Must Love Fangs

clearly not repulsed by mine, and I feel like we have more to offer each other. Yet . . . I do need trust. It is critical for a vampire.”

This didn’t sound like an immediate brush-off. Hope shot through me like adrenaline, and I leaned forward, wanting to grab the table and shake it in my giddiness. “You can absolutely trust me. I’m a very private person.”

“That is good, but I need more than words.”

And he swirled his wineglass again, looking at it thoughtfully, then back to my neck.

I sat back, all the excitement deflating from my body. Oh. That movement was rather obvious. “You want to . . . drink from me?”

“You do wish to be my companion, do you not?”

“I do. More than anything.” It sounded desperate, but hell, I was desperate.

“Then prove it.” His eyes were cunning as he stared across the table at me.

I didn’t even hesitate. “All right. Let’s do it.”

He placed his wineglass on the table and got up from his chair. When I stood, he crooked his arm for me to place my hand through.

It was a gentlemanly gesture, at odds with this power play we were going through. I linked my arm through his, letting him lead me out a side door.

We went into the night, walked around to the side of the small building. I could still hear the music playing from the speakers attached to the door of the restaurant.

“This is acceptable,” he said, maneuvering so we stood in the shadows of the building.

Here? It seemed too open. I supposed anyone that passed by would see a couple making out, however, not a vampire sucking someone’s blood. “All right,” I began—

Andre pushed me roughly against the brick wall, scraping my skin. But more alarming was the hand that went to the base of my throat, tilting my head back and exposing my neck. I struggled against his grip, and he arched an eyebrow.

“I thought you wanted this, Marie?”

“I did. I do.” So why did being pinned against a wall fill me with so much panic? I forced myself to calm, stare him in the eyes. “I can handle this.”

He grinned, and as I watched, his fangs elongated. I stared in appalled horror as they stretched out of his mouth, easily two or three inches long. That was . . . awful. A car passed by, the glare of the headlights moving over his face and making those awful teeth gleam. “This is what you want?”

I swallowed hard. If I said no, he’d never turn me. “It is.”

“But not my kiss?” Despite the long length of his fangs, he seemed to have no trouble speaking, though he was slow and deliberate in the pronunciation of his words. “You refused that?”

“I don’t want to be drugged,” I told him. “I want to be fully aware . . . of everything.”

He grinned at me. “As you wish.”

When he leaned in, I felt a flare of alarm. I didn’t want this.

I wanted Josh.

I didn’t want to be a vampire. I didn’t want this vampire. Underneath his polite exterior, there was something cold about Andre, and it had come out tonight.

Teeth sank into my neck. There was a hard pinch of pain, and then a rip of agony flashed through me. I yelped and stiffened, and Andre’s hand covered my mouth.

It felt like I’d been skewered with two hot pokers, but even worse was the sucking that followed. I felt blood dribbling down my throat, against the fabric of my dress. He slurped at my neck, and drank. And drank. It seemed to go on forever, painful and messy.

Finally, his fangs pulled free from my neck with a nasty sucking sound. He stepped away and grinned as blood gushed down my neck.

“You’ll want to apply pressure there,” he said, wiping at the corners of his mouth. As I watched, his fangs receded. He pulled out a white handkerchief and handed it to me.

I pressed it against my neck. Blood was everywhere, down my neck, dribbling into my cleavage. I felt weak . . . and revolted.

I’d just let a vampire drink from me. It was the most violating thing I’d ever felt. Far worse than the kiss. With the drug of his saliva, the kiss had been tolerable. This was just . . . beyond revolting. I swallowed hard. “I . . . I think I’m still bleeding.”

He adjusted his cuff links, then smoothed a hand over his hair, seemingly bored now that he’d fed. “Was it everything you expected?”

“No.” Honesty had served me well thus far.

Andre grinned, and I was repulsed by the red tinge of his teeth. “Have I scared you away?”

“No. I still want you to turn me.”

“We’ll see,” he said lightly. “I do have need of a blood partner.”

My heart sped up with hope.

“I’m just not sure that you’re the right woman for the job. It’ll require a little more . . . time.”

My stomach gave a sickening clench. I knew what he meant. Time and a few more feedings to decide if he wanted to cut me loose or keep me on. I swallowed hard. “Just call me, then. I’m available.”

So much for letting the predator chase his prey.

But he gave me a thin smile. “Oh, I will.” He leaned in and brushed a finger along the curve of my breast, wiping off a bead of blood. He lifted it to his mouth and grinned. “Delicious. Thank you for dinner, dear one. You look a mess, though. Perhaps we should call our date off early?”

I felt a little dizzy and used, standing there with the handkerchief pressed to my neck. “That sounds fine to me.”

He leaned in and gave me a dry kiss on the cheek. Then he winked and walked away, whistling.

I picked up my purse from where I’d dropped it on the ground, and I nearly staggered, black spots dancing in front of my eyes. Andre had taken quite a bit of blood. I didn’t know how much, and my neck was still bleeding. I kept the handkerchief pressed there and staggered back to the agency.

It was still bleeding a few minutes later, when I heavily sat down at my desk and stared at the dancing screen saver on my computer.

“Marie, are you okay?” Ryder scrambled up from her desk. “You’re covered in blood!”

“I’m fine,” I said. But there was a stupid wobble in my throat. I felt weak as hell, and there was blood everywhere. I wanted to go home and take a hot shower. And cry. Crying sounded good.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head and raised my pinky.

She sighed and raised her pinky in response. “Can I get you anything?”

A shoulder to cry on, perhaps? I gave her a wan smile. “Do we have any Band-Aids?”

“I’m pretty sure we do,” she said, hustling to the office bathroom. “Be right back.”

I pressed the handkerchief against my neck harder, and I wasn’t surprised when my desk wavered in front of my eyes and the walls of the office seethed, as if covered by spiders.

Great. Another hallucination. I closed my eyes and prayed tonight would be over soon.

• • •

By the time the day shift came in to work, I wore a pink sweater over my stained dress (the sweater borrowed from Ryder) and had my hair down over the Cookie Monster Band-Aids on my neck. I’d had a few glasses of water to help with the loss of blood, but I was still feeling incredibly weak. I didn’t have the energy to type, much less answer the phone.

Ryder was a good friend. She’d routed all the calls to her own phone, gotten me a drink when I’d needed one, and insisted on my lying down on the couch in the file room. I’d rested for a few hours.

At one point, she’d suggested calling Josh to take me home, but I’d shot that idea down. If Josh had gotten one whiff of me covered in vampire scent, he’d have gone nuts.

And part of me had thought, longingly, that I’d have loved it if he’d gone nuts over me. For him to have pulled me into his arms and comforted me. Stroked my hair. Held me close. But no matter how badly I’d wanted Josh at that moment, I had to take my licks. I’d chased him away. I didn’t get to call him back just because I was