Hmm. The age was correct. What was Mrs. Moore’s first name? Had it been Irene? Perhaps she had remarried.
I’d check tomorrow at work.
Then a flash bolted into my brain. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? Mrs. Moore had said she’d buried a husband. Maybe Mr. Moore was her second husband, and Juan Mendez had been her first. Mrs. Moore had said Carlos was her second son. Her first son was most likely still alive…and her next of kin.
He would have been notified of her death.
He could tell me everything I needed to know.
Chapter Nineteen
Dante
Despite my fuzzy mind, still I resisted her blood, my cheek burning from where her goon had hit me.
“No!”
She turned down her lips into a pout. “And after all I’ve done for you.”
“All you’ve done for me? Are you kidding? You’re keeping me here against my will. You’re taking my blood.”
“And I’m about to give you my own.”
“We can’t drink from each other. Everyone knows that.”
“Ah…what you’ve been told. There are some negative side effects that can be treated. Not all effects are negative. My blood will give your body the ability to stay strong while you’re my captive.”
I pulled against my bindings, gritting my teeth. The wounds on my neck itched from closing up. Already they were healing.
“Open your mouth, Dante.”
I squeezed my lips and eyes shut.
“Open his mouth again,” she commanded the men, “and make sure it stays open this time.”
I opened my eyes, though I had no desire to watch what she was forcing me to do. One of the servants attached a metal clamp to my mouth, forcing my lips into an O, while the other held my head still. She held her wrist over my mouth, and I watched in horror as her blood poured into me.
Couldn’t move. Couldn’t…
No! No! No!
Her blood burned my tongue, took with it my skin. Then, as it clawed its way down my throat, it left an acidic trail.
Soon my reflexes forced me to swallow against my will.
“Yes,” she said. “Now you’re truly a part of me. You will learn to take my blood by puncturing my flesh as I puncture yours. You can never escape me now, Dante. Never.”
“The vampire who held me captive was a female.”
Bill rubbed his forehead. “I’d gathered as much from our previous conversations. Was it the same one who fed you drugs that night?”
“Yes. She was masked, but it had to be her.”
“And when you were in captivity?”
“Masked. They were all masked.”
“Do you remember the color of her eyes?”
“Blue.”
“What about her hair?”
“In the beginning it was dark. Nearly black. Then…she began covering it up. She came to me not only masked but with a… I don’t know. A turban or something on her head.”
“All right. Any identifying characteristics other than her eyes and hair?”
“It was dark a lot of the time when she came to me.”
“And you drank from her?”
“She forced me to.”
“Side effects?”
“My muscles stayed strong. They didn’t atrophy. She said that was due to her blood.”
“What about side effects for her?”
“I have no idea. I hope she had major side effects, but she told me she wouldn’t, and that I wouldn’t. That she had learned how to combat the side effects of feeding on vampire blood.”
“Interesting…” Bill rubbed his forehead.
Interesting? I was spilling my guts here, my humiliation, and all he had to say was interesting? I stood. “I’m done here.”
“What? You can’t leave yet.”
“I can. I thought you cared, Bill. But all you’re interested in is answers. You don’t want to help me.”
“Of course I want to help you.”
“Then don’t make me relive all this shit!” I walked to the door and then looked over my shoulder. “I’ve told you a lot. What can you do to help me?”
“Based on what I know so far? I don’t know.” He bent over his desk.
I huffed. “That’s what I figured.”
“I’ll need to do some research. There’s a lot going on here that neither of us understands.”
“Just teach me what I need to know, or get me the translation of the Texts.” I turned and left the office.
Bill was holding something back. He wasn’t himself. I’d suspected it since I’d returned.
But now I felt it in my bones.
Bill was different.
I had to find out why.
It was midmorning. I applied sunblock to my face and neck and left Bill’s house. I needed to find a place of my own. Maybe I could stay with River for a while. Maybe my cousin and I could handle all this shit between the two of us. Forget learning it from Bill. I didn’t want him getting any more into my head anyway. River could just tell me what he knew.
It was daytime, and River would be off duty. I headed toward his place.
But found myself at Erin’s place instead, as if an invisible force had guided me.
I closed my eyes and turned her doorknob, already knowing what I would find.
Unlocked.
Again.
Chapter Twenty
Erin
“What?”
I jerked my head up. I’d fallen asleep at my table, my cheek on the keys of my laptop.
My gaze flew to the doorknob.
It was turning.
“Shit!” Had I truly forgotten to lock my door again? What the hell was wrong with me?
I froze. Oddly, though, not fear but anticipation coursed through me.
When Dante opened the door and appeared in my entryway, my skin warmed.
My mind dueled with my soul.
Never again!
But God, I wanted him.
I inhaled and let it out slowly. “What do you want, Dante?”
“Why is your door unlocked again?”
“None of your business.” I had no answer, anyway.
“You’re not safe if you don’t lock your door.”
“Not when people like you don’t bother to knock. Besides, it’s broad daylight, Dante.”
“It’s nighttime for you, isn’t it?”
“I was working. Notice my computer?”
“I also notice that your face seemed to be smashed into it.”
I rubbed my cheek. Sure enough, little grooves from the keyboard. He didn’t miss a beat. “So? What are you doing here? Why bother coming here at all, when you’re just going to run off again?”
He didn’t respond. Just stared at me with his dark and smoky eyes.
I inhaled. I could already smell my arousal. Just being near him…
This had to stop. I stood and backed toward the kitchen. “I don’t know why you’re here, but you’re no longer welcome in my home. Please leave.”
He took a step forward.
“I’m not kidding, Dante. I’ll call the police. I’ll have you arrested.”
“You didn’t have me arrested the first night we met, and you had every right to.”
He had me there. I wouldn’t call the police. I wouldn’t have him arrested.
The urge to protect him speared me in the gut.
What was I feeling?
He was gorgeous, yes, but what I was feeling went far beyond physical attraction. I hardly knew him, yet the pull was undeniable.
Even now, I felt an invisible cord urging me forward, and I inched toward him.
“I shouldn’t have come here,” he said.
I forced my feet to remain still. “Then why did you?”
He shook his head. “I’d tell you if I knew.”
I had no idea what he was feeling. I only knew what was in my own heart. No. My heart wasn’t involved yet. I’d been in love before, and what I felt for Dante was different.
Different, yet just as strong. Maybe even stronger.
It was physical, mental, emotional, spiritual.
He hadn’t stolen my heart.
He’d stolen my soul.
And I had no idea how or why.
I balled my hands into fists. “Stop doing this to me!”
“Erin…”
I held out my hand in a stopping motion. “Don’t come any nearer. Just don’t.”
He ignored me, stalking toward me. Soon we were inches apart. His breath drifted over my forehead like a spring breeze.
“I can’t help it,” he said. “I ache for you.”
I closed my eyes, inhaling his masculine scent. “God, I ache for you too.” Then I opened my eyes. “But I can’t do this anymore. You get me worked up and then you leave. For God’s sake, what am I supposed to think? You ran away after spreading my legs.”
He closed his eyes then. “I’m trying… God. I have to protect you, Erin.”
“From what?”
“From…” He opened his eyes and stared straight into mine. “Someone is…” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Someone… Fuck I can’t do this.”
I grabbed his arm then, tingles shooting through my fingers at the contact. “Can’t do what? Can’t do what, Dante?”
“Fuck,” he said again, and then he grabbed me and kissed me.
I tried to keep my lips closed. Truly, I did. But something within me overruled my brain. Not my heart but my soul ruled me when Dante was near.
And my soul wanted to kiss him.
It was hardly a tender kiss. It was raw, untamed, full of fire, passion, and something else I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
Didn’t matter. It was necessary. Necessary for both of us. For him as well as for me.
I could feel all of that in this kiss.
He broke the kiss suddenly. “I can’t stop this time, Erin.”
“Good,” I said huskily, moving my mouth back to his.
“No. Wait.” He moved backward.
God. Not again.
“I’m serious. I’m not stopping this time.”
“You’re stopping right now. Jesus, Dante.”
“There’s no going back after this, Erin.”
My mind flooded with lust. I had no idea what he was talking about, and at that moment, I didn’t give a damn. All I wanted was his lips on mine, his dick inside me. And damn it, I would have it.
No going back. That was fine with me.
“Do you understand me?” he said.
“Yeah. Whatever. No going back. I get it. But Dante, we haven’t gone anywhere yet. Nowhere. We’ve kissed a few times. Done some petting. Danced to strange music that apparently wasn’t there.”
“Wait!” He grabbed my shoulders. “That night at the bar. You heard music?”
“Well, no. I mean, obviously it must have been coming from outside or something. Lucy swears there was no music in the bar, and the bartender corroborated it. I’d had a lot to drink.”
“What kind of music did you hear, Erin? What kind?”
“A soft jazzy kind of thing, I guess.”
He rubbed his chin. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s okay. No one else believes me either.”
“That’s not what I mean. I do believe you heard it, Erin. I believe you, because I heard it too.”
I widened my eyes. “What?”
“I heard the music. As clear as a church bell on Sunday. And River said the same thing. There was no music.”
“Whatever. Who cares? Would you please kiss me again?”
He moved closer. “I want to more than anything.”
“Do it. I won’t stop you.” I opened my mouth and leaned into him.
He brushed his lips against mine in a soft kiss and then backed away.
Oh, hell, no. “You’re not leaving.”
“I have to. I’m so sorry, Erin.”
“I swear to God, if you leave me now, I’ll never let you through my door again.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting into. I’m not who you think I am.”
“Honestly, Dante, right now I don’t care. I only care about getting you into my bed.” I laughed. “Do you think this is something I do lightly? That I sleep around? I don’t. I’ve had one serious relationship in my life, and then you can count on one hand the men I’ve slept with.”
“Then who has been—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
“What? Who has been what?”
Chapter Twenty-One
Dante
Feeding on you.
I cursed inwardly. Why couldn’t vampires smell other vampires? Not that I could smell anyone but Erin anyway. What had happened to me?
The marks on her inner thigh had been unmistakable.
Someone had fed on her.
My cock was hard.
Harder than it had ever been.
In my limited experience, I knew I should assume this was just the adolescent me who’d never had a chance to experiment, to learn how to be with a woman.
But it was more.
In my soul, I knew it was more.
Erin Hamilton had awoken something in me. Something no one could have prepared me for, even if I’d been around for the last ten years. I wanted to possess her. I ached for completion with Erin.
Now.
I crushed my lips onto hers and drank from her. My gums tingled, and my fangs ached to descend.
I didn’t care.
I was so consumed by lust that I didn’t fight my physiology. Didn’t worry about nicking her tongue or the inside of her mouth.
Nothing mattered.
Nothing except kissing Erin, devouring Erin. Making Erin mine.
The act would nearly complete what was already real. She was mine. Had always been mine. Had been born for me.
River said fated mates didn’t exist for vampires.
He’d been wrong.
We swirled our tongues together, kissed with passion and desire. I let my tongue flow over every millimeter of her mouth, tasting every crevice of her. Passion fruit and mint, musky cinnamon and clove.
And the flavor that was uniquely Erin.
The flavor that would be magnified one hundredfold when I finally tasted her blood.
I would do so.
Soon.
I broke the kiss and inhaled deeply, as if I’d been underwater for too long. I scooped her into my arms and carried her upstairs to her bedroom.
No stopping. No going back.
This time, no matter how many bite marks I found, no matter how much my fangs ached to descend and sink into her flesh, no matter how much I longed to protect her…
None of that would stop me today.
I set her down so we were both standing next to her bed, and I grabbed her dark ponytail, pulling it downward to expose her neck. I inhaled. Sweet, succulent Erin. Then I eyed her closely. Only one small mark, and it had come from me that night on the dance floor. That night when she and I had heard a concert inaudible to the rest of the universe.
The jazzy blues played faintly now, as I regarded the woman who was mine. “Do you hear it, Erin?”
“Mmm…hear what?” she mumbled, her eyes glassy.
“The music.”
She looked at me, her eyes glazed over. “I think I do. Where is it coming from, Dante?”
I smiled. “I honestly don’t know. But I know I hear it, as sure as I know the sun will rise tomorrow.” I brushed my lips gently over hers. “I want to make love to you, Erin. I need to make love to you.”
“For us to make love, Dante, you have to actually stay until the act is complete.” She giggled.
“I’ll stay this time. I promise.” I meant those words from the depths of my soul. I had to be with her, to join with her. I lowered my head and kissed her lips, parting them with my tongue.
When something buzzed against my leg.
Erin pulled away. “I think you just got a text or something.”
The buzz was a t
ext message? I was still getting used to the constant phone stuff. “I don’t care.”
“You have to check.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I’m an ER nurse, Dante. You always check. What if it’s an emergency? You said your sister’s pregnant.”
I sighed. She was right, of course.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The text was from River.
Come to Bill’s right away. Important.
God, Erin was right. It had to be Em.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I have to leave.”
She laughed aloud.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Erin
Left alone again with my pussy throbbing and my nipples hard. I had only myself to blame this time. I was the one who’d insisted he look at his phone. In my line of work, you didn’t ignore your phone. Ever.
I undressed and opened my dresser to get out some clean underwear, when my hand hit something hard at the back of the drawer. I pushed away the clothes—
“Oh my God.”
A vibrator. I’d forgotten all about it. Lucy had given it to me as a gag on my last birthday. I’d never used it, though I hadn’t eliminated the possibility. I’d taken it out of its original box and buried it in my underwear drawer, thinking I might need it someday.
Maybe today was the day.
The thing was huge. Lucy would never purchase anything average-sized.
Dante was huge, as far as I could tell from what I’d felt under his jeans. This tool would most likely be an excellent substitute.
I shed my clothes and lay down on my cool cotton comforter. This was all new to me, but I was so ripe. I smoothed my fingers over my labia. God, yes. I was wet. So damned wet.
Wet enough to take the phallic wonder right then, but I didn’t. Not yet.
First I played with my nipples a little, pinching and twisting them, imagining Dante’s firm lips tugging on them. Imagining his soft hair tickling them as he tortured me in the best way.
Then I trailed one hand over my abdomen to my clit. It was swollen and hard, and after a few strokes, I was ready for Dante’s big cock.
With one hand still playing with a nipple, I plunged the vibrator into my pussy.
Unchained: Blood Bond Saga: Volume One Page 17
