When my gaze finally made it back up his beautiful body to his eyes, my steps faltered just a bit. He was frowning at me. And the closer I got the more intense it became. Uncertainty washed over me like a tidal wave. I reached up and pushed my hair behind my ear. I forced myself to keep walking toward him and not turn and flee back up the stairs. What have I done wrong? Why did his look go from pure hunger to anger in such a short time?
“Where the hell is the rest of your dress?” He grumbled, when I had finally come to a stop a few feet away from him.
“I—” My voice wavered because his frown was so intense that it was outright frightening. He looked extremely unhappy with me.
“What do you mean Gabe? This dress is hot! Eww! Don’t be old fashion!” Stacy said coming to my rescue. She wrapped her arm around me and it was so comforting that I leaned into her embrace to get away from the force that was Gabriel.
Dear God, I wanted to go home! I wanted to go back to my farm! I wanted to get away from New York!
“You picked this dress out?” He asked her.
“Yes I did, and I think she looks amazing in it! And maybe you can stop being so mean and just tell her she looks pretty for heaven sake!” Stacy had just officially become my hero. She bravely stood up to The Beast, and I didn’t know how she was doing it either. He looked so upset I couldn’t even look directly at him.
“Jerome go get the car!” He grumbled before he pointed at Stacy.
“Don’t do this again!” He said, indicating my dress. Then he reached down and took my hand in his, gently pulling me away from her.
“Let’s go, we’re late!”
I looked back at Stacy as he guided me out of the house. The pitying smile on her face was not reassuring. She waved at me and mouthed have fun.
Oh God! I was so afraid of him right now I was shaking, both Stacy's and Gabrielle's warnings playing in my head.
There was a really nice limo parked out front. Jerome stood at the back passenger door holding it open for us. I got in and moved to the seat that went diagonally, sliding as far away from him as I could.
He got in and didn’t move too far away from the door. After a while I heard him exhale settling into his seat. As the car began to move, I busied myself looking around the limo to avoid looking at him, although I felt his intense gaze on me the whole time. We rode in silence for a little while.
This was my second time riding in a limo. The first being when my Granny died, although that limo was nothing like this one. Across from me was a mini-bar and what looked like a small entertainment system; including a television and PlayStation. The dark partition was up separating us from the driver, making it feel as if we rode in a spaceship instead of a car. The sky-blue interior lights that circled the roof of the limo added to that effect.
“Are you going to ignore me all night?” His deep voice cut into my thoughts startling me. I looked over at him and his powerful beauty stole my breath. He sat kind of slouched back in the seat, resting his head against it. The way that he watched me through his lowered lids caused me to fidget a bit. The hunger I had seen in his eyes earlier on the steps was back.
“N—no… I was just taking in this awesome limo. I have never seen anything like it.”
“I can’t hear you, you’re too far away.” He muttered, sounding as relaxed as he looked. I cleared my throat and spoke a little louder.
“I wasn’t ignoring you. I was just looking around this amazing limo!” He shook his head slightly, holding his hand to his ear.
“I still can’t hear you. Maybe you should come a little closer.” Alarm bells began blaring inside of me. I bit my bottom lip, unsure about his request.
All day long, Gabrielle's and Stacy’s warnings had been on repeat in my head. Not just theirs but his own. He said he was a violent man, and I believed him.
“Come here Yasmin, I have something to tell you.” He spoke so low his deep voice felt like a caress against my skin. I twisted my mother’s ring around my finger.
The woman he had awakened in me wanted to go to him. But my good senses warned me that just because the beast was in a relaxed state, did not make him any less dangerous.
“I’m sorry for being an a$$ earlier.” His whispered words were such a surprise I couldn’t stop it from showing on my face. He chuckled.
“Come here baby, I have to tell you something.” I could no longer resist the call of his voice. Goodness, he could really be persuasive when he put his mind to it. I scooted over a little bit on my seat.
“Closer.” He whispered. I scooted over to the edge of my seat, just feet away from the seat he sat on.
“Closer.”
I chewed on my bottom lip feeling extremely nervous. He watched me so intensely. I couldn’t help but feel like his prey. Carefully, I crossed over sitting gently on his seat.
“Closer.” He all but purred.
“Aren’t I close enough for you to hear me?”
With a wicked little grin on his face he slowly shook his head. His big body was at rest, but he didn’t feel any less threatening. Twisting my mother’s ring around my finger I looked back at my seat getting ready to lose my nerves, but before I could, his hand shot out coming around my waist. In the next breath he was lifting me, positioning me so that I straddled his
