Unafraid Read online

  “Get out! Get out now!” She backed away as he stepped toward her. “I have nothing to say to you! You haven’t had anything to say in a week so I’m no longer willing to listen! Get out!”

  But he didn’t leave. Tessa swung widely, striking him before she tried to dodge him. Griffin wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides and held her there while she struggled to free herself. It was no use fighting. She could never overpower him. In fact, she got the feeling he wasn’t even making an effort, which just pissed her off even more. His vampire juice probably made him super strong.

  She fought and cursed at him until she wore herself out. Griffin held her gently and murmured earnest words of apology and tenderness. Finally, she sagged in his arms, mentally and physically exhausted. He kissed her eyelids, her nose and her cheeks. When he reached her mouth, Tessa wanted to resist, knowing that making love to him even just one more time would seal her fate, but it was like fighting the tide. Every cell in her body screamed at her to take what he offered. His absence for the last week had been painful. He kissed her more deeply, slowly, expressing all of the regret he felt for having hurt her and she gave in to the wash of heat and desire simmering between them.

  “You’re going to destroy me,” she told him between kisses, but he never paused, too deep in thought to hear her prophecy. It didn’t matter now. What would be would be, no matter how hard she fought it.

  His hands roamed over the curves of her hips while his tongue leisurely explored her mouth. Tessa felt cool air on the dampness between her legs and suddenly her yoga pants were around her ankles. Griffin stepped on the crotch of the pants and wrapped his hands around her ass to lift her out of them and onto the counter. The thick column of his manhood pressed tightly against her heat and rubbed. No longer able to hold back, Tessa began tugging at his clothes. She wanted to feel his hot, bare skin against her chest, but he pulled back. Never breaking eye contact he pulled his crisp white dress shirt from his pants and tugged it over his head.

  “I’m going to taste you now, Tessa. I need to breathe you in and take your sweet flavor into my body. I can’t wait any longer. Do you understand?” He spoke slowly and calmly but his eyes had shifted to black and fangs pressed into his lower lip. He was at the end of his rope and slipping. His broad muscled chest glistened with a layer of sweat in the cool room. Griffin dropped to his knees before her and gripped her inner thighs with his big hands, pushing her legs as far apart as they would go.

  With one long swipe of his tongue Griffin licked her from her entrance to the hard little bud that made her cry out with pleasure. She watched, fascinated, as he nibbled, sucked, and licked her into a frenzy of need without letting her go over the edge. He buried his face in her heat and lapped up every drop he could find. Tessa was so close to exploding, but he teased and teased, drawing out the anticipation until she pleaded with him for relief.

  His satisfied growl rumbled through her core, setting off tiny shockwaves. In one sudden move Griffin thrust two fingers into her core and sank his fangs into her inner thigh. The climax he ignited had her screaming his name and convulsing with wave after glorious wave of pleasure that seemed never ending.

  * * *

  Griffin suckled at Tessa’s thigh while she screamed his name and pulled at his hair. The hot, vanilla sweetness of her blood ran down his throat and the musk of her satisfaction surrounded him, clouding his brain. Lost in his need for her, Griffin struggled to pull himself away. He’d had enough of her blood and now that he’d fed, his other needs were taking over. He hadn’t come there with sex in mind but that was where the pull of their attraction for each other led them in a hurry.

  He would never forget the tears he’d seen streaming down her face when he entered her home. He had caused those tears. In the week he had been away from Tessa he hadn’t really thought about whether or not he was hurting her. He thought he may have been pissing her off by not contacting her again, but he hadn’t expected to see tears and true pain on her beautiful face. Griffin had returned to fulfill his own need to be near Tessa again, not out of consideration for her needs or feelings. That said something about him that he wasn’t ready to deal with. For now he had to appease the hungry beast clawing at his mind demanding Tessa was his to possess. Griffin got to his feet and pulled Tessa’s trembling body into his arms. He knew he had some explaining to do if he wanted to make a go at any kind of relationship, but for now he would apologize as best he could and move on to a more intimate and infinitely more satisfying way of making up for his mistakes.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Very soon I will explain my reasons for being such an ass. Hopefully then you’ll be able to forgive me.” He kissed her and prayed she would agree to talk about things later, because if he wasn’t inside of her soon he wasn’t sure what he would do. He had a powerful need to mark her in every way possible.

  She kissed him back and Griffin felt relief and need take over his mind when he laid her luscious body out on the sofa bed. He stood and quickly shucked off his shoes and pants. Tessa watched him undress with a tentative smile. When he tried to crawl over her on the bed, she scurried away to the other side.

  “Lay on your back,” she ordered. Her tone suggested there would be no argument if he wanted his prize. He very much wanted it, so Griffin sprawled out on the bed as she demanded. His erection stood at attention, awaiting her pleasure.

  Tessa straddled his thighs and began to firmly stroke him. It felt so good. Her grip was perfect, not too gentle or too tight. After a moment of mindless pleasure, he had to begin doing long division in his head to distract himself. She would unman him if she kept up her delicious torture. Just when he believed the end was near, she slid up his body and took his mouth with force. She pressed her delicious body against him, circled her hips and allowed the wetness at the apex of her thighs to coat him while she rubbed against his length, pleasuring herself but never allowing him to enter her body. He was going to lose his mind. She was playing a dangerous game with a desperate male. He had tasted all of her pleasure and craved having her heat wrapped around him. He growled and gripped her hips.

  “Do you want that, Griffin?” she asked with a purr.

  “Tessa, it has been too long and I need you. Yes, I want it.” He thrust upward but she pulled away. He released her hips and she settled back onto him.

  “Tell me your body is mine, Griffin, mine and no others,” she demanded. “Who do you belong to?” She rested her entrance just where he needed it and hovered there, circling her hips, waiting for a response. She was staking a claim in the same way the beast roaring with triumph in his head had attempted. He loved seeing his woman behave as possessively as he had.

  Griffin’s logical mind bristled at a female demanding anything from him. He would not submit to anyone. At least not until she circled her hips again, lowering herself just enough to take his tip into her body. Then he was lost.

  “I belong to you!” he panted and his hips bucked but she moved again.

  “Only to me, Griffin?” she asked.

  Oh hell. He never wanted to belong to anyone else. “I belong to you and no one else, Tessa. Baby, please!”

  She circled her hips one more time before slowly sliding down his length until he was completely bathed in her slick heaven. The delicious slide of skin against skin had him doing math problems in his head again. She rose and fell over him in a sensuous rhythm as old as time. He messaged her breasts and pinched her tight nipples. Her head was back and her face tense with the need for release. On and on it went with her speeding up and slowing down to prolong the ride when she felt him getting close. Finally, gratefully, her muscles began to ripple around him and he knew she wouldn’t last much longer. Near to releasing without her, Griffin reached down and pinched her little bud. She exploded, again screaming his name as the muscles of her core clamped down and pulsed around him, dragging him over the edge into oblivion.

  She collapsed over his chest in a boneless h
eap. She weighed next to nothing, so he relished having her doze and using his body as a pillow. He was still lodged firmly in her body and knew it wouldn’t be long before he got his second wind. Keeping her where she was would be very convenient.

  The quiet and warmth of their shared pleasure was shattered when someone rapped loudly on the door. Tessa jolted upright when the rapping was followed by a very deep and slightly accented male voice, calling her name, demanding she open the door.

  “Tessa, amata, open the door,” came the entirely too coaxing male who had just called Griffin’s female “beloved.”

  Tessa lifted off of his still erect length and began searching for her clothes. She looked hunted and a bit scared when she looked back and forth between him and the door. A growl ripped from his throat and he went for the door without bothering to find his own clothes. This male would die!

  “Griffin, wait!” Tessa stepped in front of him to block the door.

  “Who’s at the door, little one? Do you have something to tell me? You told me you didn’t have a lover.”

  The male knocked again, “Tessa, I can hear you talking. Are you okay, piccolo fiore? Open the door.”

  She blushed furiously and shifted from foot to foot. Griffin was about to lose his shit. Tessa was not that human’s “little flower!” He had never ever been possessive of any female in his life but knowing the human in the hall had touched what was now his made him want to rip the male apart.

  “I said I didn’t have a vampire lover,” she clarified.

  * * *

  Tessa had never been so nervous in her life. After she hurriedly explained to Sebastian that she was fine and would call him to discuss her possible return to work at Bella Notte, he reluctantly left her door. She could practically feel Griffin breathing on the other side of the door, listening to her trying to get rid of their unwanted visitor.

  Sebastian was visiting his family home in Italy when Tessa was fired. When he returned and stopped by the restaurant to check on business, he was livid to find that she’d been dismissed. Sebastian knew Tessa would have a good reason for her behavior. It was nice to know she had a job to return to, but Tessa wasn’t sure she wanted to go back to that dead end position. Sebastian hinted as she ushered him down the hall that he could find her a position at one of his other various businesses around town.

  When they walked toward the stairs, the apartment door opened a crack and she knew if she tried to walk Sebastian out Griffin would make an appearance. It had been a miracle that Griffin agreed to let her speak to Sebastian instead of him ripping off his head and bouncing it down the stairs. Tessa had to admit that having such a beautiful man go all caveman over her was flattering, but the extra-long fangs and steely black eyed gaze she had endured when she reentered the apartment were the stuff of nightmares.

  He was furious but he had no right to be angry. At this point they had nothing more than a few days in bed and a little blood between them. She didn’t know his last name, where he lived, or even his phone number for God’s sake. That was exactly what she told him just before he literally tore off her clothes and pinned her to the wall. It was not her dominant but giving lover that had taken her body before. This was his possessive alter ego that she had seen only a glimpse of during their time together. He’d been demanding and unforgiving, but she loved every minute of it. He had bitten her several times and taken her body on every possible surface in her home.

  Tessa was actually glad Sebastian had come by when he did. She assumed he had gotten the address from her employee file because he had never been to her place before, but Griffin didn’t know that and she didn’t feel the need to inform him. It seemed that believing he had competition made Griffin infinitely more eager to stake a serious claim. He stayed until morning before work and ‘other various responsibilities’ he wasn’t willing to explain took him away, but he promised to return that evening. He returned and slept in her bed every night for a week.

  FIVE

  Tessa stood in the kitchen of Griffin’s downtown high-rise condo gawking at her surroundings. He’d just given her a tour of his home and she was still trying to find her voice. She knew Griffin came from money, even if he never willingly admitted anything about his family, but she never imagined this. Her entire studio would fit inside of his master bathroom. He must have been horrified when she took him to her place. Tessa was mortified.

  “It’s only a home, Tessa. I don’t know why you look like you’re going to be sick.” Griffin stroked her back and leaned over to inhale deeply at her neck. “Come sit with me while we wait for dinner to be delivered.”

  Griffin tugged her into the massive living room area and gracefully sat in a plush chair nearly the size of a loveseat. He tugged her into his lap and continued stroking her arms while she gazed out over his view of the park. Tessa couldn’t help comparing it to her view of the brick building that sat opposite her window at home. It was unreal. The more she took in her surroundings the more embarrassed she became. Griffin must have hated being in her dilapidated little hole in the wall. She could feel the heat rising up her neck, revealing her shame.

  She didn’t belong there for many reasons, not the least of which was she knew Griffin was keeping secrets. Tessa wanted to believe Griffin was in love with her but he still didn’t trust her. Understandably, he was limited with how much information regarding his people he could tell her, but she felt there was more to it than that.

  Griffin had left her apartment the morning after Sebastian’s visit with a promise to return that evening after work and a dinner meeting he couldn’t get out of attending. Every night for a week he returned and spent the night in her bed. Several times his phone would ring and he would ignore it or he would excuse himself to go outside and take the call. There were a few times that she would wake in the middle of the night to find him gone from bed, whispering on his phone in the hallway, but she pretended to be asleep when he returned.

  She knew it would be hard for them to be together and she imagined Griffin would catch a lot of flak for being with a human. Judging by his reaction to knowledge of vampires the night they met, Tessa feared that it may even be illegal for him to be with her. The problem was that he didn’t talk to her about anything important. She was completely excluded from his life and there were things she really needed to know. Taking a fortifying breath, she decided there was no time like the present. If he couldn’t open up to her, there could be no real relationship.

  * * *

  “I know the human sci-fi perception of a vampire is incorrect. I’ve seen you during the day countless times and you haven’t burst into flames, but it can’t all be wrong. Even myths begin with some kernel of truth. For instance, I know you need to consume blood to live.” She paused and looked out over the park. Griffin knew she was nervous by the way she fidgeted on his lap and held herself slightly away from him. There was determination in her gaze when she looked back.

  He stiffened, but tried not to look forbidding while his little love looked for the answers she needed in his eyes. He didn’t want to have this conversation. It would be far too easy to tell her everything she wanted to know. The constant longing for her that had taken up residence in his chest was making it harder and harder to deny Tessa anything she wanted, including the ability to destroy his life and expose his people. This was it. The unspoken ultimatum was there in the air between them. He had to give her some answers, or let her go.

  “Are you immortal?”

  He had to either trust her now or call in his father for help erasing her memory. Griffin didn’t think he could do it. He had tried several times to enthrall her but it had never worked. She would begin to do his bidding, but quickly shake off the compulsion as if it wasn’t something she really wanted to do. He’d tried to block her mind from hearing his phone conversations, but it didn’t work. He either had to leave the apartment or ignore the call. Griffin didn’t think he was capable of erasing her memory, even if he could do the job. He wanted her too
badly and the idea of losing her was nearly as painful as the thought of her screwing that Italian pretty-boy. He was jealous for the first time in his life. He hated the human male for touching Tessa. He loathed every male that ever so much as looked at her. The demanding urge to erase every other male Tessa had ever known and prevent her from seeing them again had forced him to her bed every night.

  It occurred to Griffin in that stunning moment that he loved her. He was in love with Tessa. That nearly painful ache in his chest had a name that he hadn’t been willing or able to recognize before. His parents hadn’t been a good example of what it meant to be in love. Their blood bond had been arranged by their parents long ago. Griffin knew his parents cared for each other and had a need to be near one another, but he doubted it was the all-consuming emotion he felt for Tessa. He wondered if a forced bond could ever compare to a true connection. Sadly, he knew he would one day find the answer to this question. For now he would give his little love all he could give her. He would give her as much of the truth as he was able.

  Griffin pulled her close and kissed her deeply. The vanilla taste and wet warmth of her mouth made him eager for more but he took his time, enjoying the connection they shared. He knew she loved him too. Before, he hadn’t recognized that look in her eyes or what it meant when she touched him so reverently. He didn’t understand it until he discovered it in his own heart. Yes, she loved him too and that made the kiss all the sweeter. Griffin pulled back to finish this conversation before he let his growing arousal carry him away.

  Now he had to make some compromises if he wanted to be with her. Griffin sighed deeply. He trusted Tessa with his life. It was the need to protect his people and the rules of conduct among humans that had been drilled into him since birth that kept him from relaxing with Tessa.

  “No, we are not immortal, but we have a much longer life span than humans. On average we live about four times longer than humans, but just like humans, the better care we take of our bodies the longer we will live. There are those who have lived twice as long with the proper care. We heal quickly if injured, but if our hearts are injured beyond our body’s capacity to heal in time to stop loss of blood, we will die. Like any other creature, if you take off the head, it’s all over. We can’t regenerate or fuse a lost limb to our bodies like they do in the movies.”