Cody by Kimberly Raye Read Free Book Online Page A

second, but then he touched her. His fingertips trailed over her smooth skin, down the side of her face, her cheek and again he felt a surge of protectiveness.
    Crazy. He wasn’t doing this for her. This was about watching his own ass and covering his tracks. No police. No hospital.
    He leaned down and lapped at the two tiny prick points at her neck. The taste hit him like a shot of whiskey, curling through him, stirring a wave of heat that warmed his insides and made him want more. His fangs sharpened and vibrated, but he resisted the draw of her sweet life. Instead, he laved the nicks with histongue and forced himself away. His entire body trembled with the effort.
    “Close your eyes and relax,” he said, his voice gruff. “You’ll be home soon.”
    She didn’t want to, but he stared so hard into her gaze and impressed his will on her that she had no choice.
    Stare into her eyes and will her to forget, a voice reminded him. Erase her memory of you. But damned if her eyelids didn’t close before he had the chance.
    At least, that’s what he told himself.
    Deep down, he knew the truth was that she’d come looking for a memory and he couldn’t bring himself to rob her of it. It wasn’t as if he could control exactly what she remembered. How far back. What specific events and episodes. Rather, he could make her forget him and all that that involved.
    The sex.
    The confrontation with the young vampire.
    The accident.
    The sharing of his blood.
    The last thought stopped him cold. Since she’d tasted him, he might not be able to influence her thoughts and erase her memory. He didn’t know.
    Not that it mattered either way.
    He’d erased the evidence and he had no doubt that she would convince herself that she hadn’t really seen what she’d thought she’d seen. Reason and logic would win out over the truth. They always did.
    He licked at his bleeding wrist before untucking his shirt and ripping off a strip from the bottom. He wrapped the cloth around the self-inflicted wound andtied a tight knot. The gash hurt like a sonofabitch and it looked even worse, but he knew the pain wouldn’t last for long. A day of sleep and all traces of the injury would be completely gone.
    For her, as well.
    He slid off his shirt and draped it over her. Her heartbeat echoed in his head and his hands lingered on her smooth, warm cheek.
    A quick second and he forced himself away.
    And then he climbed behind the wheel, hit the interstate and headed for Skull Creek.

Chapter Seven
    A NIGHTMARE .
    That’s what Miranda decided when she opened her eyes. She was stretched out in the backseat of her car parked in front of the two-story brick colonial she’d bought two years ago. Flower beds full of Texas sage and lantana lined the walkway to the front door and a well-tended ivy covered trellis decorated the right front of the house.
    It was an older house and somewhat small, but it was well-kept and, more importantly, it was all hers. She’d scrimped and saved for years, living in a one-room efficiency over the local bakery and stashing every extra penny from her job at the senior center until she’d finally had enough for a down payment. Her sisters hadn’t thought she’d be able to do it, but she had. Just as she’d put herself through college. And graduated at the top of her class.
    The house, however, was her biggest accomplishment. Her pride and joy.
    She’d refinished the kitchen cabinets and retiled the bathroom floor and she was now in the process of repainting her bedroom a creamy yellow with pale pink trim.
    A far cry from the moldy, peeling papered walls ofthe trailer where she’d grown up—where her sisters still lived—which was the point entirely. She’d wanted out of that life, and she’d made it.
    Almost.
    Relief threaded through her as she blinked against the blinding morning sunlight. A nightmare, all right, and now she was home. Safe.
    She glanced at her hands just to be sure.
    Sure enough, there wasn’t a