Filthy rich VAMPIRE

Chapter 45- Julian

The Palais Garnier, known more infamously as the Paris Opera, loomed ahead, rising above the crowded streets and traffic like a beacon. To most people visiting the City of Lights, the Eiffel Tower was the center of the whole metropolis. To vampires, it was the Opera. Tonight, however, none of it mattered because I couldn't take my eyes off the woman at my side.

Thea remained quiet throughout the ride. Her hand, clad in a velvet elbow-length glove, rested under mine as we waited in the line of cars. I suspected she was occupied with the same thought haunting me.

If only I were a vampire, she'd said.

For the past few days, I'd been obsessed with the possibility she was my mate. Or rather, the impossibility. Now, I wondered if the reason I fought the idea so hard had less to do with her being a human and more to do with what being a human meant: a mortal lifespan. I clasped her hand more tightly, as if she might slip away any moment.

Thea glanced over and smiled, but her eyes betrayed that thoughts were somewhere else. Whatever was on her mind haunted her, too.

"What are you thinking, pet?" I asked her before she could ask me.

She turned nervous eyes on me and lowered her voice, so Philippe couldn't hear, "That everyone is going to be staring at the virgin."

More than ever, I wished I could relieve her from that burden. "You said that they planned to compel the familiars not to speak of it."

"That doesn't mean they won't remember," she pointed out.

"Yes, but only half the people will be staring."

Her lips pursed, unimpressed with my logic. It was a tad slim. "Another crappy vampire pep talk."

"Another?" I lifted an eyebrow.

"I called Jacqueline while I was getting ready."

"What did she say?" I asked curiously.

"That they would be staring at me because I was hot," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"She's not wrong." I swept my eyes down her, allowing my blood-lust to darken my eyes just enough for her to know I meant it. "Every male in there will want to fuck you, and every woman will want to be you."

"Because I'm with you?" A smile tugged at her lips to show I'd succeeded in my attempts to distract her.

"Because they know you're mine."

She laughed. "You're pretty cocky for an old man."

"They won't stare because of whom you belong to," I whispered into her ear. "But because of how you belong to me."

"How is that?" she asked softly.

"Completely." I kissed the spot below her ear, earning a shiver. "Absolutely. Unequivocally."

Her tongue swiped over her lower lip as she leaned closer. "Then why am I-"

"We've arrived," Philippe interrupted.