Access Granted (15 page)

Chapter Thirty

After making a quick stop at a local barbeque restaurant to pick up her supper, Sabrina finally made it back to her house and pulled into her driveway.  Grabbing the sack off the passenger seat, she got out of the car and made her way up the front steps. Sabrina was completely oblivious to the pair of eyes watching her from the shadows of her porch. She unlocked the front door and was about to go inside when a voice stopped her.

“Hello, Sabrina,” someone said, making her practically jump out of her skin.

“Who’s there?”  Twirling around, she stared in the direction the voice came from and took a step back watching as the figure stood up and slowly eased towards her. She opened her mouth to scream until her visitor’s face came into view making her pulse return back to normal.

“Brent, you scared ten years off my life,” she shouted, taking another step back from him. She hadn’t seen or heard from him in weeks, so she wasn’t quite sure why he was here now to see her.  She wasn’t excited by the sudden reappearance. Brent wasn’t here f or any good reason.

“What are you doing here?”

He grinned at her and took another step closer getting even more into her personal space and she finally got a whiff of the strong smell of alcohol coming off his body.
Great
! Why did this have to be the icing on her cake after the day she’d already had.

“I haven’t seen you since our last conversation, so I came over to see you. I missed your gorgeous smile,” he answered, placing his hand against the sliding near her front door. Brent leaned in closer raking his gaze up and down her body. “I thought about you and our relationship a lot while I was gone and. I’m hoping you thought about me some too.”

Swallowing, Sabrina moved back again until her back hit the door. She didn’t like where he was taking  the conversation. She was getting a strange vibe from Brent. In addition, the way his eyes were glazed over made her believe he had been doing more than just drinking a few beers tonight. He had come out of nowhere and was waiting for her in the dark.

What person in their right mind would behave this away
?

“Hmmm... Brent, I’ve been so busy with work that I don’t have time for much of anything anymore. You know how much I love my job.  It’s my main motivation right now.” Sabrina wondered if she could talk Brent into leaving without giving her any problems. Probably not since Brent had a stubborn streak a mile long.

“I know you love your work, but I’m willing to bet that you can spare a few moments for an old boyfriend. I have it,” Brent said, snapping his fingers then staring down at  the bag in her hand. “How about we have dinner right now? I see you already have food from our favorite restaurant. This would be the perfect time for us to catch up with each other.”

“Sorry, I can’t. I didn’t buy enough for two,” Sabrina said, holding up the bag. “I really hate to be rude, but I should be getting inside before my dinner gets cold.”

She hoped Brent took the hint and left her alone; however, he didn’t go away. Instead, Brent pressed forward, closing what tiny bit of space separated their bodies. He stared down into her face making her even more scared about what his next move would be.

“You might’ve never let me kiss you, but I have dreamt about tasting you ever since  our date,” he whispered, brushing his lips against her ear. “I bet if you let me kiss you, I can make you forget all about Zander. He isn’t good enough for you anyway. Look at him. What woman would want a man that huge? He isn’t the man for you, I am. Let me show you how much.”

“No,” Sabrina shouted, dropping the bag of food on the porch. She placed her hands on Brent’s chest and tried shoving him away from her, but he wouldn’t move.

“Come on, Sabrina. You kissed other men before, why not me?” he snapped, wrapping his hands around her upper arms. “One little kiss isn’t going to hurt and it might lead to something much more pleasurable.”

“Get your fucking hands off her! I’m going to kill you,” a voice hissed behind Brent before he was jerked away from her and tossed over the railing of her porch. His body hit hard on the ground below.

Sabrina gasped in shock as  Zander leaped over the railing landing only a few inches from Brent’s prone body. He picked Brent up by the throat making his feet dangle several inches above the ground.

She knew Zander was bigger and stronger than Brent, but how he was holding him seemed impossible for a man to be able to do. Even at this distance, she felt the anger rolling off Zander’s body.

“I have warned you about touching my woman, but you didn’t listen to me. I’ll make sure that you do this time around. I don’t want you anywhere near Sabrina.  Do you understand, you sonofabitch?” Zander shouted, shaking Brent. “I’m holding back with everything I have in me not to snap your neck.”

Finally, shaking off the initial shock at Zander coming out of nowhere to defend her, Sabrina raced into action to save Zander from making a huge mistake. He wouldn’t be able to come back from. She hurried down her front steps to stop this fight because Brent would come out on the losing end.

“Stop, you’re going to kill him,” she shouted, stopping behind Zander watching as the color slowly drained from Brent’s face. “Let him go. I know he won’t come around anymore. Zander, are you listening to me?”

It seemed like she wasn’t getting through to Zander. He was totally blocking out the sound of her voice,  acting like he was a completely different man.

What in the hell was going on
?

Chapter Thirty-One

In the very back of his mind, Zander heard Sabrina’s sweet, forgiving voice pleading with him to stop but he couldn’t see past the blind rage coursing through him. Brent held his woman...his
mate...
against her will and he would pay for doing it.

What kind of man was he? What would have happened if he hadn’t come by again to check and see if she was back home? Brent could have hurt her and if he had, he’d be a dead man right now. Truthfully, the thought of killing the man didn’t bother him at all.

The foul scent of drugs, alcohol and women filled Zander’s nose making his stomach turn at the stench. How dare this asshole leave another woman’s bed and come to see
his
Sabrina. Brent wasn’t even concerned about Sabrina. All Brent wanted to do was fill his own burning sick desire to have her. The sudden thought of his mate being used and tossed to the side like nothing fired up his rage even more.

“How dare you come to see Sabrina in the state you’re in? What in the fuck is wrong with you? Answer me!” He let go of Brent’s throat some so he could speak.

“Fuck you!” he choked out. “I can see Sabrina anytime I want. She doesn’t belong to you. If I want her, I will have her anytime I want. You aren’t man enough to stop me, either.”

Tightening his hand, Zander lifted Brent even further off the ground.  Brent started gasping for air and pulling at his hand to get free, but Zander wasn’t about to let him go. Not after the way he just spoke about Sabrina.  How dare he tell him that he could have her anytime he wanted? A vampire protected his mate with everything in him. He was willing to die for her without a second thought. Brent got a pass once from him because Sabrina asked, but this time his luck had ran out. His stupidity and arrogance for coming to his woman’s house uninvited and scaring her was going to get Brent killed tonight.

“I should have gotten rid of you the very first time I saw you lurking around her, but I left you alone because Sabrina told me you were friends with her and Avery. However, you are out of chances with me. You will pay for coming here and doing what you did to her, but first I want you to know who is going to do it.”

Opening his mouth, Zander bared his fangs watching as fear, stark and vivid, glittered in Brent’s eyes.  He fought to get away from him, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

He grinned showing more of his fangs as he loved the sheer black fright sweeping through Brent. He wanted him to experience the same helplessness as his mate had only minutes ago.

“Zander, you have to stop it now.” Sabrina hollered, running up next to him. She pulled at his arm trying to break his hold, but it wasn’t going to work. Brent was his and there was nothing she could do to stop him for getting rid of his ‘
alleged’
competition tonight.

“Let him go!”

“No!” he snapped, turning his head to look at Sabrina before he realized his mistake. His eyes were completely black and his fangs were fully descended. There was no way Sabrina couldn’t miss the change in him.

“OHMYGOD,” Sabrina gasped and screamed in terror as the color drained from her face.

Her eyes widened with utter horror as she stumbled back from him. “What are you? Stay away from me.” Spinning around, Sabrina raced for her front porch at the same time he let go of Brent.

He dropped Brent watching as he hit the ground hard knocking another breath out of his slim, worthless body. Bending down, he looked into the man’s eyes. “If you
ever
come here again or tell anyone about what you saw tonight I will kill you for sure, do you understand me?”

Backing away from him, Brent nodded his head as he scooted his body across the grass back towards his car. Zander didn’t waste any more time with the asshole before he focused his attention back on Sabrina.

“Sabrina, wait!” Zander pleaded as he took off after her.

Shit! This wasn’t how he wanted her to find out about him being a vampire. She had seen his transformation while he was angry and now she wouldn’t believe he wasn’t going to kill her.

How could he ever get her to believe now that he wouldn’t hurt her
?

He made it up the steps just as Sabrina was rushing through her front door. She was about to slam it shut in his face when he stuck his foot out stopping her. “Baby, you have to listen to me. I’m not going to hurt you. Please don’t be afraid of me.”

“You have fangs!” she choked out as she shoved at the door not knowing she didn’t have the strength to ever move him. “Humans aren’t supposed to have fangs. God...what are you? Am I losing my mind? Please, leave me alone. Go away,” she begged him. “You looked like something out of a horror movie.”

Zander’s heart broke at the fear in his mate’s voice. She was terrified of him. She wanted to get away from him as fast as she could. He had to find a way to calm her down. He couldn’t leave no matter how much Sabrina wanted him to leave her alone. He had to tell her about who she was to him...what she was to his future.

“Sabrina, you aren’t losing your mind. Baby, I promise you that you have nothing to be scared of when it comes to me. I won’t ever hurt you.”

“You’re lying. You looked like you were going to rip Brent’s throat out with your bare hands. I saw you and you can’t lie and say I didn’t. Get away from me.”

Placing his hand on the door, he held it so Sabrina wouldn’t continue to struggle against his strength. He gave it a little push making her stumble back from it. Coming inside, he closed the door behind him watching as Sabrina rushed away from him all the way across the room and stood behind the couch.

She stared at him like she would bolt at the first chance she got.  He couldn’t let her get away before he explained everything. It might take a while, but he had to make her listen to him.

“Sweetheart, I thought about hurting Brent but I wouldn’t have gone through with it.” Zander didn’t think it was best to tell Sabrina the truth about his ultimate need to protect her at the moment. He had to tame some of her fear of him first. “However, I had to show him that he couldn’t scare my mate the way he had done with you tonight.”

Frowning, Sabrina continued to stare at him from her sanctuary behind the sofa.  He wasn’t about to tell her that he could be around it within the blink of an eye. Why should he upset her more than she already was?

“Your mate?” she said, confused. “What are you talking about? Did you take something at that other woman’s house earlier? I can call someone for you. Whatever you took, I’m sure the doctors can get it out of your system. Just let me go.”

“Sabrina, I haven’t taken anything,” Zander said. “You are my mate. You were born to be with me and no other man. I should have told you about this earlier, but Avery died and I didn’t feel like it was the right time. I thought about telling you weeks after his funeral but you were taking his death so hard and then I just kept putting it off. However, I can’t do it anymore.”

“Born to be with you...Zander, you aren’t making any sense. All of this sounds crazy to me,” Sabrina shouted back at him. “I swear I won’t tell anyone about your break down. Just open the door and leave. I’ll even call Jax to come and get you, but you can’t stay here.”

As much as he tried to make this easy for Sabrina, he realized he was going to have to tell her about her future with him and how there was nothing she could do to change it. Hell, he wouldn’t allow her to deny it or him. She belonged to him. He had wanted her for way
too
long to give up on her now.

“I know about the rose shaped birthmark on your hip,” he said, watching as her eyes grew wide.

“No, you saw it that night at your house,” Sabrina told him.

“Sweetheart, you need to listen to me. I have known about it for a while. Haven’t you ever noticed the rose shaped paper weight on my desk? Don’t you think it strange for a man like me to have something like that? I got it because of you. Sweetheart, you’re a
Unique
woman which means you were born to be with me. I’m a vampire and you’re my mate. You can’t be with another man because your heart and soul won’t allow it.”

Sabrina laughed and there was a little hysteria in her voice. “You’re a vampire.” She slowly eased away from the couch without breaking eye contract from him. “God...you’re actually saying those words like you believe them. Zander, what happened to you today? Is this some kind of joke? Avery used to play them on me all of the time, but they never got this detailed. What’s going on?”

His eyes narrowed as he watched as his mate looked for another way to escape from him. He had tried to do this the easy way, but it wasn’t working. Sabrina was beginning to think he was crazy and he wasn’t. She had to accept the truth or he wouldn’t be able to tell her about the sleep of the dead.

Moving fast, he stopped right in front of her as she tried to make a break for it towards the kitchen. “Sweetheart, I can’t let you keep running for me. We need to talk.”

“OHMYGOD,” she gasped, jumping back. “How in the hell did you move that quickly?”

“Honey, there’re a lot of things I can do. I told you, I’m a vampire. You have to believe what I’m telling you.”

Shaking her head, Sabrina took another step back. “No, vampires aren’t real. They are a persona Hollywood writers dream up  to give a woman sexy men to fantasize about. People aren’t walking around with fangs in their mouths.”

Reaching out, Zander grabbed Sabrina by her arms and yanked her to his body
. Enough was enough
. He wasn’t going to let her deny his existence any longer. He was very much real and he would prove it to her.

“Let go of me,” she screamed.

“Stop screaming and look at me,” he commanded in a low voice. “Look me in the eye.”

Instantly, Sabrina calmed down and stared into his eyes. “I’m going to show you the truth. It isn’t a trick and you aren’t losing your mind, but you can’t freak out and run from me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Taking a deep breath, Zander allowed his body to relax and then slowly let his eyes change. He felt Sabrina flinch and try to move, but he only held her tighter. He opened his mouth allowing his fangs to fully descend until they were completely visible for her to see.

“Touch them,” he said, letting go of her arms.

She shook her head. “No, I don’t want to touch them. This is crazy. Something is wrong with me. Maybe I’ve been working too hard. I have to see a doctor. My mind isn’t right.”

“You aren’t losing your mind. You don’t need to see a doctor. Listen to me and you’ll find out everything you need to know,” he promised, grabbing her right hand raising it towards his mouth.

“No.” Sabrina jerked her hand away and ran away from him putting more distance between them. “I don’t understand how all of this is possible. Did my brother know about this?”

Zander had thought about telling Avery about him the way Jax had done with Frank, but he decided against it. His wasn’t sure Sabrina’s brother would have kept his secret, not with the way Avery loved life. He would have asked to have gotten turned and he wouldn’t have done it.

“No, I didn’t tell Avery.  This isn’t about your brother but us. You are mine Sabrina. I have waited years and years more than you know to find you. The night you walked into the party with your brother is when I started truly living my life. I love you. I want you to be with me forever. I swear I’m telling you the truth.”

He took a step towards Sabrina, but she held up her hands holding him off. “Okay. Let me get this straight. I’m not crazy. You are a living breathing vampire and you are under the impression that we belong together because of some ridiculous birthmark I have on my hip.”

“Yes,” he said. “But your birthmark isn’t crazy; it’s your symbol of being a
Unique
woman and my mate.”

“So, what if I have the thing removed. Can I find another man and be with him instead?”

“You can’t have it removed. It can’t be done and if I find one more man around you his life will be in great danger,” Zander warned in a low voice. “My need to protect you is getting stronger. I can barely keep it under control with each passing day. You let me love you which made our bond stronger.”

“This can’t be happening to me,” Sabrina mumbled under her breath as she moved away from him and walked around the living room. She stopped and suddenly spun around towards him. “Did you get bit or something? Is that how you became a vampire? Did it hurt?”

He chuckled at the humor of her question. Why did most humans always think vampires became vampires from a bite?

“No; sweetheart, I was born this away,” he answered. “It’s a part of me.”

“This means that Jax is a vampire, doesn’t it?” Sabrina questioned.

“Yes, he is and now so is Sahara. She’s his mate.”

“What do you mean, so is Sahara?”

“A
Unique
woman is always human until her mate bites her and turns her into a vampire like him. He isn’t about to watch her grow old and die while he lives for eternity without her at his side.”

“Bites her...turns her,” Sabrina whispered, softly. “Are you telling me that you actually think I will let any of that craziness happen to me? I have no plans on living forever. I want to grow to be a nice old age and then die.”

“You can’t. I won’t allow it.” Zander quickly closed the distance between them until he towered over Sabrina’s smaller frame. He sensed she wanted to run from him, but was proud she stood her ground.

“Sabrina, you have to accept who you are and let me turn you. I have...”

“Stop it!” she blurted out to him, scarcely aware of how frightened her voiced sounded. “I can’t take anymore of this. Zander, you have to leave. I need time to think about all of this. I’m still having a hard time believing all of this is real.”

Softly, he touched her mind to make sure she wasn’t planning on doing anything to herself if he left her alone for the night. But all he sensed there was fear, confusion and a need to make sense of it all. He would agree to leave her and then he would come back later on tonight after she was asleep. He couldn’t go all the way home across town and not be here with her after he just confessed all of this to her. It was too much for anyone to handle at once especially his beautiful mate...
the keeper of his heart
.