A Vampire's Hunger by Carla Susan Smith

Author:Carla Susan Smith [Smith, Carla Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-07-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Ryiel caught the small blonde woman as she hurled herself at him. One arm wrapped about her waist, he held her against his hip like a wrestler about to throw an opponent to the mat. Strong fingers secured her flailing hands at both wrists as she struggled against him. She was like an eel, he thought—no, more like a mountain lion intent on protecting her den and offspring. He was content to let her exhaust herself railing against him, but when she sank her teeth into his arm, he decided he’d had enough. Not that her bite would hurt him, but there was no way to know, if she broke the skin, how his blood might affect her, angry as she was. Tightening his hold, he squeezed until she let go and began gasping for breath.

“Enough,” he ordered.

The sight of his silver eyes and dark brows pulled to a sharp V between them was more than she could take. Ceasing her struggles, Laycee brought another, more formidable weapon to bear against him. Tears.

“I thought . . . I thought . . . you were him . . .” she sobbed. “I thought he’d come back.”

Ryiel set her on her feet, and she immediately stepped away and began swiping at her face with her hands. He held out a hand to Rowan, who got to her feet, green eyes shimmering with concern as she looked at her friend.

“It’s the hair,” Laycee continued with a sniff, pointing at him. “It’s black like the other vampire’s, and you all seem to have the same build . . .” The rest of her sentence trailed off as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth. Ryiel had the distinct impression she was taking a mental picture of him from head to toe. “I’m sorry. I should have realized you weren’t him. He was wearing more clothes.”

He failed to see what difference his attire, or lack of it, made, but he accepted her apology with a soft grunt. “You were watching, from there.” He raised a hand to a window on the upper floor of the house. “I remember Aleksei bringing you out of the house. Your wrists were broken, as I recall.” He reached for her hand and turned it over, the tips of his fingers skimming lightly across her skin. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“You didn’t.”

Rowan brushed imaginary dirt off the seat of her pants as she stared at both of them. “You wanna tell me what the hell’s going on, Lace?”

As she moved past him, Ryiel caught her scent. She was infused with the perfume of motherhood. A blend of regurgitated formula mixed with the innocence of her infant child, but then he caught the scent of something else. Another fragrance that was not so wholesome or, he imagined, so welcome.

“What is it?” Rowan asked, seeing his lip curl in distaste.

“Your friend has the smell of the Dark Realm about her.”

“The smell of what?” Though Laycee acted surprised, Ryiel could tell she was not.

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