up in the endorphins from feeding him, but he’d pulled away. And that was the night he’d ended their friendship. She’d gotten too close, and he’d punished her for it.
Not tonight, though. Tonight he let her touch him how she liked. His hips twitched when she unsnapped the button, and he sighed out a trembling breath and rolled his eyes closed when she gripped his thick shaft. He was bigger than she’d imagined all the times she’d touched herself to thoughts of him.
Gracefully, he rocked his pelvis, pushing his dick into her grip. And when he opened his eyes again, they sparked with dark intensity.
Garret kicked out of his pants, exposing a long scar on his thigh. Dawn traced it as he pushed into her other hand.
“What’s that one from?”
“Battle ax,” he gritted out. “Fuck, grip me harder.”
She did, but at the sound of his guttural groan, she wanted so much more. Releasing him, she pushed up and kissed him. It was like lighting a fuse. Garret was back on her, lips moving against hers. He bit her bottom lip, pushed his tongue against hers, then teased her tongue into his mouth, too. He was grinding hard against her now, pulling at her pants.
“Fuck my hand or fuck me,” he growled. “Choose.”
Her core was molten now. He’d already made her wet with a few touches, and now Garret was giving her a choice. He was offering her one mountain or the entire world, and she wanted everything.
“You,” she whispered against his lips.
His mouth curved up in a wicked grin, and then their bodies jerked with the movement of him ripping her jeans down her legs. The bra and panties came off and she was laying under him vulnerable, all of her skin against all of his, and she wanted to cry with how beautiful that felt. This, right here, in this moment, was the most profound experience she’d ever had with any man. Her body had craved this for so long, and she’d thought she’d lost him. But here she was with the man of her dreams covering her body with his like a blanket, making her feel safer than she’d ever felt. Making her feel whole and adored.
Garret intertwined their fingers and pushed her hands above her head, parted her legs wider with his knee. And when he lowered back down to the cradle he’d made, poised right there, right at her wet entrance, Dawn couldn’t stop the smile from stretching her lips.
Garret chuckled as though he could sense her elation and kissed her again, slower and softer this time. As he pushed his tongue past her parted lips, he slid the head of his cock into her. She was tight because, hell, she hadn’t done this in a long time, and he was big. Garret didn’t push too fast, but thrust into her shallowly, then deeper and deeper until she could take all of him. Slowly he pulled out, wincing as though it physically hurt to disconnect, then thrust in hard with a groan. God, it was sexy listening to that feral sound. She’d drawn that from him. Her, a little old human bartender from Winterset, and him, a powerful battle-hardened vampire.
Over her head, she squeezed his hands gently, and he responded with another kiss. He was careful not to scrape her with his elongated fangs, and when he trailed his lips down her jaw to her throat and pushed deeply into her again, Dawn arched against the mattress and cried out. He was so good at this. It was as if he knew her body and exactly what she needed. Exactly where to touch her, lick her, nip her. And he was nipping now. Out slow and then bucking into her hard, he plucked at her neck with his lips like he was preparing her for the bite.
She waited for a sharp pain that never came.
Garret’s abs moved against her stomach as he rocked his hips and filled her again and again. When Dawn drew her knees up to give him more room, he gripped the back of her leg and the back of her neck to hold her steady as he made love to her. It wasn’t the hard fuck she’d imagined from a powerful man like him. This was more. It was deeper. It was more
meaningful. Garret was making her fall in love with him all over again.
Dawn was so close. The pressure of ecstasy built with every roll of his hips against hers. He stayed deep with quick thrusts, bumping faster right at her clit.
Dawn gasped and raked her nails down his back, but Garret still didn’t get rough. He smiled against her neck, then eased up and watched her face as her body shattered with deep, pulsing release.
“Garret, Garret,” she panted mindlessly as he bucked into her harder and faster, jarring every aftershock from her.
His grip on the back of her neck tightened as he buried himself and froze. His dick throbbed, filling her with warmth. A feral hiss sounded from him as he reared back and slammed into her erratically. And then just as she became too sensitive, and twitched around him, he slowed, and dragged every pleasurable pulse from her body.
Emptied completely, his aftershocks done, Garret stilled, breathing hard against her. Eyes closed, he rested his forehead on hers. They stayed like that, locked together, his cold body rigid against her warm, soft one.
The strangest feeling drifted through her. It was as if her soul recognized his and was happier for being this close. It was deep satisfaction, and fireworks, and relief, and from the slight smile on his lips, she thought he must’ve felt the same.
Chapter Three
Dawn lay on her stomach, arms cradled under her, watching Garret’s eyes as he tracked the curve of her back with his gaze. He trailed a light touch down her spine, hooked around to the tiny rose tattoo on her ribs, and then back up.
“I didn’t know you had a tattoo,” he murmured.
Dawn smiled. “No one does but my mom. She went with me to get it.”
“Really?”
“Her name is Rose.”
“Is this for her?” he asked, tracing the pink petals.
Dawn nodded. Their conversations had always stayed shallow, but tonight, Garret was different. He was deeper. He wanted to know more. God, she hoped that meant he wanted to keep her around.
“My dad left when I was little. I barely remember him, but my mom was amazing. Hard-working, never let us go hungry, never let money get too tight. He left, and she didn’t even hesitate. There were no days in bed crying or feeling sorry for herself. She’d been a stay at home mom, and I remember two days after my dad walked out, she took me with her to a job interview at the school cafeteria.”