Undead Love: A Post-Apocalyptic Romance Page 21

  “Well, then, right this way.” I pressed my hand into the small of her back, guiding her toward the elevators. There, one of the staff was dressed as a zombie butler.

  “Sir.” He nodded his head in my direction.

  “Top floor.”

  The zombie once again nodded his head before pressing the call button. We waited a few moments before the doors slid open. “Would you like me to accompany you to the top?”

  “No, I can handle it from here.” I stepped inside, bringing Alice along with me. The second the doors closed, I pushed her up against the wall, my fingers locking around her wrists, pinning her into place.

  She gasped, looking up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes.

  I smirked at her reaction before leaning down and biting the sweet, warm skin of her neck.

  A soft moan escaped her lips as she tilted her head back.

  I sucked on her skin before finally pulling away, leaving behind a pronounced hickey. “You’re lucky I’m not a vampire.” I teased, running my fingers along the already bruising skin. “Or you’d have to be my companion for all eternity.”

  “How long is forever?” she asked, her lips so close to mine that I could feel her hot breath. Oh, how badly I wanted to kiss her… to slip my tongue into her mouth… to taste how sweet she really was… But, I forced myself to wait, knowing she would be sweetest when the time was ripe.

  “Sometimes, just one second.”

  “Then, we better make that second count.” She leaned forward, about to close the distance between our lips when the elevator dinged.

  She jumped, ruining the moment she had planned to create.

  “Come,” I said, holding out my hand.

  I brought her to the piano room, situated adjacent to my bedroom.

  “I thought we were going to your room…” She pouted slightly, looking unimpressed. She let go of my hand as she walked up to a large window at the back of the room. “This room isn’t even decorated…”

  As she stood there, I took a moment to admire her profile, outlined by the soft moonlight that filtered through the window panes. Her golden hair ran down her back in tight ringlets, all the way to her voluptuous ass. Her waistline was tapered, giving her an intoxicatingly sexy hourglass figure. Under the skirt of her dress, I imagined she had long, silky smooth legs. I could almost feel them underneath my fingertips.

  Unable to stay away from her any longer, I crossed the room within a few strides. I hugged her from behind, filling my lungs with her sweet scent. I peered out the window, gazing at the fake cemetery that had been erected for the party. The fog rolled over the tombs, adding to their spookiness. Gretchen had really outdone herself with the decorations this year.

  “So, should we properly introduce ourselves?” I asked as I pulled her onto the window seat. I thought about sitting her on my lap but I didn’t want to push things just yet.

  “You don’t have to introduce yourself.” She twirled her glass between her fingers, watching the wine before she looked up at me. Our eyes locked. “You’re Allen Grave. The cutest of the Grave brothers.”

  I smirked, feeling my ego inflate. I was starting to like this woman more and more with each passing minute. “You flatter me.”

  “I’m just glad that you didn’t paint your face.” She placed a hand on my cheek, her thumb caressing my skin. “Would have been a shame to cover up something so perfect.”

  “Are you sure you’re not talking about yourself?” I countered, moving a little closer. Accidentally, my hand brushed against her bare thigh. It was only then that I noticed the deep slit of her dress. If I had known, I would have made good use of it while we were on the dancefloor.

  “Positive. I pale in comparison.”

  “Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” I whispered, pinning a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  Her cheeks colored at my compliment. It was adorable. A part of me just wanted to grab her by the face and kiss her all over.

  She shook her head. Somehow, this gorgeous woman was also modest, a trait that seemed nonexistent these days. “In any case, my name is Essie Rose.”

  “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  She smiled, a row of straight white teeth coming into view. I couldn’t understand how this woman was so perfect. It was like she had been pulled right out of my dreams.

  “If you’re going to start quoting Shakespeare, I better find my sister. She’ll fall in love with you in a heartbeat.”

  “You have a sister?” I immediately thought she was talking about a twin. I imagined myself sandwiched between two beautiful blondes, one on each arm.

  “Yeah, but trust me, she’s the most boring person you’ll ever meet.”

  “I highly doubt that.”

  “I’m being serious. She’s all work, no play. And, when she does have some free time to waste, she’ll spend it reading. Every single time. I’ll ask her if she wants to go do something with me and she’ll always say no.”

  “She sounds exactly like my brother.” I shook my head. “We should introduce them.”

  “Well, she’s already off in some library, maybe they’ve already met.”

  “You’re probably right.” I laughed. “Though, if I had to guess, Chris wouldn’t even notice her. He’s rather oblivious when it comes to beautiful women. He’s nothing like me.”

  “I’m not so sure…” She put down her glass of wine before grabbing me by the collar, pulling me toward her. “Because you promised me your bedroom and all I got was some lousy piano.”

  “Lousy piano?” I repeated. “I’ll have you know that this is a Steinway Alma Tadema. The most expensive piano in the world.”

  She faked a yawn.

  To prove my point, I got up and sat down in front of the keys.

  Essie watched me with interest, her eyebrow raising slightly. “What are you doing?”

  I didn’t bother to answer her as I wiggled my fingers, loosening my joints. Gently, I ran the pads of my fingers over the ivory pieces. It had been over a week since I had played. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and allowed my fingers to dance along the scales in a practice run.

  Essie sat down beside me, one leg crossed over the other. Her slender fingers hovered over the keys for a moment before she played a snippet of Arabesque.

  I grinned, jumping off her notes and continuing the song.

  Soon, we were playing together in perfect harmony. The air around us seemed to buzz with energy, making my heart thump.

  As the song came to an end, she turned and looked at me. She leaned toward me, her eyes closed.

  I closed mine as well, my heart beating faster as it prepared for an earth-shattering kiss.

  “Ahh!”

  Crash!

  Chapter 7

  ESSIE

  I jumped at the sound of the blood-curdling scream. “What the hell was that?” I asked, the hair on the back of my neck standing on edge. “Did someone just get murdered?”

  “It sounded like it came from Chris’ library. Come on, let’s go check it out.”

  I pulled back, refusing to get up. “Are you crazy? I don’t know about you, but I rather not be the murderer’s next victim.”

  “There’s no murderer.” Allen insisted. With a tug of his arm, I was up on my feet, no match for his strength.

  “How would you know?” I asked, my heart beating so loudly that it was difficult to hear myself speak. Halloween was the perfect time of the year for axe murderers to run rampant. I wasn’t about to die at the hands of one. Yet, I had no choice but to follow Allen as he dragged me along.

  Soon, we entered a library, filled floor to ceiling with books, some new, some old – very old.

  To my surprise, I found Ebony standing there, in the arms of Chris Grave. Her cheeks were crimson with blush, broken fragments of glass by her feet.

  “What’s going on here? Were
you the one screaming bloody murder?” I asked, surveying the room. From what I could tell, it was just a harmless little library. It wasn’t even decorated.

  Ebony seemed to snap back into reality because she suddenly pried herself from Chris’ grasp. She moved forward, accidentally stepping on the glass.

  Crunch!

  She jumped up, once again falling into his arms.

  I giggled. “I’m starting to think you’re doing that on purpose.”

  Her face turned even redder but she didn’t say a word.

  “Chris, you dog.” Allen had a wild grin on his face. “I thought you told me you weren’t interested in finding a girl tonight and yet I see you fondling one right now.”

  He instantly raised his hands above his head. “I did no such thing!”

  “Hey, their costumes even match.” I pointed out, noticing that he was the King of Hearts. “I think it was meant to be.”

  “Essie…” Ebony hissed, her face as red as a tomato.

  “What?” I asked innocently. “I’m just making a simple observation.”

  “What were you guys doing in here all alone anyway?” Allen walked up to the small coffee table where there were two steaming cups of tea. “I don’t see any books out so I’m going to guess you weren’t reading. But… there’s one chair that’s exceptionally close to the fire. I wonder why… Could it be possible that you two were actually making out?”

  The two of them just stood there, their eyes nearly bugging out of their skulls.

  “You should have been Sherlock Holmes,” I said as I walked up to him, pressing my hand to his shoulder so he would sit down. As soon as he did, I plopped onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. “It would probably look something like this…”

  “That’s enough!” Ebony interjected right before Allen and I could start making out. Bummer. It seemed like every time we came close to kissing, something always interrupted us. It was starting to get annoying.

  “Then, why don’t you tell us what really happened?”

  Ebony glanced at Chris, a hidden language traveling between them as they spoke with their eyes. It was obvious by the way that they looked at each other that there was some sort of spark between them. I had never seen my sister’s eyes shine so brightly.

  “I decided to go down to the party –”

  “You mean you actually left this room?” Allen interrupted his brother, his tone one of pure surprise.

  “Yes,” Chris answered, his teeth grinding together like he wanted to say something else but was physically holding himself back from doing so.

  “In any case, Chris found me in the downstairs library. I was looking for something to read when he snuck up behind me. We introduced ourselves and I immediately berated him for his poor selection.”

  Chris chuckled. “That’s when I told her to come upstairs. I made us some tea and was just about to set up the reading chairs by the fire when she screamed.”

  “Because someone put a fake mouse on one of the shelves!” She pointed to the rubber toy that was continuously bashing itself into the corner of the room. “It scared me half to death, causing me to trip and knock over this vase.” She frowned. “I’m sorry, I hope it wasn’t terribly expensive.”

  “It’s fine,” Chris assured her. “We have hundreds more all over the manor.”

  “So, why were you fondling her when we came in here?” Allen asked.

  “I was not fondling her.” Chris attempted to defend himself but his cheeks were clearly turning red. “I simply caught her when she fell.”

  “And your hands happened to land on her chest, did they?” Allen asked, his grin deepening.

  I laughed, watching as their faces turned even redder. “Just admit it. You two were up to something naughty.”

  “No.” Ebony stepped forward, her arms crossing over her chest. “You know I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  “Even with a hot guy that likes books as much as you do?” I questioned, gauging her reaction. She could deny her attraction all she wanted, but it was clear she liked him. Good. Maybe we could double date sometime.

  “I think we had better stop teasing them before their faces get any redder and they turn into tomatoes.” Allen wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me close.

  I leaned my head into his chest, listening to the subtle beating of his heart.

  “Excuse me.” He reached into his coat, pulling out a pocket watch. “Hmm… my clock is about two days slow, but I do believe it is time for the night’s main event!” he announced, his tone mysterious.

  He looked down at me, his eyes full of mischief.

  Chris groaned. “Not another one of your stupid games.”

  Allen sighed. “You just had to ruin the surprise, didn’t you?”

  Chapter 8

  ALLEN

  A crowd had gathered in the foyer. With Essie’s hand in mine, I pulled her to the front until we were standing right in front of Kirk.

  “Allen! Just the man I wanted to see.” His eyes instantly fell toward Essie, his Joker grin deepening. “And who might this be?”

  “Before you get any ideas, she’s with me. At least for tonight.” I squeezed her shoulders until our bodies were pressed together.

  “No need to get all possessive. I have my eyes set on a certain cat woman…” He held up his hands, curling his fingers into claws. “You know I like the feisty ones.”

  “Just don’t come crying to me when you end up with scratch marks all over your body.”

  “Maybe that’s what I’m going for.”

  “Anyway, when are you starting the game?”

  “I’m just waiting on a few more people…” He stood on a nearby crate, placing his hand on his brow like a visor as he leaned forward, surveying the entire crowd in one sweeping motion. “This will work better if there are quite a few players.”

  “What are we playing?” Essie asked.

  “If I had to guess, it’s something dumb. Last year it was an apple bobbing tournament,” Chris chimed in.

  I punched his shoulder. “Shut up.No one asked you.”

  Ebony nearly growled at me, causing me to back off. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl I wanted to mess with. Besides, her long red nails could easily poke one of my eyes out and I didn’t want that.

  “You’ll see…” Kirk answered, his tone playful. “But, I can promise you that it’ll be fantastic. We put a lot of work into this.”

  Chris rolled his eyes.

  Soon, the foyer was packed with over a hundred people. Even Heidi Klum had joined the group in her ridiculous Jessica Rabbit costume.

  Kirk clapped his hands. Instantly, the lights went out. A few people screamed. My first reaction was to grab Essie and hold her close – to keep her safe.

  One by one, candles were lit around the room as if by magic. Their light created creepy shadows that danced along the wall. The dark tendrils reached for the crowd like they were about to grab someone and drag them into the darkness.

  I held Essie a little tighter.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin the main event for this party. It will be something spectacular. Something you’ll never forget. But!” He paused, leaning forward, the shadows playing along his features. “It is not for the faint of heart!” His voice lowered. “Those who come with me may never leave this mansion again.” As his voice boomed, the candles were snuffed one by one. The room became darker and darker and until finally everything was plunged into an ethereal darkness so thick it was almost suffocating.

  Despite myself, I felt goosebumps form along my arms. I knew it was a good idea to put Kirk in charge of this kind of thing. He was the only person I knew who liked Halloween more than I did.

  “Alright! Let us begin!” The lights turned back on and somehow, Kirk was halfway up the stairs, beckoning the crowd to follow him.

  On the second floor, we filtered into the main drawing room. For some reason, the room had
been repainted in a soft blue color. Odd…

  Before I could ponder the reasoning behind such a change, butlers immediately started to greet guests, offering them wine and hors d'oeuvres.

  “Do you want me to get you anything?” I asked, whispering into Essie’s ear, my fingers running through her soft curls. A slight tremor shook through her body. “Are you cold?” Before she could answer me, I shrugged off my coat and draped it over her shoulders.