up to get you into bed? If that’s all I wanted, I could get you there with no trouble at all, and then make you forget it ever happened.”
“How?”
His gaze trapped hers. “Come here to me, Kadie. Sit on my lap, put your arms around me, and kiss me.”
His voice threaded through her mind, stealing her will, until all she wanted to do was please him. Rising, she crossed the short distance between them and did as he’d asked.
When he broke the kiss, she stared at him, startled to find herself in his lap, her arms around his neck.
She scrambled to her feet, then stared at him, her eyes wide. “What happened? What did you do?”
“A form of hypnotism,” he said quietly. “If I wanted you in my bed, Kadie, you would be there. Now do you believe me?”
She nodded, frightened right down to the ground.
“I told you before I wouldn’t take you by force. I haven’t changed my mind.” Rising, he drew her into his arms. “But I want you, Kadie, more than I’ve ever wanted another woman. And you want me. I can smell it on you, hear it in the beat of your heart. Do you deny it?”
“ No.”
“Then say yes, and I’ll give you anything you want.”
“You promise?”
“I do.”
“If we make love, will you let me go?”
He shook his head. “I’ll grant you anything but that.”
“It’s the only thing I want.”
The arms holding her grew taut. A muscle throbbed in his jaw. “I can wait,” he said, his voice harsh. “Like I told you before, I have all the time in the world.”
His hands grasped her arms, his fingers digging into her flesh, though not painfully. Lowering his head, he kissed her, slowly at first, then with building intensity, his lips moving evocatively over hers, his tongue tasting her, branding her, until the rest of the world fell away and there was only his mouth on hers, his hand on her back, drawing her body up against the hard length of his. Everything that was female within her responded to his kiss, to his caress. He was man and she was woman and they were meant to be together.
When he released her, she sank to her knees. Head spinning, she closed her eyes and expelled a deep shuddering breath.
When she looked up, he was gone.
Saintcrow stalked the dark streets, his need at war with his promise not to take her by force. Why had he made such a ridiculous promise in the first place? This was his town. She was his woman, his slave, no more than chattel if he wished it.
He passed each house, knowing which woman was alone and which was entertaining one of his kind. If he wished, he could hear their thoughts, though that was something he rarely did. Mortal thoughts held little interest for him, especially those in Morgan Creek.
He paused outside Leslie’s house. Quinn was inside, high on the woman’s blood. He had taken far more than he should. The woman was unconscious, barely breathing. The beat of her heart was almost undetectable.
Cursing softly, Saintcrow entered the house.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Quinn demanded, gaining his feet. “She’s mine for the night.”
“You damn fool, she’s almost dead!”
“So what? There’s more where she came from. I’m tired of being careful. Tired of this place ! I want to hunt. I want to kill something!”
“You want to kill something?” Saintcrow glanced at the woman on the sofa. “You just did. She’s dead.”
Quinn cleared his throat. “I didn’t mean to kill her.” “Bury the body before you seek your rest.”
Quinn nodded.
“If this happens again . . .”
“It won’t,” Quinn said, his voice sullen.
“See that it doesn’t,” Saintcrow said.
Quinn nodded. There was no mistaking the blatant warning in Saintcrow’s voice, or the promise of destruction in his eyes.
Outside again, Saintcrow willed himself to the nearest town. He had long since stopped preying on those in Morgan Creek. He took the first woman he found. She was clean, her blood untainted by drugs or disease, but he found no satisfaction in it, no enjoyment, only an end to his hunger.
Kadie, damn her. She had spoiled his pleasure in anyone else.
Chapter 14
Kadie waited the rest of the night for Saintcrow to return. She yearned for him, craved his kiss, his touch, longed for him more than her next breath. But he didn’t come back.
Not that night.
Not the next night.
Or the next. Where was he? Was it possible he was sick? Did vampires get sick?