Page 17 of Shut Up and Bite Me

Perfect.

After we’re gone, he’ll regain control of his mind and go back to normal, not remembering the order I gave him. His mind will convince him that we spoke casually, and then we left.

“Woah. Did you just do some weird voodoo thing?” Greyson whispers, stepping toward me while watching his roommate mindlessly sit down on the couch.

Searching for his emotions, I open that part of myself to him, and what I find is sweet on my tongue. Pride and arousal.

I giggle. “It’s not voodoo. It’s asuggestion, a powerful one at that.” His roommate rests his hands in his lap, staring straight ahead blankly. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine and won’t remember my telling him.”

“Okayyy.” He drags the word out. “Cool.”

“Did you want me to add anything else? Make him do something crazy ornotdo something?” I offer genuinely, looking nearly straight up through his glasses into his deep blue eyes.

He smirks. “I think that’ll be enough…for now.” He chuckles. “Can I ask you one thing though?”

“Of course.”

“Can you promise to never do that to me?” he says softly, holding my stare intently.

“I promise.” I state every word emphatically because I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

“Thanks. I’ve got everything if you’re ready to go…” He trails off.

Nodding, I turn on my heels and head back for the door. “Ready!”

Pulling into my manor, I can’t help but stare at Greyson as his jaw unhinges and his eyes bulge out of his head.

“Vivian. This place is insane,” he gasps, and I wish I could see it for the first time from his eyes.

Feeling his shock and admiration takes my breath away, and the closer we get to the front of the manor, the more intense those feelings become.

Circling around the ornate black fountain, I shift my car into park and speed around to his door, opening it for him. Am I usually this chivalrous? Not at all. But there’s something about Greyson that makes me want to impress him. I like his smile, and the little things like this seem to earn that reaction.

“Vivian. There’s no way this is your house. You actually live here?” he asks dumbfoundedly.

Nodding, I slide my arm into the crook of his elbow and guide him toward the long staircase leading to the gigantic black double doors. “I do. I’ve lived here for the last…few years.”

“Few years?” He scoffs and pauses as we continue to ascend the stairs. “Do vampires really live forever? I guess I should ask you how old you are. Unless, of course, that’s too intrusive.”

“How old do you think I am?” I ask, curious about what he’s thinking.

“I don’t think that’s a fair question.” He laughs. “You look maybe twenty-one or twenty-two. But I know that can’t be accurate. And if the rumors about vampires never aging are true, then you can really be any age and look the same.”

“Not a bad assumption. And you are right. Although, I stopped aging at twenty-three. I just happen to have looked twenty-three for the last one hundred and forty years.”

He halts and looks my way, studying my face as if he’s searching for a mask, a way to reveal what I would really look like. But he won’t find one.

Sensing his emotions, I prepare myself to feel disgust or repulsion. But I find neither. Instead, I find the same things I did the night we met—attraction and excitement.

“I have always had a thing for older women,” he smirks, and I swear his eyes fucking shimmer in the light.

My stomach flutters, and I feel like a damn teenager from my body’s reaction to his light flirting. God, these next two weeks are going to be insatiable.

As we reach the top of the stairs, I unlock the black wooden door and pull it open. “Home sweet home.”

“And I thought the outside was impressive,” he murmurs breathlessly as we step inside the grand foyer.

“Well, I’ve had a few years to bring my vision to life.” I stand still and watch him wander further into the open space, taking in every inch of my hard work.

---