At one time, he'd been just a man and when he touched me, it was with a man's urgency. As if he couldn't wait. As if I were the best woman he'd ever been with.

The only woman.

Wait a second. Where had that come from?

I didn't know. Even more, I didn't want to know. I just wanted Ty inside of me.

Right.

Now.

As if he read the desperate thoughts, he slid his hands, so rough and stirring, down the length of my body, parted my thighs and thrust into me.

He kissed me then, his tongue pushing into my mouth as fiercely and as urgently as his body pumped into mine. Over and over, until I felt my muscles contract. My o.r.g.a.s.m hit me hard and fast, turning me inside out and upside down and filling me with a pleasure so intense that I couldn't breathe.

Luckily, I didn't need to breathe.

I just needed to feel... the sharp ache between my legs, followed by the dull throbbing and the slow spread of pleasure through every inch of my body.

The feeling lasted several minutes until finally two important things registered. One, Ty was still hard inside me and two, his lips- make that his fangs-were on my neck.

Previous Top NextI felt the steely sharpness rasp over my pulse beat and my eyes popped open. My heart paused.

He wasn't... He wouldn't...

He didn't.

Instead, he moved on, fangs grazing, tongue stroking. His hot mouth closed over one nipple and he suckled me. But he didn't sink his teeth in. Not yet.

Not ever, I told myself. No way. No how.

No matter how much I suddenly wanted him to.

I grasped his shoulders, flipped him onto his back and straddled him.

He arched one eyebrow at me. "Pulling rank, are we?"

"You know it, baby." And then I slid down onto his hard length, leaned back-far, far away from that delectable mouth of his and those razor-sharp fangs-and had the wildest ride of my life.

An hour later, I snuggled into the pillow, suddenly so tired that I couldn't keep my eyes open. The exhaustion that came with daybreak tugged at my muscles, along with the satisfaction of really hot s.e.x.

I felt the bed dip as Ty swung his legs over the side.

"Where are you going?"

"To get something to eat." Because as gratifying as the s.e.x had been, there hadn't been the ultimate fulfillment that came with drinking from each other. I knew it and so did he, but neither of us said anything.

I mean, really. Why kill the moment? Biting aside, we're talking phenomenal s.e.x.

My eyes drifted closed. In the far distance I heard the gasp as he uncorked a new bottle. The glug, glug, glug as he fed his hunger. He climbed back into bed soon after that and pulled me close.

And then everything faded into the steady sound of my own heartbeat and I slept the best sleep I'd had in months.

I was starving.

I stumbled into the kitchen later that afternoon, just after sunset, and reached for the nearly empty bottle Ty had consumed early that morning. Just one sip and I would be good to go.

I took three sips.

Okay, so they were gulps, but I had a naked vampire in my bed. I needed my strength.

I was just about to take a fourth, when the feeling hit me. A presence. Someone was watching me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and every nerve in my body went on high alert. My insides tightened and my stomach jumped.I turned and stared into the bedroom, but Ty didn't move. He lay on his side, his back to me, the sheet pulled up to his waist. A distinct scent tickled my nostrils-like toffee mixed with peanuts.

"He's pretty hot." The familiar voice slid into my ears and drew me around.

I glanced up toward the loft and saw Ayala peering down at me.

Hold on. Ayala?

My stomach convulsed again and I closed my eyes. "It didn't go so well, did it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Remy. That's why you're here. What was it this time? He wasn't blond enough? Tall enough? Short enough?"

"Actually, he was too much. Of a vampire, that is." She gave me a peculiar stare. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

That you're a picky b.i.t.c.h? Got it.

"Listen, Ayala, I know you're feeling anxious. Desperate even. I've been there. Heck, I'm there right now. The parents are riding you. Society is killing you with all the baby hype. I totally understand."

"You don't understand s.h.i.t."

"Of course I do. Your clock is ticking."

"Actually, it's your clock that's ticking." In the blink of an eye, she stood before me in the kitchen. She stepped around the table and plucked the nearly empty bottle of blood from my hands. "You still don't get it, do you?"

Actually, I was starting to.

My mind raced and the pieces started to fit together. The jealous werewolf had been Ayala's ex-lover. She'd been the reason I'd gotten staked.

Okay, so I'd gotten staked because I'd rushed in to protect Wilson, but you get the point.

I'd bled all over the tablecloth that night at the soiree, and she'd been right there (DNA evidence, check). She'd also been right there the night the reporter had gotten chopped to pieces, but no one had seen her because she was a vampire who'd been able to slip in and out, completely undetected. And if she had been detected, she'd have been able to easily influence any poor schmuck who happened to get a glimpse of her. She'd have been able to slip in and out right on my heels, completely undetected and without leaving a trace of fingerprints.

"It was actually much easier than I thought it would be," she said as if reading my thoughts. "I hadn't planned on you showing up at his apartment that night. I was just going to go there, dispose of him and plant the DNA evidence, and a vivid description in the mind of the doorman and anyone else who happened by in the lobby that night. But then you arrived and even let him take your picture with the camera phone." She smiled. "Talk about luck."

I stiffened and my hands trembled. My stomach jumped again. A pain this time, but I paid it little attention. Instead, I was focused on the rage that boiled inside my body and the red haze clouding my vision.

I was so going to kick her a.s.s.

But not yet. Not until she answered the one question screaming in my head."Why?"

"He's dead now. Because of you."

"Actually, he's dead because of you. You broke it off. You went out with someone else. You drove him to pick up that stake and go after Wilson."

She shrugged and traced the label on the bottle. "I was doing what I had to do. There was no way we could have had a real relationship. I couldn't have disgraced my family like that." She shook her head. "I had to break things off and find someone appropriate." Her gaze met mine. "The thing is, I've been trying and it just isn't possible."

I saw the anguish in her bright hazel eyes and where I'd been ready to rip her to pieces-or at least hurt her extremely badly-I couldn't help but feel sorry for her now. It was yet another vampiric version of Romeo and Juliet. Lovers drawn together by a fierce love, yet torn apart by forces beyond their control.

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat.

"My father threatened to cut me off," she went on. "I had no choice but to break things off with Brian. I couldn't lose my inheritance. I told him we could still see each other as long as we kept things quiet and kept up appearances. That was the obvious solution, of course, but he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted me to actually marry him." She laughed. "Can you imagine that? Born vampires don't get married. Much less to werewolves."

Bye-bye, Juliet.

h.e.l.lo, cold, callous, snotty, money-hungry bee-yotch.

"We have to choose someone more to our standard," she went on. "Someone like Remy." Her gaze lifted to mine. "He wasn't bad. He's no Brian, but he'll do for lack of anything better."

"Remy's too good for you. Stay away from him."

She laughed then. "But you're the one who set us up." Her smiled faded. "You like him, don't you?"

"We're friends." We were, I realized, even if he had blown the whistle on me the other night.

If he'd blown the whistle.

I remembered the strange sense of awareness I'd felt at Ty's place. The same thing I'd felt earlier when I'd turned to find Ayala watching me from the loft. "How did you find Ty's address?"

"That was easy, too. He's got a lot of connections with the New York Police Department. Once I knew you were with him, it was a piece of cake getting those guys to talk. Most of them, anyway, except for a few stuck-up vampires."

"And how did you know I was with him in the first place?"

She shrugged. "That dumb a.s.sistant of yours."

"Evie?"

She nodded. "She was such a pushover. One look into her eyes and she started talking. Of course, after I found out what I wanted to know, I had her forget all about it."

Realization dawned. "Evie isn't a lesbian.""Says you. All I know is that I had zero trouble vamping her. Smacks lesbian to me."

Me, too.

The thought bothered me even more than Ayala and her attempt to ruin my life. Not because I'm h.o.m.ophobic or anything like that. But Evie and I are friends. We talk. I should have known.

"Dipping into the Other world can be fun, but they're just not like us," Ayala went on. "But then I'm sure you know that." Her gaze slid past me to Ty. "Made vampires just don't have the same iron-hard const.i.tution that we do. Sure, they're strong. But they tend to be slaves to their baser urges." She made a tsk, tsk sound. "They simply have no self-control when it comes to controlling their hunger. He's sleeping rather soundly, wouldn't you say? Then again, he's probably not sleeping at all. He's probably paralyzed right now. Just this side of death."

I followed her gaze and noted the unnerving stillness of his body, despite the fact that it was early evening. Time to rise and shine.

Time to die.

Cold, hard fear knotted inside me. "What did you do to him?" A gasp punctuated the question as my stomach contracted again, the reflex sharper this time. Painful.

She smiled and held up the bottle. "The same thing I'm going to do to you."

I stared through the clear gla.s.s at the half inch of red liquid. For the first time, I noted the tiny particles that swam around inside.

"Garlic," she added. "While we're not susceptible to the stuff when it's worn around someone's neck-talk about an old wives'

tale-it's h.e.l.l on the intestines."

My gut clenched again and I grasped the edge of the table to keep from doubling over. "I thought the goal was to punish me, not kill me," I ground out, my teeth clenched as I fought against another wave of pain.

"It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind. It hurts now, doesn't it?" she asked as she leaned into me. Her lips grazed my ear. "That's your own fault. If you had drunk more instead of denying what you are, it wouldn't be so painful now. Instead, you would simply shut down like that delicious-looking bounty hunter of yours. Now that man can drink. Later, love. I'll give Remy your best."

Through the pain deafening me, I heard the door close and I knew she'd left. I tried to see past the white dots dancing in front of my eyes. I had to get up and check on Ty. I had to...

The thought faded in another rush of pain so intense that I sank to the floor this time. Another squeeze of my insides and everything went black.

Chapter Thirty.

"Lil? You in there?"

The name echoed in my ears, followed by a loud pounding that made my head hurt that much more.

Go away, I silently pleaded. Just go away.

Previous Top NextAnother frantic bam, bam, bam and the noise stopped.

There. That was better- BAM!.

The loud crash thundered through my head a split second before large hands gripped my shoulders.

My body screamed, pain exploding in my stomach, so fierce and consuming that my eyes started to water and I doubled over.

"Lil?"