HerVampireLover (3 page)

“Go back to your family, Grangers,” he growled. “Tell the Elder he did not accomplish what he wanted. And tell him,” he added harshly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “If any one of you ever comes within a hundred feet of this woman, I will kill you with my bare hands.”

Cat watched the two men whimper and scamper away, dragging the unconscious man, their faces pale from fright. They disappeared around the cabin, and Cat heard an engine start and roar away.

She couldn’t breathe. She was weak and knew she was dangerously close to passing out. She fought for air in her lungs, struggling to stand. Her body swayed, the light dimming before her eyes. The last thing she saw before she fainted dead away was Tobias Knight bending toward her, lifting her in his arms, his incisors gone.

Her fantasy man was a vampire, she thought numbly as she slumped her head onto his shoulder, a strangled moan escaping her lips.

Chapter Three

The familiar hypnotic veil soothed her as a pair of strong hands undressed her and placed her in bed. A blanket covered her.

“Sleep now. We will talk when you awake,” the beautiful, deep male voice said.

Cat fell into oblivion.

She stirred from her dreamless sleep and opened her eyes, frowning at the strange sounds coming from the living room. They were a mixture of thuds and thick fabric ripping. A cold sensation crept up her spine.

The terrifying events in town and later at the cabin raced through her mind, causing her stomach jolt with fear. Someone was in her living room. She slipped out of bed and glanced down at her naked body, stiffening as she recalled the hands undressing her. She reached for her white, satin robe.

The strange sounds continued and she frantically scanned the room looking for a weapon. She grabbed Mel’s brass candelabra from the dresser and made her way to the living room.

She stopped dead in her track, her breath catching.

Tobias stood before the fireplace, ripping and tearing firewood with his bare hands as he placed them on the rack. She watched him visibly stiffen, drop the wood, and slowly turn around. Cat felt her heart skip a beat as he ran a dark intense gaze over her appearance. The candelabra slipped through her hands and fell to the floor.

His gaze was like fire on her skin, leaving a trail of heat from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. She had the strangest feeling he was undressing her with his eyes. She sensed a sexual awareness, almost primal in nature, emanating from him.

“I retrieved your wood from the curb,” he offered slowly, his gaze dropping to her breasts.

“Oh,” she replied huskily, feeling like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole. “Who
are
you?”

“Tobias Knight.”

She gulped. She had meant to ask him,
what
are you? “Are you…you’re a vampire.” She couldn’t believe she announced that as calmly as she announced the weather.

“Yes.”

The knowledge left her feeling strangely calm. “What do you want with me?”

He had already removed his black coat, and she let her gaze flicker over his tall and muscular physique clad in a black shirt and black pants. Fear wound its way around her.

Just as suddenly, a strange, eerie calm surrounded her, as though invisible hands were soothing her fears away. She darted a nervous glance at the front door, then looked down at the candelabra on the floor by her feet. The invisible hands continued their path along her shoulders, down her back, around her waist, up to her breasts. Cat gasped. A tremor shot through her body as her breasts were fondled and her breath hitched in her throat.

Tobias’s dark gaze held her captive as her blood began to pound in her ears. He was calming her and arousing her at the same time and she could do nothing about it, trapped within his invisible hands.

His touch moved lower over her belly down to the spot where her legs met, and she inhaled sharply. He caressed her, stroked her, and her legs were dangerously close to giving out. Tobias’s expression shifted and she watched a fierce, ruthless look cast a menacing shadow across his face. He groaned roughly from deep within his throat, but Cat couldn’t pay too much attention to him because his invisible hands were beginning to drive her mad with desire.

With grim determination on his face, he strode to her and grabbed the collar of her robe. He shoved it over her shoulders and let it drop in a pool of satin to the floor. Grim-faced, he lifted her naked body into his arms.

“Is it really you?” he asked, his voice hoarse with need.

She wanted to ask him what he was talking about, but she couldn’t find her voice. She leaned her head onto his massive shoulder and closed her eyes, her body tingling with desire.

He carried her to the bedroom and placed her on the bed, his expression fierce with need. A tremor of anticipation shot through her as his gaze rested on her breasts.

This was a dream. How else could she explain the hypnotic, trancelike state she was in? And how could she explain her fantasy man here in the flesh? How could she explain any of it? The fangs, the crazy men who tried to kill her, her fantasy man who was now watching her with a look that left her breathless?

All she knew was that she wanted him, her fantasy man. “Take off your clothes,” she said huskily.

“Say my name. Say it,” he ground out.

“Tobias,” she whispered.

His expression softened, and he began to remove his clothes. Cat lay back in awe as she watched his masculine splendor revealed. His body was magnificent, all muscle and brawn, with a powerfully built chest and chiseled arms. His legs were long and well built, and his sex stood erect, a powerfully looking member that parted her lips in wonder.

The only other man she had ever had sex with was Simon, and he didn’t even compare to this man’s virility. Fear took on a new form for her, and she started to feel the hands work their magic again with her body, her heart, her mind. Only this time, they were withdrawing.

“When I take you,” he said, “I do not want you under my spell. I want you to come to me willingly.”

As the calming veil lifted and his invisible, bone-melting caresses stopped, she watched him lower his body over hers—then real panic started to settle in. Fear replaced calm and alarm replaced passion as reality slammed her with its cold truth. Terrified, she realized her fantasy man was going to rape her.

She opened her mouth to scream, but his punishing kiss silenced the sound. His body was warm and firm over hers, his lips bruising hers, and she struggled beneath his weight. She tried pushing him away, but it was like an ant pushing an anvil and she pounded on his back in frustration. He didn’t relent. His kiss was deep and his powerful erection pressed hard against her heated flesh.

He grabbed her hands and dragged them above her head as he raised his head and looked down at her face. She was trapped. With his knee, he pushed her legs apart and her flesh throbbed with exquisite pain where his erection rested.

“Don’t fight me. We have both waited too long for this.”

“Stop!” Gasping, she stared at his brilliant dark eyes, her heart pounding in her throat, her mind racing toward madness as her body tingled with sexual need. “Don’t…don’t do this.”

“Is it truly you, Seraphina? Tell me it’s you,” he said hoarsely.

“My name is Cat,” she replied, feeling a spurt of annoyance.

“Yes. You are Cat,” he countered, his voice dropping to a lower timbre.

She panicked as his eyes bore down on hers, his expression ruthless and fierce. “You said you wanted me to come to you willingly.
I’m
not willing. Now, get off me!”

A satisfied gleam entered his gaze. “I can feel your body flaming at my touch. I can hear your heart beating with excitement. My little erotica writer. When I saw your picture on your book jacket, I refused to believe it was possible.” He bent his dark head and took her breast in his mouth, sucking hard on her nipple. She cried out in pleasure, tossing her head from side to side.

She was enjoying this!
This man was forcing himself on her, and she was actually enjoying it! She tried to free her trapped hands from above her head, but he kept his grip firm, bruising her wrists.

“Please. Don’t,” she pleaded.

“You are mine. You have always been mine. And after tonight, we will never be separated again.”

“You’re crazy. No!”

Her body was saying
yes
as it trembled with need. He pushed her legs further apart, opening her wider for him, and positioned himself in between her. He freed her hands and cupped her face, bringing his mouth down to covers hers in a hot, passionate kiss. Against her own volition, she opened her mouth and their tongues met, his plunging deep. She felt crazed, out of control, her only thought to satiate the mounting heat throbbing between her legs. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he groaned hoarsely against her lips.

“You’re ready for me,” he growled.

This was sheer madness, she thought, feeling dazed, alarmed, and turned on all at once.

She despised her body’s treachery, loathed herself for ignoring what her mind was struggling to tell her.
Fight
, it said, but she was powerless. Cat knew she was not acting like a woman who wanted this to stop. He reared his body upward, ready to plunge into her moist heat and she freed her mouth from his and gasped.

“I…said…
no
!”

He stiffened and withdrew slowly, burying his head into her neck.

“I only want to be one with you again,” he said huskily. “Why are you not coming to me willingly?”

She steadied her breath. “Your forced seduction is rape in my book.” She heard a strangled moan escape from deep within his throat, and she braced herself. What was he going to do?

Slowly, he lifted his head and looked down into her eyes. His expression was a mixture of torment and regret. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“You did. Now, get off me,” she said, sounding braver than she felt.

His gaze dipped to her neck, and he clenched and unclenched his jaw. “We will do it your way, for now, until you are ready.”

Relief coursed through her veins and Cat shut her eyes, waiting for him to get up. Instead, she felt him grab a fist full of her hair and pull her head back. He dug his teeth into her neck.

A fire raged from her neck to her limbs, making her body flare to life. She squeezed her eyes, arching her neck in shock at the surge of pleasure coursing through her body. She had never felt such an exquisite pain before in her life. Without warning, a sudden, earth shattering climax made her see stars. She soared to the heavens and then plummeted to earth as wave upon wave of ecstasy washed over her, the final spasm leaving her depleted and spent.

When it was over, she half sobbed and half moaned against his chest. His bite had given her the most intense orgasm of her life—intense
and
sudden, she thought, unable to believe how fast it happened.

With a tenderness he had not shown until now, he turned on his side, bringing her with him in his arms, and ran a hand over her face.

“Sleep now, my love. Tomorrow we start our life all over again.”

My love?
What did love have to do with this? This was wild and crazy sex—intense foreplay, really, since his penis never entered her.

Her body slipped into a deep, dark chasm, soothing and lulling her limbs into sleep. Her last thought was…had he just turned her into a vampire?

Chapter Four

It was still dark outside when Cat opened her eyes and she jackknifed in an upright position as the memory of what happened washed over her.

She winced with shame recalling her wanton reaction to him.

He was a vampire! She flung the covers off, pulled on her jeans and sweater and marched into the living room. She found Tobias sitting on the couch, staring into the crackling flames of the fireplace. His expression was grim and he looked deep in thought.

“We need to talk. Now,” she began as she made her way toward him. Upon closer look, she noticed he didn’t look too well. He looked almost pasty and his eyes lacked their usual luster. Concern came unbidden, softening her fury. “Are you all right?” she asked, surprising herself by asking this question.

He turned to her, his gaze flickering over Cat. “I need to feed, but I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

“I can cook you something to eat if you’re hungry.” Cat frowned. This man almost raped her and she was concerned?

He gave her an odd look. “Cat, I need to feed on blood.”

“Oh.” She backed away from him. “Well, don’t get any ideas.”

He sighed heavily and leaned his head back on the sofa as he ran a hand over his face. “I don’t feed on humans, Cat. I feed on animals, and not enough to kill them.”

“How…how altruistic of you.”

He gave her a half-hearted smile. “Actually, if I don’t feed soon, I will be a very dead, altruistic vampire.”

She had been prepared to give him a piece of her mind for accosting her earlier, but her concern for him overshadowed her anger. “Go out into the woods. You won’t be able to give me answers if you’re dead, will you?”

He rose slowly. “They will return. I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“
Who
will return? Those crazy men who tried to kill me?”

“Yes. The Grangers. Vampire killers.”

“I see.” With grim determination on her face, she went to the front door and opened it. “I need answers and I need them fast. Also, I don’t want you pulling anymore of that hypnosis garbage you’ve been doing on me, either. Go feed. I’ll be here safe and sound when you return.”

Cat watched him rub a hand at the back of his neck, his brows furrowed in a dark frown, and she knew he struggled with her suggestion. “Please. I…I don’t want you to die,” she added. “Even though I could kill you for what you almost did to me earlier,” she added under her breath.

He raised a dubious brow. “What did I do to you? You may have told me
no
, but your body told me
yes
. I behaved the only way I know how with you, Cat. We belong together and there is nothing that will stand in my way from having you by my side—forever.”