Page 8 of To Crave Darkly
I pulled the car off the main road and onto a single-track drive. Lori's head perked up.
“Jasper, are we nearly there?” she asked tentatively.
“Yes, just a few more miles,” I answered, hoping that she wouldn’t try anything stupid when we got to the house. The last thing I needed was to have to chase her through the woods. Just the thought of it was enough to make me groan.
“What is it?” Lori said, concerned.
Shit, had I groaned out loud? “Nothing,” I said quickly. Her eyes dropped to the floor before turning back to look out the window.
After a few more minutes of silence, we pulled in front of a small house, right in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for hiding out in. You wouldn’t stumble across it unless you were looking for it. I turned the engine off.
“Stay here a minute. I want to scope the place out,” I said to Lori as I exited the car. She nodded in agreement. Maybe she was going to make this easy after all.
I entered the house and just listened. I had pretty good hearing even for a vampire. I listened to the sounds of the house and made sure I was the only one here. I couldn’t hear any heartbeats or anyone breathing and there was no sign of any movement.
Then I heard something. Something that made the beast lift his ears and grin.
The sound of a twig snapping. She wouldn't? My instincts kicked in and I ran out of the house. I looked in the car and, sure enough, she'd done a runner. Stupid girl. Didn’t she know how much danger she was in?
It wasn’t going to take me long to find her. I was a trained hunter. Hunting and killing was my way of life and this little bird had no hope of escaping me. Excitement stirred my inner beast. I could feel him arching his back and stretching his legs. He craved the thrill of the chase and couldn’t wait to break free of the cage I kept him in. My mouth watered in anticipation of a fresh kill.
I relinquished the reins to the beast and my senses went into overdrive. Colours were brighter, sounds sharper and scents permeated through the air with astounding clarity.
I sniffed the air. “Got you, little bird.”
She was running fast, but I was faster. This was going to be too easy. I took off in her direction, my speed increasing until I caught a glimpse of her. She was breathing heavily, and her heart was racing. It was frantically trying to pump blood around her body. It called to me, a beautiful melody enticing me to drain her dry. I was so close to her. The anticipation of catching her was driving me forward, spurring me on despite the sting from the branches and thorns slicing my skin. They didn’t matter. All that mattered was catching her and sinking my fangs deep into…stop. Wait.
The beast was getting carried away. I needed to rein hi, back in or I was going to devour the girl. I pulled back on the leash that kept my darker side under control. He resisted but he had to follow the same orders as me, which meant the girl had to stay alive.
“Lori!”
She glanced over her shoulder. Her face was covered in panic as she realised how close I was. I launched myself at her, my body weight propelling her to the ground. She tried to squirm away from me, and her feet kicked wildly. My head snapped back as she managed to connect her heel with my jaw. She used the opportunity to crawl away from me and almost got back on her feet. I grabbed her leg and pulled her back to the ground, rolling her onto her back before pinning her beneath me.
Which was a huge mistake.
I could feel every inch of her pressed against me. It didn’t help that she wriggled and bucked beneath me as she tried to escape. Her hips pushed against mine as she tried to break free from my grip. The beast growled in excitement. He was clearly enjoying this and that bled into my emotions. Fuck, that felt good. I groaned. I needed to put the monster back in his cage or this was going to get out of hand really fast. She clawed at my face, trying to scratch my eyes out. Damn, the little minx was feisty.
“Lori, stop fighting me,” I shouted at her.
“Let me go,” she shouted back, fighting me with everything she'd got.
“Not going to happen, so you might as well just surrender.” She was still trying to squirm her way out from under me, but it had gone from turning me on to just pissing me off. “Don't make me knock you out again.”
She froze with fear and just stared at me, her eyes wide as they darted around looking for escape. I hated to scare her, but I needed her to be compliant and obedient. Especially since it was taking all my self-control not to devour her on the spot. I wanted nothing more than to sink my teeth into her neck and just taste her. If I didn't get off her, I might do just that.
“I'm going to let go of your hands and stand up. Don't do anything stupid.” I waited for some response from her, but she didn’t even blink. I took that as a sign she wasn’t going to run again. As soon as I was on my feet, I reached down and hauled her up. She winced from the cuts she must have gained from running with no shoes on and, without even thinking, I hauled her up into my arms. She let out a gasp in surprise, clearly not expecting me to carry her back to the house. To be honest, I think I surprised myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d cradled a woman in my arms. It was…nice.
That was a worrying thought.
I could tell she wasn’t happy about being carried though. Her entire body was tense and it made carrying her fucking awkward.
“Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. Would you rather walk?” She harrumphed. “I didn't think so.”
After I had taken a few more strides, she wrapped her arms around my neck and relaxed into my arms. Her head fell onto my chest and she tucked it underneath my chin. I caught a waft of her scent as she got comfortable. She smelt of lavender and sunshine.
It was seriously distracting. It made me want to keep hold of her and throw her to the ground all at once.
“Your heart beats.” Her words distracted me from my thoughts.
