24 We bite

Esme sighed and turned over, smelling the fresh sheets that wrapped around her like a cocoon. It was so comfy; she couldn't remember falling asleep or what she was doing before that, but this was exactly what her body needed, and she did not wish to leave such heavenly bliss. Her lids slowly opened, and she blinked, momentarily dazed by her surroundings.

Where am I? She inhaled sharply and bolted to a seated position, her eyes wide, checking out the room she was in. It took her a moment to realise the events leading up to her now staying in Gabriel's guestroom. Looking down at the sheets, she frowned, not remembering falling asleep or getting into bed. She was reading a book..

Esme flung the cover off her and saw the book next to her. She must have brought it with her to bed and fallen asleep. She was exhausted after probably only getting two hours of sleep the night before, it was exactly what the she-wolf needed, so it made sense if she wandered to bed half asleep. But how long did she sleep for?

She placed her feet on the wooden floor and stepped around the large bed and to the right side of the room, where there was two separated floor to ceiling windows. Looking outside, Esme was in disbelief when she saw the sky mixture of purplish-red and orange hues. The sun was setting!

"Great, now I'm turning into a bat," She muttered though she knew vampire's never turned into bats, they still hated the term after the mythology, books and tv shows depicting them as the sort.

Still grumbling to herself, she made the bed as neatly as possible though it didn't have that fancy hotel finish it had before. Just as she fluffed her pillow again on the bed, her phone's ringtone resounded in the room. Esme scrambled over to her coat on the loveseat, hitting her thigh on the corner of the bed as she did so. Cursing to herself, she pulled the phone out and read the caller id.

Surprise replaced her frowning features as she rubbed her leg and flipped the phone open.

"Hello?"

"Es! I didn't see you on your break or anything, and I was just calling up to see if you were okay. No one had seen you, ya know," Leo's cheerful voice came through the phone, making her feel a little bit guilty.

"Yeah, it was super busy today. I was working in the VIP rooms, and you know I was getting a little cranky. Like nobody needs to see that side of me," She joked whilst pulling back the turtle neck around her neck. "So, I left and got some food. I'm sorry that I worried you all. Seriously though, you worry too much."

She opened the door and continued to walk across the landing, looking over the balcony at the lounge area and waterfall feature. Everything looked like it should be some sort of showpiece. "You live in a city now, Es, AND you don't have WhatsUp chat where you could just leave a quick message to us all," Leo replied, still in what seemed to be like a motherly role or should she say big brother role? It was cute, making her chuckle as she turned around and walked towards the library.

"Well, I'm not used to friends caring," She joked casually as she went to a random bookshelf to see what sort of books Gabriel collects. Her brows rose when she pulled out an antique-looking green leather book titled 'On the Origins of Species, by Charles Darwin'. Her hand glided over the cover and undid it carefully, revealing the book was indeed old with its paper-thin and darkly coloured pages.

"Then they weren't your friends." Esme felt a little bad because, in truth, she didn't have friends except for Ruby and, dare she say, Anastasia? But Esme didn't want to think about how they departed with her, and now she would never see either again. "But I will happily take that spot. I'll have you know that I make an excellent friend. I have a list of people that can vouch for me if you'll have me!?" Leo jested, lightening up the mood.

One side of Esme's lips pulled up as she put the book back on the bookshelf. "Is Hana also included in this list of yours?" She asked while walking over to the full-length window revealing the city's lights and painted sky.

"Of course, why do you ask?" He asked with a slight suspicion to his voice. Esme plopped down in the leather armchair, crossing her legs as she stared at the view feeling quite powerful.

"Ha! Because I trust her judgement!"

"Hey!"

Esme lounged in the armchair and watched as the sky increasingly grew dark while talking on the phone to Leo. He was an easy person to talk to, and she found herself smiling or laughing along with him. Although they only saw each other the night before, she enjoyed talking to someone about such simple topics.

It was a good distraction.

"Damn, Es, I gotta go. But did you wanna hang out tomorrow night?"

Esme stilled and scrunched her face, not because she didn't like the guy, but again she was trying to keep her distance.

"At this point, you might as well give up on keeping a distance. Girl, you just slept in a vampire's abode, spoke on the phone to Leo for like 30minutes but now you're gonna draw a line?" Isana mocked and then visualised the previous night of Esme hanging out at Freddie's bar.

"This is true, but it makes it harder for when we leave, and I know already Leo is not to stop staying in touch with people," Esme replied to her wolf sadly.

"I was thinking of going to this battle bar; seeing as you carry a knife, they actually have a knife throwing game. Have you been to one before?" Leo continued as though she had not spaced out.

Knife throwing!? Now she was intrigued. What sort of a place was it!?

"What's a battle bar?" She asked curiously, keeping her cool though she already felt excited by throwing knives at something.

"I'm definitely not taking a no as an answer now! You'll seriously like it. It's a bar with a bunch of games like darts, knife throwing, table tennis, crazy golf," Leo exclaimed excitedly. "Pleeease say you'll come!?"

Esme bit her lip, contemplating on whether to go or not, but then her eyes looked up and locked gazes with Gabriel's reflection in the mirror, and her thoughts wholly diminished. He did not look impressed, and she heard him sigh irritably. "Yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun," She murmured, still watching the vampire, not giving Leo her full attention any more, she could faintly remember Leo saying goodbye, and she flipped her phone shut.

Gabriel glared at her, then suddenly disappeared.

"Are you comfortable, little wolf?" Gabriel whispered into her ear, startling her from how close he suddenly was. His hands were on either side of her on the chair, his warm breath sending goosebumps across her skin.

Esme turned her head to look at him and instantly felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn't think about how close Gabriel would be to her face, and her eyes betrayed her by looking down at his lips before meeting his captivating eyes once more. "Very," She said breathlessly.

Gabriel smirked; his eyes gleamed mischievously, and he leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching. Esme's heart fluttered, and she knew the damned bloodsucker could hear it. "And here I thought you would struggle considering you are staying in a vampire's abode."

"And I'm surprised you're not struggling to be so close to a she-wolf's face. We bite, you know," Esme purred but hoped to get the point across. She couldn't handle his sweet scent and heavenly defined face so close up.

Gabriel smiled broadly and chuckled, looking away briefly, murmuring, "heavenly.", making Esme pause as several questions swept across her mind. Gabriel looked at her again, holding her captive with his eyes while picking her hand up and lowering his lips to her knuckles. His kiss somehow sent a shock of desire ripple through to her core, and she gulped at how he affected her so.

But then he bit her hand playfully with his fangs. The slight prick startled her, and she started to move her hand, but he tightened his hold; his tongue licked the small bit of blood from his fangs before smirking, "I also bite."