“You’re not the first female vampire I’ve spent time with,” he said. “A while ago I met another one. She was beautiful and strong and deadly. I was going to kill her but she seduced me instead. The sex was great, some of the best I ever had, but I knew she was only doing it to save her own skin. She was an opportunist. Totally self-absorbed. Willing to do anything it took to ensure her own survival. When I woke up the next morning she was gone.”
I licked my very dry lips. “You should write that story up and send it to Letters at
Penthouse. I’m sure they’d love it.”
His gaze remained fixed on me. “For a moment during our tryst I considered her more than a vampire, more than what I’d always thought of as a monster. I thought of her as a woman. If she’d been there when I woke up I don’t think I would have killed her. I felt changed inside. Something was different. But her absence made that sensation easy to forget. Ever since, there’s always been that kernel there in the back of my mind that agrees wholeheartedly with your assessment of me. That I am the monster. Not her. Not you.”
“Wow, she must have been really great in the sack.” I said it lightly, but my throat felt thick from hearing that he’d come an inch away from changing his evil ways. “However, you did go back to business as usual, didn’t you?”
“I did. I can’t deny that. And it’s true what you said. Hunting made me feel whole. It gave me purpose when otherwise there was none. But—” his brow furrowed. “—now I’m on the brink of becoming a vampire, myself. Of my own free will—”
“Not that you have much of a choice.”
“No, but the thought of becoming the thing I’ve always hunted doesn’t fill me with fear or apprehension. It fills me with hope. I don’t want to go back to what I was. I want to be different. I want to change. And when I do, maybe I can change other hunters’ views on vampires.”
A chill went down my arms. I shook my head, not wanting to believe him. “You’re lying to me right now, aren’t you?”
“I’m not.” He blinked. “Help me, Sarah. Please give me some of your blood tonight. It might not even work, but you’re the only one who can stop this pain right now.”
I couldn’t process what he’d said. It was too incredible. Gideon wanted to be different?
He wanted to change things?
“Dammit,” I said under my breath when I saw him shudder again as a wave of agony swept through him. His chest hitched.
Fine. The Sarah Happy Hour was officially open for business—even though he’d given me nothing in return but words.
I didn’t even feel the blade as I slid it over my forearm. Okay, that was a lie. It stung like a son of a bitch, but it did help that I was currently quite numb from hearing Gideon’s tales from the dark side.
Then I presented my arm to him. “Cheers.”
He studied it for a moment as if surprised I’d actually agreed to be his nightcap. The line of red welled up where I’d made the cut. He finally brought my arm up to his mouth.
Since he didn’t have a natural thirst for blood, still being human and all, he didn’t slurp greedily at the wound as a hungry vampire would. Instead, I felt the warm touch of his mouth, tentative at first, as he tasted me.
I felt awkward and more than a little bit scared by our proximity as he drank deeper. He didn’t let go of me. In fact, his grip became stronger.
After a minute he looked up at me with surprise. “I think it’s working. The pain is lessening.”
“I’m a walking, talking cure-all for demonic injuries.”
“You are.” He smiled and lowered his mouth to my arm again.
I felt something stir deep inside me from the sensation of his tongue sliding against my skin. It disturbed me a million times more than anything else that night.
Gideon is not Quinn, I sternly reminded myself. He’s evil. No matter what he tries to make you believe, it doesn’t change anything. It’s only words.
And he wasn’t Thierry. I loved Thierry. No matter how frustrated I got with his stubborn and secretive nature, it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to be with him. That’s why I did what Gideon wanted. To make sure everything went smoothly. That everything turned out okay in the end.
Gideon had my arm so tightly in his grip that I had to brace myself against his chair as he continued to drink.
He made a strange sound, like a sigh of relief. “It’s the first time since the accident that the pain is completely gone.”
He rose to his feet in front of me with renewed strength. His hands moved around to the small of my back and he pulled me up against him. I braced my hand against his chest.
“I think the bar is closed,” I said.
“Then I should probably settle my tab.”
He moved his mouth down to nuzzle at my neck, his hands moving lower to skim along my waist and hips.
“Gideon, stop—”
And then, suddenly, he was kissing me.
Gideon Chase was kissing me.
This was so not good.
Even less good was the fact that I was kissing him back.
But only for a second.
I pushed at him using every ounce of my vampire strength. It was more than enough to force him away from me.
I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand. “That wasn’t on the menu.”
“I haven’t felt so well in some time. I couldn’t help myself.” He smiled widely at me, showing off his perfect white teeth. “And I knew you liked me, despite everything. You can’t deny it anymore, can you? I think we could be very good friends if you let yourself.”
“Think again.”
“I’m going to be a vampire very soon and you’ll be my sire. That brings with it a very special bond, doesn’t it?”
My cheeks felt like they were on fire. “Not the kind of bondage you’re thinking of. I think this little meeting is over. I’m leaving.” I turned toward the door.
He easily cut me off and blocked my exit. “Stay with me.”
“I don’t think so.” I reached past him for the doorknob.
He grabbed my wrist. Above it, the wound had already begun to heal. “I know that you and Quinn are involved again. I was informed you were seen with him earlier today.”
News did travel fast. It must have been the man with the suspicious-looking seeing-eye dog in the café. I knew it. “So what if I am?”
He shifted his grip to take my hand in his and entwined his fingers with mine. “Forget him.” He leaned in to whisper against my lips. “And forget Thierry. Stay with me tonight.
I want you.”