The Vampire's Kiss (2 page)

Her face was a delicate oval. Her skin was incredibly translucent. Her nose was small, and her lips were temptingly full. Yet, it was her eyes that caught and held his attention. They were the greenest eyes that he had ever seen. Dark, deep, emerald eyes. Her rioting red curls contrasted richly with her eyes, giving her a strangely fey quality.

His gaze traveled down her body. Her breasts were small, gentle mounds that thrust proudly against her gray sweatshirt. Her nipples were pebbled slightly from the cold. Her hips were small, almost boyish, and her slender legs were encased in a pair of faded blue jeans.

The faint scent of blood clung to her body. The scent called softly to him, tempted him.

He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. One of his hands lifted to rub against the hard line of his jaw. What sort of game was the little fairy playing? Surely she did not think to tangle with one such as he . . .

“What makes you think I would kill someone?” he drawled, his voice soft. He watched her carefully, noting the slight tremor in her hands.

Her green eyes narrowed. “I know about you,” she whispered, her fingers curling into the chair’s armrest.

His body stilled. “What is it that you think you know?” The amusement of moments before was gone. Ice coated his words.

“I know your secret, Mr. Dark.” Her voice was a hushed thread of sound.

William felt a sudden tension stretch through his body. He studied the fairy very carefully. He considered reaching into the depths of her mind, but he discarded the notion almost immediately. He wanted to see what truths she would reveal on her own. Or what lies.

“I know who you are.” She paused, and then said softly, “Or rather, I know
what
you are.” Her full lips curled tentatively. “You might say that I’m something of an expert on you.”

His own lips curved just slightly, though he knew that no trace of warmth filled his smile. “An expert? On me?” Rage filled him, but with an effort, he managed to keep his voice controlled as he asked, “Why am I so important to you? I assure you, my life is not that exciting.”

She leaned forward. “On the contrary, your life is fascinating.”

A sudden crash of thunder echoed in the distance.

“I am a man, no more, no less. My life is like any other.”

She vehemently shook her head. “You are much more than a man, Mr. Dark, and we both know that.” She took a deep breath. “I know
what
you are,” she whispered. “I know.”

His jaw clenched. “You know nothing.” He stood abruptly. “It’s time that you left.”

She jumped from her chair and took a step toward him. “I’m not leaving. I need your help!”

He shook his head once. “I cannot help you, lady. I can’t help anyone.”

“I need you.” Dark intensity filled her words and her gaze.

William frowned. He rose and walked slowly toward her. His fingers lifted and curled around her delicate chin. He stared down at her, a furrow between his brows. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know everything about you.”

His head cocked to the side. “And what you know—it makes you think that I would kill someone?”

She swallowed. “Yes.”

“You think I’m a killer?” he asked, just to be certain.

“Yes.” Savannah’s body tensed as she waited for his reaction.

He smiled. His fingers stroked the delicate line of her jaw. “I think you’re confused. Very, very confused. I’m not a killer. I’m just a man. A man who wants to be left alone.” He released her and walked toward the crackling fire.

“You were a man once,” she agreed. “But you’re not any longer. You stopped being just a man almost a thousand years ago.”

He turned and lunged toward her in a blur of speed. His right hand locked around the slender column of her throat. Her pulse pounded furiously beneath the cool touch of his fingers.

She spoke quickly, knowing she had not a moment to lose. The beast had been roused. “In 1038, you were born William de Montfort. In battle, you earned the name William the Dark. It was said that you earned that name because of your love for the dark arts. It was the evil magic you used then that made you into what you are now.”

His fingers eased their tight hold and began to tenderly stroke the sensitive skin of her throat. “And what am I, Ms. Daniels?”

Her lashes lowered slowly and then lifted to meet his burning stare. His blood red stare. “You’re a vampire.”

His incisors extended, long and deadly. His eyes, those burning eyes, held her captive. His hand continued to stroke the column of her neck. “And you are a fool.”

His head lowered, and she realized with numb shock that he was going to bite her. He was going to take her blood. Eagerly, she tilted her head back, offering herself to him.

His breath was hot against the tender skin of her throat. She waited, desperate to feel the plunge of his teeth as he drank from her. She just hoped that it didn’t hurt too much . . .

She expected to feel the slashing cut of his teeth against her. Instead, she felt the rough velvet of his tongue as he licked her throbbing pulse. Slowly. Once. Twice. Her breathing hitched, and she heard herself moan.

His teeth scraped lightly against her skin. His tongue licked.

His scent surrounded her. Strong. Dark. The scent of the night.

You want this, don’t you, little one?
His voice purred seductively, although his lips did not move.
You came here for this, didn’t you?
He began to gently suckle on her neck.

“Yes,” she whispered, as her arms lifted to clutch his shoulders and pull him closer to her body. Her eyes were tightly closed.

William drew back slowly, wondering about the woman’s motives, about her willingness to surrender to a monster.

Then he remembered what she’d said. “You wanted me to kill someone for you.” It was a statement. What he had taken as a jest before suddenly seemed very serious. Who was this woman? And why did she seek the Angel of Death?

“Yes,” she whispered again, refusing to open her eyes.

Look at me.
The command came unbidden. The full force of his will was behind the order. He would know what the woman in his arms wanted, what dangers she presented to him. Then he would deal with her.

“Who do you want me to kill?”

Her lashes lifted slowly, languorously. Her breathing was ragged. Her chest rose and fell jerkily. “Me. I want you to kill me.” Then her hands lifted and she buried them in his hair. She tightened her hold, silently urging his mouth back to her neck. Back to the place where her pulse pounded so frantically.

His eyes widened in shock. He, who had seen countless wars and deaths, was shocked by her statement. By her invitation.

Yet what shocked him more was how much he was tempted. For he desperately wanted to take the little fairy up on her offer. He wanted to take her blood . . . and her life.

With an effort, he forced himself to step back, to release her from his embrace. He stared at her, wondering why one so young and full of life would possibly want to surrender to the darkness. What demon had driven her to seek him out? “Why?” He asked as he moved back into the shadows of the room. “Why do you seek death?”

Her hands clenched and frustration flashed across her delicate features. “My motives shouldn’t matter to you.”

He cocked a dark brow. “They do.” He’d never had someone just come to him, without compulsion, and offer blood. Offer life. He’d found that humans valued life too much to want to just give it away to a beast.

Her jaw clenched. “I
want
you to bite me.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “But I am not going to do it.” He’d learned long ago to control his dark urges. And, even though she had come to him looking for death, he would not give it to her. The tattered remains of his conscience would not let him.

“You should leave now.” He motioned toward the door.

She shook her head, sending her dark red curls flying. “I’m not leaving. I didn’t come all this way just to have you refuse me.” Her face seemed unnaturally pale in the flickering firelight. “I
can’t
let you refuse me. I told you, I need your help.”

“And I told you no. Now, it is time for you to leave.”

Her chest rose and fell jerkily. “You have to help to me. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone about you. I’ll go to all the papers, all the news channels—”

He laughed softly, mockingly. “Come now. Do you really think they will believe you?” He shook his dark head. “If you go to them and say that I’m a vampire, they’ll laugh at you.” And quite possibly lock her up.

Her chin lifted. “They will believe me if I have proof.”

“And what proof do you have?” he scoffed.

She smiled, showing even white teeth. “I have your brother’s diary. Henry’s diary. I translated it.”

He tensed. The beast within him snarled in rage. “And where . . .” He clenched his back teeth and felt his incisors burn and lengthen. “. . . did you get that little prize?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” She walked toward him. “I have his diary, and I’ll show it to everyone that I can. Everyone. Eventually, someone
will
believe me. Your secret will be out.” She stopped a foot away from him. “And, then, Mr. Dark, after hunting prey for a millennium, you’ll be the one who is hunted.”

“You really want death, don’t you?” he asked, wonder in his voice.

“Death is just a means to an end,” she replied, the expression in her eyes secretive.

He grabbed her shoulders roughly. “I don’t like blackmail,” he growled. He was so close to her that he could hear her heartbeat, that he could feel its desperate rhythm shaking through her body. And he could almost taste her.

“Neither do I.” Genuine regret seemed to lace her words. “But I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you do. Leave now.”

“No.”

He looked deeply into her emerald gaze and saw both determination and fear. He tried to play on the fear. “If I do as you ask, you will feel pain like you can’t imagine. Fear like you’ve never known. I will drain all of the blood from your beautiful body. I will drink from you until there is nothing left.” He touched her cheek gently. “And then I will throw away your rotting corpse.” His smile was chilling.

“I’ve felt fear before.” Her words were calm, but her lips trembled. “I’ve felt pain. More pain that even
you
can imagine.”

He was surprised by the anger that swept through him. The idea that someone, somewhere, had hurt this strange woman filled him with rage. A rage that had no reason. His fingers clenched around her shoulders. “Who hurt—”

She jerked back, away from him. “It doesn’t matter right now.”

It mattered. For some unknown reason, it mattered very much to him.

“Are you going to help me?” She asked again.

“You mean, am I going to kill you?” In truth, he found that he hungered for the taste of her blood. For her.

She took a deep breath. “Look, we’re wasting time. I know how it works. I told you, I’ve done my research.”

“Ah, yes . . . your research.” His words mocked her.

“I know what has to be done,” she said stubbornly, her bright gaze locked on his. “I know that I have to die in order to become . . .”

“Become what?” He asked as a dark suspicion wrapped its way around him. Surely she couldn’t mean—

“Like you.”

Chapter Two

Evil lives in this world. I have seen it.

—Entry from the diary of Henry de Montfort,

October 5, 1068

SILENCE FILLED the room.

Savannah held her breath, praying with all of her strength that she hadn’t made a mistake by coming here, by coming to William.

He had been her last resort. Her only choice.

If she were to have her vengeance, then she would need him.

Finally, just when she thought the silence would never end, he spoke. His words were slow, considering. “So it isn’t true death that you seek, is it, little one? You want the kiss, the kiss of immortality. The kiss of the vampire.” He sounded almost disappointed.

“Yes, that’s what I want.” No, it wasn’t really what she wanted, but it was what she had to have. She had to become like him, to become one the walking dead, if she were to complete her plans. Otherwise, all would be lost.

“You aren’t so different, after all.” He turned away dismissively and walked out of the room.

Her temples began to pound. She ignored the pain and hurried after him. “Wait! Stop!”

He was in the foyer. He pulled open the strong wooden door. The darkness from the night spilled into the room. It almost seemed as if the darkness were waiting for her, waiting to claim her.

“Good night, Ms. Daniels.”

“No!” She slammed the door, shutting out the night. “You have to help me.”

“I haven’t helped any of those other poor fools who came to me over the years and asked for the kiss.” A cynical smile curled his lips as he read the surprise on her face. “What? Did you think you were the first to discover my nature?”