Free Crimson Groves by Ashley Robertson Page B

matter. He was going to try to kiss me. My stomach balled into knots. I cringed, swallowed hard, but the lumps stuck in my throat. I jerked my head to the side. He kissed my cheek, slowly, a little suction of his lips to my skin, and then he lifted his head up, looking down at me. He pretended not to notice my resistance, just like all the other times. He squeezed me into his chest. It was pointless to try to get away from him—until, of course, he released me.
    A knock on the bedroom door jolted me out of that memory, and I quickly glanced at the clock. It was already nine o’clock at night. I no longer experienced time the way I had when I was human. It went by much faster now. I remembered many nights at The Beacon just watching the clock and wishing my shift was over. That kind of thing didn’t happen anymore—maybe because thinking of time didn’t matter when you had an eternity.
    I got up from the chair and opened the door. Bronx was standing there holding a couple of bags. One was from Bloomingdales and the other from a store I’d never heard of, Foresters. Smiling as he handed me the bags he said, “Here are some clothes for you to try on. I will be in the living room, please come model them for me.”
    I took the bags and thanked him and then shut the door. Not in a rude way, but I was eager to see what the bags contained. I skipped over to the bed and turned the bags upside down. Everything inside them fell onto the mattress.
    Lily was just waking up. Perhaps the rustling bags got her attention. She raised her arms over her head to stretch. In the middle of a yawn, she asked, “What’s all of that?”
    “I guess Bronx felt generous and bought me some new clothes. He wants me to model them for him.”
    Lily leaned forward and grabbed one of the dresses. After a brief moment of inspecting the fabric, she handed it to me. “Try this one on first. You know he’s crazy about you, and that dress will make him even crazier.”
    The dress she handed me was black, cut off just above my knees, and had a halter-shaped top. It was skin-tight, showing off all of my curves. Thank God I still had my curves. When I became a vampire, everything about my looks stayed the same except my eyes and skin color. I am much paler now, and of course, I already told you about my eyes.
    There was a pair of black wedge sandals that would match this dress perfectly. Lily must’ve thought the same thing since she was reaching for them.
    “Thanks,” I said while grabbing them from her. I put on the wedges, which also fit perfectly, and then headed over to the bathroom. I ran a brush through my hair and then stepped out in front of the full-length mirror, staring at my new appearance. I looked pretty good. Letting Bronx see me like this was going to be challenging. I could barely keep him at bay when I wore jeans and tees. This outfit was definitely going to cause some unwanted attention.
    “Hey, what’s wrong?” Lily said, head tipped slightly to the side. “You look amazing. He’s going to love it!”
    “That’s the problem.” I walked back to the bed, my fingers sliding down a length of the sheer curtain. It felt like soft mesh. “He will love it and then he’ll try to kiss me again.”
    “And you have a problem with that?”
    “Yes. Yes I do. I don’t have romantic feelings for him. I just can’t bear the thought of him trying to kiss me again.”
    Her eyebrows squished together, tiny creases cutting across her forehead in deep lines. “I’m not a vampire, but that sounds like a human problem to me. It’s hard to force yourself to feel a certain way. The best thing to do is stay honest with him and don’t try to rush things. He’s really nice, maybe a little scary, but he has always been nice when I’m around. Maybe in a while you’ll start to share his feelings.” She shrugged.
    “And if I don’t, then what? I’m kind of stuck here forever.”
    Lily’s eyes widened. She definitely didn’t have a come