Page 36 of Love Bites
It shamed him.
He wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up and called the police on him. Then, she would probably run back to America without so much as a backward glance. He’d lied to her, and he had taken from her.
If she hated him, he deserved it.
And if she left him, he would have no right to complain.
16
Katheryn jolted awake. Panic of the unknown settled deep in her gut, and she thrashed out. She felt the tangle of something around her legs and her waist. The scream sounded loud but distant in her ears. There was nothing but fear inside her. Deep in her gut, it settled its nest, dug in its claws.
She remembered the sting of the bite, the gush of her blood from her body. And Ignacio, with eyes a savage glowing scarlet, had stared angrily at her, as if she were a meal to be devoured. His teeth were sharp as knives, and each fang dripped crimson, stained with her blood.
He was a liar. A lying bastard who had used her for sex and for blood. She could never forgive him for it. Somehow, it was worse than getting cheated on, worse than what Hunter had done to her. It was worse than any other lie anyone had ever told her. Katheryn had trusted him, and he had betrayed her.
The darkness was unfamiliar, as were her surroundings. She kicked and screamed and didn’t stop even when she felt her fists and feet come in contact with soft, human flesh. She thought of Ignacio, of his bared fangs and lashed out even harder. She doubted she’d be able to overpower a vampire, but she’d be damned if she didn’t try.
Suddenly, a pair of strong hands held her in place. She whimpered, but a voice interrupted her panic.
“Shh, shh.Calma, calma.” The voice was soothing and, to her surprise, very feminine. Katheryn opened her eyes to find them blinded by light.
An older woman held her down. The softest brown-green eyes Katheryn had ever seen stared down at her. The woman’s brown hair was twisted into a bun with some strands of curling around her cheeks and forehead. There was something familiar about her. Maybe it was the shape of her nose or the curve of her lips. Katheryn couldn’t be sure.
When Katheryn’s whimpers diminished, the stranger eased her vise grip. Katheryn sat up then regretted she had. Her head spun, and she nearly fell back. The woman helped her sit and lean back against a mound of pillows. A quick glance told Katheryn she was in a bedroom. Sheets tangled around her sweating limbs.
“Where am I? Who are you?” Katheryn demanded as flashbacks of memory assaulted her.
Ignacio had told her he needed to seal her wound, then everything had gone black. She had no idea where she was, where he had taken her, but she obviously wasn’t at her hotel.
“You at my house,” the woman said in heavily accented English. She sat on the side of the bed, her hands crossed in her lap. She wore a long floral dress and had a wise and very beautiful face.
“Why am I here?”
“Ignacio bring you,” she said.
Katheryn’s gaze narrowed. Then she saw the resemblance between Ignacio and this woman. They had the same mouth, wide, full and sensuous. The same nose and eye shape, even their hair appeared to be the same color. What was this woman to Ignacio? Katheryn would have guessed his mother but Ignacio was a vampire, and this woman’s softly wrinkled skin said she was human. Katheryn shook her head in confusion.
“Who are you?” Katheryn asked.
“I am Josefina Ortiz. I am Ignacio’s mother.”
“Ignacio’s mother? How is that possible? He’s a—he’s a—vampire.” She spat the word like a curse.
Josefina narrowed her eyes at that tone. “Yes, my son is vampire. Why is this problem?”
The poor woman,Katheryn thought. She obviously had no idea what Ignacio was capable of doing, what hehaddone to her. She must be under some sort of vampiric hypnotism.
“He attacked me!” Katheryn declared. “He’s evil!” She looked around fearfully. If he had brought her to his mother then they were probably in his house. So where was he? “Where is he?” she demanded, swinging her legs off the side of the bed. She stood to look around, but her legs shook and her head spun crazily.
“Sit,Katerina. You lost the blood and are still dizzy.” Josefina rose to steady Katheryn, but Katheryn shook her off.
“I lost blood because yourvampire sonattacked me!”
His mother’s eyes narrowed again. “My sondid not attack you,” she replied, coldly. “He is not, as you say, evil.”
When Katheryn wobbled, Josefina reached for a glass of yellow-orange liquid on the table next to the bed. She handed it to Katheryn. “Drink.”
Katheryn took it but eyed the liquid distrustfully.
