“I appreciate the sentiment, but he’s in a prison cell, guarded by Guardians. You can’t get to him.”
He dropped the egg mixture into the sizzling pan. “I have the right to retribution. I can demand to be allowed in his cell.” As he turned to look at her, his fangs were showing. “I can help with the interrogation.”
“That’s so sweet of you, but Emmett didn’t hurt me.”
He didn’t look convinced. “You were alone with him, and since you were immune to his compulsion, he had to overpower you to lock you up.”
Damn. Greggory was smarter than he looked, and he'd cornered her.
“He’s freakishly strong.” Eleanor eyed the large knife in Greggory’s hand and wondered whether it was a good idea to confess while he was holding a weapon.
“Tell me what he did.” He started chopping the sausages into small bites.
His tone implied that he already knew, which shouldn’t really surprise her. The Guardians were a bunch of busybodies, and the rumor about the strange immortal who had a bloodsucking fetish had probably spread out, reaching as far as Kalugal’s office building downtown.
“You’ve probably already heard, so why are you asking?”
“Because I want to hear the details from you.”
“He bit me and sucked on my blood. I tried to fight him off, but he was incredibly strong. I blacked out, and when I woke up, I was locked in the bedroom.”
Greggory paused his chopping and pinned her with a hard stare. “Did he force you to have sex with him?”
“No. Other than hold me down for the bite, he didn’t touch me.”
“So why do you look so guilty?”
Damn. She’d thought she was a better actress than that.
“You know the effect of a venom bite. I couldn’t help it, but I felt awful about it nonetheless.”
“You orgasmed.”
“It’s a chemical reaction, Greggory. I had no control over it.” She frowned. “Why do you look so pissed?”
Shaking his head, he dropped the knife on the cutting board. “I need to calm down. Watch the eggs.” He stormed out the door without giving her a second glance.
What was his damn problem?
She hadn’t even admitted her attraction to Emmett, and Greggory was pissed already?
Talk about possessive and irrational. Perhaps Emmett had been right about those feelings being evil.
But what if Greggory’s anger wasn’t directed at her? Maybe he was enraged by what Emmett had done to her and needed to cool down?
Yeah. That was probably the reason he’d stormed out.
Greggory wasn’t hotheaded, which was one of the many things she liked about him. He was easy to be with, she trusted him, and for that, she was willing to compromise. So what if he didn’t light up her fire like Emmett had done? Who needed that kind of out-of-control lust?
Not her.
She could live without it and never miss it.
Liar.
Okay, so she might miss it a little, and maybe even fantasize about it from time to time, but it certainly wasn’t worth giving up her relationship with Greggory for.
But then a small voice in the back of her head whispered a warning. If Greggory’s anger was indeed directed at her, she shouldn’t stick around. As far as he knew, she’d been forced, and to blame the victim was lower than low.
It was like in those awful places where they whipped the rape victims to death instead of the rapists.
She wouldn’t tolerate being accused, judged, and sentenced by a vengeful, self-entitled male.
Should she even wait for him to come back and explain?
Turning the stove off, Eleanor removed the pan from the burner and put it aside.
Her appetite was gone, and she didn’t feel like waiting for Greggory to return. If he wanted to explain his behavior, he knew where to find her.
14
Lokan
“Here it is.” The Uber driver stopped next to the Airbnb. “Do you need help getting everything inside?”
“I’d appreciate it. Thank you.” Lokan opened the door and stepped out.
The house Turner had rented was located in a quiet residential neighborhood, and as Lokan opened the door, he approved of Turner’s selection even though the place was far from fancy. The furniture looked new, and everything was spotless.
“Where do you want me to put all this stuff?” the driver asked.
“On the dining room table.” Lokan pointed.
When the guy was done delivering all the shopping bags, Lokan tipped him in cash, locked the door behind him, and started unpacking his purchases.
For his rendezvous with Carol, he’d flown from Washington to Lexington, where he’d boarded another flight to Little Rock, and from there a third one to Wichita.
With all the stop-overs, the trip had taken over eight hours. It might have been overkill, but he wasn’t taking any chances where Carol was concerned.
Turner had arranged everything, including fake documentation for each leg of the trip. Carol had a similarly convoluted itinerary and was scheduled to arrive at the rental a couple of hours later, which gave Lokan enough time to prepare for romance.
They had been dream-sharing nightly, and during those dreams, he’d taken her to every romantic destination he could think of, but there was no substitute for the real thing, and he wanted to make sure that their weekend in Wichita would be no less exciting.
On the way to the rental, Lokan had the Uber driver stop at the top restaurant to pick up the gourmet meals he’d preordered for the weekend, and then at a flower shop to pick up several bouquets of flowers and a bunch of aromatic candles.
Then on the spur of the moment, he’d asked the guy to take him to a jewelry store, where he’d picked up an engagement ring, or rather a placeholder for the better one that he was going to get Carol later.
He should have planned better and bought a proper ring in Washington, where the selection was better and finding a diamond larger than two carats wasn’t a problem. But it hadn’t occurred to him until the saleslady in the flower shop had asked him what occasion he was buying the flowers and the candles for. When he’d told her that he was planning a romantic dinner for his girlfriend, she’d asked if he was going to propose, planting the idea in his head.
Once the vases were filled with flowers, the candles lit, and the table set, Lokan sat down on the couch and opened the small jewelry box.
Should he go through with it?
The ring was pretty, but it wasn’t good enough for his princess, and he felt bad about proposing to her with such a modest offering.
There was no rush, and he could wait until he had a proper ring.
As he heard a car stop in front of the house, he put the box down on the coffee table and went to open the door.
The moment she saw him, Carol threw the passenger door open, flew out of the car, and flung herself at him. “I missed you, big boy.”
Behind her, the driver cleared his throat. “Here are your suitcases, miss.” He put them down on the sidewalk.
Not letting go of Lokan, she cast him a smile over her shoulder. “Thank you.”
She still clung to him long after the car had left.
Lokan chuckled. “If you hold on tight, I can carry the suitcases and you into the house.”