Andrei shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
“You’re right. I don’t.” If he wanted to play games, he could find someone else. She decided to put her foot down. “Last chance. Are you coming in, or not?”
He didn’t move from his spot, and Dara suddenly felt like an idiot.
A different kind of heat rose in her, and she stomped up the rest of the steps and put her key in the door..
As she opened it, she cast one quick glance over her shoulder. Andrei had a longing expression in his eyes, but remained where he was on the sidewalk.
Oh, well. His loss.
She stormed into the apartment’s foyer, but when she turned around to close the door, Andrei was standing at the entrance.
She couldn’t help but smile. He did want her, after all. Her anger at his game faded.
“Come in,” she said. “You’re letting all the heat out.”
With only a moment’s hesitation, he entered the building.
She lived on the second floor, and quickly led him upstairs.
After bringing him inside, she locked the door, then took off her coat and hung it up.
Andrei caught her by the hand and pulled her close. She could smell the musky scent of him. The front of her blouse brushed against his chest, and a tingle of excitement shimmered through her all the way to her fingertips.
With infinite slowness, his lips touched hers.
She raised her head in eager welcome, but then he pulled back. Dara gasped. She couldn’t stand this cat and mouse. She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him firmly on the mouth.
The heat of passion rocketed through her, and her body bowed to the force of his presence. She threw her hips against him.
Andrei’s arm slid around her back and he drew her against him. It felt like fireworks exploding in her mind. His warm breath blew across her cheek. His hand rested in the hollow of her back.
“You’re a prize, Dara,” he murmured. “You’re the most precious jewel in the world.”
She blushed. “Come to the bedroom.”
“You don’t understand,” he told her. “I want much more from you than your body. Do you understand that?”
That made her pause. “What do you mean, more?”
He leaned into her. “Would you give yourself to me, Dara? Would you make yourself mine?”
She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “Isn’t that what we’re doing here? Isn’t that what we’re going upstairs for? Come on. You’re killing me here.”
He smiled, but gave a quick shake of his head. “I don’t want that. I want you. All of you, body and soul.”
She pushed him away. “What? Are you talking about marriage? I don’t know anything about you.”
He pulled her against him again. “I’m talking about something bigger than marriage, bigger than sex, bigger than anything you can imagine. Are you ready? I can take you to the limit, and I’m not talking about a weekend fling.”
“What do you mean, then?” She couldn’t stop herself from lifting one knee against the side of his leg in response to his advances.
He bent her backwards and buried his face in her neck. “I’m talking about life and death, blood and water. I’m talking about binding you to me for life with something stronger than anything you’ve ever known. We’ll be closer than family, closer than lovers, closer than husband and wife.”
“What could be closer than that?” she asked.
He ran his lips down her throat, and now for the first time, the tension of building excitement pulled his muscles taut and his breath short and shallow.
“So delicious,” he purred. “So sweet and strong and hot.”
Dara couldn’t take it anymore. “Take me! Take me now!”
He nibbled the side of her ear.
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this,” he said. “You don’t know how long I’ve been in search of you. Say you’ll be mine, Dara. Say you’ll be mine for all eternity.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “Yes! I’ll be yours. I can’t stand another minute of this. Don’t torture me.”
“Torture?” he asked. “You don’t know what torture is. You don’t know what it’s like to hunger for something just out of reach.”
Dara pulled back and locked her eyes on him. “Whatever you hunger for, whatever it is you need, I will be the one to give it to you. You don’t have to suffer anymore. I’m here. Let me be the one to satisfy you. I’ll be yours. I’ll be yours for all eternity.”
He stared down into the depths of her soul. “Do you mean it? Are you willing to give up everything to be my one true consort?”
“I never meant anything so much in my life,” she told him. “I’ll give anything, I’ll sacrifice anything, I’ll be anything, if it means giving you what you need and what you want. Let me fill you up. Let me give you peace.”
He kept his gaze locked on her one instant longer. Then he swooped her up into his arms and carried her to her room. How did he know which one was hers? She didn’t think to ask.
He pulled her near the bed and then the door shut behind him. How did he shut it from across the room?
She couldn’t see anything but his eyes. She couldn’t think about anything but the fulfillment they would both experience in one another.
He pulled her into his embrace. His eyes kissed her soul. The ecstasy was overwhelming. She sank into the bottomless pool of his essence. Could she ever experience any rapture more blissful than this?
But something more enchanting was to come, she knew. In moments, all her pent-up tension would shatter into a million droplets of dew.
Andrei held her tight against his iron frame, and her body quivered in anticipation.
“Dara,” he breathed, “are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to give your life and future to me—only to me? Are you sure you’re ready to sacrifice everything you know to join me in the other world?”
“Yes.” In that moment, she would have said yes to anything. “Yes. I’m ready.”
He bent her over backward again and put his mouth against her throat. A low growl of desire rumbled from him, and her blood sang in answer. Her heart beat even stronger, and she gasped for breath.
He lifted her up and laid her down on the bed. She danced in the deep pools of his eyes.
With a gentle, electric motion, he brushed the hair back from her forehead. When he traced the graceful curve of her neck with his fingers, her skin felt like it was on fire.
“Dara, my Dara,” he said.
Andrei leaned over her. Why didn’t he get in bed with her? Was he waiting for her to tear his clothes off? If that’s what he wanted…
But he was still leaning over her, nuzzling her, his tongue tasting her, his hands on her.
Then, with a growl, he opened his mouth and bit her.
She felt no pain when his sharp teeth pierced the skin of her neck. Her blood sprang from her body, and it was the most sensual sensation she’d ever experience.
His lips closed over the wound, and he sucked blood from her in powerful gulps.
As her life’s blood poured out through the holes in her throat, she realized what was happening.
She tried to fight back, but she couldn’t move; he must have bound her with some kind of spell.
Her pulse began to slow. Her blood didn’t spurt into Andrei’s mouth anymore; he had to suck it out. Soon, she wouldn’t have any left, and then she would die.
No! She didn’t want to die.
Anger welled up in her, and the trans he had put her in broke. She struggled against him, but he was far too powerful for her; his need overwhelmed her. Nothing in the world could fight against strength like that. He had her right where he wanted her. Once he sucked the last drop of blood from her veins, he would leave her corpse lying there on her bed for the landlady to find in the morning.
Her vision wavered. A bottomless pit of darkness loomed before her, and she dangled over the precipice.
At the very last moment, he tore his mouth away from her and stood up, leaving her there on the bed. Not an ounce of strength remained in her body.
It took every bit of willpower for her to move her eyes to him.
He looked down at her with satisfied smile as her lifeblood dripped from his mouth.
She began to shiver. Without any blood in her body, the cold seeped through her flesh.
Then Andrei did something she never expected. He covered her with a blanket and then kissed her gently on the forehead.
A moment later, he vanished, and she sank into a black abyss.
Chapter Three
Dara was slow to wake. When she realized her alarm had been going off for an hour, she shot out of bed.
She slapped the alarm clock off, and blinked several times to make her eyes focus on the time. It was eight o’clock in the morning. She had to get up and go to work. She didn’t dare call in sick. She needed every penny just to cover her rent.
The moment she stood up, a wave of nausea hit her. She almost puked on the carpet. Her head weighed a ton, and it took every ounce of her determination to make her limbs move.
Then she remembered last night.
She stared around the room in wild horror. Was Andrei still here? No.
Her entire body was sore. What had he done to her? What kind of monster would do this to an innocent girl he met on a park bench?
But she already knew the answer to that question. She didn’t want to admit it, but there was only one explanation. Andrei was a vampire.
But if that were the case, why had he left her alive?
It had to have been a bad dream. Last night’s events were her imagination playing tricks on her. Maybe she was just sick, and it had been a fevered dream.
She threw her robe around her shoulders and staggered to the bathroom. A hollow-cheeked visage stared back at her from the mirror. Dark circles surrounded her eyes, and her colorless skin hung from her bones. And there, on her neck, surrounded by purple bruises, were two round holes.
Dara nearly passed out. It had all been real.
For several minutes, she stood there, unable to accept the truth.
She couldn’t think about it right now; she was late for work.
Hurriedly, she splashed water on her face and got dressed, throwing on a scarf to hide the bite marks in her neck. She should have taken a shower and eaten a good breakfast, but she only had time for a cup of coffee.
Though some of her strength had returned to her, she stumbled out of the apartment and almost fell down the steps.
The cab she meant to hail screeched to a stop to avoid running over her.
“Are you okay?” the driver asked when she pulled the door open. “You look terrible. Do you need me to take you to a hospital?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, I’m just late for work.” She gave him the address to her office.
With concern etched on his face, he got back in the taxi and eased into traffic. All the while he drove her to work, he eyed her in the rear-view mirror.
* * *
When she got to work, Dara went straight to her desk.
Her cubicle-mate, Beth, glanced at her from the other side of the cubicle. “Morning—” she started to say, but then her eyes widened. “Are you all right? You look like hell.”
Dara smiled. “I’ll be all right. I just had a long night. Didn’t get much sleep.”
“Oh?”
Sighing, Dara said, “I met someone on the way home. Things got a little wild.”
Beth shook her head. “You should take it easy, you know. You’re going to get yourself in trouble one of these days.”
Dara dropped her eyes to her desk. “I think I already did.”
“What?”
“This guy—” She took a deep breath, not knowing what to say next.
“Did he…?”
What could she say? That she’d taken a vampire home, and he’d sucked her blood?
She looked up at Beth. “I guess I’m not that good at picking them.”
“You should let me set you up some time,” Beth said.
Dara snorted. “A blind date? No thanks.”
“I mean it,” Beth replied. “What you need is a real man who will stick by you no matter what. Stop fooling around with one-night stands. Get yourself a decent guy who’ll stay home and watch movies with you on Saturday night.”
Dara smiled. “Thanks, sweetie. I really appreciate it, but I don’t want to talk about anymore; just want to put it behind me.” She took a deep breath. “I need to concentrate on these receipts right now. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through this morning. If I don’t’ get it done, Alicia will be gunning for my hide.”
Beth’s hand fell onto her shoulder. “All right. Just let me know if I can help.”
* * *
Somehow, Dara got through the rest of the day. When she was about to leave, Beth waved her down.
“Are you going to be able to make it home all right? Do you want me to take you? I can make some soup or something.”
“No.” Dara forced a smile. “I think I’ll just go right to bed and sleep through.”
“All right.” Then she said, “A couple of us are going to get together this weekend at Mingles. Are you going to feel up to it by then?”
Dara shook her head. “Thanks, but I don’t think so.” The thought of it made her stomach tighten into a knot.
Frowning, Beth said, “Well, maybe next weekend.”
“I don’t think I’ll go on any more dates for a while. Maybe I’ll just become a nun.”
Beth snorted. “You? Yeah, right. Hey, don’t you know that old saying? When you fall off the horse, you’ve got to get right back on.”
Dara nodded. “I’ve heard it before. Just give me a chance to recover before you go throwing me into the rodeo ring again, will you? I need some quiet for a while.”
Beth frowned. “What’s going on? You’re starting to scare me.”
“I’m the same person I always was,” Dara told her. “I’m just not that into the bar scene for the next bit. That’s all.”
Beth looked her straight in the eye. “No. There’s something different about you. I don’t know what it is, but something deep inside you has changed.” She sighed. “I hope you get it figured out, because you’re my friend, and I don’t like what I’m seeing.”
Feeling like a heel for keeping the truth from her friend, Dara reached out to pat Beth’s arm. She would have given anything to tell her friend the truth about what happened last night, but there was no way she would believe it.