Grim and Bear It(6)
Author: Juliette Cross
She was the only one beyond Gareth or Sean who I could stand to touch me. Her touch felt…right.
Dragging my gaze from the sight of her hand on me, I turned and looked at her, her face far too close. And far too distant. “I’m not worried,” I assured her.
Her smile faltered before her gaze dropped to my mouth, her eyes sultry, and the reaction my body had to that was more than worrisome. It was downright fucking maddening. I could not get a hard-on in this room with the High Tea ladies.
As if Clara could read my mind, she sat back in her chair suddenly and turned everyone’s attention to the plot of the story, guiding the group in a further discussion that I barely had enough sense to pay attention to.
After an hour of mostly admiring Broderick’s feats of heroism, heart, and bedroom abilities, my first book club was over. The ladies chatted while they gathered their purses.
Martha looped her giant purse over an arm. “Clara, tell Miriam I’ll be by tomorrow to see her.” Then her gaze shifted to me. “I suppose having a male perspective amongst the group isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”
“Thank you? I guess.”
“You’re welcome, Blackwater.” She headed with the others toward the foyer and front door.
“Don’t forget, everyone. Next book is When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James. I ordered paperbacks, and they should arrive at your houses in a few days.”
A round of thank-yous echoed in the hall as they left. Then I was alone with Clara, watching her box up what was left of the sandwiches and sweets.
“You aren’t bringing those to the homeless, are you?”
Clara had a habit of parading down to the tent city under the overpass to hand out boxes of leftovers from her tea club or from Sunday dinners with the family. For the most part, she was never in any danger. Except that one time she stumbled into a drug deal gone bad, and I had to knock them out for knocking her unconscious. I stayed hidden afterwards but waited until she woke a few minutes later to be sure she was okay. Good thing my instincts told me to follow her that day.
“Not today,” she replied with a smile. Always a smile. “I’m bringing them to Miriam.”
“Would you like some company?”
When her eyes brightened, there was a pinching sensation in my chest. “I would love that.”
After helping her carry the dishes to the kitchen and taking the box of leftovers for her, we left through the front door without running into any more Savoies. I don’t know why, but I exhaled relief at that.
Maybe I thought they’d ask me, what are you doing here? And I’d wonder the same. But the truth was, I’d enjoyed being here. More than that, I felt like I belonged here, wherever Clara was.
“I parked at the Green Light.” Ruben’s vampire den adjoined the back of his building where his bookstore was. “It’s a short walk.”
“I know.” She walked beside me, her soft gaze flicking to mine. “Are you still working there even while Ruben is away?”
“Yeah. Devraj is in charge right now. He keeps me busy.”
“So what is it that you actually do for Ruben?”
Why did I not anticipate this question? Not that I was going to lie to her, but it was rather unconventional. A little weird. “I do a few things for him. Mainly, I work the Green Light, the crowds outside the bar.”
It was actually a vampire den, one of many in the city that catered to vampires seeking blood hosts for the night.
“So you lure in humans for the vampires?”
She asked it without any accusation, which was new. But expected from Clara. She wasn’t the judgy type.
“Yes and no.” Compelled to keep her safely away from the street, I guided her with a hand on her elbow so we could switch places on the sidewalk. “The only humans allowed into the Green Light are those who know who and what we are. Who know what they’re potentially getting themselves into by entering a vampire den? But yes, I’m there to tempt humans and even other supernaturals into giving in to those cravings. To go into the club and walk on the wild side for the night.”
“Interesting.”
“Sounds a little degenerate when I say it aloud.”
“No. You’re simply being who you are, using your magical skills to your own advantage. You’re not spelling anyone or forcing them to go inside. Everyone makes their own decisions under temptation, and they’re responsible for whatever outcomes there are.”
We waited at the corner for the light to change so we could cross to the other side. I faced her. “But I am sort of the devil on their shoulder.”
Her mouth slid into a smile I hadn’t seen on her before—a mischievous one. All the blood rushed to my dick as she aimed that look at me.
“Everyone needs a devil on their shoulder now and then. It’s good to be bad sometimes.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets to minimize the obvious bulge in my jeans. Because now my imagination was running wild with all the ways I’d like to be bad with Clara Savoie.
“But I also scan the potential customers going into the Green Light to be sure they have no evil intent. That’s a gift all grims have.”
“Really? That’s so interesting.” She said it sincerely, not in a sarcastic way. “I love that you do that. You’re sort of a guardian of the Green Light as well.”
Uncomfortable with the compliment, I decided to change the subject. “Gareth told me you don’t experience any effects from grims because you’re an Aura. Is that true? You don’t feel anything when I’m near you?”
I clamped my jaw shut, realizing that last question was stupid and suggestive. That’s not what I’d meant. But then she surprised me again, her wicked smile widening.
“Yes, Henry. I feel something.”
Thank fuck the light changed because I was at a total loss of words, trying to rein in my salacious thoughts.
“But as to a grim’s darker aura, no, I don’t feel what others do around you. Also”—she frowned as we turned down the side street next to Ruben’s bookstore, Rare Books & Brew—“I can’t read your emotions like I can others.”
Thank fuck for that. Now I knew why she didn’t turn and run in the other direction every time we bumped into each other. Because my fanatical obsession with this girl would terrify her if she actually knew how bad it was.