The Vampire's Curse, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #2) (10 page)

"You won't deny me?" I whispered.

He didn't laugh. He moved towards me with guileless determination, his expression unreadable. A few feet away, he halted and regarded me with a serious expression. It was impossible to see either hesitation or anticipation in the smooth angles of his face.

"Deny you? You honestly think I can do that?" He swore again, the words floating away in the wind before I could discern their meaning.

I turned inward, examining what had come before. I thought about Alex and what he'd done to me, how he'd made me feel so weak. Would it be the same with Michael? Would he infuse me with some of his own power? Would he be able to deny himself the taste of my blood once we had crossed every other boundary? How much control did he have over his desires?

Always doubting. I was tired of the questions blazing through me, sick of being so cautious around him. I wanted to throw myself into the fate that had been assigned to me and let everything fall where it may. I couldn't control anyone but myself. If something terrible happened, would it be my fault? I didn't deserve to put my entire life on hold, dreading what might come.

I dropped my mantle of doubt on the cold road, and I pushed my shoulders back.

"Come in, Michael. Please." Strong words, coming from me.

With his jaw clenched tightly, he stared at me. Then one of his hands came forward tentatively, as if testing some unseen boundary. There was no barrier, so he stepped towards me. The breeze picked up, tousling his ebony hair.

There was a significant change in the air around us. It felt colder. Before his arms came around me, before his mouth descended down onto mine for the first time, I saw the first snowflakes begin to drift down towards us like little angels bestowing a blessing. And that's the moment when I knew where my heart belonged.

It was a chaste little token, that light kiss. His lips were smooth, full, and gentle. The heat of his mouth against mine was heart wrenching, and I felt the muscles in my legs go weak. He had me fully supported in the way he held me; I could have gone totally limp and he would still have me.

His mouth moved down over one side of my jaw, nibbling at my flesh and stroking it. I opened my eyes, my head tilting back. His arms were firm around my waist, his mouth fused to my neck. And the snow was falling on both of us. They were tender, delicate little sculptures of ivory perfection, perching on the fibers of his coat and the long ebony waves of his hair. I wanted to remember this moment forever.

There was increasing strength coming from his arms around me and the pressure of his mouth on my skin. An image flashed across my consciousness that made my blood run cold. Again, I saw Alex kneeling on my bed, his mouth working to pull my blood from me. I saw the way his mouth looked as he pulled away, dripping with crimson. There was no stopping the shudder that ran through my entire body. Michael felt it immediately, and to his credit, he did not mistake it for lust. Somehow, he could sense my fear.

He withdrew his mouth, loosened his grip around me. I heard a deep forlorn sigh issue from the depths of his chest, and his head sagged in defeat.

"You are one hell of temptation, Sarah." His lips tasted mine once more, very gently, before he began to steer me towards the truck. “Come on. You’ll freeze out here.”

I rubbed my hands together and shot him a grateful look, “Thank you.”

“
For what? Accosting you in the middle of the road during the season’s first snow?” There was a terribly charming gleam in his light blue eyes.

“
No. For stopping before you got carried away.” He had opened the driver’s door and was watching me carefully.

Suddenly nervous, I stammered, “Not that you were the only one who was feeling aroused.”

One corner of his incredible mouth quirked up in amusement. He seemed to be genuinely pleased to have turned me into a bumbling idiot. Jerk. I huffed and threw myself into the driver’s seat. Without another word, he went to the other side and got in. As I was trying to make a U-turn on the road, I felt his gaze going over me.

Having anyone look at me in that way made me crazy. With him, the feeling was multiplied a thousand times. Having turned the truck around successfully, I decided to take a different approach. I could be direct when the situation called for it. Whenever I was feeling embarrassed, that was how I could keep things under control.

“
Tell me something.” I snapped. “Exactly how old are you?” I kept my eyes on the road. The snow was coming down steadily. Big, fluffy frozen sparks of light where the headlights shone on them in the darkness.

“
As a human, I was born in a small Greek village in 1659. So, technically, I’m over three hundred and fifty years old.” He said it in a light tone, and I dared to look over at him.

“
How old were you when you were turned into a vampire?”

“
Twenty-seven years old.”

I waited for more information, but he said nothing else about being turned. Frustrated with the lack of pertinent facts about him, I gritted my teeth. Being mysterious might have taken him a long way with many women, but not with me. I still wanted answers.

“
Can all vampires be out in the daylight? I thought it burned them or something.” I couldn’t seem to keep the sarcastic, bitchy edge toned down. It didn’t matter. Michael wasn’t offended in the least.

“
Some of us are capable of doing so, but it is a very uncomfortable situation to be in. Some vampires are able to use crystals to ward off the pain.” He reached into one of the pockets of his coat and drew out a small red stone, “Victoria gave me this before she left. It came in quite handy the day you were attacked.”

Attacked. Right. I sighed and made the turn into the driveway. The tires crunched over the gravel, like bones being crushed beneath us. I didn’t want to think about Alex, but his face kept flashing back to me. His shining golden hair, his charming smile, the way he made me completely helpless after we’d made love. I hated remembering it all, because at the end, he was looking at me with my blood smeared across his face, and I was lying prone on the stained sheets with my life draining away.

Fighting the urge to shiver, I parked the truck back by the garage and looked over at Michael. His dark eyebrows were creased in an expression that conveyed intense concentration. I placed a hand on his arm.

“
Sorry for snapping at you.”

He waved a hand at me in dismissal, “Your temper is good to see. I’d rather have you screaming at me than pale and motionless on a bed.” His eyes skipped away in a guilty gesture.

“
Wait a minute…” I stared at him, my mind spinning with the sudden realization that Michael could actually discern exactly what I was thinking.

“
You’re a mind reader?”

He pulled that old arrogant mask down over himself with practiced ease, “I’m a powerful vampire. I have many gifts.”

I snorted, “Okay…” As I reached over to open my door, he suddenly grasped my arm.

When I turned to look at him, he was shaking his head. His eyes were closed, but his grip on me got a little tighter. Again, I felt a strange pulling sensation that had nothing to do with where he had his strong fingers wrapped around my forearm.

“
Michael, what are you doing?”

His eyes opened, and his hand dropped away from me. He turned from me to look out into the flying snow for a moment before he said anything.

When his voice sounded beside me, I felt chilled to the bone.

“
If I can find a way, I will see him dead. He will suffer for bringing you so close to death.” Then he opened the door, and a thousand icy flakes of snow swirled in towards me. I felt lost among them, as powerless against the currents as they were. I watched one tiny snowflake descend slowly, without a clear direction, onto the surface of my denim-clad thigh.

It disappeared so swiftly, leaving nothing behind. I began to worry that my fate might be the same.

Chapter 11 -
Sarah

Nelly was waiting at the front door in her old flannel housecoat when we got up onto the porch.

“
Oh, thank goodness.” She held the door open for both of us, “I wasn’t sure what was going on. I heard your truck start and was worried you might have headed over to Bill’s.”

“
Who’s Bill?” Michael inquired, his eyes moving from Nelly back to me.

I rolled my eyes at him, “Bill’s is a bar I go to every now and then.”

“
The tavern?”

“
Yeah, I guess.” I forgot sometimes that he’d been buried in the middle of nowhere since 1945.

“
Michael, some packages showed up for you yesterday. They’re out on the back porch.” Nelly said, pushing the front door closed behind her and locking it.

He nodded, “Victoria said she was sending some things to me.”

“
Blood?” The hopeful expression on Nelly’s face was almost comical. I turned my face away and covered my smile with one hand.

Michael caught up one of Nelly’s hands and put it on his bent arm, “Lead the way, dear lady. We shall see.” He left me with a wink, sweeping out of the room with my elderly housekeeper on his arm.

I shook my head, smiling again. Then the cell phone rang that I had stashed in my coat pocket. Pulling it out, I pressed the receive button before checking the Caller ID.

“
This is Sarah.”

“
There is a very important individual who wants to meet you, Miss Wood.” An unfamiliar male voice. That probably wasn’t a good thing.

“
Okay. Who is this?” I demanded.

“
Who I am is of no consequence.” He replied calmly, “The person who wants to meet you would like to make sure that you will be available two days from now.”

“
What is this about?”

There was a moment’s pause, “It is regarding the vampire in your custody. Michael Graviano.”

I grew very still. I’d never heard Michael’s last name before. It sounded Greek, I supposed. I peeked around the corner and saw that Michael was on the back porch with Nelly, opening the packages he’d received from Victoria. Could this caller be someone from the council? Had they discovered I’d released Michael?

“
What about him?” I asked.

“
There are some who say he was incarcerated without good reason. My employer would like to meet with you, two nights from now in Indianapolis. I will be calling you again with the place and time. It would not be wise of you to share this with anyone.” There was a barely audible click over the line and then silence.

I stared at the phone, thinking furiously. Who could want to meet me? If it were someone trying to free Michael based on real evidence, I knew I had to hear them out. Of course, he would never approve of me going alone. Deciding to keep the information to myself, I slipped the phone back into my pocket.

“
Who was that?” Michael had crept up behind me without me realizing it.

“
Just Katie.” I lied.

I felt his breath in my ear. It created a riot of hot sparks across my cheeks and neck.

“
You’re not a skilled liar, my love.” He grasped my arms gently and turned me to face him. I nearly melted into the floor at the admonishment written across his face and the way his clear blue eyes studied me.

“
I’m sorry.” I sighed, “But it’s not going to be easy to just put all my trust in you right away.” Reaching up, I tucked back a lock of hair that had fallen down over his ear, “You are a blood-sucking beast of the night, right?”

“
Hmm.” He wasn’t satisfied with my teasing, but he dropped the subject.

“
Hey, what happened with Luanna? Is she still in the caves?”

“
She is still there. I need to get some answers out of her about Gunter.” He said.

I didn’t want him to leave, but he was moving toward the front door. Craving an embrace, a quick kiss, a whispered word, I grabbed his arm, “You’re going?”

He nodded shortly, glancing down at my hand, “I have things I need to take care of.” Brightening suddenly, he flashed a grin, “Don’t worry, angel. I’ll be back.”

Arrogant, as always. I took my hand off his arm and shrugged. “Oh, that’s fine. Don’t hurry back.”

“
Oh, no. Don’t play the tough girl with me.” He whispered the words in my ear, his lips grazing my earlobe, “We both know that the other cares. No more pretending.”

Did he have any idea how hard that was for me? To just let go and not worry about protecting myself? Perhaps he knew. Maybe he thought he could change me, make me trust him. He brushed my cheek with his lips and slipped out the door before I could say anything more.

I wandered into the kitchen. It was lit only by the light over the sink. Nelly sat at the kitchen table, sipping at a cup of tea.

“
He said he’d be back for the packages later.” She said.

I nodded absently, “Sure.”

My emotions were at war inside me. Everything that had happened with Alex had left me totally off balance. I wasn’t sure how to handle Michael, now that I knew he wanted me. He had earned my trust by returning to the Inn, but what if he had some other agenda? I was terrified he would end up turning away from me.

“
Penny for your thoughts.” Nelly said.