A Promise of Passion

by Felicity Heaton

  Well, dead again and this time not rising from the grave.

  Her head ached, a dull warning throb that made her feel as though a tiny malicious part of her mind was laughing at her and saying ‘I told you so’ about the amount of alcohol she’d consumed. She was going to have a bitch of a hangover tomorrow.

  But tonight...

  Her eyes met Kassian’s. Something burned in their depths, something she’d noticed the moment they’d met. Passion. She’d had men look at her like that, but none had physically shown her a fraction of what they’d held in their eyes. They’d promised her wild sex and burning hearts whose flames of desire and love would never be quenched. In reality they’d given her quick emotionless sex and had left her in about as little time as it had taken for them to come.

  Not Kassian though.

  His eyes weren’t merely making promises. His touch had backed up their passion. His kiss had assured his desire. If she let him, Kassian would show her what it was like to be loved as she wanted to be, to be consumed by the fever of yearning and the rage of need.

  No.

  Not her.

  Alice. He’d do all that for Alice.

  The sweep of his fingers over the back of her hand dragged her out of her thoughts. Her cheeks flushed when she realised she’d been staring at him while thinking all those things. There was a tilt to his lips that said he’d sensed her feelings and her arousal. So what if he had? When she met him again, she’d just deny everything and say she’d been too drunk to remember what she’d been doing.

  His hand closed around hers and he brought it towards him, turning it palm upwards. She frowned, curious to see what he was going to do. Instinct said to take her hand back. Her heart said to let him continue. It was a battle of wills inside her and she knew which would win. Her heart.

  There was so much fire in those eyes of ice, intent on her hand, fixed there as though nothing else existed in the world. The tips of his fingers stroked the back of her hand, sending shivers racing up her arm and down her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as goose bumps chased the path back to her hand. She swallowed in an attempt to stop her mouth from being so dry.

  He leaned forwards, eyes closing.

  “I will never hurt you, Alicia,” he whispered, accented tones arousing her and cool breath washing over her fingers. She frowned and opened her mouth to ask him what he’d meant by that.

  A prick of pain, sharp as a needle, chased her words away. His mouth closed around her index finger and he sucked. He’d bitten her. Panic lanced through her. She tugged on her hand and accidentally dragged her finger against his fang. He growled and locked his hand around her wrist, holding it with such strength that she couldn’t move her arm. The feel of his tongue against her finger made heat spread through her, creeping along her fingers to her hand and then up her arm until it reached her chest. He frowned and sucked her finger. The heat in her chest exploded to fill every inch of her within a second. She wriggled uncomfortably on the seat when all the heat focused in one point. Her thighs squeezed together and she couldn’t help tensing and writhing to make the most of the feeling in her groin.

  Another sweep of his tongue over her fingertip and he released her. She stared at it, at the tiny red line he’d made on the pad of her finger, and then at him.

  1764.

  Her eyes widened.

  “You were turned in 1764.”

  He smiled lazily and leaned back into the couch, his eyes never leaving hers. Their pupils were wide and dark against the pale blue of his irises. Strands of his shoulder length black hair had broken free of his low ponytail at the nape of his neck and had fallen forwards to caress his cheek. A desire to imitate their action rose inside her, a want to feel his cool skin beneath her fingers and know what it was like to touch a vampire—to touch Kassian as he touched her.

  “How do I know that?” she said.

  His lazy smile widened to reveal the barest tips of his fangs. A thrill chased through her, a warm rush in its wake that left her tempted to bite her lip and blush. She blamed the alcohol for making her so easy for him to seduce with a stupid smile and a flash of fangs.

  “Your blood inside me and the lingering effect of my trip into your mind,” he said in a calm voice, one that made it sound nothing fancy and nothing for her to worry about. “I overstepped the mark again, I know, but I needed a taste.”

  He needed a taste? He’d made it sound as though it had been a compulsion more than a simple desire, as though he’d die if he didn’t sate this need.

  Her head ached again. This time it was a warning that she was sobering up. A furtive glance at her cocktail revealed that Kassian had it firmly within his grasp. It was futile. He’d made it clear that he’d cut her off. There was no point in angering him by attempting to get to the drink. An angry vampire was scary enough. An angry Kassian frightened her more than anything. Whenever he grew angry, she ended up getting a taste of his true power, the strength he hid within. She’d pissed him off enough times to know it wasn’t wise to push him.

  Her gaze slid to the curtain across the booth’s exit and then down to his legs where they blocked her path. He wasn’t letting her go. At least he wasn’t resorting to mind control to make her stay this time.

  “Alicia?” he whispered in the low seductive tone that always made her eyes half-close and her imagination race to picture the things it promised her—sex, love, passion and insatiable need.

  His hand caught hers again with an electric rush that jolted her gaze from his feet to his face so fast her head spun.

  “Do you remember me?” There was pain in his eyes again.

  She shook her head, regretting hurting him and wishing she could tell him different. When she’d had the dream, she’d almost convinced herself that she had once been Alice, but he’d discounted it as merely a memory of his rather than her own. She clung to that reasoning, even though it made no sense if she looked at it closely. In the dream, she hadn’t seen Alice through his eyes; she’d seen Kassian through her own. How could a memory of his show her things from Alice’s perspective?

  Did she remember him? Was she lying to him now?

  “Why did you take my blood?” she said, more to distract her from her thoughts than from a desire to know the reason.

  He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “I hoped that if you saw more of my memories that your own would return.”

  “I’m not an amnesiac,” she said and her gaze fell to his hand where it covered hers. His thumb was stroking the back of it, a tender touch that made her long for something. She frowned. Love?

  Kassian didn’t love her. He couldn’t love her. He loved Alice. This was all just a mistake and eventually he’d realise that and he’d move on. He’d leave her.

  Panic gripped her and she turned her hand under his so she was holding it, her fingers clasped tight around it. She stared at it. His hand shifted and he moved closer, until his long fingers were interlocked with hers. His thumb caressed hers, slow and steady, soothing and calming.

  She hated him for it and for the way he made her feel whenever he touched her.

  Closing her eyes, she lowered her head and wished she could make sense of the muddled feelings inside her. She didn’t know whether she was coming or going, whether she hated or loved him, and what any of that meant. Even if she felt something for him, she would never know if the feelings he showed her were really about her or whether they were remnants of his feelings for Alice.

  Her heart ached. Her defences were down. He’d slipped in, prised them apart, and left her open and hurting, aching for him to love her but fearing it at the same time. She cursed him and her weakness, her inability to surrender his attention and affection and move on. It would be simple. She could leave tomorrow and never look back, travel to another city or continent. Vampires were everywhere. She would still get paid and would still have a job. She’d be free of these feelings and Kassian.

  Her fingers tightened agai
nst his at that idea.

  Deep inside her, something revolted and refused. She couldn’t leave him. For the first time in her life, a man was strong enough to love her and accept her for who she was.

  No, not who she was.

  He accepted her for who he thought she was.

  Was she Alice?

  He shifted closer.

  She moved her head until it touched their joined hands and trembled at the feel of his against her.

  Did he love Alice or Alicia?

  Would he still love her when he realised she wasn’t the woman he’d lost?

  What if he left?

  Cold stole into her heart and desperate need to make him stay rose inside her. She moved enough to press a tentative kiss to his thumb. His hand tensed against hers. She pushed on and pressed another kiss against it, and then another. Emboldened by his silent acceptance, she opened her eyes and kissed the back of his hand and then his wrist. Her free hand trailed up his arm, shaking with nerves and trepidation. She couldn’t meet his eyes but could feel them on her, watching intent and curious. The pounding in her chest increased when she reached his shoulder and her gaze rose to his mouth. He was facing her. She swallowed her nerves and leaned into him, zeroing in on her target. She wanted him to be hers. She needed to feel him kiss her and tell her that he wanted her, as he had done earlier tonight.

  Her breasts pushed against his arm as she shifted on the seat so she was kneeling facing him. She slid her hand around his neck, delighting at the cool softness of his skin and the slight scrape of stubble from his jaw against her wrist. Her heartbeat trebled. Her tongue poked out to wet her lips. He was incredibly still. His lips parted. His fingers closed painfully tight around hers. She edged closer and at the same time pulled him forwards with her hand around his neck. Her breath bounced back at her from his lips.

  Her eyes closed.

  Warmth rushed through her the moment their lips touched and she tilted her head to one side when his mouth slanted against hers and his arms wrapped around her. A strange lightness filled her, sheer exhilaration mixed with potent desire. She leaned into the kiss, her tongue tracing his lower lip and then tangling with his own as he reciprocated. Her skin prickled and her heart raced. The cool feel of his mouth against hers, his lips crushing her own and his tongue caressing hers, made her giddy. His hands clasped her waist, fingertips pressing in with such force that she knew he wanted her to stay. She wanted to stay. She wanted to stay forever.

  His mouth left hers, trailing fire along her jaw and then down to her neck. His tongue flicked her skin, eliciting a moan from her. Rough kisses stirred her passion to boiling point, until she was verging on losing control. Desire rose to meet it, increasing her hunger for him. Burying her fingers into his hair, she clung to him, holding him against her neck. Her head tilted back, her sigh directed at the ceiling when he kissed down towards her collarbone.

  He bit lightly with blunt teeth.

  She shot backwards, breathing heavy and shaking. A glance at him was all she could manage before she had buried her face against his chest, as though she could pretend nothing had happened if she couldn’t see him and he couldn’t see her.

  “What am I doing?” she whispered to herself, her palms pressed against stony muscle. She resisted her urge to feel him, to let her hands wander his chest as they wanted to and explore his body. Frustration and confusion collided in her stomach, twisting it and making her feel sick. “This isn’t me... I don’t know who I am anymore.”

  Gentle hands against her shoulders prised her away from his chest. She curled up as much as possible. A light touch of his fingers to her jaw made her heart warm and then go cold again. No. It was Alice he wanted. It wasn’t her. This was all a mistake. It was all a cruel mistake.

  He lifted his hand and she didn’t resist him as he raised her head. She looked up at him with tear-blurred eyes, hoping he’d read in them everything she couldn’t bring herself to say.

  “I don’t know what I’m doing.” She barely voiced her words, speaking more to herself than to him. She was going crazy. It was the only sane answer. “Am I Alice or am I me?”

  Kassian’s thumb stroked her cheek just below her eye. It smeared the tear she realised had fallen. Her eyes met his, silently begging him for an answer.

  Only he’d know if she were Alice or Alicia.

  “I made a mistake,” he said.

  ****

  Chapter 4

  “I made a terrible mistake. I realised that when I took your blood,” he said in a low tone that should have been gentle and soothing but his words cut her deep. “You are not the woman I thought you were... perhaps you hold a glimmer of her... but you are different.”

  It was impossible to hide her disappointment. She hadn’t been prepared for such an answer. She’d expected him to tell her again that she was Alice. Her gaze lowered to the table and she sat back, moving away from him. Loneliness filled her, cold and painful, leaving her feeling bereft and empty. He’d said it. She wasn’t Alice. Now he would leave her. Now she would face the night alone again. Before, the thought of returning to her normal hunting routine without seeing anyone other than her quarry would have pleased her. Tonight he’d changed everything. He’d turned her world upside down. Now, the idea of returning to her old life and never seeing him again, knowing that he wouldn’t be watching over her, hurt like hell. It would have broken her heart, but he’d melted it with his kiss and now it was liquid.

  The feel of his hand covering hers startled her. Slender fingers closed tightly around hers, holding them in a way that sparked a sense of reassurance inside her. He didn’t speak. She knew what this meant without him having to say a word. He wasn’t going to leave her.

  Even though she wasn’t Alice, he was going to stay with her.

  He leaned over and kissed her jaw, light caresses that stirred the embers of fire inside her heart and sent warmth rushing through her again. His lips grazed her jaw line, danced over the curve of her ear and trailed down her throat. Her eyes closed. The feel of him against her was divine, an unearthly pleasure that made her head light and her heart race. His fingers skimmed over her hands and up her arms. They closed around her elbows and drew her to him. She complied without thinking, following his lead and tilting her head to one side so he could kiss her neck more easily. His lips trailed fire lower, making shivers dart across her skin and leaving a tingling wake.

  She should stop him.

  Why?

  There was nothing wrong with what he was doing. He wasn’t crossing the line or threatening to bite her. The underlying danger was always there though, heightening how thrilling each press of his lips to her skin felt. There was meaning behind each kiss. They were meant to persuade her, to convince her to surrender her fight against him. She wanted to, more than anything. Her heart was crying out for him but she couldn’t let go of the fact he was a vampire and she was a vampire hunter.

  It was wrong, even if it felt so right.

  His thumbs brushed against the curves of her breasts.

  She pushed him off her, panic setting in, and was through the curtain before he could move to stop her. A glance around revealed the club was emptying. The main exit was no use. He’d catch her in seconds. She bolted for her only other choice, weaving through the remaining people on the dance floor to get to it.

  The bathroom.

  The door slammed behind her, drowning out the sound of the loud music until it was barely audible. She breathed hard to catch her breath and then focused, slowing it down until her feelings were falling back into place. Her eyes slid to the mirror and her reflection. What was she doing? Her gaze fell to her finger and the mark Kassian had left on her.