Dark Mate (MATE series) (3 page)

Cold.

Yup, that was Gabriel King.
Cold and calculating.

He had to be. He was a new
Master vampire. The few vampires he had turned had been destroyed by
the PAC. Amelia Jones, his only vampire who had been spared, was now
collared and closely monitored by the PAC. There was no way he could
Call her and control her.

Gabriel shook his head hard.
Rebecca Rose had been rescued, snatched away from his clutches by the
PAC Enforcers, and Phin Lester had been killed in that raid.

Well, perhaps he could turn
this pretty redhead lying so sweetly in his bed into a vampire and
control her.

He leaned forward and took a
deep breath. He inhaled slowly to breathe her in. Her scent was so
unique, so strong and addictive. He wanted more. He wanted—
her
.

No! It's the scent of her
blood, he told himself. Not her. You want her blood, not her.

Bending over her, he let his
gaze trail down her body as he pulled the keys from her pocket. Keys
to her apartment. A wallet. No other concealed weapons.

He leaned towards her,
watching a vein throb in her neck. Her neck was pale and exposed,
inviting him to plunge his fangs into her. He could kill her, right
now. She was so vulnerable. So weak.

Gabriel straightened up, his
fingers closing over the keys in his palm. He checked through her
wallet. Eva Stone, police officer, twenty-two years old. Didn't
carry a lot of cash or credit cards.

He tossed her keys and wallet
into a drawer and locked it. He turned to stare at her again. Eva
might be young, but she wasn't weak. She hadn't been afraid of him.
He had seen the steely determination and strength in her eyes.

No matter. He would break
her. Break her, then kill her.

Swearing, he glanced down at
the dried blood on his shirt. His chest wound was already closing,
but the sharp ache in his chest didn't seem to be emanating from his
wound. Grimacing, he began to strip.

Gabriel shrugged off his shirt
and stood beside the bed. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off her.
She was sprawled on his bed, her jacket flapping open. Her t-shirt
had ridden up her stomach, exposing a cute little belly button.

“
What shall I do with
you, Eva?” he mused, balling his blood-stained shirt in his
fist. “Shall I have my wicked way with you now, or later?”

But his own words sounded
hollow to him.

He didn't want to hurt her.

“
Eva,” he sighed,
her name escaping in a whisper.

He glared at her, acutely
aware of the quickening of his pulse and the insistent, throbbing
ache in his body. He wanted her. His blood and his body screamed
for her.

With a growl, he turned
sharply away. He couldn't be near her. Not now. Not like this. He
needed a long cold shower stat.

He had to get himself away
from her—before he did something he would regret for the rest
of his long, tortuous life.

Eva opened her eyes and turned
her face to the side. Soft, cool satin caressed her cheek. She
sighed and dragged in a long breath. The smooth fabric smelled good,
so good. It was an alluring, powerful, masculine scent. It reminded
her of...

Him!

Eva jolted upright in a
heartbeat. The vampire, Gabriel King. It was his scent, and
this—she stared around wildly—this was his bedroom. She
was in his bed!

She scrambled off the bed and
patted herself down frantically. She was fully dressed, thank God.
Her jacket, t-shirt and jeans was rumpled, but intact. She checked
under her shirt. So was her bra. But her keys and wallet were gone.

There was a sound and she
backed further towards the wall. She had no weapon, and her eyes
flew round the room in desperation. She saw a desk in a corner and
for a moment, she considered trying to break off a table leg to
fashion into a stake. She could stake him, before he bit her. Or
had be already bitten her while she was unconscious? She felt her
neck and made a small, strangled sound of relief when she found no
puncture marks.

He hadn't touched her.

The bathroom door opened, and
Gabriel stepped out. A white towel hugged his narrow hips and she
saw water droplets trailing tantalizingly down his sculptured, toned
body. Her eyes followed those gleeful droplets down his chest,
across his abdomen, past his navel and lower down...

Gabriel cleared his throat,
and Eva jerked her head up with a gasp. Her face felt too hot and
her entire body was burning—burning with shame. How could she
have been ogling him? And he had caught her. She scowled when he
grinned, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

“
You're up,” he
stated matter-of-factly. “I reckon you'll be hungry, so...”

Eva licked her lips, as her
eyes helplessly gravitated down his broad chest. That towel was so
low, and his body looked so smooth, and wet, and hard...

“
...so I brought you
some food,” he was saying.

Reluctantly, she followed his
gaze to the bedside table and saw a plate of sandwiches and a tall
white paper cup.

“
Is that...coffee?”

He shrugged and wrinkled his
nose. “I thought cops like drinking that stuff.”

She tried to suppress the
growling of her stomach and refused to touch the food and drink.

“
Eat,” he ordered.
“You need to eat. The food's not poisoned or anything.”

Eva frowned and met his eyes.
She saw the amusement and anxiety in his eyes, but behind those
surface emotions, she glimpsed a raw, primal hunger. Oddly, it
didn't frighten her. It confused her, attracted her, haunted her.
She shouldn't been looking at him like this, and her body shouldn't
be aching and thrumming and wanting...

“
Stop it,” she
whispered, shaking her head slowly. “Stop...this.”

Gabriel frowned at her.

Eva took a sharp breath and
hissed, “Whatever you're doing to me, just stop it!”

“
And what am I doing to
you, Eva?” He took a step towards her.

“
You...”
You're
making me want you. You're making me feel...

Eva backed slowly away. Her
shoulder blades pressed against the wall and she squeezed her eyes
shut.
I should be feeling very afraid, right now. Not hot and
bothered. Be afraid,
be very afraid and
stay alive.

She snapped her eyes open to
see him standing just inches from her. He pressed his palms against
the wall, boxing her in.

“
Why have you taken me
here?” She glanced around the bedroom, and gulped too loudly,
regretting her question. She was a police officer. She knew why bad
guys grabbed young girls off the streets.

His intentions were bad,
downright evil.

“
Let me go,” she
said, turning away.

He leaned in and inhaled
deeply, as if breathing in her scent. His eyelids closed briefly as
he let out a ragged breath.

Eva clenched her fists and
said tightly, “You're committing a very serious offense.
Holding a police officer hostage is a crime punishable by...”

“
Crime?” he
smirked. “So the NMPD will be after me as well?”

It took a moment for his words
to sink in. “As well,” she repeated his last two words
numbly as the realization dawned on her. “The PAC Enforcers
are hunting you,” she whispered at last.

Yes, I am a wanted man. I
am a rogue Master vampire. The PAC wants me, and you, Eva Stone,
want me. Don't try to deny it. I can scent your need.

She gasped as she saw his lips
curl. Did she just hear his thoughts in her head?

“
I don't want you,”
she stuttered, then clamped her mouth shut when she realized that she
had just spoken the words out loud.

Gabriel's eyes rounded. He
frowned at her and pressed a hand to the side of his head.

“
How did you do that?”
he demanded, glaring at her.

“
Do what?”

“
Get in my head.”

“
What kind of vampire
bullshit...” she began, gaping at him. There was no way she
could get in his head. That was the last place she wanted to be.

Gabriel glowered at her. “Are
you one of those humans with strange abilities?” He narrowed
those amber eyes at her. “Are you like Phin Lester?”

“
Who is Phin Lester?
What are you talking about?” Her eyes blazed suddenly. “Is
that why you brought me here? To your...lair?” She gestured
wildly. “I have no special abilities. I'm not a psychic, a
witch, a shapeshifter, a...a...whatever else you think I am! I...I'm
not special, in any way. Just...let me go.” Her shoulders
slumped.

“
Not special?”
Gabriel blinked almost in disbelief. “You...” His
throat moved.
You are a very special woman, Eva Stone.

Eva pushed her fingers into
her hair and yelled, “Stop that! You're doing it again! I
heard you, in my head, again. You...you're messing with my mind,
aren't you? You're trying to trick me, confuse me. I'm not thinking
straight. You...have no right. Get out of my head! Out!”

“
I'm not in your head.”

“
The hell you aren't!”

He grabbed her wrists, and she
exploded. “Let go of me!” she screeched.

He released her but she
continued kicking and clawing at him. She raked one hand across his
face, but her finger scratched against the tip of his fang.

She hissed in pain, and saw
that she had cut herself. A big drop of blood oozed from her
fingertip.

There was a small smudge of
blood at the corner of Gabriel's lips. Gabriel retracted his fangs
and swallowed.

The instant he swallowed, his
body jerked violently and his eyes turned fully golden.

He stared at her, and she saw
wild lust and fury swirling in those glowing eyes.

She tried to push him away,
but when her palms landed on his chest, he grabbed her. His fangs
were now long and deadly, and raw heat and power emanated from his
body in waves.

He held her fast, pulling her
body flush against his. Eva struggled and felt his huge, rock hard
erection pulsing against her. She was suddenly aware that under that
wet, white towel, he was naked. Huge, hard and naked.

Her fists pounded against his
chest, but it was like punching a wall. It was clear he felt no
pain. Her squirming and writhing only seemed to anger and arouse
him.

His nails dug into her waist
as he lowered his mouth to her neck.

Eva tried to scream, but only
a sob escaped.

This couldn't be happening.

He was going to hurt her.

She was a police officer. She
served and protected the city. But now, she couldn't even protect
herself.

She was going to be brutally
raped and killed by a rogue vampire.

And there was nothing she
could do to stop him.

He had tasted her blood.

She had smudged just that tiny
bit of blood across his lips when she cut herself.

But that was enough.

Gabriel's body roared to life,
awakening to her, wanting her and craving her like a drug. His fangs
ached to plunge into her soft, fair neck. He fisted the fabric of
her jacket, wanting to rip her clothes right off her body. The need
to take her and claim her clawed at him, overriding all his other
senses. He could hardly think. Yet through the haze of overpowering
desire and lust, he heard her make the smallest sound.

It was a sob.

A single, shuddering sob.

The sound slammed into him,
wrenching him out of this lust-filled madness. Gabriel staggered
back, shaking his head hard to clear it.

He looked up and saw Eva
standing very still against the wall. She stared at him, not daring
to blink or even breathe.

“
Eva...”

She made a strangled sound in
response.

Gabriel's eyes moved down her
body, taking in her beautiful, feminine curves. She was beautiful,
there was no way he could deny that.

Her blood had seared through
him, and his body knew instinctively, undeniably that she was his
mate.

Gabriel clenched his fists so
hard, his nails stabbed viciously into his palms and drew blood.

She couldn't be his mate!

With a roar, Gabriel misted
out of the bedroom. He stood on the other side of the door, the back
of his head thudding against the door.

What should he do with her?

Kill her?

Free her?

Freeing her meant letting her
go. And the thought of letting her go was—unbearable.

Fine. He would kill her. He
would just gorge himself on her fiery, fresh blood while she lay
helpless in his bed...