He squeezed her hand. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I’m not your responsibility, remember? You need to leave. I can handle this, I swear. Please.”
He glanced back at Lucian, clearly torn.
“Christian,” she said. “Leave.”
He exhaled. “If you need me—”
“I’ll call. I promise.” She returned his reassuring hand squeeze. “Thank you.”
His smile was strained and vanished completely when he looked at Lucian. “If you hurt her, I’ll stake you in your sleep.”
The vampire looked affronted. “Abbey will always be safe in my care.”
Physically, maybe, she thought with bitterness.
Christian snorted, mirroring her own black humor. He ignored Lucian and leaned in close to kiss her cheek. “Be well, honey.”
“And you,” she said.
With a last growl at Lucian, Christian stalked from the apartment.
Neither Abbey nor Lucian moved.
Her broken heart drank in the sight of him, noting the wildness in his eyes. For once, he didn’t look impeccable. She could have sworn his designer duds were wrinkled as if he’d slept in them. His hair was mussed and not his usual perfect coif.
A malicious part of her hoped their separation had been as hard on him as it had been on her. After all, he’d put them here.
But as soon as the vicious wish trickled through her mind, she knew it was nonsense. No one shook the unflappable Lucian Redgrave. Certainly not a human.
“What are you doing here?” she asked harshly.
“I came for you.”
Two men had said the same words to her within the hour. Must be something in the water today. That or she’d gone off the deep end.
“Right,” she said, unimpressed. “I know exactly what happened. You realized you couldn’t live without me and spent days agonizing over the fact that I’m weak and human. But eventually you came to terms with our reality and raced over here to win me back.”
Disdain dripped from her words but he didn’t flinch.
“Yes,” he said simply.
Abbey blinked. “What?”
He gently shut the door before approaching her. His movements were easy and slow, the way one came toward an animal they were afraid would bolt.
“But I’d like to modify your explanation a touch.” His eyes held hers as he moved steadily closer. “I did spend days battling indecision but not because I saw you as lesser in any way. At first I told myself I couldn’t be with you because having a human mate placed you in too great a danger. I never want to see you hurt because of me.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped.
He arched a brow at her language but nodded. “I agree. I was taking your choices away. Ones I had no right to make for you. Every time you needed to step up, you did. It didn’t bother you that we were so different. The differences in our species, our ages, our lives didn’t hold you back as they did me.”
“Bully for me. Now get the hell out of my apartment.”
“You want to hear what I say next.”
“I’ve heard it all before,” she said. “This is where you promise me a limited affair because you can’t get me out of your mind. Well, too bad. I’m not looking for temporary.”
“Neither am I.”
The comeback she’d been preparing died on her tongue. In fact, his words took all the wind from her sails. Surely she’d heard him wrong.
“Nine hundred–plus years and I’ve never been in love,” he said. “Not until you.”
The breath froze in her chest. Her heart pounded so loudly, she wondered if she’d misheard the words searing into her brain.
“Centuries I waited for you,” he said, his gaze never leaving hers. “And when I finally found you, I was unprepared.” He tunneled his fingers through his hair in a rare telling movement. “You turned my world upside-down and I didn’t like it. I had a well-ordered existence and now it feels empty. I look at my apartment and all I see is that damn red pillow you bought. And I want more.”
“Hire a decorator.”
He shook his head ruefully. “I’m afraid I’m addicted to a color only you can provide.”
“My color is not up for grabs anymore.”
“I can’t believe that’s true,” he said.
Her lip curled in a sneer. “Because a human like me should fall at your feet the second you snap your fingers.”
“No.” His eyes were soft and oh so gentle when he looked at her. “Because you love me. Completely. And when you love like that, mortal or immortal, it’s forever.”
Pain stabbed through her. How unfair of him to know that. He had all the weapons in this drama and there was no way he’d let her escape without using them. She couldn’t deny her feelings without making herself a liar.