“Great news,” Gabriel crows loudly as he slides into a seat next to Roseline little over a week later.
After the party, she tried her best to avoid Gabriel. The more time she spent with him the more confused she got. The worst part was discovering that he is not just a pretty face. She really enjoys spending time with him, which makes it so much harder to keep up her abnormally rude pretense.
Not only has Gabriel begun meeting her in the hall to escort her to class, but he has also managed to slip in a few lunches as well. Her fight to remain indifferent is a losing battle. Just seeing Gabriel makes her stomach flutter and the hairs on her neck stand at attention. Makes her feel like the giddy schoolgirl she is trying to portray. Every nerve in her body is tuned with his presence and fighting her natural urges is really wearing her out. Her willpower is fading quickly.
“Aren’t you going to ask what the great news is?” he presses, his stunning smile too inviting to refuse.
Roseline rolls her eyes and uses her finger to mark her place in her book. She is reading Pride and Prejudice for the millionth time. As she sits there, huddled away in the corner of the high school library, she finds herself wishing fate had allowed her to find her own true love before she turned into a monster.
Despite her lot in life, Roseline has never lost the hope of finding love. Fane certainly tried his best to fill that role, but it never felt truly right to Roseline. Now, with Gabriel in the picture, everything has changed. Maybe it is the lingering essence that wafts past her in the hall or the dreams of him that are so vividly tempting that made her pick up the classic book again.
Or maybe it was because she had to. Her English teacher, Mrs. Carlson, instantly noticed Roseline’s meticulously well-educated background and managed to persuade her into volunteering as a tutor. Why, oh why, did she agree?
The answer to why she is willing to teach some simpleton the eloquent words of Jane Austen is painfully simple—she is trying to avoid Gabriel. Looks like that plan backfired.
The sad thing is, the pimple-faced pencil pusher she is expecting, who no doubt hasn’t developed a single romantic bone in his body, is late for their session. No, not just late, he is utterly absent. Gabriel will distract her from gnawing her fingernails to a nub as she waits.
Roseline sits back, tucking her bookmark within the slightly wrinkled pages. “I’m a bit busy at the moment, Gabriel. Can this wait?”
“Humor me.”
With a heavy sigh and exaggerated rolling of her eyes, Roseline concedes. “Fine. What can possibly be good enough to have you bouncing in your seat?”
Gabriel’s smile broadens at her obvious sarcasm. “I signed up for a tutor.”
“Okay…” she frowns, wondering when he is going to get to the punch line. Gabriel is the last person to need a tutor. He is a shoo-in for valedictorian. “You have lost me.”
“An English tutor—” he presses, his eyebrows bounce suggestively.
His words hit Roseline like a ton of bricks. “Oh no,” she groans, burying her head in her arms. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
“I did,” he laughs, digging into his backpack from his own copy of Pride and Prejudice. The binding creaks as he opens it. “So, where should we begin?”
“With you leaving,” Roseline snaps, shoving her book forcefully into her bag. How can he do this to her? To manipulate her teacher with those gorgeous ice-blue eyes of his. The fact that he even attempted it is remarkable, but the fact that he managed to pull it off is downright infuriating.
“If you think I’m going to waste my time teaching you about love, you are sadly mistaken,” she says as she rises to her feet. Curious students glance their way as Gabriel latches on to Roseline’s wrist.
“Please, sit down. You’re making a scene.”
It doesn’t take a genius to know this gossip will be spread across campus by the time the final bell rings. It is for this reason alone she sinks back into her seat.
“Thanks,” he whispers, leaning in close.
“I’m not doing it for you,” she snaps, tossing her bag back onto the table. “So what is your angle, Gabriel? Think I’ll ask you back to my place for a study date and you can make your move?”
The ice in her voice feels unnatural but her annoyance mingled with an ounce of outrage makes it feel completely justifiable. Can’t he take a hint? What more does she have to do to get him to back off?
Perhaps it’s because he knows you are lying, her mind scolds. She winces. No matter how hard she tries to tell herself being with Gabriel is wrong, her heart keeps fighting it.
“That’s not fair,” Gabriel counters, leaning in so close Roseline can smell his anger. “I’m not that kind of guy…but then you’d know that if you actually gave me a chance.”
“A chance at what?” Roseline snaps. “You’re with Claire, remember?” She would rather die than let it slip that she overheard their explosive end.
He shakes his head, sinking back into his chair. “We broke up.”
“Oh, and you two seemed like such a cute couple,” Roseline says, folding her arms firmly across her chest.
“What’s your deal?” Gabriel questions, eyeing her up. “Did I do something to royally tick you off?”
“You mean besides this?” Her fingers begin to cramp against her arms. She hadn’t realized how tightly she was digging in until her nails pierce her flesh.
“Hey,” Gabriel cries, pulling her hand away. “You’re bleeding.”
“Thank you, Mr. Obvious,” she says, wiping away the blood with little thought. “Look, it’s not that I don’t like you. We both know I do, but this really isn’t going to work and you need to accept that.”
“Why?” he presses, leaning in so close she can feel his heady scent weakening her resolve. She leans back, fighting to escape the cloud of delicious hormones. “You’re not even giving me a chance.”
“Yeah, so take a hint.” Roseline tries to maintain her abrupt tone but her words come out more as a desperate plea.
Gabriel sits back and laces his fingers together on the top of the table. “Why?”
“Why what?” she asks, annoyed with the circular questions.
A smirk settles firmly in place. “Why can’t you leave?”
Her mouth gapes open, flabbergasted. A myriad of emotions and thoughts flit through her mind, most of them teetering on the irrational side thanks to his scent filtering through her nose. “I was here first.”
Smooth, she inwardly groans.
Gabriel snickers, slouching low in his chair. “Wow, that’s a really mature answer, Rose.”
Knowing he is right is infuriating. She buries her face in her palms. “Just please leave me alone. I will beg if I have to.”
The silence that meets her feels oppressive, like an open grave just waiting to be filled. She can hear his slightly elevated breathing and the hammering of his heart in his chest, but nothing else. The fluttering of book pages and low chattering of the students around them vanishes completely.
“Why?” His whisper stakes her through the heart. It is so filled with confusion and pain that she nearly allows a whimper to escape.
Why does he make me so weak? I’m a trained killer, not some sappy school girl. I shouldn’t be reduced to putty in his hands, she thinks.
Yet she is. There is no denying her need for him, to be with him, to touch him. The harder she fights the fall, the faster she tumbles out of reason and into love’s madness.
His breath washes over her face as he shifts his chair closer. The hairs rise on the back of her neck as her skin quivers. She closes her eyes to the desire that slams into her gut. His scent is too strong, much too strong for her to remain in control.
“Oh no,” she moans under her breath. A brief inhale is all it takes for her walls to come tumbling down and desire to flood in. In this moment, she realizes she is going to lose control in a public school, surrounded by gawk
ing teenagers.
In less than an hour, the entire school will know she is a freak and she will be forced to flee. Again. Her toes curl painfully with desire as she looks up into Gabriel’s eyes. They flicker with surprise but quickly melt into something warm and filled with promise.
“We have to go.” Roseline grabs Gabriel’s hand and yanks him to his feet. He barely has time to grab their bags before he is stumbling after her.
Roseline dashes for the door, desperate to get away, to hide from so many eyes. She needs space. She needs air. She needs Gabriel.
“This really isn’t helping our reputation, you know,” Gabriel chuckles as he struggles to keep up with her frantic pace. She ignores him as her feet slap the polished floor. The hall is crowded with students just beginning to arrive for the day. Roseline sucks in a breath of air, expelling Gabriel’s scent as she tries to focus.
A set of double doors lay ahead. With little thought to Gabriel’s arm socket, she jerks him around and bursts through the doors. Students scatter out of their way; a skateboarder doing tricks on the railing tumbles into the bushes as Roseline shoves past.
“Rose!”
She ignores Sadie’s call as she streaks toward the parking lot. Scanning the jumble of high-end foreign vehicles, she finally spots Gabriel’s, Range Rover. He collapses against the passenger door, gasping for breath. “If you wanted to skip school all you had to do was ask.”
“You got a problem with it?” She is nervous, insanely so, but she has to do something. Emotions are boiling up inside too fast to handle.
“Not at all.” Gabriel grins as he unlocks the doors. Roseline hops in and slams the door shut before he can lend her a hand. He rounds the hood and slips into his seat. The engine purrs to life but his hands hesitate over the gearshift. “Um, where exactly would you like to go?”
She closes her eyes, fighting back the urge to rip open his shirt, sniff his neck, and give in to the fantasies plaguing her mind. Her fingers curl around the armrest. “Anywhere. Just drive.”
Gabriel throws the car into reverse. The tires squeal wildly as he spins out of the parking lot. At the base of the hill, he guns the engine to fly past the guard at the gate and merges recklessly with the busy street. He sucks in a settling breath before glancing over at her. “Well, that was fun.”
She smirks at the flush rising on his cheeks. “First time?”
He nods, grinning like a little boy who has just got away with sneaking a cookie from the cookie jar. “I don’t know why I haven’t done this sooner.”
Roseline laughs. “Oh yeah, you’re a real rebel now.”
“You got it. I think I should do this more often,” he says, settling into a relaxed driving pose. He dips and darts through the early morning traffic with ease.
She watches him from the corner of her eye as she fights to get her pulse under control. The effort is completely useless. The desire to undress him right here and now is too overwhelming to be forgotten with playful banter. “Is that coat warm?”
He frowns. “Yeah. It’s wool, why?”
Fingering the window button, Roseline thrusts her head outside. Even over the gush of wind, she can hear his cursing. She sucks in huge gulps of fresh air to clear her senses. Just before she raises the window she stills her lungs and prepares to endure the close quarters with him.
“What the heck are you doing?” he gasps as the glass seals out the arctic winds. “It’s freezing out there.”
“Just needed to clear my head.”
“And you can’t do that without turning me into a popsicle?” he grumbles, reaching to flip the air as hot as it can go.
Roseline drops her gaze and settles into her seat, making sure to leave plenty of room between them. She might not have to smell him, but his presence alone is enough to throw her off.
Gabriel clears his throat and taps his fingers against the steering wheel. “That, um, was quite a scene you made back there. For a second, I thought you had something else in mind for this drive.”
“I did,” she mutters to the window, unwilling to meet his gaze.
“Oh,” he says. His knuckles pop. “So should I try to find a back road or something?”
Roseline bursts out laughing. “I thought you weren’t that kind of guy.”
Gabriel’s lips pull up at the corners. “Neither did I.”
She wants to laugh it off as a joke but the serious undertone is far too prevalent to miss. Clearing her throat does little to clear her scattered thoughts. Gabriel darts a couple glances toward her but Roseline stares out the front window. No way is she going to risk saying anything now.
The weight of his gaze makes her uncomfortable. The silence even more so. Why did she drag him out here with her? She could have run, alone, to get some air.
“So…” Gabriel fiddles with the air controls. “Are you really mad about being my tutor?”
“Not really.” She allows a small chuckle. “Actually, I’m rather impressed. Do you have all of the teachers wrapped around your little finger?
“Most of them,” Gabriel admits proudly. “I’ve always had a way with women.” Roseline glances over at him as he grimaces. “No. I didn’t mean it like that,” he stammers. “I just meant…”
Roseline settles her hand lightly on his arm. She fights to ignore the heat rising from beneath. “I know what you meant, although, if you want to keep that reputation of yours, I probably wouldn’t freak out like that again.”
Gabriel rolls his eyes. “Yeah, like I care about my reputation. The hottest girl known to man has just yanked me out of the library, and I am sure the rumors are already raging like a forest fire. By the end of school, everyone will know that you violated me.”
“And I’m guessing you won’t do a thing to slow that one down.”
“Are you kidding?” Gabriel scoffs. “I’ll be a hero.”
Roseline snorts. “Whatever.”
“It’s true. Every guy in the school has been after you.” Gabriel laughs at her puzzlement. “Really? You didn’t notice?”
She shrugs, glancing out of the window. “They’re not my type.”
“Oh, so you have a type now. I can’t wait to hear this.” Gabriel pulls into an overflowing parking lot. She glances around, confused.
“Where are we?”
Gabriel opens his door and hurries around to her side. “Come on.” His fingers entwine with hers as he helps her down. She blushes, pleased at how warm his hand feels against her skin. “So…?”
Roseline smirks, pleased that the heaviness in the air has been abated by gentle teasing. “Not gonna let that one go, huh?”
“Not on your life.” He leads her toward a large stone building. A massive banner with a picture of a beluga whale sprawls across the front. “Want to see some whales?”
“Why not?” She shrugs and mounts the steps next to him.
Gabriel sweeps her to the side as he moves to open the door. “After you, my lady.”
Amused by Gabriel’s showmanship, Roseline steps into line for tickets to Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. Although she has never given any thought about going before, Roseline has to admit she is excited. Gabriel ducks in front of her just as she reaches the ticket booth and pays for their entry fee. Handing her a ticket, he eases them toward the entrance.
As soon as they have maneuvered through the slow-moving crowd, Gabriel takes her hand again. “This is nice,” he whispers near her ear.
Roseline knows she should not agree with him, but she does. She knows she should not be there with him, but she is. She should not crave his blood, his very essence of life, but she does…more than anything else in the world. This is a bad idea but she can’t bring herself to part from his side.
“So…you’re a pretty good football player,” Roseline says. The words sound just as lame aloud as they did in her mind but she is desperate to break the silence that has fallen. If he is any
thing like her, his thoughts are no doubt focused solely on the heat building between them.
His hand comes to rest on the small of her back as he steers her toward the Shark Exhibit. “Yeah, so they tell me.”
She watches him closely in the dim light of the fish tanks. There is a nearly invisible tic in his right eyelid. His lips are set into a firm line and his fingers tense ever so slightly against hers. “You hate it, though, don’t you?”
“I have ever since the first day Steve made me try out. I never wanted to play sports. As a kid, I was terrible. I think Steve had almost completely given up hope until he saw me goofing around with Oliver in the backyard right after school started my freshman year. After that he just became obsessed.” Gabriel’s lip curls with disgust.
“He wants me to go to Notre Dame. It is where he spent the best years of his life. At least, that’s the crap he’s shoved down my throat for four years.”
The hall in front of them darkens and the air cools slightly as they move farther underground. A pale blue light shines on the carpet, lighting the room ahead. Gabriel leads them past fish tanks with dancing tropical fish and beautiful coral to an empty bench near the back of the shark room. They sit, staring at the beasts of the deep as they glide lazily past.
“What do you want, Gabriel?” Roseline asks softly. She knows he is talented—he proved that with the makeshift art gallery in his attic—but she wants to know more. What drives him? What thrills him? What makes him get out of bed every morning?
“I want freedom. I want the chance to decide what’s right for me.” His voice is soft as he turns to look at her.
Her throat clenches at the glint of pain in his eyes. “It’s not easy to accept when that choice is taken from you,” she whispers, dredging up memories she would rather remain hidden. Her pleas for her sister’s life fell on deaf ears. Her own pleas for death had been met with callous laughter. Repressed anger bubbles in her chest. The warrior within begs to strike back, to avenge the life she lost. Someday, she vows silently.
Her thoughts fragment as Gabriel pulls her hand into his lap. He traces small circles along her inner wrist, slowly trailing a fiery vine toward her elbow. “Somehow I knew you would understand. From the first moment I saw you, I knew.”
“Knew what?” she asks.
“That you’re a fighter. I can see it sometimes. But I can also see that you’re afraid…” His gaze falls to their hands. “I know you’re running from something. I just don’t know what.”
Roseline pulls her hand from his grasp. “You don’t know me.”
He turns to face her, gently lifting her chin with his finger. “I know enough. I know pain when I see it.”
Tears sting her eyes as she fights to keep them back. How can he know, just by looking at her? Sadie and William hardly noticed her morose moments over the past few weeks. Heck, they hardly questioned her about her home. No doubt, Nicolae’s annoying presence dampened their excitement over her foreign culture, but Gabriel sees too much.
“Don’t you get along with your mother?”
She blinks, trying desperately to gather the shreds of lies that she has dangled since arriving in Chicago. That’s the problem with lies, they eventually unravel around you.
She offers a tight smile as his finger drifts along her cheekbone. His gaze holds her in place. “Sure, she’s great, but I don’t know how long I will be here.”
He tenses, his fingers halt in their path. “But you just got here.”
“My life isn’t very stable right now. My mom’s job moves a lot and I never know when I will have to leave.”
Gabriel watches her closely. “What are you afraid of?”
Besides leaving you, she cries silently. “Nothing.”
He sits back. “You’re lying.”
“No.” Roseline shakes her head. She does not want Gabriel to think she needs to be saved. If Vladimir finds her, and he eventually will, she can’t bear the thought of Gabriel foolishly trying to protect her. “I don’t want to leave…”
“Then don’t,” he says, twining his fingers with hers. “Stay here. With me.”
Roseline is caught off guard as he stands and sweeps her into his embrace, twirling her around like they were two people in a grand ballroom. She closes her eyes as memories of being in Fane’s arms at a fancy ball in London close in around her. She pushes them back. That was then. This is now. Gabriel is here, not Fane.
She effortlessly falls into the familiar steps, matching his with perfection. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises?” She blushes at the gawking bystanders who have stepped out of the way.
Gabriel gives her a knowing wink. “What can I say? I’m a man of mystery.”
Her laugh cuts off as he dips her low and her hair brushes the floor. When he pulls her upright, his gaze unwavering from hers, two little girls burst into wild applause. Roseline smiles down at them before Gabriel pulls her attention back.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he whispers.
Her palms begin to sweat against his skin. The heat intensifies to the point that she considers she might actually combust from within. “Maybe.”
His hand gently sweeps back her hair. “You are. I’m sure you’ve had a million guys say that to you.”
“None that mattered,” she whispers. Her chest rises and falls. She can almost imagine their scents spiraling out from them, entwined like a melding of auras.
His hands tighten against her back as he leans in. His eyes droop closed as his lips part, his nose brushes against hers. “We can’t,” she says, wiggling out of his embrace.
When his eyes open, they are clouded over with desire. “What’s wrong?”
She jerks her head toward the two little girls who stand nearby watching every move they make with saucer-like eyes. The tiny Disney princesses clutched in their arms no doubt resemble the private moment she nearly shared with fate’s cruel idea of her own prince charming.
Gabriel rubs the back of his neck as he steps away. He tosses a wry smile at the girls and grabs her hand. She rushes behind him, eager to be away from the children and their parents’ disapproving glares.
Laughter bubbles in her throat as they emerge from the shark exhibit at a near run. Her chest heaves, sweat clinging to her skin as Gabriel yanks her into a darkened corner, pressing himself against her. “Where was I?” He grins as he leans in.
“You were about to tell me that you are like this with all of the other girls.” She’s stalling and he knows it.
He leans back just enough to see her clearly. “No, I’m really not. There has never been anyone like you in my life before, Rose. It’s like somehow you complete me.”
Roseline rolls her eyes. “Oh, come on, that is a terrible line.”
The pressure of his hand on her hip increases. “I can’t change the truth.”
Like a moth to a flame, she is drawn in, with little fight left in her. Her body willingly molds around his, her lips quivering as they seek his out. “I barely even know you and yet my world seems to revolve around you. You’re in my dreams, my every waking thought. I can’t get you out of my mind and it’s driving me crazy.”
Roseline expels a breathy laugh. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
A growl rises in his throat as he crushes his lips onto hers. She locks down on her muscles, refusing to let them move an inch while his tongue parts her lips. The boiling begins in her heart, liquid fire pumping to all areas of her body. The flames lick hotter and hotter as her lips move against his, her body pressing intimately close.
The kiss lingers, their need rising and fading like the tides. Roseline’s mind shifts into autopilot as she sinks into his embrace. After what feels like an eternity, she realizes something is off. Gabriel should have come up for breath ages ago, and yet his lips still move against hers.
“Excuse me—” Roseline gasps and pulls back. A
middle-aged security guard, with quite an impressive paunch, stands next to them, his face stern with disapproval.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers, retreating from Gabriel’s arms. He wavers but manages to hold his ground. His skin is flushed; his eyes glow brightly in the dim light, his scent searing her nose as she fights to keep her distance.
“This is a family museum, you know. I think you two should follow me,” the man orders gruffly, pointing toward a door hidden in the shadows on other side of the room.
Embarrassment burns along her cheeks as she follows the guard, keeping her eyes glued to the floor. She is not upset about being caught. She is grateful for the interruption. Gabriel’s taste, his touch, still lingers too fresh in her mind. If the guard had not come along…
Seventeen