Desire After Dark (Page 27)

"Whichever one looks best."

"Soup," she said, and jotted it down on her pad. "Can I bring you a cup of coffee?"

He nodded. "Thanks."

He watched her walk away, admiring the sway of her hips, surprised by the rush of desire that infused him.

She returned a few minutes later with his coffee. "Here you go."

"Thanks. Say, I don’t suppose you’d like to go to dinner and a movie some night?"

"I thought you were going out with Vicki?"

He shrugged. "It wasn’t anything serious. Just dinner. What do you say?"

"Sure, I’d like that, as long as we don’t have dinner here."

He laughed. "We’ll go anywhere you like."

"Really?"

"Sure, why not?"

"My favorite restaurant’s the Wayside Grill over in Woods Hollow. They have a new movie theater there, too."

"Sounds good to me. Just say when."

"I’m off tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night it is."

Too nervous to relax, Vicki wandered through the house. She fed the fish, straightened a picture here, a figurine there. She glanced at the windows again and again, wondering if the vampire was out there, waiting, watching.

Finally, unable to resist, she went to the front window and peered outside.

And he was there, a stark figure standing on the sidewalk, his yellow eyes glinting in the darkness.

Vicki, come out to me. His voice echoed deep within her mind. You know you want to.

Even now, you’re wondering what it would be like to succumb to me.

"No!"

You can lie to yourself, but you can’t lie to me.

"Go away!" She screamed the words.

You will be mine, Vicki Cavendish. Sooner or later, you will be mine. That weak mortal hunter, Duncan, cannot save you.

She was trembling now. His voice mesmerized her, tempting her to go to him, even as her own morbid curiosity urged her toward the door. No! She willed herself to stay where she was. Antonio would come. He would save her.

The sound of Falco’s laughter rang out in her mind.

Battista can’t save you. He’s no match for me.

"He beat you the other night!"

The vampire’s anger rolled over her in thick black waves until she felt like she was drowning in pitch. And then, to her horror, she saw him bending over Sharlene’s lifeless body, his mouth stained with her blood, a lock of Sharlene’s hair clutched in his hand.

Gradually, the image altered, the scene shifted, and suddenly the body at his feet was no longer Sharlene’s but her own, and she knew she was looking into the future as he saw it.

"No." The word emerged from Vicki’s throat in a choked whisper. "No."

The eerie sound of his inhuman laughter engulfed her, beating against her ears, penetrating her whole being until she was shaking from the pain of it.

I would have made you my queen. His voice was filled with fury. Now, you will beg me for death before it comes.

She stood rooted to the spot, too terrified to move, unable to think. She was going to die at his hands, and there was nothing she could do about it. Why not go out and get it over with now?

She stared out the front window while the vampire’s threat echoed like thunder in her mind. If she went to him now, maybe he would forgive her for her earlier insolence.

" Victoria !" A fist pounded on the door. " Victoria, let me in!"

The door, she thought. She should answer the door, but her feet refused to move.

" Victoria, I know you are in there." His voice was quieter now, moving over her like cool water on a hot day, washing away her fears. "Open the door, my sweet one."

Freed from her earlier enchantment, she moved toward the door and turned the lock.

Battista stood on the porch, his dark eyes filled with concern. "Are you all right?"

She shook her head, searching for the words to describe the awful terror that had engulfed her, and then she burst into tears.

Muttering an oath, Battista crossed the threshold. Lifting her into his arms, he carried her to the sofa.

Vicki heard the door close. A distant part of her mind wondered how he had closed the door, but it was too painful to think and then it didn’t matter. He was sitting down, cradling her trembling body against his broad chest, whispering to her in a language she didn’t understand but found comforting just the same.

Gradually, her tears slowed and stopped but she didn’t move, didn’t ever want to move.

His large hand lightly stroked her back. His breath fanned her cheek. She felt cherished, protected.

"How?" she murmured after a time. "How is it that you always show up when he’s here?"

"Does it matter?"

With a sigh, she shook her head. "No." All that mattered was that he was there now.

Lately, it was only in his arms that she felt safe.

It was only later, after Antonio had tucked her into bed, that she wondered if Duncan was right after all. Maybe the reason Antonio always turned up on the same nights as Falco was because they were one and the same.

But somehow she was just too tired to care.

Chapter 15

Dimitri Falco stalked the dark streets, his fury growing as he thought of the woman who had dared to defy him. She was a stubborn one, a fact she would soon regret. He had chosen her as his next victim, and he would not be denied. Try as she might, she would not be able to resist him indefinitely. Her defenses would weaken. In time, she would come to him when he called.

He spat an oath into the night. He could take her by force if need be, but the mere idea rankled. In a thousand years, he had never had to force any female to surrender to his will. He would not start now.

Returning to his lair, he ran his hands along his trophy wall, his fingers delving into the thick red strands of human hair. He remembered each kill, the delicious terror imprinted on each face, the sweet nectar of each throat, no two exactly the same, each unique in its ability to satisfy his insatiable thirst.

He licked his lips as the hunger rose up within him, at first no more than a thought, then a desire, then a need that would not be denied.

Soon, he thought. Soon she would be his. When that time came, she would regret the pain she had caused him by making him wait.

Chapter 16

Vicki wasn’t surprised to awaken the next morning and find herself alone in the house.

Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling. Antonio had held her all through the night. He had been there when she woke in the dark, terrified by dreams of Falco hunting her down, his fangs savaging her throat even as his hand ripped out a handful of her hair. Antonio’s voice had soothed her fears. His intoxicating kisses had chased all thought of the nightmare from her mind. Secure in his embrace, she had reveled in the touch of his hands and his lips, every nerve and cell in her body tingling with desire. She wished that he had stayed the night, that they had made love, that he was lying there beside her.