“You wanted to see me?” His gaze dropped to the floor, and his big body seemed distant. He was a big guy, too, just as big as Kaleb, but as he sat next to her, his whole attitude, his whole presence seemed small and distant.
She took a deep breath and spoke. “I love you, Adrik. I love you so much it makes my heart hurt. I’m eighteen now, and we can be together without ridicule from everyone around us.” She spilled her heart out, telling him exactly how she felt, exactly how
he
made her feel.
He let her take his hand in hers, but he kept an emotional barrier between them. Was she an idiot for telling him those things? What if she had just ruined everything?
She let go of his hand when he didn’t respond to anything she had just confessed.
I think you just made a huge mistake.
“I’m sorry. Please just forget I said anything.”
Oh God.
She covered her face with her hands and breathed in. She had just made a fool of herself. It was obvious he didn’t feel the same toward her.
His hands gently pulled hers away, and his finger brought her face up to look at his. “We will always be friends, Kayla. I will always care for you above all others, but as far as anything romantic between us, there just never can be. We come from two very different worlds. I’m not right for you.”
He gave her a lingering kiss on the forehead and got up. He stopped right before he opened her door and turned to stare at her. There seemed to be an internal struggle within him, as though he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. He walked out of her room and out of her life.
Chapter 1
Stone Brooke, present day
Kayla leaned against the counter, her gaze going to her cell phone that sat on the kitchen table. Every day she struggled with the need to talk to him and see him, and every time she was able to push those needs to the back of her mind.
As of late, she was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore her thoughts of
him
. When he rejected her all those years ago, a small part of her hated him. The fact that he could leave her so easily had hurt her beyond anything she had ever felt. She thought she would have been able to move on, but boy, had she been wrong.
Oh, there had been relationships, but none that lasted. She always found herself comparing them to Adrik. It got to the point that she was disgusted with herself for still pining after a man that didn’t want anything to do with her. She still remembered their most recent encounter at the club. It seemed like it only happened yesterday, not months ago. Just thinking about him standing there, staring at her almost sympathetically caused anger and frustration to wage war inside of her. It still hurt like hell.
So there she stood, staring at him as he watched her and feeling her anger finally rising to the surface. “Where did you go? You didn’t even say goodbye. How could you just leave like that after everything I told you?”
He stood there, a stoic expression on his features. He ran a hand across his face. That spiked her anger up another degree.
“Answer me! I deserve to know, or was I nothing to you?” He winced at her last question, and she felt satisfaction from his reaction. He sat down on the couch and motioned her over to sit down, too. She hesitantly walked over but didn’t sit next to him. She sat down on the leather chair across from him and folded her arms over her chest.
“Kayla.” He said her name in a whisper, and her heart flipped in her chest. It was the same way he said her name all those years ago—right before he left. “I don’t know what to tell you. I can’t explain why I left. All I can say is that it was for the best.”
“Without even a goodbye? I thought we were friends. I poured my heart out to you, laid it on the table, and you all but chopped it up.” She tried to control herself, but her emotions were starting to come crashing back on her. She would not cry, she would not cry. She said the mantra over and over again, willing herself to be strong. She spent too long wondering what happened to him. “Kaleb wouldn’t tell me anything, but I know he knew why you left. Did you leave because of all those things I told you?”
“Oh, Kayla, no, love. You have to understand that if I stayed, I would have just hurt you. You were too young for me, and my life was too complicated. We come from far different backgrounds.”
“Did Kaleb tell you to leave?” She stood up then and placed her hands on her hips. “Well, did he?”
He sighed and nodded.
“And you actually listened to him?”
“Yes and no. Your brother loves you and was only trying to protect you. Believe me when I say if there had been another way, I would have taken it.”
She was hurt and scared, and not ready to go through this heartache again. She couldn’t be friends with him—her feelings were just too strong.
“Well, Adrik, it was really nice to see you again, and I hope our little visit hasn’t complicated your life even more. Maybe I’ll see you around.” She turned and walked toward the elevator but remembered he needed to activate the sensor. “If you wouldn’t mind opening the elevator for me, I’d like to leave now.” She kept her back toward him but heard his footsteps stop behind her. His arm brushed past her as he placed his hand on the sensor. He was so close to her she felt his body heat, and it made her throat go dry. There was a soft click as the elevator opened. She stepped inside and turned back around to stare at him. She pushed the ground button and waited for the door to close.
“Kayla, please know that I did—that I do care for you, so very much.”
She gave a small smile but didn’t say anything, didn’t trust herself to not say something foolish. His sad face was the last thing she saw as the doors closed, leaving her alone with her depressing thoughts.
She looked at her phone again and it was like it was calling out to her. All she would have to do is pick it up and dial. She didn’t know Adrik’s number, but she knew the club’s.
After their last encounter, she didn’t even know if calling him was the best idea. She had basically told him she never wanted to see him again.
Kayla had been thinking about their last visit ever since it happened. She knew that even though he might not feel the same way for her, she would take what she could get. She wanted him in her life no matter what, and that’s why she had come to the conclusion that she would bury her feelings and reach out to him again. She took a deep breath, walked over to the table, picked up her phone, and dialed the club.
“The Night Phlox, how may I be of assistance?”
Kayla swallowed and almost hit the “end” button, but took a deep breath and spoke. “Yes, may I be connected to Adrik Draykavich?”
“Please hold.”
The line switched to some elevator music, and Kayla could feel her heart beating wildly.
“Hello?”
Kayla swallowed when Adrik’s baritone voice came through the line. “Adrik? Hi, it’s Kayla.” He didn’t speak, and she pulled the phone back, thinking the line had gone dead. “Hello, you there?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just surprised to hear your voice.”
She smiled and sat down, glad that pleasure laced his voice. “I wanted to apologize for how I acted the last time we spoke. I wanted to ask if you wanted to do lunch today.” There was a long stretch of silence, and she closed her eyes as embarrassment coursed through her. Just as she was about to tell him to forget about it, he spoke.
“How about dinner?”
She raised her eyebrows, not being able to stop the way her body grew warm and excited. Aside from their short visit, it had been so long since she had seen him, since they had really gotten to talk. She smiled. “Sure, when and where?”
“How about I’ll pick you up at sunset tonight?”
Sunset?
That was a strange way to name a time, but she just shrugged. He was from Russia, after all, and she remembered all those years ago the odd things he sometimes said. “Okay.”
“I’ll see you then, Kayla.”
She closed her eyes as he said her name. His voice was so deep, a light accent lacing it and making her toes curl. She hung up the phone and leaned back in the chair. Kayla smiled as she thought about seeing him. She just needed to make sure her emotions didn’t get the best of her, but after talking to him, she knew that was going to be easier said than done.
Adrik hung up the phone and lay back in bed. He stared at the ceiling then closed his eyes. Kayla’s voice washed through him and caused pleasure to fill his body. He shouldn’t even be seeing her. He should just keep his distance. It would be best for everyone, but there was a selfish part inside of him that didn’t want to live a life without her.
It had been hell for him staying away from her for all those years. He had kept to the proverbial shadows, watching over her, yet never letting her know he was there. She had been only ten minutes from him, yet he had managed to stay away for years. It had been hell.
It wasn’t just because her brother had threatened him, it was because of what he was, a Blood Breed, a vampire. It was also because of what
she
was, although she had no idea of her family history. It was best for her not to get involved with him.
He placed his hand over his heart, the steady beat of the organ reminding him that he was still alive even though he felt dead inside without her. What he wouldn’t give to see her right now, but the fact that the sun blazed in the sky restricted him from doing so.
He willed himself to at least try to get some rest. It was hard, though, his mind instantly conjuring up Kayla and driving him wild. He often lay in bed and thought about how she would feel underneath him. He wanted to feel her soft, giving flesh quiver with need. Since seeing her for that first time all those years ago, he knew he would never be able to be without her.
When he found out Kaleb signed up for the military, Adrik had made sure to keep a more diligent eye on her. Her brother hadn’t acted as though he knew Adrik was around, but considering what they were, he didn’t doubt Kaleb had been well aware.
How could he possibly even expect her to accept what he was, what his kind did in order to survive? She didn’t even know what
she
was, let alone that creatures from myth and lore actually did exist. He was living in his own personal hell, able to see what he desired most, yet never able to acquire it.
Kayla held the phone to her ear as she riffled through her closet for something to wear.
“Hello?”
Lana’s sleep-filled voice came through, and Kayla looked at the clock and rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Lana, it’s, like, ten o’clock in the morning. Don’t you have things to do today?” She pulled out a black silk dress and held it in front of her as she looked at herself in the mirror. She crinkled her nose and put it back in the closet.
“I was up late last night.”
“Uh, spare me the details of your sexcapades.”
Lana’s tinkling laughter filtered through the phone.
“Do you want to have lunch with me and go shopping?”
“Shopping for what?”
“Do I need a reason to shop?” Kayla pulled out a white cotton dress and held it up to her body. She tilted her head, considering the dress as something she would wear tonight, and threw it on the bed.
“Yes, you do need a reason. You don’t ever want to go shopping like normal women do.”
“Yeah, that’s funny.” Sarcasm laced Kayla’s voice as she went over to her bed and let herself fall back on it. She sighed as she brought one of her hands up and examined her nails. “I have a date tonight.”
“Oh, yeah? With who?”
Kayla could hear Aleksei grumbling in the background. “Adrik.” The silence that responded was deafening, and she sat up. “Hello?”
“I’m here. When you say Adrik, you mean the Adrik that works for Aleksei?”
Kayla heard water running on the other end of the phone and sighed. “What? You can’t say you don’t like him because you don’t even know him.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t like him, but, well…”
“Just spit it out.” Kayla knew her tone was exasperated, but it wasn’t as if she had judged Lana when her best friend told her she was dating a guy who happened to be a vampire.
Strange as everything was that Lana had told her, Kayla couldn’t dispute what could be proven, and according to Lana, Aleksei
was
a vampire. She had said if Kayla wanted to see a vampire, then she would make it happen. It hadn’t happened yet, but Kayla was holding Lana to her promise.
“Nothing. I just want you to be careful, okay?”
Kayla snorted and walked over to her vanity. She looked at herself in the mirror and smoothed her hand down her blonde hair. “I will.”
Kayla wanted to bring up the fact that, just a few weeks ago, Lana had gotten herself in a whole heap of trouble, not to mention a group of rogue vampires had kidnapped her and held her prisoner. To top it off, Lana was pregnant with Aleksei’s child, a half-vampire, half-human baby who, according to Lana, was the prophesized child who would rule over everyone.
Kayla refrained from her comments, knowing how hard it was for Lana when those things were brought up. “Will you hang out with me today?”
“Okay. You want me to swing by and pick you up?”
“Sounds good.” Kayla finished finalizing their plans for the day and hung up. She picked up the white dress on her bed, hung it back in the closet, and smiled as she headed into the bathroom to finish getting ready.
Chapter 2
Two hours later, Lana and Kayla were driving to the small strip mall in Stone Brooke. It wasn’t anything big, just about fifteen small stores ranging from retail to dining. Lana pulled the sleek black Mercedes into the parking lot and cut the engine.