With a shake of her head, she poured herself a cup of coffee. If he wanted to keep her, then he could keep her in the manner to which she was seriously unaccustomed!
Cup in hand, she returned to her bedroom. She hadn’t paid much attention on waking, but now she noticed several packages on the dresser. No doubt she’d find her new sheets, towels, and bath soap inside. Not to mention a bottle of the world’s most expensive perfume.
Unable to resist, she opened the smallest package and spritzed herself with Clive Christian No. 1. It smelled divine. Feeling like a movie star, she returned to the kitchen, wondering if Saintcrow would hire her a maid and a cook if she asked him to.
Kadie was sitting on the new sofa, watching a movie on her new DVD player, when Saintcrow appeared. As usual, her foolish heart skipped a beat—partly from the suddenness of his arrival, but mostly because he was such an amazing-looking man.
He glanced around the room. “So, how do you like it?”
“How do you like it? You paid for it.”
He shrugged. “A sofa’s a sofa. A chair’s a chair. Do you need anything else?”
“Yes.” Sitting up, she leaned forward, her elbows braced on her knees. “I want to know about you.”
He lifted one brow. “What about me?”
“Gee, I wonder. Let’s see. You’re a nine-hundred-year-old vampire. Why don’t you start there?”
He dropped into the chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “What do you want to know?”
“How did you become a vampire? I mean, who did it? Where did it happen?”
“It was during the Crusades. It was a messy business, that war. A lot of men died on the way to the Holy Land. Ships were lost at sea. They were the lucky ones. The rest of us marched across the desert in full armor. Some perished from lack of food, others from lack of water, some from heat exhaustion. But we kept going, marching to the battle cry of Deus vult. God wills it. That was our motto. Thousands of men, women, and children joined us.”
He shook his head with the memory. “Getting to the Holy Land was only half the battle. Once we were there, we laid siege to the cities, sometimes for years. It was exciting at first, riding off to a holy war, but the excitement quickly died, replaced by the stink of fear and death. I was wounded in battle. I knew I was going to die, but I managed to drag myself away from the field where no one could find me. I guess I was delirious, but I was determined to die alone. A woman found me there. She gave me a drink of water, sang me a song.”
His eyes took on a faraway look, and Kadie knew he was living it all again. He was quiet for several minutes before he continued.
“She talked to me for a long time. I don’t remember much of what she said. I was fading fast. I remember she pinched me hard enough to get my attention, then she asked me if I wanted to die. I thought that, under the circumstances, it was a foolish question. I was weak. I could barely speak, my vision was gone. She shook me, then asked me the same question again, but I was past answering.
“What happened next remains a blur. I know she bit me. I remember feeling her teeth at my throat, but it didn’t hurt. I felt myself drifting away and I knew I was dying, but I didn’t care. I was floating in a sea of crimson when she slapped me. It jerked me back to reality. ‘Drink this,’ she said, and I opened my mouth. That’s the last thing I recall until I woke the next night.
“At first, I had no idea what had happened to me. My memories of the night before were fragmented. All I knew was that I was filthy, my armor was gone, my garments were stained with blood, and I was ravenous, hungry for something, although I didn’t know what it was at the time.
“I heard voices in the distance and I started walking toward them.” He took a deep breath, held it for a long time before releasing it. “I found three men gathered around a fire. Deserters from the look of them. I called out and they invited me to join them.” He dragged a hand over his jaw. “I guess