Page 35 of The Huntress
“Faced with your unique blood, I had to help you.Adsumomeans no one would dare to drink from you without your permission or enslave you.”
“Enslave me? Help me why?” She scowled, imagining hordes of suckbloods popping in for a quick drink, at her home or at the precinct. “I’m trapped here?”
Shit, shit, shit!
Her blood had placed a target on her back. Why hadn’t it ever before? Her heart hammered against her chest. “Nowhere else is safe? Another city, maybe?”
He shook his head. “Your existence is on everyone’s lips, and vamps live for gossip. Darius taking his request to Syl ended your life as a human.”
She gaped at Gabriel, disbelief warring with anger and helplessness. “M-my life as a human?” The question came out high-pitched as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.
Part of her had known, her soul ringing with the truth in his words. With Val as a suckblood, how long would she have remained neutral anyway? She clenched her jaw, fighting that the decision was out of her hands. Gabe’s announcement had sounded formal, as if he’d staked his claim to her and her remarkable blood.
“You own me?” She kept her gaze locked on his, desperate for him to say no.
A shiver ripped through her, and she squeezed her backside through the denim.
“No. You’re not my feeder, Callie, nor my slave.”
“Right,” she said, releasing a pent-up breath. “Okay, explain what thisAdsumothing entails.”
“Announcing the Rite ofAdsumobefore so many witnesses means you agreed to be my wife so to speak, agreed to conversion…to spending many lifetimes with me.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. She stared then shook her head in disbelief. Had he said wife? Holy shit!They’d just met, and yes, she wanted to lick every delicious inch of him, but marriage? The things she got herself into…but he had agreed to it. Why sacrifice himself if what he said was true?
“You committed yourself to me to help me? You could’ve let me die. This makes no sense, Gabe. I’ve known you for a day!”
She paced before him, running her hands over her face. No longer was the moonlight beautiful. Where she was and with whom she was, toyed with her sanity. “I didn’t hope for anything more than temporary. Maybe a wild affair on the dark side for me.”
He chuckled, pulling her closer with a gentle grasp of her wrist. “We’ll have an affair that will last for an eternity.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “You want me for more than short-term?”
The men she met, and sometimes dated, thought only of the now, maybe up till tomorrow night if pressed. She’d done the same with Gabe, expecting sex and goodbye. Well, mostly sex, sex, and more sex.
Commitment? No, no, no.
She bent over, fighting for air. Gripping her thighs added stability to her trembling knees. She straightened, arching her back to suck in breaths.
“I want you more than I can convey at present.” He cupped her jaw and chin, brushing his thumb over her bottom lip, making her knees weaker with that one touch.
“We just met. How could you possibly decide in that time if you want—?”
“I do.” He searched her face. “Trust me to know my own mind, Callie.”
“I’m not saying you’re insane, Gabe.” A hysterical giggle escaped her, and she choked it back, fighting for calm and to maintain what integrity she had left. “No, actually, I am. You’re insane. We just met.”
“You said that already.” He grinned, joy dancing across his face, softening his expression to one of tenderness.
How could she trust his sincerity? He was a madman to believe the nonsense he spouted.
“Yeah, well, it’s a pretty important factor.” She tugged her hand free and stepped away from him, resuming her pacing. “Humans don’t marry after a day of meeting, Gabe. Ever.”
“I know, but vamps do.”
“I’m not a suckblood.” She tossed her hands into the air, gesturing wildly as she struggled to accept this. How could she explain this to Mike or Metcalfe?Oh, by the way, I met and married someone yesterday. Could you pass the ketchup?This was insane, a nightmare—maybe she died at the suckblood festival, and this was hell for her.
“You don’t like me?” His charming smile curled his sensual lips as he scooped her into his arms and burst into a run.
