From the Dark by Michele Hauf

Author:Michele Hauf [Hauf, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-09-25T07:00:00+00:00

The beast slept. In fact, Jane didn’t hear stirring below until well into afternoon the following day. Though angry at him for raging at her last night, she couldn’t make herself hate him for it.

The train had gone off the tracks. When she had started to care about him? After their first kiss in the garden?

No, it had been the morning after they’d first made love and she’d woken up amidst a bed of roses. And she’d looked for the burn on his face and had found none. Healed.

So no, she would not fault him for slipping last night. The man was an addict. Addictions were not cured, they were managed. And they had slowly begun to manage the monster inside Michael.

As Jane put the finishing touches to window number three, she heard the floorboards out in the hallway creak. Not turning to acknowledge him, because she wanted to keep a finger to the last seam so it sealed properly, Jane listened as Michael padded around behind her.

Pacing? The scruff of his suede pants sounded ridiculously loud. Ever in motion. Alive with chaotic sensuality. Impossible to pick up on his breathing, so she couldn’t determine his mood. Yet her magic lifted, seeking to put up a barrier. Had it been her inner charm that ultimately kept the vampire at bay last night?

The source. Come on, Jane, this man was dropped into your lap. You don’t need Ravin. What you need is to stop this idiot caring business.

Closing her eyes tightly, Jane fought against the nasty little devil on her shoulder.

He would have bitten you. Why shouldn’t you use him?

Finally Michael walked around the opposite side of the plywood table and studied her work for a few moments. Not having the words to speak that would make her feel any different about last night, or him, she decided silence was best.

He inhaled and leaned over the plywood. A fist pounded the wood, upsetting her glass pieces. Spreading out his hand, dozens of tiny white pills spilled across a cut portion of vibrant scarlet glass.

His mouth moved into a quick curve. “What,” he said, “in all the world was this for?”

Heartened by his smile, Jane released her breath. For a moment there she wouldn’t have been surprised to have him lunge for her and finish what he had tried to start last night.

She shook her head, marveling at the power she had wielded in utilizing such an average item. Yes, aspirins.

“The best way to defeat a vampire?” she said. “Give them something to count. Myth and lore tells how peasants used to bury prospective vampires with fishing nets. If the dead body revived to go out and seek blood, it couldn’t because it would have to count the knots in the net first. Didn’t you know that?”

“During moments like last night, I don’t know much beyond the blood hunger. I want. I feed. So…give me something to count, and I’m defeated?”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

He toggled an aspirin and chuckled, then he stepped back and let loose a burst of laughter.

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