Cursed (8 page)

When Knox turned his head towards the door to see what Sienna was looking at, Greyvian felt the force of the male’s stare like a physical touch. Ignoring the look and without apology for his behaviour, he made his way over to them, his eyes flicking around the seating arrangement with a calm that should have come naturally to him, yet for which he had to strive.

He made the decision to sit on the armchair a good distance from the female but changed tack at the last instant when he caught Knox eyeing him speculatively, as if he were judging whether or not Greyvian was going to behave himself around the human. Lowering himself gently beside Sienna, he met Knox’s green-eyed gaze and purposefully stretched his arms along the back of the lounge so that one hand was but a hair’s breadth from the back of her head. Knox smiled slightly in return and tipped his head, acknowledging the slight.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Sienna’s posture had straightened, her body tightening itself in readiness for flight no doubt. Calmly, he turned his head towards her and met her wide blue eyes. She stared at him for a long moment before losing her nerve and looking down at her hands.

The silence was palpable. Normally he was fine with silence, preferred it even to the mindless prattle that people seemed to think was necessary for group situations, but right now it only served to draw his attention to the steady in and out sound of Sienna’s breathing. If he listened hard enough, he could even hear the rapid beat of her heart, pushing her blood around her body.

“Did you feed?” Knox’s voice cut through the silence, loud as a fog horn to his straining ears and thankfully served to divert his attention from the thought of Sienna’s blood. Just in time too, if the sudden snap of Sienna’s face coming into focus was anything to go by.

Damn. He hadn’t even noticed himself slipping into feeding mode. Closing his eyes briefly, he willed his fangs to retract before turning his head in Knox’s direction. Safe in the knowledge that his expression gave nothing away, he nodded.

“I did.”

“Really?” Knox replied with a sceptic half smile. “Cause you were looking at Sienna as if she were lunch.”

An uncharacteristic wave of irritation flowed through his body and he had the irrational urge to rip the male’s throat out with his teeth.

“Was I?” he asked, keeping his tone completely neutral—again, with an effort that wasn’t normally required. He turned his head slightly towards Sienna. “I apologise if I gave any impression of intensity.”

The female’s vibrant blue eyes locked onto his and she smiled slowly, her posture visibly relaxing for the first time since he’d sat beside her. “Don’t sweat it.”

Looking back at Knox with an effort that made him uneasy, he raised an eyebrow at the male in challenge. Knox smiled in answer, but there was little humour in his eyes—as if he knew that Greyvian was struggling for normalcy and worried for the female’s safety.

As well he should.

“So, I’m curious,” Sienna said after another long moment of silence. “Just how old are you all?”

“Knox?” she prompted when none of them answered.

An irrational part of Greyvian was annoyed that she hadn’t asked him first.

“I guess it’s only fair that you know our age—after all, I did ask you yours,” the blonde replied with a smile. “I’m one hundred and fifty-six years old.”

Sienna pursed her lips, looking disappointed. “Is that all? Lucas?”

Another wave of annoyance flowed through him.

“I’m just a baby,” Lucas replied nonchalantly. “One hundred.”

“Ah.” Finally she turned to him, her blue eyes luminous and twinkling: as if she had deliberately left him till last. “Greyvian?”

The way she said his name was like a slow caress, sultry and smooth, appeasing the annoyed beast within so that he could answer her without inflection in his voice. “Three hundred and fifty.”

“Now that’s more like it,” she replied with a grin that caused another unexpected stir of some unknown emotion within. “A real renaissance man. Where were you born?”

“The Netherlands.” He hadn’t made a conscious decision to answer her and was uneasy that he had spoken so readily.

She looked at him speculatively, her blue eyes searching his face as if cataloguing his features. “Yeah, I guess I can see that. Have you travelled much these past few centuries?”

“Quite a bit, actually.” Again with the mouth opening, the words spilling out without conscious thought. What was the matter with him? Was this a side effect of the drugged blood he had ingested? This loosening of his tongue? Pressing his lips together, he bid them stay shut.

“What did you do for money? I’m sure you must have had a hundred different jobs by now.”

She was looking at him so expectantly that he couldn’t keep himself from answering her. “I was in the military for a bit.”

“Really?” Knox asked, surprise evident in his tone. “When?”

He sent a brief glance Knox’s way. He might be unable to keep his mouth shut for Sienna, but he found no trouble in ignoring the blonde. When it became evident that he wasn’t going to answer, Sienna prompted him with the same question.

Grimacing slightly, he looked back at her. “Sporadically, but mostly in the early 1900s.”

There was a moment of silence and then she seemed to catch on to all that he’d left out. “But you were born in the 1600s. What did you do before then?”

Damn her and her questions and his inability to deflect them with silence. Fine, she wanted to know what he did before then, perhaps this answer would deter her from asking any more questions.

“I wasn’t interested in working back then. I was invisible to the human race. I took what I wanted.”

“Oh.” Sienna pressed her back against the sofa, suddenly deflated.

There. Finally. No more questions.

“What changed?”

Oh, for the love of God. He was not going to answer that.

“Early 1900s,” Knox mused as the silence stretched, his expression thoughtful. “That would be right around the time that I met him, I think?”

“Really? Isn’t that interesting?” Sienna said archly, looking from him to Knox and back again.

He would have liked to tell the male not to get any ideas, but the truth of the matter was, Knox did have a big hand in his change of heart when it came to money and living in the economic world. Knox had had a hand in a lot of things that he would never admit to: unless a certain blue-eyed female managed to magic the answer from his tongue. Thankfully, Sienna’s attention was successfully deflected from asking him any more questions, her gaze instead focusing on Knox. He should have been grateful, but it seemed he wasn’t
in his right mind at the moment and her attention to the blonde made him itchy.

As the two of them talked about Knox’s early days of being a vampire and what it’s like having a son who looks the same age as you, he realised that he was brooding. He’d never been a brooder. Well, not since his adolescence when he had nothing better to do than lay in bed and ask the question ‘why?’.

Why was he the only vampire in existence who couldn’t seem to stomach the blood that should keep him vibrant and healthy? Why was he doomed to an existence of being weak and pitiful while those around him were strong and lively?

Enough. He made a conscious effort to stop the inner ramblings from his youth from getting any more air-time than they had a right to. Those days were long gone. He knew the kind of blood he needed and he knew how to get it. The ‘whys’ were no longer important.

The thought of blood had his eyes drifting back to Sienna.

5

As Knox and Lucas occupied themselves playing the Wii, Sienna was left free to contemplate the mystery that was Greyvian Kobussen. Was his silent Zen expression real, or was it just a cover for the aggressive beast that lay beneath the surface? Or should she say, the sexy beast—the one who had pushed her up against the wall and ground his erection into her belly. The memory sent a small shiver of desire through her body. Every woman should have that experience at least once in her life. She’d never felt more alive than at that moment. Of course, not just any man could have pulled that off. There definitely had to be some chemistry happening or it was just some creep on an ego trip.

Glancing sideways at Greyvian, she couldn’t help that her eyes lingered on his perfectly formed, soft lips. She well remembered the feel of them brushing against the sensitive skin of her neck and wanted desperately to feel them once again. She didn’t see that happening anytime soon, however, as he was back to doing his cardboard cut-out impersonation. No emotion touched his face as he sat beside her. So silent. So still. His eyes staring straight ahead at who-knew-what, once again an unmoving statue without a nano-second of fidgeting to put to his name.

Or perhaps he was less a statue, and more a coiled Cobra waiting to strike. Even as he sat there, motionless, expressionless, there was an intensity to his presence that made him impossible to ignore. He was the giant white elephant in the room. Even Knox and Lucas seemed to feel it, if the constant glances thrown his way were any indication.

Not that she was really paying that much attention to Knox and Lucas. Most of her attention was focused on Greyvian.

On her next glance, her eyes were drawn to his dark hair. Long at the fringe and short in the back, it had a gloss to it that many a female would have given anything for and the style suited him to perfection. Oh, who was she kidding? He could probably have a mullet and she’d think it looked good on him.

She really had it bad. Giddy, obsessive schoolgirl wasn’t generally her style, but there was just something about Greyvian that lowered her IQ about thirty points. She had a vague thought that perhaps she’d read something about that happening in the presence of attractive people. If so, then she could definitely vouch for the accuracy of the information.

On her next inspection, she focused on his jaw. Strong and chiselled, it was covered with a uniform sprinkling of dark hair, a five o’clock shadow that made her fingers itch with the need to feel whether it was rough or soft to the touch. From experience she expected rough, but it would be her pleasure to test the theory.

With a mental shake of her head, she tried to lift herself out of her inner lust-fest by trying, once again, to find a rational reason as to why she should be attracted to Greyvian when he looked almost exactly like Jacob (whom she had no romantic feelings for whatsoever). She just kept coming back to the same conclusion, however. It had to be something more than physical appearance that had her so hot and bothered over the guy. Surely it wasn’t just that he was a dangerous vampire capable of ending her life on a whim?

She couldn’t be that sad, could she?

But she had to be, because she’d barely spoken to the male, yet here she was, practically salivating on the guy. The fact that she wanted to ask him a million questions about his life was small consolation, but at least it meant she didn’t just want to get physical with the male because of his sex appeal.

Not that there was anything wrong with that.

She opened her mouth to ask him what part of town he lived in at the same time as his head turned towards her slowly, his eyes dark and brooding. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her as if daring her to talk to him.

Damn, he was intense. She had never met anyone like him before. As her question stuck in her throat, she could only return his dark gaze. Suddenly she was transported back in time to when he’d had her pressed against the wall, his teeth against her throat and his erection pressed against her, grinding.

Again, she wondered what it would feel like to have him drink from her. Would it really hurt that much? She assumed it would, because how could it not hurt to have two fangs sink into your flesh? But what about afterwards? Would it continue to hurt as he sucked the blood from her neck? Maybe not...God, how she wanted to find out.

“Do I really smell that good to you?” she asked, as if it had only been a moment ago that he’d had her pressed against the wall, lusting after her blood. She drew in a sharp breath as his eyes darkened further, turning black in an instant. “I guess so.”

Curiosity got the better of her senses. “What do I smell like?”

He was silent for so long that she didn’t think he was going to answer her but, finally, just when she’d given up hope, he spoke, his voice soft and gentle. “Think of the most delicious scent you have ever smelled and then multiply that by infinity.”

So… pretty good then.

Without much thought, she offered him her wrist. She would have preferred her neck, but perhaps drinking from the wrist was less intimate and he would be better able to hold himself back from taking too much.

See, she could be smart about this.

She waited, her breath held in stasis, her heart suddenly pounding in her chest as his black eyes lowered to her proffered wrist. He must have stared at it for well over a minute before slowly reaching out and wrapping his long, masculine fingers around her hand, holding her arm steady. His fingers were surprisingly warm and gentle and the contrast in size sent a rush of heat to her core. She couldn’t help but imagine where else she might like those fingers.

Another minute or so passed, or perhaps it was only a second or two, she really had no idea at this point. All of her being was focused on Greyvian as intensely as he was focused on her wrist. She felt hot, her body flushing with heat from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, the sensation adding intensity to her already heightened awareness of him.

Slowly, Greyvian’s upper lip pulled back and his mouth opened, revealing elongated incisors.

At the sight of his desire for her blood, her heart missed a beat and then started pounding in her ears, the sound of Knox and Lucas making fun of each other over the Wii fading into nothing.

Go on, do it,
she urged him silently, pleadingly.

As if she’d spoken aloud, he raised her wrist higher, towards his mouth, lowering his head toward it at the same time. When it was a mere inch from his mouth, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, the pull of air sending a cool breeze across her fevered skin.

Within a heartbeat, her arm was in her lap and he was heading for the hallway, leaving her to wonder what the hell had just happened. How had he moved so fast? They’d said vampires didn’t have supernatural speed!

So close, yet so far, once again. She obsessed about it for a minute or two before pushing herself to her feet and following after him. She met him in the hallway as he was coming out of the bathroom.

They faced off for a long moment, eyes locked on each other, neither one of them saying a thing. The usually wide hallway seemed obscenely small with him in it, the pale yellow walls closer than normal, the glow of the ceiling light dimmer, casting a more ominous glow. His eyes were still dark, his pupils taking up most of the room, and she knew without a doubt: he wanted her.

She tried to remember what it was that she’d followed after him for, but couldn’t. Those dark eyes mesmerized her. After a long minute, he took two steps towards her until they were practically nose to nose.

“Was there something you wanted to say to me?” he asked, his voice a low growl.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

“Let me guess, you just wanted to tempt Fate some more?”

His gaze dropped to her neck and his upper lip pulled back slightly so that she could see the tips of his fangs. His eyes flipped back to hers and the utter lack of emotion there caused her nerve to break and she took a step back.

Greyvian followed and continued to press her until her back was to the wall. His hands came up at chest height, caging her against the wall in a parody of their last encounter. But there was no heat this time—no scorching lust hitting her like a physical force. His eyes were stone-cold, controlled. The eyes of a killer.

If she screamed, Knox would come running.

But then she would have wasted an opportunity. Fearful or not, she couldn’t deny that she was still attracted to him. No. Attraction was such a weak term for what she was feeling. Scorching hot, burn you alive lust was more like it. Right now there was only one thing she wanted more than for him to bite her.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she surged forward, pressing her lips to his. They were warm and soft and the contact sent a little tingle down her spine, shooting straight between her thighs. When he didn’t protest or pull back, she moved her mouth over his, pressing soft kisses to his unmoving lips. She could feel the unnatural length of his incisors behind them and felt an aching tingle in her neck, a phantom bite brought on by intense desire.

She wanted to taste him. Sliding her tongue out, she pushed it against his lower lip, seeking entrance. Once, twice, third time the charm; she purred with satisfaction as his lips parted.

The first sensation of her tongue sliding into his warm mouth strengthened the tingling arousal in her body. Careful not to cut herself on the sharp points of his incisors, she explored what she could of his mouth with delicate little flicks of her tongue. He tasted like nothing she’d ever had before—a little sweet, a little bitter, something unnameable.

Her arms slid up around his neck of their own volition, urging his prone body closer. She was no longer afraid of his detachment. She was certain it was just a front to keep her at bay. All she had to do was break through it to the raging lust she knew lay beneath.

Pressing her chest to his, she angled her head to deepen the kiss, revelling in the sensation of his muscular body pressed so intimately against hers.

Suddenly it was like a floodgate opened. With a growl, Greyvian pressed her into the wall, the evidence of his arousal a hard line against her hip, his mouth a hot, hard assault on her senses.

She was instantly lost in a sea of lust. The male was a superb kisser. Hot, passionate and hungry—more than enough to send a warm gush of heat to her sex. She didn’t know how he managed to kiss her with those fangs of his, but she never felt even the slightest prick, despite the force of the kiss.

As his tongue began a rhythm she desperately wanted him to mirror with another part of his anatomy, she rubbed her thighs together, trying to ease the tingling ache. She was so aroused she was certain it wouldn’t take more than a moment to reach orgasm. It was the kind of chemistry you only read about in romance novels and she was desperate to bring it to its conclusion.

Greyvian, however, had other ideas. With a hiss, he wrenched her arms from around his neck, flattened his palm against her breastbone and pushed himself away from her, his fangs gleaming in the artificial glow of the light bulb above her head as he held her pressed against the wall. Chests heaving, eyes locked onto each other, they stood like that for countless seconds. She wanted to touch him, to continue what they’d begun, but from the look on his face, she would surely be shot down.

“It’s okay, you can bite me,” she said, thinking maybe that was why he’d pulled back.

“Stay away from me,” he hissed from between his fangs, black eyes gleaming with some emotion she couldn’t name. He pushed the heel of his hand into her chest as if for emphasis, and then, as if a switch had been thrown, dropped his arm and straightened, expression closing down, that neutral mask replacing the heat of his emotions.

Feeling at a loss, her body buzzing with the intensity of her arousal, she watched silently as he left the hallway, his broad shoulders filling the doorway. And then he was gone. She sagged against the wall and wanted to cry.

Swallowing a few times, she tried to compose herself and was immediately aware of a strange taste on her tongue. Something she’d never experienced before. Something she couldn’t put a name to, as there was nothing that compared. It was mixed with a slight taste of metal—was it her blood, or Greyvian’s? Given the nature of their kiss, it wouldn’t surprise her if it was both.

She was still wondering over it when Knox found her.

He wore an expression of alarm even as he entered the hallway, like he already thought something bad had happened, and it didn’t alter as he saw her pressed against the wall. His gaze raked over her neck and then back to her expression.

“What happened? Did he—” he shook his head and grimaced slightly. “Of course he didn’t. Are you alright?”

She sighed and blew out a long breath, straightening away from the wall.

“Yeah,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “I’m fine.”

He continued to eyeball her but didn’t ask for an explanation of what had happened. That was good—because she didn’t really feel like telling him that her advances had been rejected right when things had been getting good.

She couldn’t understand it. Why wouldn’t Greyvian bite her? What had changed since their first meeting? He’d been about to do it then. If it hadn’t been for the guys interrupting them, she was certain he would have gone through with it.