Dangerous Promise by Gwendolyn Cease (12 page)

“Me, too.”

Kate pulled the girls farther into the store, not wanting to be right by the doors. It was insane how quickly she went from feeling safe to being right back to where she’d been nearly two years ago. Would they need to move? Could they just change houses or would they have to leave town? They were settled. The girls liked the school they were in, and she loved the idea of being able to see Tori. And Grimm, this thing with him was something she didn’t want to give up. But if the girls were in danger then she’d have to go.

“Kate.”

She turned to find Grimm striding toward her. Every knot in her body relaxed as she took him in. If she were seeing him for the first time, she’d probably run for her life, but she knew him and knew he would protect them.

He stepped forward and gathered all of them in his arms. Kate clung and breathed deeply, thankful that for once, it wasn’t all on her. She’d been solely responsible for their safety and well-being ever since Abby was a baby, and she was tired. She needed someone else to be there, wanted someone else to be there, too. She needed someone else to help her do the heavy lifting. It was such a huge burden, and they’d known each other such a short time. But something in her, deep inside, told her Grimm was the one. She would have to believe and trust.

“Ma’am, I’ve notified the police, and they’ll probably want a statement,” the security guard spoke as he approached.

Kate leaned out so she could see him. “Thank you so much for calling them.”

His eyes widened as he noticed the man at her side and took a step back. Grimm was intimidating and, right now, she was glad for it. Nothing and no one would hurt them with him here.

“What did the vehicle look like?” Grimm asked. “What was the license plate number?”

“It was a black, Ford van, and I only got a bit of the plate number. It was two, six, five, X.”

“Out of state or in state?”

“In state.”

Grimm turned his attention back to Kate, and his face visibly softened. “I have people I work with coming to fix your car. As soon as they’re finished, we’ll leave.”

“I don’t want you to have to do that,” Kate said. “I’m sure I can get someone to fix it tomorrow.”

“I don’t want you to be without a car. It won’t take long. I need to do this for you.”

Kate nodded and tucked herself back against his big, solid body. She knew it was wrong to allow him to take care of things, but she just couldn’t think. Everything had happened so damn fast, and she wasn’t prepared. Anything could have happened, and there wasn’t a damn thing she could have done about it. The thought chilled her to the bone.

Grimm held them close and did everything but chew nails to calm his fury. Something had scared them, scared them enough that Kate still trembled in his arms. He wanted to rush them to his home and guard them—he wanted to destroy whatever had threatened them. He counted backwards from a thousand, breathing in Kate’s scent as he held them. He wasn’t leaving them, he didn’t care what the schedule said. He had been blessed with these three humans, they were his, and he wasn’t leaving them tonight.

At least, he had a description of the vehicle and a partial plate. From that, whoever this person was could be tracked. Once they found him, Grimm was going hunting. He didn’t care if the man was a human. He’d scared Kate and his girls. For that, he’d die.

The earpiece he wore chimed, and he touched it. “Go.”

“The tires are fixed on the vehicle you indicated.”

As soon as Grimm had gotten the call, he’d contacted Joelle, who had sent out a team. She hadn’t asked any questions, and he hadn’t offered any explanations. He’d once chased a vamp in the mall and knew the place well so it hadn’t been hard to appear in a quiet area. Driving would have taken far too long, and he wanted to make sure he was with Kate and the girls when they went home.

“What happened?”

“It looks like they were slashed. Whoever did it didn’t try to hide what they’d done.”

He ended the call and pulled back enough so that he could see Kate’s face. She was still pale but didn’t look as stressed. He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his.

“Thank you for coming,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I will always be here for the three of you. No matter what. You are my first priority.”

“We were scared,” Olivia said, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

Those words sealed the man’s death warrant. Grimm didn’t care how long it took. Whoever he was, the guy was already dead. He just didn’t know it yet.

“Let’s get all of you home,” Grimm said as he picked up Olivia.

He ushered them out of the store to the fixed car. They were all so quiet that his anger bubbled up again. He clamped his jaw tight to still the growl trying to escape. Not now, he told himself—now, he had to be calm. Later he could let out the beast that lurked in the heart of every Ancient, but now wasn’t the time.

He put the girls in their booster seats and helped Kate into the front passenger seat. He nodded to the agents still on the scene and climbed into the driver seat. Without a word, Kate handed him the keys, which he used to start the car and pull away.

They drove home in silence. Grimm didn’t like it. He was used to the girls talking constantly and the four of them laughing. Now, the only sounds that broke the silence were sniffles and watery hiccups. Kate sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window, her skin pale and drained of color. He reached over and took her hand, and she clenched her fingers around his. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. She looked over at him and there was such trust in her gaze, he knew he had to tell her tonight. He had to tell her what he was so he could keep them safe. He’d put it off too long. He just hoped like hell she wouldn’t toss him out because, no matter what, he wasn’t leaving. They meant too much for him to give them up.

He pulled into the driveway and punched the garage door opener. Once they were inside, with the door closed, the girls unbuckled and climbed out. He grabbed their bags as Kate ushered them inside. The girls put their backpacks on the table as Kate reset the alarms.

“Are we safe now?” Abby asked.

Olivia nodded. “Grimm’s here. We’re safe.”

He leaned down and hugged them both. “I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

“But what happens when you leave?” Abby stared up at him.

“I’m not leaving. I’ll be here all night.”

“What about your job?” Kate finally spoke.

“You and the girls are far more important. I’m not leaving you.”

Kate nodded. “Let’s get you both cleaned up and into bed.”

“But what about our homework?” Abby asked

“Let’s not worry about it tonight,” Kate replied. “In fact, we might just all take a day off tomorrow so we can rest and relax. But let’s go get your faces washed and your teeth brushed. You can take baths in the morning.”

Grimm shrugged out of his coat while Kate ushered the girls upstairs. While they were busy he called in to Joelle to tell her he was off rotation for that evening. She didn’t question him, only wished him a good night and told him to let her know if he needed anything.

Chapter Eight

Kate softly closed Abby’s bedroom door. God, she was tired. She still wasn’t quite sure how the evening had gone so wrong. Who was the man that had approached them? How had two tires gone flat? What would have happened if Mall Security hadn’t been there? Hell, the questions were endless. Nothing made sense—nothing had made sense since Janie’s death. Could this incident have anything to do with her sister’s murder? All this time and the police still didn’t have any leads. Kate made sure to check with them every couple of months, just to remind them Janie had family who cared.

Grimm was waiting for her in the living room, and she had to admit, she was never so glad to have him in her home. The girls went to sleep knowing he was in the house. The girls would stay asleep knowing he wasn’t going anywhere. Kate walked into his arms and let him hold her. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. The beat was fast, as if he had been exercising, but she knew he hadn’t been.

She tilted her head back to look up at him and found him watching her. The two of them stood like that for a long moment until he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and eased her tongue into his mouth. She wanted him. She needed him. Needed his strength, his passion. She needed to feel him surrounding her, taking her.

She started pulling his shirt out of his pants to allow more access to his body. She wanted to run her hands and mouth over him. She wanted him to shudder and moan the way he made her.

“Kate,” he said a bit breathlessly, “we need to talk first.”

“No, we’ll talk after. I want you.” She began kissing down his neck, and he tilted his head to give her better access. Damn, he smelled so good and tasted even better.

“I want you, too.” He ran his hands under her shirt. “Fuck, I want you so much. But we have to talk.”

He firmly pulled away from her and sat her on the couch. He knelt between her legs and she quite liked the look of him there. He was just so big and wild and sexy. She wondered again how the hell they’d ended up together. That night in the club had happened so fast then he was gone. She hadn’t even been sure he was real until Tori had said something about him. Now, here he sat at her feet, telling her they needed to talk. She hated when people said stuff like that. It usually meant nothing but trouble and bad news.

“I’m not married,” he said, almost anticipating what might come out of her mouth. “Nor am I engaged or have a girlfriend or anything else you might imagine.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod. Those things had crossed her mind, briefly. “So then what?”

He glanced away for a moment then sighed. “Do you know how I found you that night in the club?”

“How…did you…I was just thinking about that.”

He nodded. “I followed your scent. I caught it when I was passing by, and I had to come in. I had to find you. At first, I thought it was this other woman, but when I got close enough, I knew it wasn’t her. All I knew was I had to find you, and there you were.”

She stared at him. Her scent? What? No one could do that. No human, anyway. People didn’t scent one another like that. Kate shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“What? That I scented you or I love how you smell?”

“Either, human beings don’t do stuff like that.”

He nodded. “I know. I’m not a human being.”

She blinked and rubbed her head. “Grimm, if you don’t want to see me anymore just tell me. But talking crazy? So what? I’ll throw you out?”

“I’m fucking this up,” he spoke almost to himself. “I’m not crazy, and I certainly don’t want to lose you. But before we make love, I need you to know who and what I am. I’m not human. I’m a vampire. My name is Grimm, and I’m over two hundred years old. I work for an organization called the Paranormal Investigative Agency. We police parakind and our job is to make sure humans don’t find out about us.”

Kate searched around, wondering where he’d hidden the cameras. There had to be cameras because obviously she was on one of those horrible reality shows. The ones where men pretended to be vampires to get a reaction out of the women they were dating. Yeah, that had to be it. If her life wasn’t shit enough, she had to get pulled into some kind of crazy. What else could it be? There were no such things as vampires and secret organizations.

She met the eyes of the man she imagined she would make a life with, and her eyes filled with tears. Why? Why did nothing good ever happen to her?

“Please don’t cry.” He leaned forward and pressed his face into her knees. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“What I’m thinking? You want to know what I’m thinking?” She shook her head. “I’m thinking that once again my life is fucked. I’m thinking that someone who I thought I could trust and depend on and care about is either crazy or is playing some kind of ugly trick on me.”

“I can prove it to you. But I don’t want to scare you.”

Kate wiped her eyes. “You know, I think we need to end this now. I have so many bigger things to worry about.”

He caught her gaze and held it as he opened his mouth and fangs slowly descended from his upper set of teeth.

Kate stared, unable to utter a sound. They couldn’t be real. Vampires didn’t exist. His teeth couldn’t be real. They couldn’t be real because vampires didn’t exist.

He continued to watch her as his teeth slowly receded. They weren’t normal, though. Why hadn’t she noticed before? His canines were a bit longer and sharper than normal teeth. Had they always been that way? Why
hadn’t
she noticed?

“I am a vampire,” he said again.

Kate opened her mouth, but sound refused to leave. What to say? What to ask? How was this possible?

“Vampires have been around for as long as humans. Think of us as another species. We’ve lived side-by-side, but we hid. We had to. Vampires are born. We aren’t made or created like the stories say. We live and breathe, and we do die, but our lifespans are much longer than humans. I think it’s because we don’t have children as often as humans.”

The man was babbling. In the time she’d known him, this was the most he had spoken at any one time. He was also sweating, she noticed. He was sweating and babbling. When she did this, it meant she was nervous. Did that mean he was? Why was he nervous? He was the vampire. Shouldn’t she be nervous as the human sitting with the vampire between her legs?

“There are different kinds of vampires,” he was saying. “Regular vamps and Ancients, or throwbacks, but most people don’t call us that to our face. Regular vamps can actually go out in the daylight, not for real long periods, but they can do it. Ancients can’t go out in the light at all. It’s not like we burst into flames or anything, but it doesn’t feel good.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It feels like a really bad sunburn. But it goes away faster, I’d imagine.”