Chapter 94

Tessa’s POV

I stood frozen at the doorway of Joseph’s office. He was on the phone, talking to someone I couldn’t hear. But he was telling them about me.

He looked up from his computer suddenly and saw me standing before him.

“I’ll call you back, Carter,” he said just as he hung up the phone. “Hi,” he said to me, his lips forming a smile.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your phone call,” I said, stepping into his office and shutting the door behind me.

“You are never interrupting me, Tessa.”

My face flushed at his words and I’m sure my grin looked goofy to him.

“Is everything okay?” He asked, staring around my face questionably.

My eyes widened and I nodded quickly.

“Yes,” I said a little too quickly. “I just wanted to see you. I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” he said with a faint smile. He motioned for the chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”

I nodded and took a seat in front of him, tugging my fingers nervously. I suddenly forgot why I wanted to see him.

“Who were you talking to about me?” I found myself asking, meeting his eyes.

He arched an eyebrow at my question.

“A friend from my home,” he answered. “He’s my second in command.”

“Second in command?” I asked, raising my brows.

He nodded.

“He’s in charge when I’m not there,” he explained. “He calls me periodically to tell me what’s going on. I was just informing him that I’m bringing a guest with me home for spring break.”

“And he’s okay with that?” I asked a little nervousness in my tone.

I was hoping it wasn’t evident in my voice, but the look he was giving me showed that he knew just how nervous I was.

“He doesn’t really have a choice,” he answered simply.

My face reddened at his words and when I didn’t say anything in response, he asked, “Are you having second thoughts about spring break?”

“What? No, of course not,” I said, trying my best to appear confident.

I was so excited about going away with him for spring break and seeing how he and other vampires live, that I didn’t really stop to think about what it meant. I was going to an entire village of vampires, and I had blood that they found attractive.

“You trust them, right?” I asked, my words coming out as almost a whisper.

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. “You don’t have to worry while you are there. I won’t let anything happen to you if that’s why you’re worried.”

“I’m not worried,” I lied. “I just hope they can control themselves with my blood…”

“They don’t have a choice,” Joseph said again, this time his voice darkening. “If they want to continue living that is. I could always send them to prison as well. No vampire wishes to be there so that very threat will go a long way.”

“Vampires have a prison?” I asked, raising my brows.

“Yes,” he answered. “We have a school for new vampires and a prison for those who could never be fully trained. That place was designed to confine vampires with any kind of abilities, so at least the prison was safe, but we would always give those vampires chances to get trained in school before we had to send them in. Because once a vampire is in prison, he would not be allowed to do anything by himself forever. When it was necessary, we also sentenced those vampires that were way too dangerous.”

“I see,” I breathed, staring down at my hands. “So, it was possible for trained vampires to crave for human blood again?”

“Yes,” he admitted.

He opened his mouth to say more but shut it immediately. It seemed as if there was more he wasn’t telling me. A nervous and worried feeling grew in the pit of my stomach. But Joseph only sighed and leaned back in his seat, examining my face carefully.

“You don’t have to come. We could—”

“No, I want to,” I said quickly. If I backed down now, then we wouldn’t be doing this dating trial, and I didn’t want to go back on that. I loved what we were doing, and I never wanted it to end. I loved Joseph and I was going to prove to him that we belong together.

I stood up and made my way around his desk. He raised his eyebrows at me as I approached him, a sheepish grin spreading across my face.

“I was just thinking about how excited I am to go to your hometown in the mountains,” I said, lowering my tone slightly.

I made myself comfortable on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him gently on the lips.

“You know I’ve always wanted to do this,” I said, nuzzling my nose against his neck.

“Kiss me?” He asked humor in his tone.

He knew that’s not what I meant.

“In your office,” I said against his ear, nibbling his lobe gently.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me, sitting me on his desk. He brought his lips to mine and deepened the kiss, throwing his tongue into my mouth and searching me with a hunger that sent a ray of warmth throughout my body.

I draped my fingers through his hair and broke my lips from his. tilting my neck so he can kiss down the nape of my neck and across my shoulders.

I felt his fingers playing with the bottom hem of my sweatshirt. I wanted to take it off. I almost dared him to remove it.

I wanted so badly to have sex right here in his office. However, the sweatshirt didn’t go above the belly button before we heard a knock on his office door, causing us both to freeze.

I quickly stood up from his desk, adjusted my sweatshirt back down my body, and walked around the opposite side of his desk.

The knock sounded again.

“Yes?” He answered, clearing his throat.

The door opened and one of the students from his class stood in the doorway, looking puzzled to see me.

“Oh, sorry. Is this a bad time? I was having some trouble with our assignment, and I had some free time to come seek help,” she said, running her fingers through her hair.

“Not at all, Abigail,” Joseph, seemingly unbothered, said. “Take a seat and show me what you’re having trouble with.”

She nodded and glanced at me briefly.

“Hi, Tessa,” she breathed with a faint smile.

I returned the smile. I looked back at Joseph.

“Thank you for the help professor,” I said, giving him a knowing smile.

He returned it and I left the office with a full heart.

…

The next couple of weeks went by a little too fast. Joseph stayed over my apartment most of the first week and I stayed over his house the second week. He took me to school like he did when I lived with him, and everything was in sweet bliss.

It was the day before spring break, our last class before we were dismissed for the next couple of weeks.

“How excited are you?” Ruby asked as we walked to Joseph’s class.

“Nervous,” I admitted. “But excited.”

“Was your dad mad when you told him you weren’t going home for spring break?”

I shook my head in response. It was rare that my father got mad. He was understanding when I talked to him on the phone the other night. In fact, I’m pretty sure he forgot that I was planning on coming home in the first place.

I promised him I would return home for the next holiday and that I would see him soon. He told me he loved me and wanted me to be safe this spring break. That was the gist of our conversation.

We reached Joseph’s class, and he was already there, sitting at his desk in the front of the room. Just his very presence sent warmth throughout my body. I couldn’t help the goofy grin on my face but attempted to hide it so people wouldn’t grow wary.

“We should tell each other what we are planning for spring break,” one of the girls in the front row suggested, just as Joseph started the class. “I’ll go first! I’m going to visit my family in California. My aunt is a movie star and I’m visiting her movie set.”

Everybody cooed and was awed at her news. One by one, each student told the rest what they were doing for spring break. Most everybody was visiting family or going on vacation.

I remained quiet until I was the only one left who hadn’t shared.

Soon, everybody was staring at me.

“What about you, Tessa?” Someone asked, curiously. “What are you doing for spring break?”

Instinctively, my eyes met Joseph’s.