Page 25 of Blood Ties
“I suppose it is possible, but I have known him for decades Gabriella, and he never has. Not once. I don’t know why he would now.”
I looked up as Grayson walked towards the room. He didn’t enter. He just stood leaning against the door frame staring at me with a devious look on his face.
“What?” I mouthed.
“Food,” he whispered.
I nodded, holding up my index finger, letting him know I’d be there in a moment. I watched him, admiring the view of his retreating muscular backside. I untangled myself from the spot on our bed and shimmied myself to the edge. “I don’t know mother. We’re running out of ideas. Our sources are nil. I just… I don’t know what else to do. I need to find him. I need to know how to help Grayson.”
“Is your blood still working?” she asked. I had never mentioned it out loud, but the possibility that the effects would wear off was one of my biggest fears.
“It is, but…”
“But what, Gabriella?”
I sighed, “He won’t say anything, but I don’t think it’s having the same effect on him anymore.”
“What do you mean?” I could hear the apprehension in her voice.
I listened for Grayson. He was in the kitchen where I could hear water flowing. It would be almost impossible for him to hear me over it, especially if I whispered. “He doesn’t think I notice, but he’s been feeding from me more and more lately. He tries to push it off asother things.” I hinted, not really wanting to talk about my sex life with my mother.
“Maybe that’s all it is. Your relationship is still exceedingly new not to mention the mating bond can be quite strong when it comes to thoseotherfeelings.”
That was the closest my mother and I had gotten to talking about sex. “Maybe, but why is he taking more blood from me during each feeding?”
“Have you tried letting him feed from a human directly?” My mother’s best guess with Grayson’s blood intolerance was that he needed to drink directly from the vein, whether it was mine or not.
“It didn’t work and he refuses to try again. You and I both know that vampire blood will not sustain him forever.”
“I know. I promise I will help you find your father, Gabriella. I will help you in any way I can. I feel somewhat responsible for what has happened to Grayson. Perhaps if I had but listened to you when you explained your lack of desire towards Anton then…” Over the recent weeks, she had said this to me many times. I had constantly asked my mother to not share information with Anton, but she had, even against my wishes, and continued to assure him that I would come around. I knew now that her motives behind her actions were to keep me safe and hidden from other vampires who held a grudge against my father.
“No mother. You can’t do that. I feel guilty, all the time, but Grayson has told me time and time again that this was what he wanted. He would have eventually chosen it anyways.”
“Gaby?” Grayson’s voice startled me. I wondered how long he’d been standing there. How much did he hear?
“Mom, I have to go. Call me if you hear anything.”
“I will darling and try not to worry too much,” she mentioned before we hung up.
“She’s right, you know?” Grayson stated as I climbed off the bed heading towards him.
Wrapping my arms around his waist I asked, “How so?”
He grinned crookedly. “You do worry way too much.” He placed a soft kiss against my temple.
As the weeks passed, the air grew cooler and the seasons changed. Thanksgiving was our first real holiday together. Grayson and I spent it with his family in Boston. It had been hard to arrange my blood situation, but we managed.
He showed me around the city. He knew it so well that I was a bit surprised when he told me that his parents only moved out there at the end of his junior year in high school. He had originally grown up in Vermont.
“They talked about moving back,” Grayson explained when I asked about Vermont. “Dad refuses to quit working and had a job offer from back home. I think it gives him something to do, but it would have required more hours. Instead a competing offer came in from here in Boston, for more money and a flexible schedule so he jumped on it.” He shrugged but refused to look at me.
I looked suspiciously at the man I loved as he drove me by Boston Harbor. Living in Manhattan my entire life I had never learned how to drive. It was a bit remarkable that Grayson did and was a bit of a turn on when I watched him shift gears in the sport car he rented.
“What?” he questioned, seeing the quizzical gleam in my eyes.
“He just happened to get a job like that or did his son make some kind of arrangements?”
He bit his lip while the corner of his mouth pulled up in a half smirk, looking completely sexy. He eyed me out the corner of his eye, neither confirming nor denying it. His silence was all the confirmation I needed. Whether it was a favor or if Grayson had bought the company, I didn’t know, but the fact that he had done something so kind for his parents and kept it a secret made my love for him grow a little more.
