NIGHT SONG Read online

  He pulled her to him, wrapped her tightly in his arms and lifted her from the floor.

  Looking deep into her eyes, he asked, “Are you okay?”

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on for her life. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “I was dying. Oh my God! I thought I was dead. He wanted to kill me.” Her words fell from her lips. The horror of what almost happened threw her into shock.

  Inhaling, the smell of sulfur was thick in the air. It was the smell of pure evil and she gasped.

  “Shhh. My love, you’re safe. Victor’s gone. He can’t hurt you ever again.” Snuggled against his chest, cradled in his arms, he rocked her. He slowly swayed with her like a mother does to a child.

  At that moment the implications of drinking Ian’s blood crashed into her mind and took all the air out of the room. She couldn’t breathe, could barely think. Was she a vampire? Had she become the very creature she stalked each night?

  It was more than she could bear. With her head leaned against Ian’s chest she sobbed.

  What had he done to her? What would she do now?

  Chapter Ten

  Kathryn closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were no longer in the sterile room of the warehouse but in Ian’s chambers.

  Gently, he set her on his bed. The soft mattress and comforter felt like a cloud after spending so much time on the tiled floor of that office.

  “Shhh. Don’ cry,” he said, and stroked her hair.

  She couldn’t answer; she could only hang her head and cry harder.

  Ian’s concern embraced her. Without touching, she felt the security of his love wrap around her like the finest silk. It comforted her at a time when she needed it most of all.

  “You are not a vampire, my love.”

  “But I drank your blood. I…” she inhaled deeply. She’d survived five years after Victor had almost turned her. She could do this.

  “I’m not Victor.” He read her mind. “Victor almost killed you. He drained you and never had the chance to fully turn you. In order to completely turn, you must exchange blood fully. You must share your blood with the one who drinks yours. I did not take your blood. You did not drink Victor’s.”

  “But I didn’t drink Victor’s before, either and I had to take anti serum injections everyday.”

  He shook his head. “No. They didn’t understand. You were no more vampire than Martin or any of the other slayers. You didn’t need the injections.”

  “But…” she thought back over the past five years. “What about now? What am I now?”

  “You are the same only…” he seemed to search for the right words.

  “Better?” she finished.

  “Yes. It’s you, only better.”

  She could already feel the change in herself. She felt energized like never before. Every ounce of her seemed to be poised and ready. Ready for what, she wasn’t sure but whatever came her way, she was sure she could handle it.

  Around her the pale light of the room was almost blindingly bright. She could see the tiniest specks on the rock walls.

  “Will I ever see the sun again?”

  “Not right away. You’re body needs to adjust to it’s new, uh, talents.”

  “What do you…”

  “Shhh.” He put a finger over her lips and slowly opened his shirt. His talisman was gone, in it’s place hung Victor’s. The ruby covering the wolf’s eye glowed the color of blood.

  A spark arched through her chest. Reaching up to her throat, she felt a necklace. Its metal was smooth and cool and formed to her neck like it was made only for her. Ian’s talisman.

  “Mine,” he said simply.

  “How? I’m not…” She desperately tried to wrap her mind around what had happened. No matter how she looked at it, it didn’t make sense.

  Ian lowered his lips and kissed her deeply. The fire that smoldered in her gut exploded into a full-blown blaze. She wanted him like never before. Her channel was damp and quivered with anticipation.

  “You are my partner, my other half. What was once mine is now yours.” He smiled at her, and the gold flecks sparkled in his eyes.

  “I have your powers?” her eyes widened in disbelief. “How is that possible? I’m not even a vampire, you said so yourself.”

  “That’s true.” He raised her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. Without raising his eyes, he kept talking, and lightly kissed and blew on her hand. It did nothing to squelch the need that was taking over her entire body. “But like I said, you are my other half. When a vampire is turned, his soul is lost until he can find the one person that can give it back to him. You are that person to me.”

  Kathryn tried to concentrate. She needed to understand but his kissing, and the way his breath danced along her flesh, made it extremely difficult. Reluctantly, she pulled her hand away and let it fall in her lap.

  “How do you know?” she asked. Insecurities she’d never realized she had flooded her.

  “Because my mind and body called out, and you answered.”

  Her head hung low. She didn’t understand.

  “Last night, when you were following me, how did you know where I was? I left no foot prints, and I moved at twice your speed.”

  Raising her head she watched him, watched the way his lips formed words and the intensity of his eyes. He was such an incredible, beautiful man.

  “Or when I was on the roof watching you fight the vampires. You said you knew I was there. How was that?”

  She shrugged.

  “You knew because our bodies, our hearts, are connected. You are a part of me. You complete me.”

  She knew it was true. She’d been able to follow him because she could feel him. His pulse was like a beacon on a foggy night. It called to her, lead her to him.

  Her mind nibbled on her thoughts a moment. She was his missing half, his soul. It was a daunting realization.

  “It’s not so daunting, my love. We are one, you and I and we will be together for all eternity.”

  Running the back of his hand down her cheek and neck, he lightly touched the talisman. “There are so many things I want to share with you, so many things to teach you.”

  “What about my brother? My job?” Her heart was suddenly heavy. It was too good to be true. She owed Martin so much. She couldn’t quit. And Jimmy. He was her responsibility. She couldn’t--wouldn’t--leave him.

  A cell phone appeared in Ian’s hand, pressed against his ear. “Martin, it’s Ian. Kathryn needs a little time off.” He winked at her, and she smiled.

  There was a short pause as Martin spoke on the other end of the line.

  “I will transfer money for Jimmy’s room and board. Kathryn will be in touch.”

  Closing the phone, he looked at her and shrugged. “Problem solved.”

  “I can’t just ‘take time off’. And Jimmy needs me.”

  “Jimmy is a grown man, and you can take time off.”

  She shook her head.

  “Why not? Martin thought it was an excellent idea.” He smiled wickedly at her. It was a smile that begged to be kissed away.

  “You helped him think that way.”

  His eyes grew wide and innocent.

  God, if she could just touch him, let her hand rest on his chest.

  She shook her head. What was the matter with her? Being around him made her so incredibly juvenile, ridiculous… horny. She needed to focus.

  There was a feeling gnawing in her gut, a feeling she’d never felt in all her twenty-seven years. She felt almost… free. Could it be possible? Could she really be free?

  “Oh, my love. It’s more than possible. It’s true.”

  “But I’m a vampire slayer. You’re a vampire. Hell, I’m almost a vampire.” She twisted her hands in her lap.

  “You’re not, though.” He wrapped her in his arms. “And our goals aren’t so different, yours and mine. We both keep the world safe from evil creatures. We’ll work together.”

  He made it
sound so simple. She wanted to believe it was simple. Already, she felt like the weight of the world was lifted from her shoulders. She wanted, if only for a brief time, to enjoy it.

  “But it is simple.” He kissed her again, this time with more passion, more heat. His tongue gently slid into her mouth. She couldn’t think past the growing warmth in her pussy.

  Her body was burning, slowly, from the inside out and if she didn’t do something to slow the flame, she would be lost in it.

  Pulling away, he rested his forehead against hers.

  “I have so many things to show you. Let me start with how your body responds to mine.”

  She laughed. “I already know that.”

  Ian waved his hand and they were naked. Her body trembled at the sight of him hard and ready in front of her.

  “Oh, but you have my powers now. You have no idea how incredible it can be.”

  Kathryn quivered, her pussy suddenly drenched in her own juices. God, she didn’t know if she could handle any better.

  “Oh, you can handle it. Trust me.”

  As Ian lowered her to the bed and his body lingered over hers, Kathryn looked deep into his eyes. In them she saw her future. It was a future filled with intense love and heart-breaking sorrow, unbelievable pleasure and excruciating pain, but through it all, she was not alone. And in that moment she knew that by Ian’s side, she could face anything.