Were vampires superior because they were older or because they died and came back?

That could be a head trip, I guessed.

"Why am I so worthless?" I demanded again.

"You're not worthless." If he had emotions, they might have shown at that point, in an effort to comfort me. He didn't know me. I didn't have a low self-esteem. I barely knew the meaning, even before I had my b.o.o.bs done and some other things I didn't like to admit. I was just seriously blunt and didn't know about beating around the bush.

Andreas came back to stand in front of me. He was indecisive as he ran a hand through his long black hair. I reached out to help, taking hold of his d.i.c.k. Blood still coated my lips, so I rubbed some against his head and then licked it off. He growled and jerked in my hand.

"More," he demanded.

I glanced up at him.

"More...please," he relented.

I laughed and then bit into my wrist. I dribbled blood down on his stiff rod and we both stared almost in a trance as it ran down the sides. The red food was such an intense l.u.s.t for us, I think if he could, Andreas would have licked it off himself. Instead, I closed my mouth down over him and sucked. Mmm, blood and c.o.c.k. Perfect. I stuffed him deeper, opening my throat as I was used to doing. I let him go and reached behind him to grab hold of his rear. He pumped slowly in and out. I licked him from the top to the bottom and back again, savoring every dot of come and blood mixed.

When he exploded, I drank him hungrily, only slightly worried about my sensitive stomach and whether I could absorb his juice. No pain hit my body, and I finally moved up to release him and rest my face against his stomach with my eyes closed. Even after coming twice, he was rock hard, just like his body. It was like he was made of stone.

"Are you always hard or what?" I wondered without looking up or opening my eyes.

I wasn't sure, but he could have chuckled. When I looked up, there was no evidence of it on his face. He looked back at me with a blank expression. "Not always. I just don't have s.e.x often. I don't have time, running the clubs."

"Clubs?"

He shrugged. "We own another on the west coast."

"We?"

He didn't bother to answer. He ran a hand over my shoulder and down to my breast.

After he roughly yanked away the material hiding them from his view, his eyes widened.

He ran his thumb over my pebbled nipple and licked his lips. "I want more of you," he said simply.

I grinned and stood, forgetting about my panties. "And I want your brother dead. I'm convinced you're hiding him from me. Let him know I will hunt him down and kill him the right way."

I started to walk out but he caught my arm. "You want it as much as I do."

"Maybe so, but right now, it's late. I need to get across town to my bas.e.m.e.nt before the sun comes up, something you could have warned me about after going to the trouble of saving my life."

He shrugged, a smirk sliding across his lips. "Most of what you've heard about vampires on TV and in movies is true."

"Except for that stake through the heart bit," I snapped.

"Yes, except for that."

I noticed he didn't admit to his brother being alive. He was hiding him, and I would find Haven if it was the last thing I did. Maybe Andreas felt like he made up for what his loser of a brother did, but I didn't agree. He killed me, so I needed to kill him. Only this time, he wasn't coming back.

Chapter Six.

Walking out of that club was hard when I still wanted Andreas as much as I saw he wanted me. Apparently it meant nothing to him that he was banging his brother's ex-girl.

I didn't care either. What loyalty did I have to Haven? In fact, I had done it partly because I wanted him to know. I almost hoped he was hiding in a closet somewhere chewing his lips off for jealously, while we got it on in Andreas' office. It would serve him right.

For the next week and a half, I read everything I could get my hands on regarding vampires. I needed it for my own survival, but also to find out what the night walker's weaknesses were. Getting the material wasn't always easy, especially since I was back to avoiding feeding, which meant weakness, which meant more sleep. When I slept too late, the library closed and everything else. I was left wandering around the streets late at night. But that was only when I dared to venture out there. Somehow, I still clung to the att.i.tude that I was just a defenseless woman who should not be out alone after dark. I learned differently real quickly.

I woke up at ten-thirty. The library I had intended to visit to return the books I borrowed had closed at nine. Craving a cigarette, I walked down to the corner store, but it was closed. That meant humping it down to 7-Eleven. I checked out my footwear, wondering if I should risk walking almost a mile in my heels. Not that I owned any flats at the moment. I just have a serious thing for heels, the higher the better.

Deciding to just risk it, I turned left instead of right at the corner, which would have led back to my street. The night was cool. A breeze blew my hair in my face, and I put up a pale hand to brush it away. I had noticed when I didn't drink blood, I looked more like the walking dead. Not ugly or freakish, but pale. One of the books I'd read said vampires got their coloring from drinking blood. I had had the stupid idea that that couldn't possibly refer to a coffee-colored sista like myself. I was wrong.

As late as it was, people sat on their steps and kids played in front of their parents on the sidewalk. I scanned the area ahead of me for trouble. A couple of guys were huddled on the corner laughing and jostling one another. I considered crossing the street, but held my ground.

When I was within a few feet, the male attention shifted to me. Why I hadn't thought twice about my tight clothing with cleavage in plain sight was beyond me.

"Hey, baby, want a ride?" one of the guys called out as I pa.s.sed.

Oh, original. I kept walking.

He wouldn't be put off. A guy like him couldn't look bad in front of his boys. When his hand dropped on my shoulder, I shrugged him off. He was too close. I smelled his blood.

I heard his heart beating, even the blood pumping in his veins. In the darkness between streetlights, my fangs dropped. Get out of here, jerk! I yelled silently. If you want your life.

Up to now, I hadn't fed from anyone other than Andreas, and I needed it like a junkie needed a fix. My mind was obviously clouded, as I was out at night to get cigarettes I couldn't smoke or enjoy. A couple days before, I had tried inhaling the cancer sticks, a huge mistake. When you have no breath, you can't drag. If your lungs don't expand, there's not even a cough. So when I simulated breathing in as I remembered doing it, the smoke did go inside my lungs. It burned so bad, I wanted to cough, but all I did was open my mouth, curl in pain and wait it out. After that, I had gone back to letting the cigarette sit between my lips, but nevertheless I still had the cravings for them. And now, I was headed out for another pack because I kept lending mine out to everybody else who knew had a full pack.

The guy wouldn't be put off. He grabbed my behind and squeezed. I turned on him, flashing my fangs and hissing almost like a cat. It was a gut reaction. His eyes grew round and he backed away, but I heard the kick up in his heart rate. The juicy muscle was pounding, and it was like music to my ears.

It was fortunate that no one was near enough right then to see me lift this guy, who must have been three times my size in weight, and toss him like a bag of trash down the alley. I heard the dull thud of his head hitting the pavement. I couldn't stop myself from doing what I was about to; I was out of control.

I moved faster than I had ever done before, whizzing across the gap between us and hovering over him almost before I realized I had done it. Thirst driving me, I sank my fangs into his neck and pulled at the life-giving liquid. My body lit on fire, from both nourishment and s.e.xual excitement. I lay down on top of him, stretched fully over his body. I humped against his c.o.c.k, which wasn't hard to my disgust.

He cried out, pleading for me to stop. When I had taken several mouthfuls and swallowed, I drew back. What happened to the d.a.m.n mesmerized-so-they-don't-fight- you thing I had read about? I sat there straddling him while he pushed at me and cried, snot running from his nose and spit from the side of his lips. I cringed. Something was definitely wrong.

I cleared my throat and looked into his frightened eyes. "Y-You will not remember," I stuttered.

"I will, I will," he whimpered. "You don't forget some s.h.i.t like this. Please. Don't kill me. I promise I won't tell anybody."

Chewing on my lip, I sat there thinking. This was all wrong. He should be hypnotized so he would believe whatever the h.e.l.l I told him. d.a.m.n, Andreas for not telling me more about how to work this. Then a thought occurred to me. What if new vampires didn't have the stuff, the whatever it was to make humans forget? If that was true, I was in real trouble. Ch.e.l.le had told me all the werewolves did to cover their tracks. I hadn't heard whether there was a group to clean up vampire messes. I had no connections-except Andreas.

My best move was to hump it over there to his bar across town and force him to help me.

Not that I could physically make that six foot-four inches of vampire perfection do what he didn't want to do, but I figured I could dump a human in his lap. He would have to act then.

I leaned down and licked my victim's neck. My head was spinning and my stomach still growling, but I was afraid to drink more. This very problem was what had me starving myself all this time. I was terrified of killing a person by drinking too much. My books had said it was entirely possible, especially with an inexperienced vampire. Yet again, I wanted to hurt Andreas for leaving me in this position.

I pressed a hand over the man's mouth and felt around his head. He had a lump forming from hitting it on the ground, but no blood. "Be quiet, okay? I promise, I'm not going to kill you. I just need to take you somewhere."

His eyes widened, and he squirmed all the more. I grunted, feeling I had no choice.

Folding my nails carefully against my palm, I drew back my arm. If I could have taken a deep breath, I would have. I closed my eyes and tapped the guy on the side of his face with my knuckles. When I say tapped, I mean I had to make an effort not to use the strength that was so active in me after tossing him in the alley. My tap was more like a punch, and it knocked him unconscious.

With little effort, I hauled him up to my side and wrapped an arm around him. We shuffled along, or rather I dragged his tail. Only when I saw someone did I stop and pretend we were just two drunken lovers, staggering home from a bar. When the coast was clear, I continued on.

Finally, I made it to a main street and hailed a cab. The driver peered suspiciously at the guy and then looked at me. I frowned and held up my money. "Look, you want it or what?"

He looked between us again and then shrugged. "Fine, where to?"