Chapter 8

As soon as we walked out of Stella's room, Jace turned to me, "Okay, so here's the deal. You're going to be staying with me now in my room since I can't let you out of my sight. You will be quiet and do everything I say, you will talk when I tell you to, you will eat, sleep, even breathe when I tell you to, and if you annoy me, I will get rid of you without hesitation. Do I make myself clear?"

I stared at him in shock.

Is this guy serious? I thought.

"Yes. I am profoundly serious, now come on."

Before I could reply, he picked me up bridal style, and I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride again. The next thing I knew, I was being shoved into a dark room and would have fallen face-first had he not held the back of my shirt and pulled me up roughly.

"Humans," He scoffed, "Such lack of coordination."

I heard a clapping sound, and the lights switched on to reveal a vast modern-looking room, much like Stella's had been, except this one was black and white. Back carpet, black walls, a white bed with black sheets, and a white leather sectional sofa lining the wall. There were pale, round lamps hanging from the ceiling that looked like floating spheres, and one wall seemed to be some sort of fountain since there was water running down it like a waterfall. Overall, it looked like it should've been featured in an episode of MTV Cribs.

"You like it, huh? I designed it myself." He said as he turned to face me, "You should go take another shower. I'll get you something to eat before we go to sleep."

I glared at him, "I'm not hungry."

Smiling in a way that made me want to slap him, he replied, "Suit yourself. Your stuff is in the bathroom."

The bathroom was the same as Stella's, except there was a big suitcase right in the middle of it. I opened it to find my clothes, as in the clothes that were supposed to be in my room, back home.

"You were in my house?!"

Oh, no, what about my parents?

"Don't worry, the 'rents weren't home. Bummer, really, it would've been one problem less for me if I had just wiped them out. Now go take a shower, you smell like my sister."

"Asshole!" I grunted loudly, pulling at my hair in frustration.

Deep breaths, Anna, breathe in, breathe out, I thought to myself. When I had finally calmed down, I dug through my clothes, looking for my pajamas, and found a small bag that I didn't recognize. When I opened it, I found a toothbrush, shaving razors, deodorant, and a hairbrush.

Huh, asshole must have bought them for me.

Then I took a much needed, long, warm shower.

I decided to shave since I wanted to stay in the bathroom as long as possible, and I probably washed too many times, one with each scented body wash, even the Axe ones, they smelled good, and they reminded me of Gabriel. He liked to wear the chocolate one, which I now know is called "Dark Temptation" because I bathed in it.

I walked out and got dressed, thanking the universe he had packed my long pajamas because I surely didn't want to be wearing short shorts and a tank top around this guy. When I had brushed my hair and my teeth, I sighed and walked out of the bathroom.

Jace was lying on the bed, watching TV.

"Finally, I was starting to think you had drowned in there," He said dryly, without looking away from the TV.

I looked around the room, eyeing the door. I wondered if I could run fast enough to get out, or maybe I could tiptoe my way over there so he wouldn't notice.

I took one step toward the door, and he was suddenly standing right in front of me, "Don't even think about it, darling."

I gasped and grabbed my chest, making sure my heart hadn't jumped out.

He chuckled, "Oh, I'm sorry, did I scare ya? My bad."

I just frowned at him.

"Don't do that, you'll get wrinkles," he said.

Then he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me over to the bed, "Come on, it's late, and you need to get some sleep, little human."

He jumped on the bed and got under the covers, then he pulled them up, gesturing for me to get in.

When I didn't move, he made an impatient gesture and said, "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

I narrowed my eyes, "I'm not sleeping anywhere near you."

"Really? That's weird because normally, girls would do anything to sleep with me. Oh wait, I forgot, you're gay, aren't you?"

He then tapped his chin, like he was thinking, "Okay, not to worry. I've been known to turn lesbians before."

"I'm not gay and go screw yourself."

He smirked, "Nah, I have people who do that for me, and it's weird, you know, the fact that you're not gay, because if I recall well, I caught you in a lip-lock with my sister. Who is a female...? And so are you. You are a female, right?"

I glared at him before flipping him the finger.

He chuckled, "My, my, a little feisty, aren't we?" He winked at me, "Well, you're in luck because I happen to like my girls like that. Now come on, don't make me wait." He lifted the covers again and patted the bed beside him.

"I'm not sleeping with you."

He glared at me, "Fine, suit yourself, you can sleep on the couch," then he lied down and clapped his hands twice, shutting the lights off.

I managed to find my way over to the couch in the dark and laid down to see that it was actually pretty comfortable. I would've found it easy to fall asleep too, had it not been for the fact that the temperature made it feel like Alaska in the room.

I wrapped my arms around myself and snuggled into the leather couch, but after what seemed like forever, I was still wide awake and shivering violently. I decided I should keep my mind busy so I wouldn't focus on the cold, but no matter how hard I tried, my thoughts kept drifting back to Stella.

Her mesmerizing gaze, her fatal allure, her soft lips, and the way she kissed me.

It was driving me crazy, I wanted to be mad at her, but I just couldn't deny that I wanted her. I wanted to see her, I wanted her to kiss me like that again and make me forget about everything. My body ached for her, and I just couldn't wrap my mind around that fact. I didn't understand what it was about her that made me want her so badly.

Sure, she had that thing vampires do to lure people in, but then again, so did Jace. He had the same alluring quality, but it didn't make me want to touch him. In fact, I could ignore it pretty easily, and it didn't change the fact that I hated the guy.

But Stella, I could never have ignored her, and I just couldn't bring myself to hate her. She was a vampire, a filthy bloodsucker, a killer, but I couldn't hate her. I wanted to be in her arms again.

I tried thinking about Gabriel, about my friends, about anything that wasn't her, but my thoughts kept drifting back to her damn kisses, so I stopped fighting it. I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the memory.

That is, until Jace rudely interrupted me, "Would you quit thinking about kissing my sister?! It's disturbing," he cried out.

Rude vampire boy says what?

"You heard me."

I gasped, "How do you know what I'm thinking?"

"I can read your mind, stupid."

"Oh, that's your power then... So, you used to be a siren."

"Leave it to my sister to be dumb enough to explain that to you. Yes, I used to be a siren, just like you. Now, will you please stop plaguing my mind with disturbing images?"

"Why don't you just quit reading my thoughts and mind your own damn business?"

"I would if I could, but you're practically screaming them at me."

"What?"

"Stop thinking about it so hard!"

"If you had read my thoughts correctly, you'd have realized that I'm trying not to think about it!"

I heard him clap, and the lights switched on. When my eyes adjusted to the lighting, he was already standing right in front of me. "Come on, you're sleeping with me," He picked me up from the couch as I struggled against his grip.

"Let me go! I don't want to sleep with you."

"Shut up. Don't make me bite you."

He threw me on the bed and started looking for something on the bedside table. Then he turned to me and grabbed my wrist, putting some pills on the palm of my hand. "Sleeping pills, take them."

I eyed him suspiciously.

"They're not poisoned or anything, and I promise not to rape you in your sleep. In fact, that would be disturbing since you still smell like my sister."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes, now swallow the gosh darn pills and go to sleep."

I figured I had no choice, it's not like I was going anywhere, and I would rather spend my time there unconscious, so I took the pills.

He smiled and patted me on the head, "Good girl."

"I'm not a dog."

He made a face at me, like he was disgusted, "No, you're worse. You're human."

Then he clapped his hands, and I felt the bed shift, so I scooted as far away from him as possible and made myself comfortable before falling into a deep sleep.