“Um, it’s abeautiful night,” I ventured.
The big were was silent. Ifrowned—had he heard me at all?
“I said, it’sa beautiful night,”I said, raising my voice to be heardabove the roar of the truck’s engine.
“Yeah. Reallyfucking gorgeous,” he growled, still staring straightahead.
Instantly, I wastempted to shrink back into myself and shut up. But something toldme that I couldn’t do that. Tonight would set the tone of ourfuture relationship and I didn’t want the big were to think hecould treat me like a doormat—just some stupid girl he could walkall over. I’d taken enough abuse from Celeste, had spent yearswalking on eggshells around my cruel mistress. I’m not going to live like that,I told myself, lifting my chin.Not anymore.
“Your propertycertainly is way out of Tampa,” I said, determined to makeconversation.
Victor grunted, his golden eyesnever leaving the road.
“Don’t you likethe city?” I asked. “I always think the nice thing about Tampa isthat it’s big enough to always have something going on withoutbeing so huge you can’t get around in it.”
Victor made an annoyed sound inthe back of his throat. “Do you always talk this much?”
“I’m sorry.” Icrossed her arms over my breasts and frowned at him. “I was justtrying to make conversation.”
“Well,don’t. And it’s not that I don’t like the city—I live in the countrybecause I’m a fucking were. I need space to change, space to runand hunt.”
"Oh.” Abruptly, I felt stupid. “Ofcourse. I guess I didn’t…didn’t think about that.”
“That’s becauseyou’re a vamp. Your kind don’t need wide open spaces to let loosein—you’re monsters all the damn time, not just once a month likeus.”
“We’re notmonsters,” I said, stung. “At least, I’m not.”
“Oh no?” Theglance he threw me was a lot less than friendly. “Last time Ilooked, vamps are undead and live on blood. That’s the fuckingdefinition of monster if you ask me.”
“At leastI look normal,” I snapped, losing my temper. “At least I don’tgrow hair all over and…and turn into an animal.”
“At least ananimal is alive,”he snarled. “More than I can say foryou undead fangers.”
That was it—Ihad suddenly had enough. Years of repressedanger and hurt rose up inside me. I didn’t care what theconsequences were for breaking the blood-bond between myself andthe huge werewolf—I wasn’t going to take one more minute ofthis.
“That’s it,” Isnapped. “Stop the truck.”
“What?” Victorgave me an incredulous look and kept driving. “Why the hell would Ido that?”
“Because I’mleaving.” I fumbled for the handle on the unfamiliar door. “How doyou open this damn thing, anyway?” Falling out of the speedingtruck wouldn’t be a picnic but I was a vampire—I would heal. Ofcourse, my body was in pretty bad shape because of the enforcedstarvation I’d endured recently so it might take a while. But evena slow and painful recovery was better than taking any more of thewere’s abuse.
The handle clicked and suddenlythe door flew open. The truck took a sharp curve and I felt myselfslipping sideways at an alarming rate.
Oh myGod! I braced for the fall butjust as I started to slide out of the cab a big hand reached outand grabbed me by the arm.
“What the helldo you think you’re doing?” Victor brought the truck to ascreeching halt and dragged me back across the seat.
“I toldyou—leaving. So let mego.”
“I don’t thinkso,” he snarled. “We’re blood-bound—you’re not goinganywhere.”
“So I’ll find away to break the bond,” I snapped, yanking at his seeminglyunbreakable grip. “Anything to get away from you.”
“Youcan’t break the bond unless you’re willing to go down some prettydark roads and find a witch that deals in the Shadow Lands. Youwant that?” Victor demanded. “Because I sure as hell don’t. Like itor not, we’re stuck together, sweetheart.”
“Oh, no, we’renot.” I lifted my chin. “I spent the last six years of my lifebeing stuck in an abusive relationship—one I couldn’t get out of nomatter how hard I tried. I refuse to spend even one second morethat way.”
Victor’s eyes got wide. “Abusive?What the hell are you talking about, abusive? How have I hurtyou?”
“Abuse isn’tjust physical or…or sexual, you know.” I felt my throat gettingtight but I refused to let my pain show on my face. “There is sucha thing as mental and emotional abuse too. Although when I thinkabout it, you didpromise not to lay a finger on me andyou’re doing a hell of lot more than that right now.”
I glared at him and then lookedpointedly at the big hand encircling my upper arm.
“Damn it!”Victor pulled his hand away as though he’d been stung. “I was justtrying to keep you from killing yourself, lady.”
“My name isTaylor. Not lady, not sweetheart, and most certainly not“fanger”—it’s Taylor.And I wouldn’t have died—I couldn’t.I’m already dead, remember?”
“Oh, hell…” Heran a hand through his wild black hair and blew out a breath.“Look, I’m sorry, all right?” he said, apologizing much to mysurprise. “This is just…such a bad fucking night for this. The moonis getting high and if I don’t get home soon…”
“Oh.”Understanding suddenly hit me. “You’re going to…what, change into awolf?”
“If you’relucky,” he said darkly. “And if you’re not…” He shook his head.“Let’s just say I really need toget home and I don’t have a lotof time for polite chit-chat right now.”
“I’m sorry,” Isaid, chastened. “I didn’t realize your problem was that, uh,urgent.”
“Well, it is.And it wouldn’t be good for you if I changed aroundyou.”
My heart was suddenly in mythroat. “Would you hurt me?”
“Not on purpose,no. But my wolf—the wolf inside me…” He thumped himself on thechest. “It would see you as a threat. It’s an instinctive thing—wedon’t like vamps. And I don’t think too well in that form—I mostlyfeel.”
“So we’d betterget to a place where you can, uh, change as far away from
