I walked out of the classroom holding my head high. Luc may have won that little battle, but overall I had won the war, and I was not about to let some bad tempered bossy vampire ruin my life. Taking a deep breath I slowly exhaled all the badness. The worst was over, and now I could move on.

BAM

My whole body slammed into a solid wall of flesh. I stumbled backwards but was quickly steadied by a pair of unfamiliar hands. Catching my balance I looked up at the person I had ran into to apologize but stopped.

This man was suspiciously handsome, too handsome to be human. He was shorter and leaner than Luc, but he looked strong. In fact the way he stood reminded me of someone from the military. His clothes were simply and practical, cargo pants and a gray t-shirt. He was watching me, but he was also watching the whole corridor.

“Forgive your Highness, Luc sent me to protect you” He said in an accented voice said.

Oh God, these damn vampires were everywhere! They were like rats! It didn’t matter where I was, I would always be a few feet from one.

Raising my hands I said, “Listen, I want nothing to do with your kind, so do not follow me.”

I walked away from him, but soon heard his footsteps a few feet behind me. I turned sharply and saw him behind me. The asshole did not even have the decency to look guilty or apologize. Instead he just waited for me to move.

"Miss. Hayden, you're forgetting something!" I heard Luc calling to me from the classroom.

Biting my tongue, I swung round to see Luc casually strolling up the corridor. Coolly I asked him, “Does this,” I said pointing at the G.I Joe, “Belong to you?”

“This is not Joe. His name is Nico and he will be your body guard in college when I am not around to protect you,” Luc said.

“I thought I made it clear that I want nothing to do with you!” I snapped.

Ignoring my point Luc handed me a piece of paper, “I want to see you exactly at this time in this location.”

I screwed the piece of paper up and threw it at his stupid chest, “Go to Hell,” I snapped.

“Mia you are making things between us very difficult. Now I am asking you very nicely to meet me after college. If you do not want me to do things nicely, then I can make things very difficult for you.”

“And how are you going to do that? By shouting at me in class, humiliating me in front of my peers or maybe you will just bite me again,” I said lowering my voice.

“I could tell the head of department you were disruptive in my seminar. I could tell the head that you smelt of alcohol. I could ensure that this department took disciplinary action against you, resulting in permanent ugly mark on your otherwise pristine academic record,” He said.

My heart dropped. Crap. That would be bad. That would be really bad. Anyone caught drinking alcohol underage on campus could get kicked out of college, and if I ever wanted to work in government then a bad record could be really bad for my job prospects.

I paused and reconsidered my positioned, which was Luc really had me by the balls.

Stooping down I picked up the piece of paper and shoved it in my bag, “Fine, I will be there but that does not mean I have to listen to whatever nonsense you have got to say,” I snapped.

Luc smiled triumphantly, “I’m glad we are finally seeing eye to eye, my love.”

“Do not call me that- never call me that. Pet names were for people who genuinely loved each other,” I hissed.

‘I do love you Mia,’ Luc replied softly in my mind.

“And stay out of my head,” I added leaving for my next class.

God I hated him!

I walked to my next lecture with Nico in tow. We did not speak, I was too mad too talk. I couldn’t believe that Luc was blackmailing on top of everything else. Furiously I walked into my social research lecture and sat in the corner of the back row.

I peeked into my bag and saw the screwed up piece of paper slip he had given me. If only I could piss him off then I wouldn't be feeling so bad. I wanted to make him as miserable as I was.

Quietly I sat playing with a couple of strands of my hair which is what I always did when I was annoyed. Then for some reason I looked up and saw Jack Colter on the row next to mine, staring at me.

He was one of these athletic types, good looking but not much going for him in the thinking department. I mouthed 'what' at him, irritated that he was gawking at me like a huge fish. Jack smiled and mouthed 'hi' back at me, his eyes still fixated on me.

I paused. Wait- was Jack trying to flirt with me?

A mischievous little demon inside of me stirred. Luc hated other guys, he couldn't even stand Jacques touching me. I wonder what would happen if he thought I was in love with Jack. Maybe he might lose interest in me and give up and move on.

Maybe Jack was my ticket to freedom.

I gazed up at Jack smiling warmly at him encouraging him to flirt. We would break eye contact and then glance up at each other, I would smile or bite my lip and he'd just grin at me like a moron. I wondered if Luc was too busy notice what was going on in my mind. Even if he didn't notice right now I would make sure I was thinking about Jack during our meeting later.

When the lecture finished, Jack approached me as everyone was leaving. "Hey I was wondering if you wanted to get together after college sometime and do some studying or stuff." He asked.

"I like stuff. We could..." Suddenly I was cut off mid sentence with Luc striding into lecture hall.

"Miss. Hayden, I need to have a word with you- NOW." Luc said, glaring at Jack as if he was going to rip his head off.

Sweetly I smiled at Jack, "Maybe after school we could talk about this." I suggested, fluttering my eyelashes.

"Yeah that'd be great." Jack grinned at me, swinging his rucksack over his shoulder.

Luc’s jaw twitched, "Unfortunately Mr. Colter, Miss. Hayden has an important meeting after college today with me,” He said in a very controlled tone.

“Well I’m free tomorrow,” Jack said to me.

Luc suddenly gripped my arm and began pulling along the row of seats, "Come along Miss. Hayden, we need to have a talk."

He didn't even let go of my arm when we left the lecture theatre.

I smiled to myself feeling that I had won a small victory. Smugly I pulled out of his grip and walked ahead of him into the empty classroom. Luc calmly closed the door behind him, and locked the door.

"What is wrong my love?” I asked innocently.

"Do you want that boy dead?" Luc said darkly.

“Why Luc, I have two classes with Jack- you can't stop me from talking to him." I said perching on a desk.

Luc coolly walked up to me his dark eyes cold and harsh. I could feel the rage inside him rising and falling.

"Mia," Luc whispered bending down lifting my chin up to his face, "I will kill that boy because I will not share you with anyone. Please do not provoke me. I know you are mad at me, but I need you to understand that when I get mad people get hurt." He said stroking my hair.

I looked up at him, his face inches away from mine and asked, “Are you going to hurt me?”

He shook his head, “Never. I could never hurt you because you are my mate. Even if you did do something unforgivable with Jack, I could never hurt you- but I would kill him. I would kill anyone who threatened you.”

He was very close to me now, and my whole body was screaming for him. His beautiful eyes held my gaze and then he leaned into me brushing his lips lightly against mine.

I did not move.

I had no idea if I was scared or turned on.

Pulling away Luc said softly, "You have no idea, how much I want you Mia."