The Vampire Next Door by Charity Santiago, Evan Hale Read Free Book Online

door behind him, drawing the deadbolt before he turned back to me.
     
    My heart was in my throat, beating so fast that I thought I might lose consciousness at any moment. I’d never been so terrified in my life. Somehow I managed to find my voice, dry and cracked as it was. “Try to eat me if you want, but I am not gonna make it easy for you.”
     
    He paused, and the faint light from an adjoining room barely allowed me to make out the astonishing breadth of his shoulders, the impossibly well-defined muscles of his bare torso. His face was mostly obscured in the dim illumination, but I could see the slight curve of a smile on his sculpted lips.
     
    “A thank you would be nice,” he said.
     
    I said nothing, and my chin trembled as I stared up at him, my jaw clenched as I desperately tried to hide my fear from him. I knew I had no chance against a vampire of this size. Undead were notoriously strong anyway, but this giant man looked as if he could snap me in half using only his pinkies.
     
    His eyes moved down to my leg, which was stretched out in front of me. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice that it was injured. I winced as I struggled to bend my knee, trying to bring my foot a little closer to my body in the hopes of making it appear less appetizing.
     
    “Are you hurt?” he asked.
     
    In spite of everything, or maybe because I was so frightened, the note of kindness in his tone rushed over me like a tidal wave, warming my insides. His voice was a revelation, silken and soothing, but dangerous at the same time.
     
    Again, I didn’t respond, and he sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. “You woke me up from one hell of a dream,” he said. “The least you could do is talk to me.”
     
    “I’m not interested in casual conversation with bloodsuckers,” I snapped, wielding my wooden stake in front of me.
     
    “I’m your neighbor,” he said, sounding indignant, “and I saved your life. I’m not just a bloodsucker, any more than you’re just a human.”
     
    That did give me pause. He knew we were neighbors? “You know me?” I asked before I could stop myself, and then I shut my mouth. He was probably just trying to get me to let my guard down.
     
    “Hard to miss you, with all that hair,” he said. “And those eyes.”
     
    I blushed, and stayed silent.
     
    After a moment, he turned away, moving towards the open door. “Leave if you want,” he said. “It’s up to you. But that kid is probably waiting outside.”
     
    I knew he was right, and I knew that Kellie was just around the corner, too- but I didn’t know if facing off against them would be preferable to staying here, with possibly the sexiest…um, strongest vampire I’d ever seen.
     
    He closed the door, plunging me into darkness again. I bit my lower lip, wishing like hell that I’d brought a flashlight with me. Heck, if I were going to rewind time for do-overs, I might as well wish that I hadn’t even bothered leaving the house this morning. Or- oh, I definitely would have had sex with Eddie yesterday. If he were here, none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have gotten caught unawares at the dollar store, and I wouldn’t have crashed my scooter and hurt my knee. I definitely wouldn’t be trapped here now, with a vampire who was probably just toying with me, the same way that a cat plays with a mouse before disemboweling the poor creature.
     
    The door opened again, and I stiffened, but when the vampire stepped out, he was carrying a lit candle in a shallow dish. As he drew closer to me, I tensed, clutching my stake tightly.
     
    He stopped a few feet in front of me, and knelt to put the candle on the floor.
     
    In the flickering illumination of the candle’s flame, I saw his face clearly for the first time, and his undeniable beauty took my breath away.
     
    Thick black eyelashes, strong nose, chiseled jawline, full, sensual lips, and holy hell, if this was the guy who was going to suck my blood, I could