Craig's Heart (6 page)

Evie swallowed hard. Did they have people chained up somewhere that they fed on?

Damek whirled on her, his eyes hard. “No, we don’t keep people chained up to feed on. What nonsense.”

Shit. She’d forgotten he could read her thoughts. Hadn’t imagined anyone could until she’d met this man.

“Blood banks.” Craig’s words were slurred. He held his hand out to her and she hurried to his side, making a wide circle around Damek. “You okay?” he asked.

Her heart swelled and her eyes welled with tears. His concern for her touched her deeply. “Yeah, I’m fine. You worry about yourself. I can take care of myself.”

Craig frowned, but before he could speak, Sonia hurried back into the room. The scent of fresh blood made Evie’s fangs explode and she knew her eyes had turned red. She licked her lips and rose from the bed.

Damek was in front of her in a heartbeat, holding the glass toward her. “Remember what I said. Make one wrong move toward my wife and your life is over.”

The threat pushed back the bloodlust like nothing else could. It was still there, lurking, hungry but controllable. Evie licked her lips but waited. Damek handed her the glass and she drank, chugging the entire amount.

The blood, thick and sweet, rolled over her tongue and down her throat. Every cell in her body expanded, reaching for the life-giving liquid. She moaned at how wonderful it tasted.

She licked her lips again, not wanting to lose a single drop. “More.”

Damek shook his head and every muscle in her body tensed, ready to attack. It was only through sheer willpower that she kept from flinging herself at him. It appalled her that she even thought to fight him.

“Very good.” Damek gave her a nod of approval. “Too much blood too quickly will only incite greater bloodlust. You need to learn to make your feedings small but regular until you are stronger.”

Evie nodded. This was the kind of thing she needed to learn if she was going to have a chance to survive and find justice for herself and for Craig. If she hadn’t been attacked, she never would have accidentally converted Craig into a vampire.

“You are only two weeks made. You have exceptional control for one so young who has no mentor guiding her.”

Well, that was something. Not that she felt as though she was in control. She distinctly felt out of control.

“You need to rest. Come.”

Damek started out of the room, but Evie sat on the bed next to Craig and shook her head. “I’m not leaving him.” She kicked off her shoes, removed her thin black coat and tossed it on the chair by the bed.

Damek studied her carefully. Sonia put her hand on his arm and the two seemed to share some silent communication. “Very well, you may stay. But if you harm him…”

Evie was getting tired of the threats. “I know. I know. You’ll kill me.” She turned her attention to Sonia. “Does Craig need any blood?”

The other woman gave her a small smile. “He drank when you did.”

Shame filled her. She’d been so caught up in getting blood for herself she hadn’t even noticed Sonia helping Craig drink. That was her job.

Confusion filled her as anger warred with gratitude.

“Sleep,” Damek told her. He guided his mate out of the room and shut the door behind them. Once again, Evie heard several locks engage. They were locked in, but she was too exhausted to care.

Sonia was a brave woman to be married to a creature like Damek. He’d called her his wife as well as his mate.

Craig moaned and Evie immediately forgot the other two vampires. She lay down next to Craig and wrapped her arm around his waist. “I’ll watch over you. Sleep.” She rested her cheek against his back and closed her eyes.

They both needed a shower and some clean clothes, but now that they’d fed, they needed to rest. The conversion was incredibly hard on a body, and she was shocked Craig had managed to stay on his feet and lucid as long as he had. The night hadn’t been easy on either of them, and Evie could fight sleep no longer. Dawn was swiftly approaching. She closed her eyes and gave herself up to the darkness that beckoned.

Vladimir tossed aside the body of the unfortunate creature he’d just fed from. Blood pumped through his veins, strengthening him, making him feel alive. He tilted back his head and roared his displeasure.

She had escaped him.

It shouldn’t have been possible. Newly made vampires were weak and undisciplined, killing everything in their path. He’d been one once, a long time ago. He’d even made a few younglings over the years, destroying all of them as unworthy after only a few months.

But
she
was different.

Evie was to be his masterpiece, his creation. He’d gifted her with immortality and how had she repaid him? She’d run, leaving her apartment when he was out feeding.

It should have been easy to track her. He’d simply follow the trail of dead bodies until he found her gorging herself on some puny human. But there hadn’t been any bodies, nor had there been a blood trail of any sort.

Vlad sauntered down the alley, scowling as the sky grew lighter in the east. Dawn was only a short ways off. He’d come to hate the sun over the past two hundred years.

Was Evie dead?

He touched a hand to his chest and felt the lightest of flutters. No, she was alive. He could feel it in his blood. Blood they shared.

He would find her. No matter how long it took. And then he would punish her for what she’d done.

He stepped out onto the street and turned to his right, searching for prey among the shadows. He smiled, his fangs long and sharp, and ran his tongue over one of the sharp tips. He was still hungry. He wasn’t done yet. Not by a longshot.

Chapter Four

Craig woke briefly twice during the day. Each time it had been like trying to pull himself out of fast-drying concrete, all but impossible. His body hadn’t wanted to move. He’d panicked for a brief moment until he realized Evie was lying beside him and then fallen back to sleep. It was evening now. The sun had just set in the west, bringing with it darkness.

He frowned, not liking the idea that she’d become so essential to him even as he pulled her closer. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, one of her legs thrown across his thighs and her arm rested on his chest.

His entire life had changed. He took some time to think about how he really felt about things. Worried, for sure. What would his siblings think? Could he adjust to this new life? What changes would he have to make to accommodate his new status?

He was no longer human. He was a vampire.

It was hard to wrap his head around the idea. Sure, he’d grown up with a brother and sister who were half-breed werewolves, but he’d always been human. It was easier to accept the differences in others than to accept them in himself.

And what about Meredith and the Haven crew? He’d become good friends with them over the past five years. Would they even let him past the front door of the place anymore? He’d like to think so, but he couldn’t say for sure and that deeply worried him.

Not that he could blame them. Until he had a handle on his powers and the bloodlust that consumed newly made vampires, he wasn’t sure he could be trusted. And that was the part that bothered him most.

He’d always been self-contained and independent. He’d had to be. Now he was totally dependent on Damek for help, not only for himself but for Evie.

Evie. He shifted so he could see her face. She was such a contradiction. So petite in stature, but her personality was huge. She’d been terrified of Damek, yet she’d stood her ground with him. Craig well knew the power his friend wielded and had been terrified for a moment that Damek was going to kill her.

And that would have ended badly for everyone. A protective sensation welled up inside Craig, one that went straight to his very soul. He’d protect Evie at all costs, even against his friend.

Was this a byproduct of her being his maker? He wasn’t sure. Evie certainly felt no love toward the vampire who’d made her. On the contrary, she seemed determined to destroy him.

“You’re thinking so hard I can practically hear you.” Her low, silky voice whispered through his ears like the most soothing music.

Then what she’d said penetrated his thoughts. “You can hear me?”

She shook her head, her hair making a scrunching sound against the fabric of his shirt. “No. I can’t hear what you’re thinking, but I can feel you thinking, if that makes any sense.”

“It does.” He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, and she gave a contented sigh. “How are you feeling?”

She tilted her head back slightly and green eyes stared up at him. “I’m fine. The real question is how are you?”

They were so polite with one another. Craig almost smiled, but his body chose that moment to come roaring back to life. Throughout the conversion his body had been mostly numb, like a computer that had been asleep. Now he was awake and all his bodily functions were now coming back online with a vengeance. And at the top of the list was lust.

He was suddenly very aware of Evie as a woman, a very desirable woman. One of her breasts was pillowed against his chest, the weight of her leg rested across his thighs and her soft breath blew lightly against his skin.

“Evie.” He said her name and only that. He could barely think past the throbbing of his dick. He’d been aroused before but never like this. This need was a deep craving eating at his soul until he could resist no longer.

He leaned down, getting closer and closer to her very kissable mouth. Her full, pink lips parted on a gasp of surprise, but she didn’t move away, didn’t stop him. He kissed her lightly, gently. Not sure of his own strength, he was very careful as he moved his mouth over hers. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.

He wasn’t the most experienced guy around, but he was no virgin either. He’d kissed his fair share of women, but kissing Evie was different. It felt new and fresh. Special.

He slipped his tongue past her lips and into her mouth. She moaned and her tongue welcomed his, stroking it. He could taste the remnants of the blood she’d drunk the night before and the flavor exploded in his mouth.

He needed more. Had to have it.

He rolled until she was flat on her back with him looming over her. Cupping the side of her face, he stared down at her. Objectively, he knew she wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, but objectivity no longer mattered. Instinctually, he knew she belonged to him. In his eyes, she was the most beguiling and stunning female he’d ever seen. There was something about her that tugged on his emotions as well as his intellect.

He wanted her.

“Stop me now if this isn’t what you want.” He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip, and she flicked out her tongue to lick it.

In answer, Evie slid her hands up his arms and around his neck. She pulled him down to her and kissed him with a hunger that left him breathless.

Evie knew the very last thing she should do was to get involved in a physical relationship with Craig, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d been so cold and lost, alone for what seemed like forever. In truth, she’d been alone long before the vampire had found her. Craig filled all those empty places inside her, made her feel warm. More human than monster.

Was it wrong to use him this way?

Conscience pricking her, she managed to turn her head to the side and break the kiss. “Maybe we should stop.”

Craig stilled, the muscles in his shoulders tensing. “Do you want me to stop?”

No, she really didn’t. She wanted to lose herself in the heat they generated between them, to feel alive and good for what seemed like the first time in forever. “Getting involved this way probably isn’t smart.”

Evie was surprised she could actually string an entire sentence together. Her breasts ached to be touched, her teeth tingled and she knew her fangs were seconds away from making an appearance.

Craig wrapped his fingers around her neck and stared at the pulse in her throat. He licked his lips, and she could sense his growing hunger, both sexual and the bloodlust. Instead of frightening her, it excited her.

That was sick, wasn’t it? Evie wasn’t sure what was normal and what wasn’t anymore.

“Evie?”

She knew he would stop if she asked him to. There was a bedrock of goodness in Craig that nothing could change, not even the fact he was a vampire. For the first time since the creature had attacked her and changed her life, Evie felt a stirring of real hope. Hope that maybe her soul wasn’t lost, maybe she wasn’t destined to be a monster like the one who’d created her.

Craig started to move away from her and she panicked, throwing herself at him. “No, don’t leave me.”

He wrapped his strong arms around her and eased onto his back, taking her with him. She lay on her side watching him intently.

“I won’t leave you, but we don’t have to do this if it’s not what you want. I didn’t mean to pressure you.”

Evie could see perfectly in the dark and there was no mistaking the bulge in the front of his jeans. Craig was very aroused. Her heart almost melted and her chest constricted with suppressed emotion. “It’s not that I don’t want you. I want you too much.” There was no way she could be any less than honest with Craig. She’d never been the type to play games in a relationship, and there was no place for any of that kind of thing between them.