Growing more uncomfortable by the second, he decided it was time to take his leave. She could get back to her reading and he could make a start on the paper work that had no doubt doubled since the night before.
He was on his way to the hall that led to his office and was just about to wish her a pleasant rest of the night when it happened. One minute he was steady on his feet, the next he was stumbling, reeling like a drunken fool, the chair he’d been sitting in earlier tripping him up.
Dottie screamed as he tangled with the chair and hit the floor with a thud. She hurried over to him, knelt and cradled his head in her hands before the first wave of dizziness passed. Fury over the embarrassing incident caused him to lash out at her even before he made the attempt to right himself. “Get away, damn it. Get away and leave me alone.”
His unexpected outburst caused Dottie to momentarily recoil, but her hold on him remained firm. “You’re ill,” she cried, attempting to help him when he tried to sit.
Her words and her help only served to increase his determination to force her to leave the room. “Go, damn it. Get out of here.” He tried to push her away but was stopped by another wave of dizziness. “Get out of here,” he shouted again. “This is my home, damn it, and I’m ordering you to get out and leave me alone.”
As if she hadn’t heard him, Dottie remained at Jerome’s side, her hands now at his forearms.
Despite Jerome’s furious protests to the contrary, Dottie knew there was something wrong with him and she wasn’t about to leave him alone until she was certain he had regained his balance.
“I will not leave you alone, no matter how loud you shout or how many insults you hurl at me. I’ve suspected there was something wrong with you since I saw you stumble in the airport.”
Jerome was on his knees and struggling to get to his feet. When she tightened her grip on his arms and used her strength to help him stand, he didn’t protest. But the instant he was on his feet he launched another tirade. “How dare you tell me something is wrong with me. How dare you stand in my house and act as if . . .”
Jerome sank down in the chair before he could finish his rant against her. He was noticeably paler than usual, his two disparate eyes almost glowing in their sockets, his lips moving nervously as if he held words in his mouth that were fighting to get out. He gripped the arms of the chair and every bone in his knuckles looked about ready to protrude from his skin.
No matter how irate or insulting Jerome became, she was not going to leave him alone until she was certain he was in no danger. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, her voice sounding much calmer than she felt.
Jerome glared at her, his eyes blazing. “Nothing, damn it. How many times do I have to tell you there’s nothing wrong with me. All I did was stumble over that damned chair.” He took aim at a chair leg with his foot but missed by inches.
She refused to be cowed. “Does Julian know there’s something wrong with you?”
Jerome jumped to his feet, and faster than she could blink, he was standing in front of her, still unsteady on his feet. He spoke to her through clenched teeth, the veins at his temple raised and pulsing. “You are not to speak one word about me to Julian. Or to your stepsister. Ever. Is that clear?”
She could feel Jerome’s fury, and for the first time since they’d met she was truly frightened of him. Of what he was. Of what he could do to her if he chose.
Jerome had instinctively transported himself from the chair to stand in front of Dottie. He was as surprised by his success as was his houseguest, judging by the look on her face. Did that mean his full powers of transportation had returned? Did it mean his other powers had returned as well?
There was no way for him to tell just now, and he couldn’t take any unnecessary chances until he knew for certain that he was back to normal. It was more likely that his supernatural powers would remain unstable as long as the magnetic field did. At the moment, his main concern was the fear he saw in Dottie’s eyes and her obvious struggle to speak.
“Tell me you transported yourself from that chair,” Dottie said, her lips quivering. “I need to know it really happened, if for no other reason than to assure myself I’m not going out of my mind.”
He was tempted to inject a little humor into the situation by pretending she had imagined he had transported himself in front of her, but thought better of it when he noticed she was visibly trembling. It would be cruel to make fun of her fear, especially after she had shown such concern for him. Swallowing down a bit of resentment for caring about her feelings, he told her, “There’s no cause for alarm. Transporting for a vampire is as natural as walking is for you. It’s a power we use quite often, usually without thinking and especially as a means of defense.”
She looked at him with an expression of disbelief. “Why would you have to defend yourself against me? I certainly can’t do you any harm.”
“Physical danger is not the only kind there is,” he said, his tone much harsher than he intended.
Dottie’s brows furrowed. “I don’t understand—”
“It isn’t necessary for you to understand everything about me,” he snapped.
Suddenly, everything about her became amplified. The sound of her heart was like a drumbeat in his ears. Her hair shone as bright as the purest gold. The glow of her skin was radiant, and the fragrance of her recent shower perfumed the air like the sweetest blood and made his head spin. His gaze fell to the vee of her robe where it opened to the rise of her breasts.
What happened next was like a collapse in time. One second they were inches apart, the next their bodies were touching, her eyes had rounded and the sharp intake of her breath sounded like the crack of a whip in the quiet room.
He didn’t intend to kiss her, but the part of him still in touch with its human roots craved the feel of her lips against his. He had just given himself over to the wild rush of pleasure as her tongue accepted his when the near innocence of their first kiss became tainted by the twisted knot of lust that unfurled in his groin. His blood caught fire, and the desire to taste her blood surged through him.
This was the second time he had held this woman in his arms and battled with himself over whether or not he should take what he needed from her. Last night he had lost the first battle.
She was also the first woman he had promised to keep safe. He was guilty of many things, but breaking promises was not one of them. Especially not to Julian. He had managed to keep that promise last night. He would do it again now. Angrily, he thrust her from him.
Dottie’s gasp and the hurt look on her face brought a sharp, unexpected pain to his chest. “I’ll tell you once more,” he finally managed, after an agonizing gulp of air, “that for your own good you should get out of here.”
“And I told you before, I’m not leaving until I’m satisfied you’re okay.”
Damn her, what the hell was she doing? Did she have no idea at all what jeopardy she was in when his equilibrium was off-balance? Of course she didn’t. That’s why he had to find some way to convince her. “If you have any sense at all, any interest in your own safety, you will get out of here now. As a woman, you are not safe around me.”
“Why? Because you’re a vampire? Simone doesn’t seem to have been harmed by her relationship with your brother.”
“That’s a different situation altogether. They were destined to meet. Whatever was needed to keep your stepsister safe, Julian was able to find within himself. Being the noblest of our family, he has always been able to control his baser side. I, on the other hand, have no compunction about giving in to my baser instincts and taking what I need from a woman.”
“I can’t believe you would find pleasure in giving women pain.”
“You don’t know me well enough to judge what I would or would not do.” He glared at her, hoping she would detect menace in his eyes. “Besides,” he
added, lowering his voice to emphasize the warning he intended, “some women find pleasure in pain.”
For a second it seemed as if she understood the underlying meaning in his words and would heed them. But obviously not, because she lifted her chin defiantly and locking her gaze with his, said, “You wouldn’t hurt me.”
Her continued defiance of his warnings had finally raised his anger to a point he rarely felt for a human. “Do you think because I managed to control myself when I kissed you before that there’s something special about you that will keep you safe from me?
Before Dottie could answer, he grabbed both of her shoulders and hauled her up close to his body. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out, as if she’d somehow forgotten how to speak.
Willing his incisors to drop, he lowered them enough that their points dug into the flesh of his lower lip. He tasted the blood and knew what he was doing was dangerous, but he could think of no other way to prove to this stubborn woman that he spoke the truth.
As he crushed her even closer to his chest, he held his face close to hers, keeping his fangs bared as her expression gave way to one of shock.
Then, quite deliberately, he lowered his mouth to her neck.
Chapter Six
DOTTIE FELT JEROME’S teeth against her flesh as the pressure of his hands on her shoulders increased. The beginning of a chill touched the base of her spine, but a rush of heat quickly turned the icy shiver into delicious warmth that spread throughout her body. A low moan escaped her lips as sexual awakening unlike anything she had felt before stole over her. Even as she tried to fight the arousal, she arched her neck in invitation to Jerome’s mouth. Suddenly, he pulled back, his eyes seeming to meld with hers.
Are you ready now to heed my warnings?
It took a second before Dottie realized Jerome had not spoken aloud. That she had heard him in her mind. Her knees weakened. She waited for him to speak again so that she could be certain he had spoken to her without words. He didn’t disappoint her.
Hopefully, I’ve made you see how foolish you are not to take what I say, seriously.
There was no controlling her thoughts . . . her fears. Why was he doing this to her?
To prove to you that my powers are still strong and I can handle things on my own. You, on the other hand, cannot.
What was he talking about?
Have you no memory whatsoever of what happened last night?
Last night?
Yes, last night.
What about last night? And why are we speaking to one another without words?
Because I have linked our minds. And you did not stop me.
But I didn’t know . . .
Oh, but you did. You felt the link as the barest brush of my mind against yours. Had you resisted I would not have continued. And now you have the ability to switch from one mode to the other at will with me. Or to refuse me entrance altogether.
She felt a prickle somewhere inside her mind. She needed to know how he managed such a thing, especially if, as he claimed, it was with her permission. But there was something else more pressing that she needed to know.
The dream. I had a dream last night. It was a dream, wasn’t it?
Did you dream we had sex?
Yes.
That was a dream. But it was a dream only because I resisted your advances.
My advances? But I . . . She felt a flush creep up her neck as part of a memory surfaced.
He lifted a hand to move the hair back from her face. You should not be embarrassed over wanting to have a very basic need fulfilled.
Her heartbeat quickened. Her face began to sting as bits and pieces of the remembrance grew stronger. Aloud, she all but shouted, “My need? What are you talking about?”
Jerome leaned close and pressed his mouth to her ear. “I think you know very well what I’m talking about. You were quite, shall we say, demanding while I carried you to bed.”
Demanding? How dare you . . . It took a moment for her to realize she had shifted from spoken words to silent thoughts without realizing it.
Jerome chuckled in her ear, then pulled back to look deeply into her eyes. “Those demands were quite normal. And I might add, ones I would have given in to easily under other circumstances.” His expression changed quickly from arrogance to acrimony. “Had I been able to satisfy your demands as well as my own, I would not have been forced to go out into the night.”
She cringed inwardly. As unsettling as communicating silently was, it wasn’t nearly as unnerving as hearing Jerome speak those words. What exactly had she demanded of him? And what did he mean he was forced into the night? She switched easily and instinctively back into silent communication.
What do you mean I forced you out?
To put it bluntly Miss Crawford, you were all over me. You had me quite aroused. So much so that if I had stayed longer with you I might well have gone farther than merely taking a taste of your blood.
Dottie shook her head, not to clear it but to shake her jumbled thoughts into some sensible pattern. He had invaded her sleep and tasted her blood. Oh my god! He could just as easily have . . .
What exactly did you do to me? She began to pummel his chest, but he quickly caught her wrists in his hands.
I did nothing more than take just enough blood to sustain me until I could get what I needed elsewhere.
You did what? You took my blood against my will? How could you do such a thing?
She beat against his chest again while his hands held her wrists firmly but gently. When he didn’t try to restrain her she knew he was letting her vent against him. Eventually, she stilled her hands, fighting back a flood of tears that made her head feel about to burst.
Then part of what I recalled wasn’t a dream. Your mouth at my neck was real. She swallowed back more tears. As to the other . . . my familiarity with you . . . I assure you, had I known what I was doing, what you claim I was doing to you, I would have . . .
He silenced her thoughts with a finger across her lips.
“It is over and done with and you are none the worse for it. I only made you conscious of it to make my original point. That your strength is no match for mine.”
She had never really doubted that. She certainly would never doubt it in the future. Even now, she feared his strength. His fangs were still bared and despite how much she wanted to believe his being a vampire didn’t bother her, she felt a tremor of revulsion rise up within her.
Fear made her pulse quicken. She had just been imprisoned within the arms of a vampire, and had he wanted to, he could have had his way with her. He could certainly have taken much more than a drop of blood.
Reluctantly, she told him, in a not too steady voice, “You’ve done your best to prove how powerful you are and I have to admit you’ve succeeded.”
She held her breath, part of her expecting him to pull her up against him and prove his power over her again. Maybe this time he would . . . She couldn’t finish the thought because he hooked her with those striking blue and gray eyes, and while she watched in awe, his fangs receded into his gums and his mouth settled into a mocking half-smile. “Are you ready to admit now that you are more than just a little afraid of me?”
Before she could answer, he held up his hand. “Don’t deny it. I can feel your fear in here.” He thumped his hand lightly over his heart. “I am growing tired of trying to convince you how dangerous it is to be near me at times.” His lips thinned into a tight line.
“Very well,” she said, pulling the robe tighter around her, “Against my better judgment, I’ll leave you alone. If you promise me something.”
“And what is that?”
“That you will not link our minds again.”
His expression grew somber. He shook his head. “That is one promise I cannot make. Once a connecti
on is made, it is there forever. You will, however, always know when I am trying to contact you. You are free to refuse the connection at any time, and I will not go against your wishes. You have my word on that.”
She nodded. “Very well.” What else could she say? “And I will leave you now. As you’ve reminded me more than once, this is your home.”
Now that she had given in to him, she detected a softening in his expression and she half expected a conciliatory remark from him. When none came, she turned to leave, remembered the tea cup and walked to the table where it sat. She was on her way to the kitchen with the empty cup when Jerome’s cell phone rang. He listened for only a second before he said, “I’m on my way.”
Her back was to him, but from the tone of his voice she knew he would be scowling. Something was terribly wrong. When he rushed past her to the back of the house that led to his quarters beneath the main floor, she knew for certain there was trouble someplace.
In the kitchen she set the cup and saucer in the sink with shaky hands then walked to her bedroom. She had a sinking feeling in her chest that had nothing to do with whatever mysterious influence Jerome had exerted on her earlier. Now that she was alone and her head had cleared, she was certain that Jerome was not entirely well, and that he absolutely should not be going out of the house alone.
In her bedroom she sank down on the bed. She put her hand to the spot on her neck where Jerome’s lips had been, both exhilarated and repulsed by the memory of how aroused she had become.
Casting that thought aside, she forced herself to think about what could possibly be wrong with him. About the call he’d received and the danger into which he was no doubt heading.
She looked at her cell phone lying on the bedside table. Should she call Julian and let him know Jerome was ill? If she did, and he asked how she and Jerome were getting along, how much should she tell him?
The Vampire Jerome Page 6
