Tempting The Gorgon: A Gorgon / Vampire Romance

Chapter 13

“You sit here, and I will be right back,” Arch said, dropping me into an oversized chair before rushing to the fireplace and lighting it faster than I would have thought possible. I wasn’t sure about accepting the invitation to come back here where the original breakdown began, but I couldn’t help it.

I wanted to see where this connection led between the two of us.

Part of my therapy with Guillermo had been to trust my body and mind’s instincts more instead of fighting them every step of the way. It hadn’t been easy, but in working at the club, I noticed it more every day, that with every decision I made for myself with no one else’s input it became easier and easier to realize I was capable.

“I hope you like peanut butter and jam,” he said from the open kitchen off the living room where I was. It was the same cozy cabin with an all-black interior, and despite how I left last time, I felt strangely at home and was warming up by the second.

Are we finally back indoors?Faddei asked in a groggy voice. The snakes had been silent since going into sleep mode on our way back into town. They hadn’t handled the water well and needed sleep to recharge.

Why did he insist on being outside in that storm?

“Hush now, he’s trying his best,” I whispered out loud. “Yes, I do!” I said louder to Arch.

“Are they talking shit?” Arch asked from right next to me. I jumped at him somehow getting close enough without me realizing.

Yes, we are. You nearly froze us to death,Luxor said, and by the widening of Arch’s eyes, I guessed it was into his mind as well.

You’re such a drama queen, Titi said. But you sure haven’t had the best luck today. Have you, handsome?

Then, to my horror, she nipped his chin in the same spot she had claimed him before. Arch, however, didn’t seem to mind and even stroked her head as if thanking her for the bite, deeming it as a sign of affection even though it was more of a claiming reminder based on how feral Titi felt around him compared to others.

“Here you go.” Arch reached out with a pile of sandwiches on a paper towel, which was surprising and also not at all surprising black in color.

“What’s with you and the emo goth scene?”

He shrugged. “I’ve always liked black. It’s neutral and clean and beautiful and reminds me of the night sky.”

I appreciated his thoughtful answer.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked.

“I want to watch you eat.”

I snorted. “You’re a fucking creep sometimes, you know that?”

The vampire only wiggled his eyebrows in response.

I shrugged and reached for the first sandwich. It was on bread that looked the same as Grom makes at the school. That was one thing about small-town living, you could tell where most folks got anything they had because there weren’t many options. Even with off-island shipments, the council liked to get orders in advance so anyone could know what was available.

“I might have ulterior motives other than watching you eat something I made for you,” he started.

“I assumed as much.”

He nodded. “I need you to know how serious I am about this. About us. I am going to tell you something about my past that not a lot of people know, and then I’m going to take you home so you can think it over and decide how you’d like to proceed with this courtship.”

“Courtship?” I interrupted, a mouthful of bread, sticky peanut butter, and a delicious raspberry jam not stopping me.

Arch’s eyes darkened at the question.

“If you don’t know what my intentions are at this point, I clearly have fucked up more than just today’s series of unfortunate events.” He reached out and caressed one of the snakes, pushing it behind me so he could stroke my cheek. I normally didn’t like anyone touching them without expressed permission, but Titi hadn’t given him any courtesy at all. He also did it with such a gentle touch, it was surprisingly caring.

“I think your intentions are clear, I just don’t know why you’re still trying anything with me after last time.”

He managed to make the orange of his eyes flare bright as he continued.

“Vinni, I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I’ve thought about having you in my room. Not only my bed where I know we’ll be hot as sin, but in my life. I really enjoy spending time with you. You make me laugh, you make me feel crazy, you are one of the most intelligent females I’ve ever met. You see something and you don’t let anyone stop you from going after it. You have one of the most powerful gifts in the entire world and don’t use it for nefarious gain.”

I blushed at what I felt was an overly generous explanation of me as a whole.

“I like you. I would say I love you, but I know you’re not ready to accept the truth in those words, and I refuse the first time I say it to be anything less than perfect.”

Arch’s eyes continued to look deep into mine. I knew they were starting to flush with heat when he stroked once more across my cheek then sat himself on the loveseat to be farther away from me. The dip in my stomach at him not being next to me felt natural, like I didn’t want the space between us.

“Everyone’s on this island for a reason. We all have our own fucked-up backstories unless you’re born here and then probably have some sort of generational trauma that needs working on.”

I knew what he was about to tell me. I tried to smooth over my features and prepare for him to talk about the family I already knew too well.

“I’m the eldest son of what the vampire world considers royalty. My full name is Archer Beckett, of the Beckett Vampire Coven.”

Of course, no amount of preparation in the world could help keep my face neutral at the name.

A dark chuckle rumbled from his lips, so unnatural with his normally lively expressions. “I can see you’ve heard of us,” he said. Thankfully, he didn’t press further. “Most have, and most of the rumors are unfortunately true.”

Arch went on to explain about his family structure, how his father Edwin was a bastard, how his mother and sisters were saints, and how he worried about what Thatcher had become in his absence. He told me about how his mother tried to instill kindness in him while his father repeatedly tried to beat it out of him.

“It wasn’t until he tried to get me to turn our coven into the trafficking scene that I left. I tried to take him down with me, but I was barely able to get out myself.” I heard the hurt in his voice at the admission. And the regret.

I felt immense relief in my bones at the knowledge that the true horrors of what the Beckett Coven did were after Arch left. He wasn’t around when they talked about purchasing or trading for actual people, paranormal, human, or otherworldly.

Arch wasn’t there.

Arch wasn’t Thatcher.

He wasn’t his father.

“I spent the first couple decades after leaving trying to take him down from the outside, but my name is so recognizable I had to drop it. Then I realized that even without the name, my features were too Beckett-like for any sort of progress.”

I nodded, knowing all too well how the sharpness of his cheekbones looked so much like his father’s, how the unnatural paleness of his skin was so much like his brother’s, and even how his hair was the same texture as other vampires in the coven. He was no doubt a Beckett.

It’s why I was so afraid of him when I first saw him.

“That’s when I met Anya. She was always traveling, and she told me about the work she was doing for Cliona’s grandma. It sounded too good to be true. I relocated without a second thought. This was before Cliona and Guillermo ran things, so it was a bit of a quicker application process, but I was welcomed with open arms.

“I was even able to help them in ways they weren’t able to before. We had a whole program of retrieving captured folks, and due to my knowledge of my father’s empire, I was able to get more locations, plan out rescue ops, and even show my face in some instances to help or distract. It was one of the times in my life where I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was slowly erasing my father’s mark on the world. I knew I’d never remove every piece of him, but I was going to try and try and try until I was forced to stop by death or destruction or some other force.”

I felt a tear spill down my cheek slowly.

There had been someone all along. Someone who had been trying to take him down. Someone who knew what a monster Edwin was and wasn’t letting him run wild. There was someone else besides Franny and Daphne and Simone who knew what a true terror Thatcher was becoming.

Someone was trying to save them all.

Arch had been trying to save me, even when he hadn’t known me.

“Then,” he continued, only offering me a warm look at the sight of my tears. I appreciated him knowing I didn’t want physical comfort. I wanted to listen to him tell his story. “Hunter Fucking Jacobs happened.”

“Cliona’s ex who killed everyone?”

“The very same,” Arch confirmed. “Then came the last ten years before you showed up, where we rebuilt stronger and smarter.”

I let Arch’s story marinate in my thoughts.

He hadn’t known the full extent of his father’s wickedness. Or he had, but was trying to stop it from the outside.

He’d saved himself, condemning me in the process, but without fully knowing the impacts. But could I forgive him? Yes. Without a doubt. I knew what it was like to take the opportunity to flee from Edwin when it was presented. I still had guilt over Franny and the girls, I couldn’t imagine how much Arch had for leaving his mom and sisters.

“I’m sure you have questions, and I want to answer them, but not tonight.”

I couldn’t blame him. Between the early morning, the boat trip from hell, and getting trapped in a snowstorm, I was pretty dead.

“Finish up your sandwich, and I’ll run you back.”

My eyes felt heavy at the prospect of having to go back out in the cold. “Can I—” I paused, not sure how to ask. “Is it okay if I stay here?”

Arch looked at me, hunger clearly warring with worry and responsibility in his eyes.

“The idea of going back outside seems torturous,” I clarified. “I want to curl up in bed and sleep.” I hoped he could read between the lines that I didn’t want his dick anywhere near my pussy, despite feeling a whole lot better about our whole situation.

“I can take the couch,” he said, nodding as if it were decided.

“You don’t want to live our best romance trope life and only have one bed?” I asked, hoping to lighten the mood from the heavy subject matter.

“I think this is more in second-chance territory at the moment, so I’d prefer to keep my balls attached to my body and take the couch.” He winked, letting me know he was playing.

“If you insist,” I said.

I wasn’t above making him work for it.

Work for me.

Arch, of course, tucked me in bed, saying good night to each of my snakes individually, making it a point to use each of their names.

“Kalinychta, agápi mou,” Arch whispered in my ear after kissing my forehead. He didn’t let my gasp at his use of Greek stop him from turning the lights off and retreating to the couch on the other side of the room.

Good night, my love.