what it means, but I feel it in the marrow of my bones, in the every cell in my body."
His face was somber as he delivered the line that would change her life. "You belong to
me."
Sophia could feel the heavy beat of his heart beneath her hand. Did vampires even
have heartbeats? Her mind was whirling. There was no denying that she was attracted
to him and that attraction went beyond the physical. She knew what he meant when he
said that he felt it in the marrow of his bones. She felt it too and it frightened her.
She knew better than to depend on anyone. She'd been on her own since she was
sixteen, depending on only herself for everything. Being that connected to another
person, especially when one of them wasn't human, was beyond scary.
"Do you drink blood?" She'd avoided the question long enough. She knew the
legends the same as everyone else, but what she didn't know was what was truth and
what was fiction. Maybe if she got him to talk about it, she'd be able to figure out just
how deeply he believed this fantasy. It definitely didn't feel real.
Right now she still wasn't convinced that she hadn't hallucinated the whole thing
due to lack of sleep and hunger. Perhaps she was asleep and dreaming all this. The only
other explanation was that it was true and that wasn't something she was sure she
could deal with.
Zane nodded, ignoring her as she involuntarily jerked away from him. "Yes, I need
blood to survive, but I've never taken enough to kill anyone." He continued when she
said nothing. "These days, I purchase blood through a dummy corporation. It's not the
best option, but it does the job."
"What do you mean?" A part of her was appalled by what he was saying, but
another part of her was fascinated by it. She'd always been inquisitive. It was that trait
that had led her to her profession and it was that part of her that needed answers.
"There is nothing like the taste of fresh, warm blood."
Zane licked his lips and she couldn't help but shudder, imagining his mouth
caressing her skin, his tongue licking every inch of her body. She knew she should be
terrified, but instead she was drawn to the darkness she sensed swirling inside him. Her
nipples puckered tight against her thin shirt. She was thankful the blanket was covering
her so he couldn't see. Unfortunately, she could tell by the look on his face that he
misinterpreted her shudder as one of disgust. He shifted farther away from her.
"Do people change when you take their blood?" Unconsciously, she rubbed her
neck with her fingers.
"No." His words were clipped now as he continued. "The world would be littered
with vampires if that were the case. Most vampires are born that way, but I have heard
that some can be converted."
"How?"
His smile was cold. "The victim must be drained of blood and then must drink from
the vampire. If she lives, then she is reborn a vampire."
"Okay." She tried to absorb what he was telling her, but it felt totally unreal, more
like a tale used to scare kids around a campfire. "You said you heard. Don't you
know?"
"I've never attempted it. There is a chance the person might not live through it and
also the possibility that they might go insane after the conversion. Besides which, living
as a vampire has its drawbacks."
"What are they?" The reporter in her wanted the facts. The woman in her wanted to
know everything about the man seated beside her.
"Sunshine will kill me. I can stand a few minutes after dawn and before dusk on a
cloudy day, but that is all. During the day a deathlike sleep comes over me, leaving me
vulnerable to attack. Many vampires over the years have had their existence cut short
by a stake through the heart or a quick beheading. Then there is the obvious fact that I
need blood to survive." He paused briefly before continuing. "But other than that, I live
quite well. The night is a place of beauty and endless fascination."
She asked the question that she'd been putting off. "Exactly how old are you?"
"A little more than two hundred years old. I was born in the year of our Lord 1800."
Two hundred years old. Her head was spinning at the mere thought of it. If what he
was saying was true, he'd seen so much, done so much. And maybe she was losing her
mind to even consider believing him. Then his phrasing struck her as odd. "In the year
of our Lord? I thought vampires couldn't go into churches?"
He laughed. "Pure fiction. I took great solace from a particularly kind minister back
in 1852. Holy water and garlic won't hurt me either. That is nothing more than a
writer's imagination."
Sophia nodded, still trying to absorb everything.
"You know what I am." He slowly stood, towering over her supine body. "I have
long suspected that the Dalakis are vampires as well. But we are not so different from
humans. There are evil vampires and good ones. I'm just not sure where these men
stand."
"If they're evil? If they're responsible for the death of Janice Barton, what will you
do?"
"They can never be brought to justice in the traditional way."
He sounded almost bored by the conversation, but she wasn't fooled. Sophia
pushed aside the blanket and sat up. "What will you do?"
He shrugged. "What I have to."
She surged to her feet. "What will you do?" She was almost yelling now, her heart
thumping at the mere thought of him being hurt. There were three Dalakis brothers--
not to mention their ex-cop--and only one of him.
Zane stared at her, and the eyes that watched her were merciless. "Kill them."
Chapter Five
"Are you crazy!" Sophia jumped to her feet, practically shoving him off the sofa.
The blanket fell to the floor forgotten as they faced each other. She was magnificent in a
rage. Her eyes snapped and her cheeks were a rosy red, which was much better than
the pale white they'd been for the past few minutes.
He wasn't quite sure exactly what she was referring to. "Perhaps."
His nonchalant answer seemed to make her even angrier. She tilted her head up to
meet his gaze. "There are three of them." She poked her finger into his chest, one time
for each word she spoke.
He nodded, enthralled by the concern she exuded.
"Well then." She threw up her arms.
"Well what?" She was so close that he could see each individual eyelash, wanted to
reach out and see if they were as soft as they looked. Her brows scrunched together as
she frowned and he rubbed his finger between them to smooth away the wrinkles. She
jerked her head away and frowned even harder. She wasn't going to give this up any
time soon. He sighed and tried to follow her train of thought.
"We're agreed then." She stared at him earnestly. He had no idea what she thought
they'd agreed to.
"Sophia?"
"No. It's the only way. Until you know what's going on with the Dalakis family and
their former cop, you and I will work together, pool our resources and try to get to the
bottom of this."
Zane shook his head adamantly. "No. I don't want you anywhere near the Dalakis
family or Sam Cassidy. Not now. Not ever." The memory of the poor woman from the
cemetery was burned into his brain. It was all too easy to ima
gine Sophia in her place,
and that was enough to chill his blood. He could not allow that to happen. Would not
allow it. She would listen to him.
"Sorry." She untangled her feet from the blanket and headed toward the hallway.
"I'm already involved. You seem to forget that I'm the one who got the phone call last
night sending me to the cemetery. I'm the one who found the note." She bit her lower
lip and glanced away.
"What note?" he growled. "There was no mention of any note in the police report."
"Umm, why don't you forget I said that?"
"Sophia?" His voice was little more than a guttural groan. His vocal cords were
tight as he clenched his jaw to keep from yelling at her. What was she up to now?
"Okay." She threw up her hands. "But remember, I know something about you that
you don't want known either, so you can't say anything about the note."
He was across the room before she could blink, crowding her body back against the
wall. "It's not wise to threaten a vampire." He kept his tone low and menacing. By God,
the woman needed to be afraid of him if it meant she might actually listen to him.
of time to hurt me if you wanted to."
Zane thought his head might explode at her faulty logic. He pressed a finger
beneath her chin and tilted it upward before letting his hand graze the seductive curve
of her neck. "Maybe I like to toy with my victims first. Get their trust."
She swallowed hard and shivered even as she shook her head at him. "No. I don't
think so." Her words were little more than a whisper.
"You don't think so." He moved his fingers up and down her neck slowly, feeling
the blood rush beneath her silky skin. "But you can't be sure, can you?" Leaning down,
he stroked his tongue over the fluttering pulse at the base of her neck.
"Zane," she moaned as she pushed closer to him.
He groaned, all thoughts of frightening some sense into her forgotten beneath the
onslaught of need that coursed through him. She tasted so sweet and she was here with
him now, her hands clutching his shoulders and tugging him closer instead of pushing
him away. Wanting to feel her hands against his skin, he cursed his shirt. A red haze
filled his brain. The instinctual need to taste her, to pleasure her, to claim her
overwhelmed him. Nothing else mattered at this moment.
He trailed small, nipping kisses up her neck to her ear. Gripping the succulent lobe
between his teeth, he tugged. She was wearing two small silver hoops in her ear. He
pulled gently on them one at a time, savoring her whimpers of pleasure.
His cock was swollen and aching, pressing against his zipper. He leaned his hips
inward, thrusting his erection against her stomach. Her hands fell from his shoulders
and gripped his hips, pulling him tighter against her. His lungs were working hard as
he buried his face in the curve of her neck and sucked in air.
"Sophia." He grabbed her hands and tried to put some space between them. She
threw a leg over his hip and yanked him back. "Sophia," he gasped again. He was
almost to the point of no return, but he needed to be sure.
Cupping her face in his hands, he leaned down so that she could see the red
tingeing his eyes, see the sharpness of his fangs as they protruded through his gums. He
could feel the need for blood mixing with his lust for this particular woman. If he didn't
stop soon, he wasn't sure he'd be able to. He'd always had control. But not, apparently,
with Sophia.
"We have to stop now," he gasped.
"Why?" She shimmied her hips closer even as he tried to stop her.
"I've never felt this way before, Sophia. I want to taste you, to lick you." He finally
did what he'd wanted to do ever since he first laid eyes on her. Leaning down, he
captured her bottom lip between his teeth and sucked on it. It was plump and ripe, and
he took his time, running his tongue over every part of it before releasing her. She was
breathing hard, her eyes glazed with desire. "I want to taste every inch of your
delectable body. Lick the slick folds of your pussy until you shriek with pleasure." He
nipped at her top lip, eliciting a moan from her. "I want to hear your voice begging me
to fuck you." He stroked his hands down her collarbone and between her breasts until
they rested just below the small mounds. "Then I want to fuck you until we're both a
sweaty, writhing mass, screaming our releases."
She licked her lips and he groaned. He could hear the whoosh of her blood as it
hurried through her veins, could smell her arousal as it wafted up between them. It was
enough to drive a sane man mad. And Zane was no longer certain of his own sanity.
"Do you know what I want to do then?"
She shook her head, her eyes wide and unfocused.
"I want to sink my teeth into your soft, supple flesh and taste your sweet blood."
She whimpered as he stroked the undersides of her breasts with his thumbs. She wasn't
wearing a bra beneath her thin tank top and he could feel the suppleness of them. "I
won't take too much. Just a taste. Just enough so that we have a connection."
"What do you mean?" she gasped. "A connection."
"It means that I would be able to read your thoughts if I wished to. I would be able
to find you, no matter where you went. It might take me some time, but there is
nowhere you could go where I could not eventually find you."
"Why?"
He understood what she was asking him. In response, he ground his pelvis against
"I belong to myself." She groaned as he flicked his thumbs over her distended
nipples.
"There is something between us, Sophia. Something powerful. If I take you, you are
mine." It took every ounce of strength he possessed to let her go and push away from
her. Her strength was no match for his, yet she almost held him prisoner with the
lightest touch of her hand. "Be sure." He reached out to touch her face, thought better of
it and dropped his hand back to his side. "If we do this, there is no going back. For
either of us."
Sophia reached a shaky hand up to her face. Her lips still tingled where he'd nipped
and licked them, her breasts ached from where his thumbs had stroked them and her
pussy throbbed with a powerful need unlike anything she'd ever experienced. His raw
promises echoed in her mind and body. She swallowed hard. Fear and lust warred
within her.
Zane would demand much from her. For a woman who'd never found it easy to be
in any kind of relationship, this was scary. She was finally beginning to grasp the fact
that Zane wasn't just a man, but a supernatural being. She could no longer deny the
evidence of her own senses. No longer find a logical way to explain it all away.
What was she thinking to even consider starting a relationship with him? But it
wasn't really a relationship, was it? It was sex, primal and hot. Her body was screaming
yes, but her head was shouting out a warning. She could try to fool herself that it would
only be sex between them, but she'd be lying to herself. There was already something
between them, some connection that neither of them could deny.
Staring a
t him, she saw the unvarnished need in him and, for a split second, the
vulnerability. He wasn't any more comfortable with this than she was but, like her, he
could feel the ties that were somehow binding them together.
How had they even gotten to this stage so quickly? She'd just met him, for heaven's
sake. She'd never considered jumping into bed this fast with a man. In fact, she'd only
ever had two lovers and she'd known both of them for some time before she'd had sex
with them. They'd gone from arguing about the note she'd found to this in mere
seconds.
Zane's gaze softened. "It's all right if you're not ready yet."
Yet. That one word stood out between them because she knew he was right. It was
only a matter of time until it happened. There was too much sheer chemistry and
attraction between them for it not to. If they worked together, it was inevitable. The
alternative was to never see him again and her very soul cried out in anguish at that
thought.
What to do?
Her body was throbbing for his touch. She wanted him to do everything he'd
promised. She wanted his hands on her, his tongue and lips tasting her. She wanted his
cock inside her, driving them both over the edge. But did she want the rest of it? Did
she want him to take her blood? She unconsciously rubbed her neck with her hand and
could feel her pulse pounding there.
"Sophia." His tone was softer now and she couldn't resist its unspoken plea.
She looked up at him and saw the understanding in his face. That more than
anything else helped her decide. "I'm not sure about the whole blood thing, but I want
the rest of it."
Zane's big body shifted closer to her. She could feel the heat surround her. "I may
not be able to stop myself. When the bloodlust is upon me, I may not be able to resist
the lure and temptation of your blood."
Would it be so bad? It was only a small amount of blood. She probably lost more
when she donated to the local blood bank. Then there was the connection that it would
create between them. "You'll be able to read my mind?"
"Yes." He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head and leaned his
forehead against hers. "But I promise not to trespass unless I feel you are in danger."
"Okay." There was nothing else to be said. She wanted him as much as he seemed