His Dark Embrace by Amanda Ashley Read Free Book Online Page A

“I was only sixteen,” she muttered, her embarrassment growing with every passing moment. “And you were ...” She cleared her throat. “You were older and mysterious and ...” She folded her arms. “I had a crush on you back then, that’s all.”
    He bit back a grin as he opened the notebook. More hearts, large and small, had been drawn on the inside cover, along with the words Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, Sky and Kaiden , and Mrs. Skylynn Thorne.
    “I must admit, I’m flattered,” he said, unable to hold back his grin any longer.
    Sky held up her hand. “Please, just forget it.”
    “Poetry, too?” he mused.
    “What? Oh, no! I’d forgotten about that.”
    The words were neatly written inside another heart.
     
    As the rising sun
Chases the night from the sky
So the memory of your smile
Fills my heart
Chasing the darkness
From my soul
     
    “It was a long time ago,” Sky said, not meeting his gaze. “Is there anything else in there? Anything useful?”
    “Just a spiral notebook.” He thumbed through the pages. Paddy’s familiar scrawl covered line after line with notations on experiments apparently made on animals. Toward the back of the book, he could see where several pages had been torn out. Another page had been torn in half. Thorne’s name was scribbled across the bottom of the half that remained. “Dammit!”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I think the ingredients and the instructions for mixing the formula might have been in here.”
    Sky looked up at him, her eyes wide. “And now the thief has it!”
    Thorne nodded. “Yeah,” he murmured. Dammit! Of all the bad luck.
    “I need to call the police and report this,” Sky said, suddenly all business. “Maybe they can determine who the vandal is.”
    “You don’t need the police. I know who did it.”
    “You do?” Sky exclaimed. “How can you possibly know that?”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “What are you going to do now?”
    “Go after him, of course.”
    “Do you know where he is?”
    “No, but find him I will,” Thorne said, his voice laced with determination.
    “I hope so.” She took another look around, her gaze settling on her grandfather’s favorite cup which lay near the cabinet, miraculously unbroken. Kneeling, she reached for the cup, let out a small cry as a tiny sliver of broken glass pierced her knee.
    Thorne sucked in a ragged breath as the scent of fresh blood filled his nostrils. He whirled around, his gaze zeroing in on the single drop of blood oozing from Sky’s knee.
    “You’re not squeamish, are you?” Sky asked, wiping the blood away with her fingertips.
    “No.” He swallowed hard. They had to get that formula, and it had to be soon. He could feel himself reverting. With every breath, he was growing increasingly aware of Skylynn, not as a woman, but as prey. The steady beat of her heart echoed like thunder in his ears; the rich, coppery scent of her blood made his fangs ache with need.
    He clenched his hands into tight fists. He dared not put it off any longer.
    He would have to drink the last of the potion, and soon.
     
     
    Thorne had offered to help Sky put Paddy’s lab back to rights, but she had refused his help, saying that she wanted to go through the rest of the house and make sure nothing else was missing before she called the police.
    He had taken his leave shortly thereafter. Being near Sky, listening to the beat of her heart, the whisper of the blood flowing through her veins, was a temptation he wasn’t sure he could resist much longer. Better to put some distance between them than risk doing something he would have a hard time explaining to her.
    At home, he prowled through the house he had occupied, on and off, for the last 150 years. It was a grand place, more like a mansion than a home. Originally built as a summer retreat by an Italian count, the house boasted vaulted ceilings, paneled walls, and hardwood floors. The front parlor had a large stone fireplace, as did the back parlor, the