Page 21 of The HalloQueen

This was getting absurd, “I did not! Like I needed to fondle your unconscious body.” I could have gone home with any woman in that bar last night, fucked them until the sun came up, and then never spoke to them again, but no, I picked her because she was everything I needed in this world wrapped up in a curvy purple package.

“Then why for the first time in the ten years I’ve been drinking do I have a gap in my memory and why do I feel like I got hit by a bus? Why do I feel like you took something from me?”

Oh, merde. Fuck.

She somehow figured it out. She knew. She knew something different happened but she couldn't find any explanation for it except that I meant to hurt her. It had to be something black and white like that to her, unfortunately, my life was a never ending gradient of grays.

“You did, didn’t you? You did something,” her voice cracked and I could see her facade failing. Her eyes glistened as though she was going to cry, though nothing had been said yet that should hurt her feelings, and she was practically trembling.

The anxiety was coming off of her in blinding waves and I knew that it wouldn’t go well if I just went straight to,“Oh yeah, I’m an energy vampire, no bigs though. By the way, every paranormal creature you’ve ever thought of is some variation of the truth, but I’d still like to claim you and live happily ever after because you smell freakishly good. And let’s not forget that some primal part of me wants to cuff you to a bed and fuck you until we both die. Sounds great, right?”

Her feelings were already strong enough that I could taste them without even touching her. It made me wonder if she was any more emotional if I’d have the ability to harvest from her without touching her directly.

Touching her. I should just touch her. I could soothe her. I could fix this and explain it to her in a way that wouldn’t scare her more if her anxiety wasn’t so elevated. I just needed her to let me touch her, that was it. I extended my arms, hoping I wouldn’t need to convince her.

“Why would I let you hold me when you clearly did something to me?!” She pulled back from me and the beast within me snarled.Mon coeurdoes not get to be afraid of me.

“Let me show you,” I spoke softly as if she was a scared dog, backed into an alley corner and I only wanted to help her get to food and safety.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on. What if I go to hug you and you like…stab me in the neck or something. I know there are arteries in there that if you hit them I’d bleed out in a matter of minutes. I’ve seen it -”

I wanted to scoff. I wanted to throw something, though I owned nothing to throw. What a stubborn woman. “Yes, you’ve seen it in the media many, many times. I understand. Please let me touch you and I will show you what happened last night.”

She hesitated again and I was about to say fuck it and throw her over my shoulder when I shook my head and reminded myself to remain calm and lure her in. I’d always been able to lure people in with my eyes, I could at least encourage her to trust me, so I locked eyes with her, imploring her to give in. I saw the minute she made the decision and came to me. The moment I touched her skin it was as if the clouds had parted and the angels sang, I felt so right and warm against her lush body. I moved a hand behind her back, spreading my fingers and pulling her against me, wanting to groan at the delicious way her body contoured into mine. I placed my other hand under her chin, tilting her head slightly up to me so I could place a kiss on her lips.

I didn’t have to jump over any shields to get into her energy; it was as if the second I touched her she sent a tsunami wave of them in my direction and I was slammed with every negative feeling that had plagued her in the past twelve hours. They crashed over and over me, and almost drowned me since I wasn’t expecting to take anywhere near that much of her energy. I’d intended to simply take the edge off and make her peaceful enough that we could have a conversation, but it felt almost as if her spirit found a willing vessel for her anxiety and was thrusting as much of it as she could away from her. It was almost too much for me with how much of her was still in my system from last night. I could feel her old and new energies swirling together within me like brackish water. She was fucking magnificent. I went to kiss her again when she yanked herself from my grip and stumbled back with terror in her eyes, falling into the air mattress.

“What the fuck was that Thomas?” her voice was shaking.

“I might ask you the same question,amour.” I leaned down, placing my hands on my knees and I closed my eyes, trying to give my body a moment to process everything she had chucked in my direction.

“Me? What did I do?!” Her eyes widened, anger reigniting within them and acting more like the Annabel I’d met yesterday. This poor woman’s anxiety was crushing her bit by bit.

“Why were you so anxious that it would have killed a lesser woman?”

“What?” She snapped the word as if I’d invaded her privacy, when, yes, obviously, that was my goal, but she had willingly shoved those emotions at me. “How could you possibly know-”

“Amour, I told you last night that I can read people’s emotions.”

“Reading my emotions and changing them are two entirely different things. How did you do that? What the fuck happened last night? Who the fuck are you?” Her voice was becoming progressively more shrill.

I heard a sudden quiet come from the store. “Annabel,” I said her name firmly, snapping her to attention, “you will draw too much attention to us. I am going to sit with you and I will help you stay calm by holding your hand while I explain, yes?”

“What? No.”

A growl began to rumble in my chest involuntarily, “Annabel, this is my place of business. You will either let me help you remain calm or you will leave now and not come back until the store is closed. I will give you answers either way, but you must choose how you will behave while we discuss it.”

“Don’t speak to me like I’m some petulant child when you-”

I raised my brow, “Do you wish to speak to me now, or do you wish to leave?”

She glared at me with those fierce green eyes for a few more moments before she sighed and stuck her hand out.

“I think I might hate you,” she muttered with a pout on her lips.

I laughed, “My love, you do no such thing.” sitting next to her on the air mattress, I watched her bob up and down as the air leveled out and she begrudgingly took my hand. I pulled slightly on her energy, trying to discover how to filter through her cascade and her shoulders relieved some of the tension they’d been carrying.

She sighed, “Okay, tell me what the fuck is going on? This isn’t normal.” I could tell she wanted to say it with force and power, she wanted to put me in my place, but she was for all intents and purposes, stoned at the moment.

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