“I’m not broken,” I whisper. As I say the words, I realize how untrue they are.

He kisses my lower back, and the scruff of his beard is almost painful against my hypersensitive skin. “Good, because I hope to repeat everything we just did a few more times tonight.”

It’s safe, and I lift my heavy locks over my shoulder. “A few more times?” I give him a coy smile, and his gorgeous blue eyes twinkle.

“Naturally, the number of times is up to you, Miss…” His dark brow furrows. “I don’t know your last name.”

I quickly scan the suite looking for something I only vaguely spotted when we entered—before he had me against the wall. There it is.

“You have a Jacuzzi.” My chin drops and I lift an eyebrow. “We should test it out.”

He smiles, revealing straight white teeth. He really is perfect. I feel a strange surge of pride over the few ounces of his blood I’ve stolen, a peculiar possessiveness of him buzzes in my veins.

“So it’s like that?” He levels that steely gaze on me, and it’s breathtaking.

“You’re a private investigator?”

“Yes, Melissa.”

“Last names aren’t a good idea.” I can never explain the fucked up nature of my existence, and anyway, it doesn’t matter. He’s my last fling, my final heavenly indulgence before I accept my fate and return to Baltimore to die.

He doesn’t move as he watches me. I wait while he weighs my words against the mind-blowing experience we shared only moments ago. He’ll either insist on knowing more, in which case I’ll leave, or he’ll accept my answer.

“You want to test out my Jacuzzi?” I release the breath I’m holding with a grin and a nod. “Give me a sec.”

He pushes off the mattress, and I watch his perfect ass flex as he crosses the beige marble floor to the large tub. Two low steps lead to it, and he sits on one as he opens the faucets.

No need to worry he’ll change or be like me. We didn’t complete the ritual. I only have him inside me. He doesn’t have me in him. I didn’t force him to drink from my veins the way I was forced. I didn’t rape his only hope away.

I, on the other hand, am running out of time to complete my transition. I have to kill or die. I’ve already decided which it will be.

Leaning on one elbow, he reaches out to me, and I stifle a gasp. His body is Michelangelo’s Adam, reaching out for the hand of God. Only he’s reaching out to a devil.

Horror and guilt hit me like a freight train. My chin drops, sending a dark curtain across my cheek, but I know he saw the change in my expression. I hear him crossing back to the bed at once.

“What’s wrong?” Concern fills his voice. “Melissa, look at me.”

He catches my chin, and my eyes travel over his olive skin, his smooth muscles, the light dusting of hair on his chest. I have to leave. Now.

I can’t believe I would risk my one hope at escaping my fate—not only that, I risked his very life! Has my animalistic nature truly become so strong? I stole from him. I bit him. I can’t rationalize this away any more. I’m too weak to fight my lusts. I’m lost.

His hands are on my shoulders, pulling me onto his lap. “Stop,” he orders.

I try to resist his arms, but he’s stronger than me. Or I’m too weak to fight him.

His stern voice continues. “Whatever you’re saying to yourself, stop it.”

I shake my head. “We can’t do this, Derek. It’s wrong.”

“It’s not wrong. It’s fast.” His chin drops, and I watch as he collects his thoughts. I confess, I’m incredibly curious as to what he might say next. “I’m sure this is new for you. Hell, it’s new for me.” His eyes fix on mine, and his expression is so earnest and lovely. “Don’t shut us down yet. Give us a chance.”

“You don’t know me,” I argue. “We don’t know each other—”

“So let me get to know you.” He takes my hand carefully in his. “I want to know your mind the way I already know your body.”

His blood sings in my veins, and my eyes close at the sensation. Tasting him has only made him harder to resist.

“We don’t have time.”

“We have plenty of time.” He smooths my hair back, cupping my cheek with his large palm. “My life has been so empty these last six years. This is the first time I’ve wanted to live.”

Oh, god, the terrible irony. “You want to live?”

“I’m not explaining it right. I’m jumping ahead.” He takes both my cheeks in his hands, and looks deep into my eyes. “But you feel it, too. I know you do. Please stay.”

I want to cry. My heart is breaking because I can’t tell him we don’t have a chance. I can’t tell him that if he wants to live, he needs to run as far and as fast away from me as possible.

I’m either the worst coward or his blood is making it impossible for me to say no, because this beautiful man holding my face overwhelms me with his words.

“Okay.” My voice is soft, and I feel my cheeks turn pink. It’s a ridiculous response. I know all of this is a fantasy, yet I want to indulge it so badly. “What do you want to do?”

He glances over his shoulder at the now-full Jacuzzi tub and pushes away to walk over and shut off the water. Reaching into the pool, he tests it. Then he smiles and dries his hand.

Returning to me, that sexy grin is on his lips. “First, we finish what we’ve started tonight.” Catching me by the legs, he roughly pulls me across the sheets, making me squeal a laugh. I’m in his arms as he carries me to the tub. “Tomorrow, I’m going to buy you brunch.”

“Brunch? So I’m sleeping in?”

He laughs as he steps down into the swirling water, me still in his arms. It surrounds us in bubbling warmth, soothing away my tension, making me believe I could be a normal girl with a normal life, who only needs to give this incredible man a chance. As if we have a future. As if I get a happily ever after.

“You’ll probably be tired after tonight. I wasn’t planning to wake you.”

I’m on his lap, straddling his waist, our faces close. My hands are on his shoulders, and I wouldn’t push him away for anything.

“And then?”

He leans forward and captures my lips with his. Our mouths open to let our tongues touch, and I feel a stirring low in my pelvis. At the same time, energy surges through my chest. His blood is in my heart making me burn for him.

He pulls back, nipping my lip. “We take it as it comes.”

6

Complications Melissa

Nighttime sleep is slipping further from my grasp. We make love in the Jacuzzi; we make love on the table. He takes me from behind, pulling my hair and holding my throat. I ride him reverse-cowgirl, so he can’t see me change when I come, moaning his name as my canines stretch out for him. I use every ounce of willpower I possess to keep my hunger in check. I won’t steal any more of his life.

He sleeps, his gorgeous form wrapped in the crisp white sheets, and I sit in the darkness watching him, longing for him. My evolving mind has the capacity to focus on him for hours, losing all sense of time.

What shall I do, my love? You’re mine, but you don’t know it. In my audacity, I stole your essence, but I can’t hold it for long. We’ll share these few days, and then I’ll return to face my fate. As I take my last breath, I’ll dream of your beautiful soul.

He rolls onto his side facing me, but I can tell he’s not entirely awake. He can’t see me very well in the darkness, but I see him plain as day—the bright day that now hurts my eyes. He blinks slowly at me sitting in the soft velvet chair completely nude.

“You’re so beautiful.” His deep voice is husky with sleep. “You’re even more beautiful now than you were earlier.”

“You’re dreaming,” I whisper, using my glamour to lull him back to sleep. He doesn’t know how his blood enhances my appearance, how it causes him to want me more. Sadly, it’s all part of the trap—only I won’t make him my victim.