Love Bites

“Sydney, Kellan’s just gone out for a bit.” Though Luke spoke lovingly, the distance of his voice told her he’d yet to approach the bed. Obviously, he didn’t want to get too close to the leper latent. “He’ll be back soon, I promise.”

“She is bereft without her sire. This is to be expected.”

My sire?

“He’s not my…sire. I just want him.” Sydney turned her head and slitted her eyes, braving the sunlight for all of three seconds before she shrieked and pulled the pillow back. Fiery spears stabbed her eyelids and burrowed into her brain, but she forced out the question just the same. “Where did he go?”

“He went to gather your things from your apartment.”

She wanted to cry at the mention of her home. Maybe it was dinky and frequently reeked from the neighbors’ cigarette smoke, but the place was hers.

It took all the effort she possessed to open her eyes again. She shielded her face with her hand, anything to cut the glare. “Why?”

“Because you’ll be staying here with us—him. You’ll be staying with him.” Luke glanced at the petite, bespectacled brunette beside him. She kept her gaze strictly on Sydney, as if he didn’t exist. “Here.”

“Says who?”

Kellan strolled through the doorway. “Says me.”

She couldn’t decide if she was thrilled to see him or angry that he was making decisions about her life that she wasn’t even a part of. But when he dropped the myriad parcels and bags he carried to cup her face in his hands, she decided being angry was way overrated.

God, he was so beautiful.

“Shut the curtains, dammit. Can’t you see she’s hurting?”

Luke obeyed the command, plunging the room into a murky half-dark that instantly soothed Sydney. The light was so bright and jarring. So unnecessary.

Kellan stroked her hair as his luminescent golden eyes raked over her face. “You’re awake. Pain?”

“Not so much anymore.” She snaked her arms around his neck as he bent to kiss her, then clung when he would’ve let go. “Stay with me.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and shifted until he could cradle her on his lap. His lips brushed her temple. “I will. I hated being away even this long.”

His body felt so warm and strong against hers. “Please don’t leave me again.”

>

“I won’t, sweetheart. I promise.”

“Touching. I didn’t realize love was part of the mating process.” Again, that nasal voice infiltrated her mind. “From what I’ve gathered, the most common components are the thirst for blood and sex.”

Kellan stiffened. “Can’t you keep your pet quiet, Lucas? I’m growing weary of her.”

“Lucas, your vampire friend has an attitude problem.”

“Shut up,” Sydney snapped, glaring at the woman over Kellan’s shoulder. Even in the dark, she could make out every detail—her owlish gray eyes behind huge frames, her thin, razor-sharp nose, her smirk. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

But the woman didn’t answer. She stared back at Sydney, then gasped and grabbed Lucas’s arm. “Look at her eyes.” Excitement leaked from her voice. “They’re red! Just like the books said they would become as the change progresses. Oh my God, this is incredible.”

Sydney pushed Kellan away, using strength she hadn’t known she still had, to leap off the bed and race across the room to the bathroom. There she saw the proof herself. The green in her eyes had been replaced by a virulent red that almost engulfed her pupils. She gripped the edge of the pedestal sink and blinked furiously, hoping the optical illusion would fade.

“No, no, no!” She tore at her cheeks as the red intensified. Thick welts rose from her nails, but almost immediately, they began to close. “I’m a freak. A demon.”

“You’re not. You’re not, Sydney. I promise you. Shh, baby.”

When Kellan enfolded her in his arms, she buried her face in his chest and let her sobs free.

“I’m so ugly. How can you stand to look at me? To touch me?”