Chapter 8

Faolán pondered whether he could stay there, at another table, watching, but then he came to the conclusion that Alanna wouldn't be happy with that. So he left the restaurant, got in the car and drove back to the hotel. When he entered his hotel room, he went straight to the bathroom to take a cold shower. Touching that woman was one of the best aphrodisiacs for him.

*

Alanna couldn't focus on the business meeting, and once it was over she didn't return to the company; instead, she went straight to her house. She chose to live on W 156th Ave, as it is a neighborhood with properties far apart. The houses being far from each other guaranteed the privacy she so desperately needed. It was one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Westminster, but that wasn't a problem for her. 600 years were plenty of time for her to make money.

Her house was mostly made of stone. What was not black stone was painted a color between beige and white. The front door was a wide and tall, black wood with wrought iron French door. Floor-to-ceiling windows gave to the house a more modern look, being a contrast to the stony material of the exterior. Everything considered, the house was beautiful and pleasant. It was almost literally shouting 'rich!'.

She parked her car in the garage and opened the door to the house. All she wanted was to take a bath to relax her mind. Yes, because the body wouldn't relax with it, due to her being a vampire, but it helped to be less tense, mentally.

After the bath, the plan was to call one of the people she trusted so she could drink their blood. She wasn't much for 'stealing' anyone's blood, biting without warning, let alone killing.

Some time ago, she'd entered those sites where humans loved to pretend to be vampires or their lovers, and thus, she'd attracted them. She already had her steady donors, so this kind of behavior on her part was only necessary when the donors either disappeared out of fear or when they died from any cause other than her.

"Oh, I'm finally home! Now, a very nice bath is all I need!" Alanna spoke aloud to herself.

"It's really good for you to take a bath, because you smell like a dog." Morana's melodious voice echoed from the bedroom, causing Alanna to jump back.

"Oh my, Morana! You almost killed me, here!" She said, putting her hand to her chest. Morana laughed, throwing her head back as she rose from the recliner.

"I love your sense of humor, honey." Morana said. "If you were alive, you would probably just have an arrhythmia and nothing else."

Alanna hated to be reminded that her body had run out of life. Not exactly, since she was between the other world and this one, but, anyway…

"Probably." Alanna said and cleared her throat. "Why are you here?"

"You called to let me know you had problems, so your dear 'aunt' came to help her adorable and beloved niece." Morana said, running her fingers through her long black hair. "Come, the bathtub is ready for you."

Alanna followed Morana upstairs, where Alanna's bedroom was. The master suite was all white, and almost all her furniture was black and beige. No pictures, no nothing. They went to the bathroom through a false door, which was one of her wardrobe's. The place smelled of herbs, and one of them was well known to Alanna: wolfsbane.

"He's probably already sensed that there's something different on you, because of the wolfsbane. By taking a bath with the extract of this plant, you will be more effective in protecting yourself. And, with the help of other herbs, he won't be so alert to your scent.

"He won't attack me." Alanna said.

"Oh, really? And how would you know?" Morana asked, with her eyebrows raised. Alanna felt an alarm sounding in her head, so she didn't share the info about the mate bond between Faolán and her.

"He's polite. And maybe he'll eventually try to use his Alpha influence to subdue me, but he won't attack me. He seems to be used to dealing with humans."

"Hmm. Interesting." That was all Morana said, before sinking her hand into the water that was filling the tub, checking its temperature. She motioned for Alanna to remove her clothes, and left the bathroom before Alanna started to strip. She knew the girl hated being naked in front of anyone.

As Alanna immersed her body in the bluish water of the white porcelain hot-tub with golden faucets, she couldn't stop thinking about a certain werewolf. At the same time that she looked at him and saw Aillard, she didn't! She could see a handsome specimen that had a nicely build body—even if she had only seen him fully dressed, that's how it seemed to her—, perfect features and a scent that made her dizzy.

She didn't understand how her body, which wasn't even actually alive, could be attracted to Faolán's. She didn't know how that mate bond worked. She was aware that werewolves and humans could have that kind of connection, but vampires and werewolves? They weren't even supposed to be friends to begin with!

Sighing deeply, she got up and out of the tub, dried herself, put on her white robe and went to her bedroom. Morana was there, sitting on her bed.

"Now, honey, let's talk about the handsome Alpha who decided to show up and invade your thoughts." Morana said, looking at Alanna with eyes blacker than pitch.

*

Faolán came out of the shower, naked. He was toweling off his hair, when he heard the phone vibrate on the bedside table. He laid the towel on the small desk and picked up the phone. It was his goddess.

"Hi, my love! It's so heartwarming when the person we love calls us…" He answered, trying to be funny.

"Stop that imbecility! You said that if I didn't give you an answer by five o'clock, you'd make one more of your inconvenient appearances. I don't have the patience for this kind of show. Tomorrow during the day, I'll arrange and schedule a board meeting, to talk about the matters regarding the lands. And tomorrow night we'll have dinner together, and you WILL tell me what the hell you want." She said, utterly annoyed.

"Hmm. What if I'm busy, tomorrow night?" He said jokingly, for she was commanding him to meet with her for dinner, leaving no room for him to negotiate.

"I have a lot of work to do, and yet I'm going to give you a concession of my time. But, if you're busy tomorrow, just forget about it. I'll tell you what happens at the meeting, whenever it takes place." She said and was about to hang up the phone, but he realized that he had made a mistake.

"No!! I was kidding, I'm free to go. Tomorrow night is great." He said, and Rafe swore at him, telling him what an idiot he was. Alanna huffed on the other end of the line.

"Be aware that I don't like pettyjester jokes. Tomorrow I'll be waiting for you at the same restaurant of yesterday. Eight o'clock. Do NOT be late." Before Faolán could answer, she hung up on him.

'You nearly ruined everything, you moron!' Rafe practically yelled, annoyed.

'Oh, okay. How could I suspect that her sense of humor is practically nonexistent?' Faolán questioned Rafe, mentally.

'If you haven't figured out her character, you're more of an imbecile than I thought.' Rafe declared, with a sigh.

Faolán wasn't in the mood to be scolded by the wolf in his head. Instead, he laid on the bed, smiling, put his hands behind his head, and wondered what tomorrow night's dinner would be like. He'd tell her that they were mates. She was attracted to him, no doubt about it. He just had to know how to get it across to her, in a way she wouldn't be scared and would accept him.