Pray for Dawn by Jocelynn Drake Read Free Book Online Page B

backward and shook her head, looking somewhat confused. I knew her thoughts had to be the same as my own. How had we pushed each other so quickly to the point of each nearly tearing the other’s heart out? She looked up at me and her grin seemed sheepish. She had almost lost control. Mira had come in here to seduce me, not kill me.
    “Why are we fighting?” she softly began, one corner of her mouth quirked in a playful smile. “Let’s go back to bed. You’re tired.”
    “Out, Mira!” I shouted, pointing toward the door. It was all just a game to her.
    “Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll go play with James.” Mira scooped up what looked like a cloak that had been draped over one of the chairs by the door. She wrapped it around her before she strolled out of the room, her hips swaying.
    “Call Tristan!” I called after her before she shut the door.
    I drew in a deep breath through my nose and slowly released it as I rolled my shoulders. I didn’t completely relax until I felt Mira enter another room farther down the hall. By the thrum of power seeping from that direction, I was willing to bet it was Ryan’s room. The warlock would keep her occupied while I caught a few hours of sleep.
    Placing the knife back under my pillow, I lay back down on the bed and drew the sheet up to my stomach, but Mira’s scent lingered on the pillow next to me. I closed my eyes, but her image danced there on the other side of my eyelids, her smile taunting me. I didn’t want to think about her, much less about how the tightness in my chest had instantly unraveled when I saw her lying safe and smiling next to me.
    I hadn’t seen her in three months, but my body’s reaction had been instantaneous. I loved the soft touch of her hands and her deep laugh when she was amused. It had been tempting to just slip back under the sheets and press her body to mine.
    Mira could appear to be just a beautiful woman full of life and laughter, but she still held that exciting edge; that cold, crisp touch of power that followed her wherever she went, a barely concealed threat of danger and uncontrollable energy like a building thunderstorm. Around her, my blood pumped and the hair on my arms stood on end with the energy that crackled between us. For the first time in more centuries than I wanted to count, I felt alive when she was near. Before Mira, I had become a shell going through the motions of living, only getting a short brief burst of adrenaline when I was hunting. Yet, when Mira was around, it was an emotional roller coaster of anger, frustration, surprise, horror, and even joy.
    But she was a vampire. A monster. A heartless killer.
    At least that’s what I tried to remind myself, but the longer I knew her—the more I saw of her world—the harder that was to believe. She didn’t kill humans. She might have toyed with them and played her games, but she didn’t kill. And regardless of whether she admitted it to herself, she cared about Tristan’s safety.
    In my head, I could easily imagine Bodhi shaking his head at me with his knowing little smile. I had traveled with the bald, bandy-legged gypsy for less than two decades, but he and his family had become my family for a time. He was first to try to get me to forgive myself for being born. He was also the first to point out that vampires were evil, following the loss of one of his sons. He would have reminded me that there is nothing wrong in appreciating the beauty and grace of a Bengal tiger, just never think you could take one in as a pet. It would only rip your heart out despite your admiration.
    Staring up at the ceiling, I sighed and laced my fingers behind my head. Maybe Mira was right and I needed sex. It had been a long while since I had been with a woman. My attraction to Mira could just be a buildup of sexual tension, but I wasn’t about to relieve that tension with her, no matter how tempting she was. I was tired of being a plaything for powerful creatures.

FIVE
    M y sleep was