Chapter Ten

HE HAD TO BE JOKING . The words played over and over in her mind even as Spencer found herself following Etienne to his car, where they were supposed to talk in private. He insisted on driving, too, and this only made things feel more surreal. And weird. It didn't seem right that it was her boss behind the wheel while she sat next to him with nothing to do.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"A friend's party—-" And seeing the look of surprise on her face, he said silkily, "So that lovely dress of yours won't go to waste."

"But you said you wanted to talk—-"

"Isn't that what we're doing now?"

While speaking, Etienne reached for her hand without warning, and before she could even react, he was already bending his head to place a small kiss on her knuckles.

Oh!

The sensation of his lips against her skin immediately had Spencer catching her breath...and holding it as his smoldering gaze met hers. "Is it really that hard to believe, mi vavli ?"

Her mind said yes, her heart begged to differ, but it was her body that ended up crying and aching when Etienne slowly released her hand, and her breath whooshed out of her.

"You...I..." Spencer was finding it increasingly difficult to think. "Never...not one...clue..."

She felt his gaze narrow at her, and when she turned to him, he said calmly, "It was the same for me, don't you think? You've been in love with me for a long time—-"

Even though Spencer knew it was already pointless to feel bothered, she still couldn't help flinching at hearing the truth from Etienne of all people.

"But you never gave a clue either, did you?" Now that he had a role to play, the words came easily, and his mind was already leap years ahead in strategizing and putting plans into place to ensure the words he had uttered earlier would come off as the truth...even if it wasn't.

"I just can't..." Spencer shook her head. "You're not the type to fall in love—-"

"And you are?"

She had to bite back a smile at the drollness in his tone. It almost felt like there was an insult hidden somewhere behind his words. But even so—-

"Just give us a chance."

Oh no . She had never heard him hear use such a coaxing tone before. Never. The moment any of his dates had started making demands, he hadn't wasted a single second in getting rid of them. It had always been his way of making things clear about where women stood in his life, which was somewhere below obligatory appearances in gold tournaments (his hatred of which she now understood) and slightly more important and enjoyable than having to personally shop for his clothes (men were just men, apparently, with or without fangs).

"Spencer..."

"You know..." Spencer was unable to meet his gaze as she heard herself say, "I wasn't lying about what I said."

The unease in her voice made Etienne's grip on the steering wheel tighten. He knew right away what this was all about, and he knew just as well it was a subject he needed to tread carefully on.

"I did sell my virginity."

"I see."

"That's all you're going to say?"

"Why did you do it?" Etienne forced himself to ask. "Was it for money?"

Spencer squeezed her eyes shut, and in a barely audible voice that he couldn't have heard if he had been human, she whispered, "It was because of you." And the rest of the words tumbled out in a stilted fashion. "I wanted to prove to myself that I can get past my feelings for you, so I..."

Things started to click in his mind, and Etienne could feel his face whiten as he remembered her conditions, which at that time he had considered eccentric but thought nothing more of.

At that time, all he had cared about was discovering for himself if the purported qualities of chemically compatible sangferia were real. So if the woman whose virginity he had bought wanted him to fuck her like some anonymous gigolo who wouldn't take no for an answer—-

It had been nothing to Etienne.

Only this time...he realized too late that all those conditions were proof of just how much—-

"That night, I think...we only did it once, and he was good. Extremely good." Like you, she added silently. "But maybe it was because I was also stressing over things, I ended up passing out, and when I woke up the next morning he was gone. And it was then I realized..." She sucked her breath. "I realized that it didn't work. I thought having a night of wild sex would change me," she confessed jerkily, "and I could start dating other guys, but when I saw you again—-"

"You were still in love with me."

She couldn't help turning towards him at the hoarse way he had uttered the words, but Etienne's handsome face, despite its sudden pallor, remained terrifyingly unreadable.

Did he see her differently , she wondered painfully, now that he knew the truth?

None of the women Etienne previously dated were virgins, but what if he held different standards for the woman he was thinking of spending the rest of her life with? What if it was a vampire - no, a Caro thing? What if the old bloods had rules about their kind ony being allowed to take virgin brides?

The thought made her feel sick with dread, and she turned to him in unconscious entreaty. "Etienne..."

He heard her voice break, and Etienne instinctively slammed his foot on the brake.

Spencer couldn't understand why they were suddenly pulling over and Etienne was abruptly unbuckling his seatbelt. "W-Why—-"

The rest of her words disappeared under his mouth, and she could only gasp against his lips, unable to pull away even if she wanted to, with his fingers driving through her hair in a forceful grip. His kiss was hard and downright possessive, demanding and impossible to resist. But most of all...

Oh, most of all...

And Spencer found herself squeezing her eyes shut as the kiss gradually gentled and faded.

It was a kiss that said...

Her lips started to tremble the moment Etienne lifted his head and gazed down at her.

"You still love me?" she whispered uncertainly.

"Always will." And he knew, even if it meant damning his soul to Hell, he had been right to lie, with the way her eyes started to shimmer and turn radiant with joyous tears.

Spencer pressed trembling fingers to her cheek. I'm crying, she realized dazedly. She had been crying a lot lately, but this was the first time that she felt like she was crying for the right reasons, and it scared her to think that none of it might be real. Gazing at Etienne imploringly, she asked, "Tell me I'm not dreaming of this?"

"Alright." Etienne's voice was solemn. "If that's your way of saying I'm your dream come true—-"

A choked laugh escaped her. "That would do." Etienne being his usual cocky self was definitely proof that she really was here next to the man she loved...and he actually happened to love her back.

She loved Etienne, and Etienne loved her back.

Etienne. Loved. Her!

Her heart ached so bad just thinking about this, and before she knew it, the rest of her was aching, too, and all of a sudden, she realized what she wanted - needed - to happen next.

"Etienne..."

He turned to her right away. "What is it?"

The shy smile that curved over Spencer's lips was a rare beauty, but even the sight of it was nothing compared to her next words, which he had never expected to hear.

"Would you take me to your bed tonight?"

One moment, there was just dead silence, and then the next thing she knew, Etienne's sportscar was flying down the road, and the speed in which he took off had Spencer falling back against her seat with a breathless laugh. "Slow down, will you?"

"And risk having you change your mind?"

"I won't," she promised. "But if you don't slow down and you're caught overspeeding..."

Realizing she was right, Etienne cursed under his breath even as he forced himself to play by human rules and shifted gears until the speedometer fell back within the appropriate range. But the moment they made into the basement parking of his building, he wasted no time in shedding all pretenses of suffering from any human frailties, and in mere seconds, he had scooped Spencer out of her seat and up in his arms as he walked swiftly to the lobby reserved for the building's tenants.

"I can walk—-"

"You're too slow."

"Am not—-" But Spencer stopped arguing when Etienne also chose to bypass the elevators and opt for the stairs instead through the fire exit. "So, stairs are faster? Seriously ?"

Etienne didn't even bother to answer her, and moments later, she could only gasp and laugh as she threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him for dear life. "Oh my God." It was like riding a roller coaster as he raced up the stairs with his Caro speed unchecked, and they were in his penthouse apartment in seconds. Seconds!

Seeing the amazed look on Spencer's face, he bent his head and whispered, "I can fuck just as fast, too."

Spencer's reaction to his words was priceless: color instantly darkened her cheeks while her lips flapped open and close as if she was undecided whether to moan for him to say more or growl at him to shut up. Either way, it was cute as fuck, and he couldn't keep himself from throwing his head back with a laugh.

"I'm seriously worried here," Spencer grouched. "I don't think it's normal that you can turn me on so easily—-" She stopped speaking when the door in front of them suddenly opened, and she found herself face to face with an expressionless Anderson.

"Welcome back, Your Highness." The older gentleman bowed politely to both of them. "Good evening, Ms. de Vries."

She couldn't even speak. All she wanted to do was die. How could she have asked Etienne to take her to bed and not remember about Anderson—-

"I don't want us disturbed for the rest of the night," Etienne told his butler.

Gaaaah! She could only stare at the billionaire, aghast. Didn't he realize he might as well have told the other man they were planning to have sex for the rest of the night?

"Understood, sir."

And because he could still feel Spencer's horrified gaze pinned to him—-

"One last thing before you go, Anderson," Etienne drawled.

Anderson turned back to face his employer. "Yes, Your Highness?"

"Please pretend you don't know who the woman is in my arms—-"

Spencer moaned.

"I think she's shy."

Even as Anderson permitted himself the briefest of smiles, his voice was perfectly polite as he asked, "What woman?"