were right. I thoughtlessly ruined lives, broke up families, deprived children of their parents. And if my conscience ever bothered me, I excused myself because I’m a vampire, a hunter, and humans are my prey.” He held up his hand when she started to speak. “Then I watched you with your family. I’ve been a vampire for so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to be a part of one. You love them. They love you. I can’t give you a normal life. I can’t give you children. And your father will never accept me.”
“I don’t care about all that.” She took a deep breath. “All that matters is that I love you. And if you love me . . .”
“If ? Kadie, you must know how I feel.”
“You never said it.”
“Neither have you. I love you, Kadie. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“You make me happy.”
“Do your parents know where you are?”
“No! I left them a note saying I was going back to work and that I’d call them in a few weeks.”
“So, where do we go from here?”
“I guess that’s up to you. If you want me to stay, I will. If you don’t . . .” She clenched her hands in her lap, her eyes searching his as she waited for his answer.
“Kadie.” He pulled her gently into his arms. “Stay as long as you wish.”
Her eyelids fluttered down as he lowered his head to claim her lips with his. His kiss, velvety soft and featherlight, put all her doubts to flight.
They talked far into the night, making plans, dreaming dreams. He made love to her tenderly, vowing he would always love her, never leave her again.
She fell asleep in his arms.
It was after three A.M. when Saintcrow left the house, drawn outside by Lilith’s scent. She had been anxious to leave this place, so why did she keep returning?
A thought took him to Blair House. He found her on the sofa in the front parlor, her head bent over the neck of a burly young man with coffee-colored skin and long black hair. If she was surprised to see Saintcrow, she hid it well.
He stood in the doorway while she finished feeding. When she was done, she delicately wiped her mouth on the young man’s shirt.
“What are you doing here, Lilith? Besides satisfying your rapacious thirst?”
She shrugged.
“I met a fledgling of yours. Ravenwood?”
“How is he?” She eased the man out of her arms and he fell limply to the floor.
“Lucky to be alive.” As was the man she had just preyed upon, Saintcrow thought. “Next time you turn someone, you might stick around long enough to show him the ropes, you know, tell him what to expect, how to survive.”
“He made me angry.”
“How long are you planning to stay here?”
She shrugged again. “Does it matter?”
“Not if you behave yourself.”
She rose in a long, sinuous movement that reminded him of a snake uncoiling.
Saintcrow lifted one brow when she swayed toward him. “Did you ever think about what it would be like if we got together?”
He snorted. “I’d as soon bed a pit viper.”
Her eyes blazed red. “I can’t believe that puny mortal is more to your liking,” she retorted, her voice thick with scorn. “But then, I never understood why you protected the humans that came here. They’re nothing. Less than nothing.”
“I don’t want any more deaths in my town.” He jerked his chin toward the man on the floor. “And that includes him.”
She glared at Saintcrow, mute.
“I mean it, Lilith. The mortals have a saying. It’s my way or the highway. Don’t forget it.”
Kadie woke in bed, alone, late the next morning, with no memory of how she had gotten there. She knew a moment of disappointment because Saintcrow had left before dawn, then shrugged it off. It was, she thought, something she would have to get used to if she intended to spend the rest of her life with a vampire.
The ringing of her phone brought her back to the present. Glancing at the display, she hesitated to answer it, but there was no point in worrying her mother any more than she had to.
Forcing a note of cheerfulness into her voice, she said, “Hi, Mom.”
“Kadie. Where are you?”
“Dad. Is Mom okay?”
“She’s fine.”
“Why are you using her phone?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t answer if you thought it was me. Where are you?”
“Daddy, please just leave us alone.”
“So, you’re with him.”
“I love him, and nothing you say will change that. Please accept