Lure of Forever by Doris O'Connor Read Free Book Online Page B

and this just had to be some sort of desperate nightmare.
    His sigh raised the ends of her
fringe and she didn't have the strength to resist the gentle hands urging her
back onto the bed. But she didn't have to look at him. She couldn't look at
him. God only knew what he would plant in her mind if she did.
    "Yes, I'm a vampire, and count yourself lucky I am." His hands probed the back of her
head carefully and she couldn't stop the slight wince. "Still
sore?" His voice dropped an octave with the whispered question and
he tilted her head up.
    "Answer me, Chere .Please, open your
eyes. You lost a lot of blood. I need to know you're all right."
    Oh
my God, what did he mean?   Renewed terror shot through her at the things she was imagining and she
clutched the sheet as though it was a shield. Her fingers cramped, the pain
grounding her in reality and beads of perspiration erupted on her skin. The
blood rushed in her ears and her lungs hurt with the effort it took to slow her
breathing.
    "Calm down." One cool hand
settled over hers, his thumb rubbing circles on her wrists and she wrenched
herself away.
    "Stop it. I've fallen for this
once. It's not happening again."
    His whispered laughter skittered
across her skin, just under her ear and she scooted further away from him. One
hand still had the sheet in a death grip as the other covered her neck in
horror. Her eyes connected with his.
    She wasn't prepared for the flash of
pain she saw in his eyes, or the way he grew tense under her scrutiny, his eyes
darting to the spot on her neck her hand covered. His eyebrows narrowed and a
flush appeared on those perfectly sculpted cheekbones.
    "I owe you an apology for that.
I didn't mean to…"
    "Spare me." He reared
back, as she spat the words at him. "You didn't mean to what, feast on me?
Use me and then discard me like an old shoe? Play with me like a dog with a
chew toy? Damn you, you had no right. No right at all."
    " Chere ,
I…"
    "Like I said, spare me.
You lied and manipulated me into your bed and I fell for it like the stupid,
naïve cow I am and to top it all, you're not even human, but some bloodsucking
monster ."   She shrunk away
from the growl erupting from his still form. Oh shit, he looked murderous and
defeated and disappointed all at once.  
    "I guess that is all you would
see."
    Her heart clenched at his words. Oh
God, why did she feel sympathy for him? He fed on her like some leech and he'd
tricked her into his bed, no doubt using some form of mind control. Vampires
could do that, after all. Her immediate attraction to him made perfect sense
now. And he'd spun her that stupid tale about the murders, and...
    Another thought surfaced out of the
still fuzzy corners of her brain.
    "How did I get here? I was in
my bathroom and I fell, and I…"
    Her heart went into overdrive again
as bits of memories zinged into awareness, too insubstantial to make sense. But
she remembered the pain all too well, the feeling of slipping away from
everything, until the cool presence had surrounded her.
    "What did you do to me?"
    ****
    This is why he didn't get involved
with anyone: The heavy feeling in his gut, the tightness in his chest, the
bitter disappointment that coursed through his veins, slicing them open until
it felt as though acid was fueling his body.
    He'd saved her life and all she
could see in him was a monster. It had taken all his centuries' worth of
control to stop the bloodlust invading every one of his senses last night, when
he'd entered her house. She had lain in a pool of her own blood on the bathroom
floor, every beat of her heart draining the life force out of her. The bloody imprint of her head on the side of the bath, a testament
to what must have happened.
    Her injuries had been severe enough
to worry him. As well as the amount of blood she'd lost, there had been the
fracture to her skull to worry about. Had he arrived just ten minutes later,
the only way to save her would have been to turn her. He didn't know