A Taste Of A Vampire

Chapter 7

Claire had just finished her lunch when Granger came to her to tell her that Lord Drake Thomas was waiting for her in the library. She thanked Granger and paused before she walked into the library, straightening her dress a little. She told herself that she was visiting with someone who might be buying Grayson Manor from her, and that had to be the priority. She had to look at him with different eyes than she might have looked at a bold and wealthy businessman in New York.

He was looking out of one of the tall old windows, gazing at the grounds. He turned when the door closed, and looked at her with a wide smile.

“There she is, looking even more beautiful than the last time I saw her.”

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her in a hug, pulling her snug against him. She resisted slightly, but patted his shoulder and then stepped backward.

“How are you doing Drake?” she asked with a polite smile.

“I’m doing much better now that I’ve gotten to see you. I’m looking forward to our afternoon. You know we’re going to have a wonderful time.” He looked as if he was completely convinced.

She gave him a nod and continued with a pleasant voice. “I’m sure we will.”

They walked out of the manor together and she settled into his car. Drake drove them off down the road into the countryside. They passed rolling hills and gentle valleys. There were occasional stands of trees and odd farms dotting the landscape.

At long last they came to a small and charming village. The streets were cobblestone, the buildings were all made of old stones, and it seemed as if time had somehow passed around the village without really touching it much.

He helped her from the car and they went into a pub. When dinner and drinks had been ordered, the conversation turned from light talk about each other and Claire’s vacation to more serious things. She had been waiting for it, but had decided not to push, instead letting him bring it up.

Drake’s blue eyes held her fast with a serious gaze. “Have you given any more thought to the sale of the house?”

Claire shrugged lightly. “I have, but nothing definite. My attorney is in London and I want to wait until he can come here to see me before I make a decision on what to do with Grayson Manor.”

He nodded almost imperceptibly and watched her. Reaching out one hand, he closed it around hers and his voice became silky smooth. “When are you thinking of going back to the states?”

She left her hand beneath his for a long moment before she pulled it away and casually reached for her drink. “I’ll be leaving next week. I would have left this week, but business is keeping me here a little longer.”

“I’m so pleased to hear that,” he answered, eyeing her closely. “I want to talk with you about that.” Drake took a long drink of his ale and set the mug down thoughtfully on the table between them.

“I feel something with you, Claire. It’s really… electric, and I’m certain that you feel it as well. It’s easy to see how much I affect you when I’m around you.” He chuckled and rolled his eyes a little before looking back at her.

She frowned slightly. “I don’t-”

“I want you to consider staying. Think about it. You and I could spend all the time together that we want to. We could do… so many things together. I could buy your manor and you could live there, or you could come to stay with me at my estate if things go the way we want them to.” He gave her a knowing look and grinned.

Claire blinked and clenched her jaw to keep it from falling open. She stared at Drake and tried to comprehend just what it was that he was saying to her, because almost none of it made any sense.

“What do you say? Stay here and be mine? We’ll work out the rest of it as we go? I’ll be honest with you, I feel so drawn to you now that I wish we could just make it all happen today.” He hesitated and raised one brow. “Unless you want to. Do you want to? You could be such a naughty little kitten.”

There was nothing that Claire could do to keep her mouth shut then. It fell full open and she furrowed her brow at him. For a moment, she didn’t care if he was the only buyer for the manor, and that he had promised to keep the staff there on as long as they wanted. He had gone much further than she was comfortable with and it was clear that she was going to have to put him back in his place.

She struggled to be as polite about it as she could. “Drake, I’m not sure where you’re getting these feelings from. I haven’t done anything to encourage you or lead you on. I’m not going to stay in England. I have a life back in the states. I have an apartment on 5^th Avenue in Manhattan. I have a career, a job that I love and that I worked really hard to get. I’m not giving all of that up. It’s why I’m probably going to be selling Grayson… I’m not staying. It’s not my home. I’m not going to live here. I’m sorry if you thought that there could be any more to us than a business relationship, but we’ve only just met, and we hardly know anything about each other at all. I can’t go jumping off a cliff into a relationship with a stranger in a foreign country.”

Drake tilted his head a little to one side and lifted his chin. The corner of his mouth turned up in a grin. “Is that a challenge?” He looked almost giddy. “I love a good challenge! It makes the game so much more fun, and you’ve just made it the most exciting game I’ve ever played. Everything is at stake… the manor, you… all of it. I’m taking it up! I’ve never backed down from a challenge in my life! I’m certainly not going to back down from this one! I will win you!”

He was absolutely enthralled about the prospect and she could see it all over his face. For a moment, she thought that she might try to argue it with him and try to talk him out of it, but as she watched him she realized that it wasn’t going to happen. In his mind, she was a prize to be won, she and her manor, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got her. She told herself instead of fighting with him about it, she should just let it go. She’d be leaving England in a week anyway and he would become part of her past.