Dracula's Groom

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Book Title: Sevens Mates for Seven Vampires

Ethan & Gareth

At the church of Sacred Heart, Mass was coming to a close. The last piece of organ music reverberated throughout the nave as the congregation rose from the pews and walked single-file down the aisle. I stood outside and waited until it was all clear before going in and requesting a private audience with Father Liam McCarthy. The man was in the midst of removing his robe by the time I stepped into his private chambers and sat down in front of his desk.

"Ethan, this is a surprise."

"Good evening, Father. I'm sorry for barging in so late. I know you want to go home. But there's something I must ask of you."

He stared at me puzzled before sitting in his seat. "Okay."

"For the last two weeks, I've been having these feelings for someone and I'm not sure how I should act. I know it's not nerves because that would mean I'm shy when it comes to intimacy. Now what do you think I should do?"

"Well, why don't you tell me more about this person. Who are they? What are they like? Is it a man or a woman?"

I bit my bottom lip. I was too scared to tell Father that my feelings where coming from a man who made feel, I don't know, dirty. Than again, I was in the house of the Lord and to lie was a sin. So I just had to suck it up and tell Father McCarthy the truth.

"This person is a man. And he works on a farm with his brothers just across the wide-opened field from where my friends and I are staying for the summer. He's a farmer in one form or another just like his siblings. But there's another side to him. A side that I've never seen before until only just recently. And to be honest, I'm a little scared because of it."

"Scared?" Father McCarthy asked, raising a brow. "He hasn't hurt you has he?"

"Oh, no, Father it's nothing like that. It's just, well, how can I explain this..."

There was silence in those first few moment between us as I tried my hardest to come up with a better explanation as to why I was scared of Gareth. But no words came to mind. Sure Gareth was smart, handsome and easy on the eyes. His determination and relentlessness was beginning to push me over the edge without a parachute or a backup plan to save me from myself. Was there really such a thing as 'self-control' or in this case a red flag that told me that my end was near.

"I think you need to have a word with God." Father McCarthy said calmly. "Just say what's in your heart and before you know it, you'll have the answer to your problem."

"But then what if it's not the answer I want to hear?"

Father McCarthy smiled as he rose from his seat. "God, doesn't give wrong answers, my child. He knows exactly what to say."

Well...shit. So basically, I was screwed no matter what happened after tonight. Once Father McCarthy and I left his chambers, I decided to stay awhile and clear my head and hope that God had the answer that I wanted to hear. In the nave, I fell to my knees in front of the altar and bowed my head and prayed. Yet after a few minutes, I heard the church doors open as I opened my eyes and looked at the candles as the flames flickered in disturbance.

The sound of boots echoed down the aisle as my blood raced and my heart fluttered. I parted my lips in an attempt to breathe, but couldn't. A small mirror hung on the wall off to the side as I glanced at it and confirmed my own sense of betrayal. Gareth stopped short of the first row of pews, leaning against one of them with his arms folded across his chest. Skin tight Levi's, a long sleeve button-down shirt and a cowboy hat on top of his head. Dear God, please help through this. I'm begging you!