Secret Vampire by Lisa J. Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

do this. It's weird to have you awake."
    "Yeah, well, if I scream you can hypnotize me," Poppy said, not opening her eyes.
    Relax, she told herself firmly. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how awful it is, you can deal with it. You have to. Your life depends on it.
    Her heart was thumping hard enough to shake her body.
    "Right here," James said, touching her throat with cool fingers as if feeling for a pulse.
    Just do it, Poppy thought. Get it over with.
    She could feel warmth as James leaned close to her, taking her carefully by the shoulders. Every nerve ending in her skin was aware of him. Then she felt cool breath on her throat, and quickly, before she could recoil, a double sting.
    Those fangs, burying themselves in her flesh. Mak ing two little wounds so he could drink her blood ...
    Now it's really going to hurt, Poppy thought. She couldn't brace herself anymore. Her life was in the hands of a hunter. She was a rabbit trapped in the coils of a snake, a mouse under the claws of a cat. She didn't feel like James's best friend, she felt like lunch....
    Poppy, what are you doing? Don't fight it. It hurts when you resist.
    James was speaking to her-but the warm mouth on her throat hadn't moved. The voice was in her head.
    I'm not resisting, Poppy thought. I'm just ready for it to hurt, that's all.
    There was a burning where his teeth pierced her. She waited for it to get worse-but it didn't. It changed.
    Oh, Poppy thought.
    The feeling of heat was actually pleasant. A sensation of release, of giving.
    And closeness. She and James were getting closer and loser, like two drops of water moving together until they merged.
    She could sense James's mind. His thoughts-and his feelings. His emotions flowed into her, through her.
    Tenderness ... concern ... caring. A cold black
    rage at the disease that was threatening her. Despair that there was no other way to help her. And long ing-longing to share with her, to make her happy.
    Yes, Poppy thought.
    A wave of sweetness made her dizzy. She found herself groping for James's hand, their fingers intertwining.
    James, she thought with wonder and joy. Her com munication to him a tentative caress.
    Poppy. She could feel his own surprise and delight.
    And all the time the dreamy pleasure was building. Making Poppy shiver with its intensity.
    How could I have been so stupid? Poppy thought. To be afraid of this. It isn't terrible. It's .. . .   right.
    She had never been so close to anybody. It was as if they were one being, together, not predator and prey, but partners in a dance. Poppy-and-James.
    She could touch his soul.
    Strangely enough, he was afraid of that. She could sense it. Poppy, don't-so many dark things-I don't want you to see ...
    Dark, yes, Poppy thought. But not dark and terri ble. Dark and lonely. Such utter loneliness. A feeling of not belonging in either of the two worlds he knew. Not belonging anywhere. Except ...
    Suddenly Poppy was seeing an image of herself. In his mind she was fragile and graceful, an emerald eyed spirit of the air. A sylph-with a core of pure steel.
    I'm not really like that, she thought. I'm not tall and beautiful like Jacklyn or Michaela....
    The words she heard in answer didn't seem di rected toward her-she had the feeling they were something James was thinking to himself, or remem bering from some long-forgotten book.
    You don't love a girl because of beauty. You love her because she sings a song only you can understand....
    With the thought came a strong feeling of protec tiveness. So this was how James felt about her-she knew at last. As if she were something precious, something to be protected at all costs....
    At all costs. No matter what happened to him. Poppy tried to follow the thought deeper into his mind, to find out what it meant. She got an impres sion of rules-no, laws ...
    Poppy, it's bad manners to search somebody's mind when you're not invited. The words were tinged with desperation.

Poppy pulled back mentally. She hadn't