Page 11 of Love Bites
Talon's gaze flickered to my hand in my pocket. "You're armed?"
"Would you leave the house unarmed if you were being stalked by a vampire?"
"I'm not stalking you."
"Yeah, sure, it's a total coincidence that you're here. I also enjoy hanging out at graveyards in my free time."
Talon simply smiled again. "Who doesn't?"
Fuck the guy for being so smooth. "My family is here to mourn. Leave us alone."
"I will. I only need a minute of your time first." Talon stepped forward again and I backed away once more. If he thought I was simply going to stand here...
"You're not getting my blood."
Instead of responding, the vampire disappeared from view and then I felt myself being pushed forward, back into the shade of the church. I scrambled to find my footing, but before I could, Talon pulled me upright, his hand on my collar now.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"I promise this won't hurt."
My hand tightened around the stake, but I never managed to pull it out before a sharp pricking sensation at the side of my neck distracted me, accompanied—and amplified—by the feeling of Talon's lips on my skin. I wanted to ask again what he was doing, even though I already knew, but I couldn't get the words out. My vision blurred and my body went limp. All that was keeping me upright now was Talon's hold, but for some strange reason, that didn't bother me. It was as if he hadn't just bit me but injected something into my bloodstream at the same time. Something that felt like liquid calm. My eyes fluttered close and a sigh escaped my lips. Thoughts began to form in my brain and scattered before they could reach their conclusion. I hadn't been this relaxed since... since...
I couldn't even remember.
A drop of blood flowed from my veins into Talon's mouth. No, it was more than a drop, and it was more than just my blood. It was as if a part of my very essence flowed along with it, melding with Talon's, as if we were becoming one being. As if we were connected in more ways than just the physical.
And still, I didn't move, didn't fight.
Instinctively I knew that this was exactly the way things should be.
And then, slowly, the calm that had taken over me gave way to something else, something that ran hot through my veins, starting from my groin. My skin began to tingle, but not in an unpleasant way. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before.
I wanted more of it.
I tried to open my mouth, to do what, I wasn't sure, but probably to beg.
It was just my luck that I never got around to doing that before a strange sensation grabbed hold of me. Even though I wasn't moving, I was yanked out of my body. Even though I didn't open my eyes, I saw Talon before me. No, not Talon.
Or was it?
He looked different, younger, and he didn't have any scars, but it had to be him. I recognized those sharp features. He was walking a dog, a German shepherd. The cars passing him by on the street made me think I'd been dropped back in time several decades, maybe to the 60s or 70s, but I didn't know enough about cars to pinpoint the time period any further than that. There sure were a lot of Beetles, though.
"Talon?" I called out, but he paid me no mind, as if he couldn't hear me at all, which didn't surprise me, because I couldn't even hear myself. It was as if I had no voice. Whatever I was seeing, it wasn't reality, and I wasn't really here.
There was a woman in a yellow dress waving at Talon. "Robert!" she called. "I'm over here!"
Who is Robert?
With that thought, I was catapulted back out of this dream, or whatever it was.
The vampire was still holding on to my collar, but his grip had lightened and his mouth wasn't on me anymore—and judging by the fact that I felt control over my muscles return to me, he hadn't sucked me dry. At the very least, I didn't feel like I was about to topple over and die. Mainly I just felt disoriented—and horny, which was a great mix.
"What just happened?" I asked, trying to ground myself. It was only then that I noticed the look of shock on the vampire's face. Whatever had just transpired between us, it had been unexpected for him too. His lips looked a little redder and idly, I wondered if that was the color of my blood. I wondered why that made me want him more. "I should ram a stake through your heart," I heard myself mutter. Stake him and make all of this stop.
I hadn't been this confused about my emotions since my teenage years when I'd first noticed that my arch-nemesis' Jimmy Kohl's ass looked damn fine in his new jeans.
"Good luck getting a stake anywhere near my heart." Finally, Talon let go of me, his features smoothing over. I could tell that he was about to pretend that nothing shocking had happened, but I wasn't going to let him get away with that. I wasn't going to let him get away, period.
