His Dark Embrace

“Did you ... kill him?”

“No, just wounded his pride a little.”

“What about the scar on your back?”

“Souvenir of a duel over a lovely lady.”

“Oh?”

He laughed softly, amused by the jealous note in her voice. “A four-legged lady. Quite the prettiest little filly I’d ever seen. Unfortunately, her owner didn’t want to part with her.”

“You fought a duel? Over a horse?” She stared at him incredulously. “I don’t believe it.”

“I was younger then,” he said with a rueful grin. “And a lot more foolish.”

“I see.”

In a voice that was low and softly seductive, he said, “I always get what I want.”

Her heartbeat quickened as his gaze moved over her. “Do you?”

His voice dropped to a low growl as he wrapped his arms around her. “I got you, didn’t I?”

“Indeed.” Rising on her tiptoes, she brushed a kiss across his lips. “You did,” she said, and then sagged against him.

It took him a moment to realize she was crying. “Hey, what’s this?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, everything.”

“Sky?”

“I think we should ...” She sniffed. “We should postpone the wedding, at least until Sam comes to grips with ... you know, with his new, ah, lifestyle.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

“You don’t mind?”

“No.” He ran his hand up and down her back. “It’ll be all right, you’ll see.”

Hoping to lighten the mood, Thorne chucked her under the chin. “Sam shouldn’t be left alone at night for a while, and once you’re really mine ...” He grinned at her. “Well, I’ll be wanting all your time, at least for a little while.”

Blinking back her tears, she nodded.

Thorne regarded her for a moment, then said, “Something else is bothering you. Do you want to tell me what it is?”

“I love you. You know that.”

“But?”

“Well, you’re not going to get any older. What happens when I’m not young anymore?” She fought down the fear rising inside her, the fear that he would leave her. “Will you go away?”

“No. The marriage vows say until death do you part, and I’ll stay with you, and take care of you, until then.”

She shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t. I love you, Sky Blue. Young or old, in sickness or in health, you’ll always be as beautiful to me as you are now.”

“Kaiden ...”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “I’m not immortal, you know. You might outlive me.”

She stared up at him. She had never even considered that. Which would be worse, she wondered, growing old while Kaiden stayed forever young and virile, or living without him?

Chapter 36

Sam came awake with a start. Damn, he’d had the most bizarre dream imaginable, worse, even, than the gut-wrenching nightmares that had plagued him when he’d been in Iraq.

Jackknifing into a sitting position, he dragged a hand through his hair as he glanced at his surroundings, annoyed to find that, once again, he had no idea of where he was or how he’d gotten there. He fought off a moment of panic as the thought that he might be going insane rose in his mind once again.

“At least this place beats the last one,” he muttered, and then frowned. Something wasn’t right. The room was totally dark, yet he could see everything clearly—the dresser across from the bed he occupied, the details of the painting on the wall, a hairline crack in the ceiling. And the noise! He covered his good ear, but it did nothing to shut out the steady thump-thump-thump that sounded like a heartbeat coming from the next room, or the din of traffic in the street below.

He shook his head. He must be hallucinating.

He gasped, his hand clutching at his belly as a sharp pain doubled him over. What the hell was happening to him? Had he been poisoned? He groaned as the pain grew worse. Maybe he had a hangover. Even his teeth hurt.

Still hunched over, he rocked back and forth on the mattress. He had never hurt like this in his life. Was he dying?

He looked up when the door opened. Thorne stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He didn’t bother to turn on the light. “How are you feeling?”

Sam groaned low in his throat. “I need a doctor.”

“No, you don’t. You need to feed.”

That was an odd way to put it. “I’m not hungry.”

“Your stomach hurts, right? Your teeth ache. Your veins feel like they’re on fire.”

“Yeah, I’m probably coming down with the flu or something.”

“Or something. What do you remember about last night?”

Sam stared at Thorne. “What’s that got to do with anything? I’m sick, here. I don’t want to take a walk down memory lane.”

“What do you remember?”

“I had a bad dream.”

“Tell me about it.”

“That guy in the gray cloak. He was in it. He bit me ...” Sam jerked upright. “It wasn’t a dream, was it? He kept us in some kind of dungeon.” Rising, he paced back and forth beside the bed. “He drank my blood! I remember now. He’s a... .” Sam shook his head. “It had to be a dream.”

“No. His name is Desmarais. He’s a vampire.”

If not for the sober expression on Thorne’s face, Sam would have laughed. And then, like a movie unfolding in his mind, he saw everything that had happened last night. Saw it and knew it was true. “Why aren’t I dead?”

“Because of your sister.”

“Skylynn? What’s she got to do with it?”

“It isn’t what she did. It’s what she asked me to do.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When we got to you, you were dying. Skylynn asked me to save you.” Thorne watched Sam’s face as he tried to work it out. It didn’t take Sam long to connect the dots.

“You’d have to be a vampire ...” Sam shook his head. Even when he knew the answer, he didn’t believe it. “That’s impossible. I saw you outside during the day. You ate dinner at our house ...” He groaned, his arms wrapping around his stomach as a fresh wave of pain knifed through him.

“You need blood.” Thorne studied Sam a moment, replaying the boy’s last words in his mind, realizing, as he did so, that Sam had remembered something from the past. Thorne smiled inwardly, thinking how pleased Skylynn would be when she found out.