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Night Hawk Chapter 3

Naomi

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Blood.

The coppery scent wafted from my shirt and my focus clouded.

Need.

I had never understood what need was until that moment and my gaze jumped to his. He stepped back, putting distance between us but it wasn’t enough. I could smell the mixture of fear and lust in him along with the tainted blood that soaked his collar and I wanted to lick it off his skin.

I blinked at the carnal thoughts flooding my mind and glanced at my surroundings again. I had crossed half the distance between the couch and where he stood without knowledge of moving.

He closed the distance with apprehension and took my hand.

“I think we both need to clean up before you get too far gone.”

My gaze dropped to our clasped hand and I felt the electrical flow it produced through my cells. While I wanted to remain distant and pissed off, this sensation was new and overwhelming. I followed the tight muscles in his arm to his shoulder and stopped at the blackened stain.

Hunger and lust and anger all mixed into a potent concoction and I snapped my gaze to his.

“You did this to me,” I whispered.

He held my gaze and shook his head. “No. I had every intention of killing you.”

I yanked my hand from his and stepped back, allowing a fraction of space between us.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because you taste like summer rain,” he whispered and reached for me. His fingers fluttered across my cheek and into my hair and before I knew it, his mouth was on mine, his tongue playing with me in a kiss that should have been forbidden.

The burn of it caught me off guard and I pulled away.

“Damn. You still taste like summer rain.” His blue eyes flashed and he stepped closer, crowding me.

I planted my hand on his chest, forgetting about the hunger that throbbed in my teeth. “Maybe we should take a cold shower,” I said, trying to diffuse the growing tension between us.

“Together?”

The hope in his eyes made me laugh. “No.”

His features fell into a sulk and for a moment, I almost took back my answer, but the stubborn part of me reared up and I stood my ground.

He gave me a nod and turned, leading the way to a large bathroom that piqued my interest. Grey marble covered the room from ceiling to floor and in the corner across from the beautiful walk in shower was a gas fireplace. The claw-foot tub shined against the gray tiles and a large floor to ceiling mirror was broken with a fine white pedestal sink.

“There are towels and a bathrobe in the linen closet on the other side of the shower that you can use,” he said.

I stepped inside and gave him a faint smile before closing the door on his questioning stare. The bank of light switches intrigued me and I played with the dimmers until I had the lighting just the way I liked it, soft shades and with the flames in the fireplace, it would have been the ultimate romantic setting.

Instead of dwelling on the idea of romance, I stripped the bloody shirt from my back and the rest of the clothing peeled off just as easily. The shower called my attention and I turned on all the jets as hot as the setting would allow. Steam rose and I stepped inside, relishing the heat on my cold skin. Pulsing water massaged my muscles, loosening the knots and ridding my skin of any remnants of blood.

I don’t know how long I stood soaking in the water, but when I finally opened my eyes, I glanced at the neat little alcove in the shower wall that housed bath wash and shampoo. Curious, I opened the wash and took a sniff. It reminded me of a bamboo forest and I lathered my body with the luxurious soap.

The shampoo reminded me of cocoa butter and beach lotions. A scent I adored and the reality that I’d never see the sun again hit like the force of a truck. Pain centered in my chest, dropping me to my knees and I buried my face in my hands as the last of my human tears mingled with the hot water.

When the sobs ran dry, I climbed to my feet and turned the water off. A stack of plush towels sat on a small pedestal and I wrapped my drenched hair in one, drying off my body with the other.

A hunger pang hit, almost knocking me to the ground, and I gripped the edge of the sink, clamping my eyes shut and willing the hunger away. I forced myself to breathe in and out until I had some semblance of control, and then I stared at the steam-streaked mirror. Unwrapping the towel from my body, I used it to clear the glass.

My reflection hadn’t changed much. I still had curves in the right places and my stomach was as flat as a washboard. I glanced at my new Brazilian wax wondering if I’d ever have to endure that torture again. If not, that was definitely something positive about being a vampire.

I opened my mouth to inspect my teeth and a crease appeared between my eyes. They were normal. No sharp canines existed.

“They only go razor at night.”

I jumped at his voice and covered my body with the towel, glaring in his direction.

“Get out!”

He grinned and picked up my clothes, leaving without another word.

I hadn’t heard him come into the room and irritation snaked over my skin. How long had he been there?

I rummaged through the linen closet, finding a plush bathrobe just like he said and wrapped the cloud-soft fabric around me. I tossed the towels over the side of the tub and hand combed my hair before charging into the living room.

I found him leaning against the bar with his shirt hanging open. The rippled muscles of his stomach glistened in the soft light and I had to tear my eyes away from his god-like form.

“Sorry about that,” he said and nodded toward the direction of the bathroom but neither his tone nor his gaze held any regret. He even had the audacity to grin.

“You have no right to spy on me like that,” I said and the words came out in a feral growl.

“I figured you might like clean clothing at some point today.”

“But you just walked in without knocking.”

He glanced at the floor and nodded. “I guess I’m not used to having house guests.” A bright red hue colored his cheeks and my eyebrow rose.

“You’re blushing. I didn’t think that was possible.”

Damian raised his gaze, meeting mine and he stood up, crossing to the couch. “I gather you don’t know very much about vampires,” he said and took a seat.

“I know you like to play with your food,” I said with as much snark as possible.

His laugh struck a chord, I crossed my arms and refrained from tapping my foot with impatience at his adolescent behavior.

“How old are you, anyway?” I asked, sending the most derogatory glare I could drum up.

His laughter wound down but the smile remained.

“Which age? The one I was when I was turned or how many years have I been walking the earth?”

I blinked at his question, debating on which one to ask.

“I was turned when I was twenty-five.”

Just a few years older than I am which explains some of the adolescent behavior, but the wisdom in his eyes told me that his twenty-five was a very long time ago. “How long have you been like this?”

“Longer than you can conceive,” he whispered and any hint of a smile vanished. He turned his head toward the brightly decorated walls. “I’ve seen the world evolve.” When he brought his gaze back to mine, I shivered. In a blink, the shadow hiding his eyes disappeared and the vibrant blue returned.

His evasive answer irritated me and I tried another tactic. “Where were you born?”

“Greece.”

That explained the thick dark hair that I wanted to run my fingers through and even the hint of Mediterranean in his complexion, but I still didn’t get a sense of how long he had been like this. I got the impression he didn’t really want to discuss the passage of time and I let it go for now.

Something shifted on the floor above us and my attention snapped to the ceiling, or more specifically to the heartbeat. I could smell it and the hunger pang hit again.

I didn’t realize I had moved until I found myself face down on the stairs with Damian pinning me to the risers.

“No,” his whisper hissed in my ear. “They are off limits.”

They? I’m surprised his voice cut through the rush of blood I heard pounding in the veins of the humans above. I wanted to drink every drop, to satiate this sudden craving and I clawed at the stairs, trying to break his grip, my focus on the metal door keeping my meal at bay.

He jammed his wrist in my mouth and at first, I pushed it away, but when he pressed it to my lips a second time, the dull pulse caught my attention. His whisper was lost in the rushing need that gripped my form and I sank my teeth through his flesh, closing my eyes and reveling in the taste of the black blood.

His wince cut through the haze and with my teeth still embedded in his wrist, I turned, meeting his frantic gaze. My eyes locked with his and the razor incisors in my mouth retracted but I kept my grip, drinking with greedy slurps.

With each drop came an image and I saw the world as it was when he was human.

I saw him vibrant and alive and I saw the reasons for the vengeance in his blood.

My betrayal paled in comparison to his loss.

He watched his lover, Athena, torn to pieces at the hands of a demon, all because she refused to disclose where she hid her daughter.

Damian knew where Zoe hid, but kept silent. He had sworn allegiance to the girl, taking the place of her dead father and loving her like she was his own child. Nothing the demons did would loosen his tongue.

The little girl was an innocent, a child of light descendant and the demon wanted to feast on her life force even more than he wanted Athena’s. It was a coveted delicacy and Damian stood in the demon’s path.

When his lover lay in pieces at his feet, her blood smeared across the demon’s lips and her heart an empty husk on the ground, Damian swore he would dedicate his life to destroying the demon.

That’s when Lucifer threw him into the pit with a hoard of hungry vampires.

He yanked his wrist from me and covered it with his hand, standing and taking an unsteady step backwards. Damian’s jumbled thoughts flowed over me like a blanket, suffocating me and I gasped, my hunger forgotten.

He had walked the earth for over two thousand years protecting Zoe’s bloodline.

Until his fangs sank into my neck.