Vampire Awakening (2 page)

* * * * *

Hours later, Caleb still sat at the table waiting for her. She'd delivered them drinks all night without so much as another word. She seemed afraid of him as she ran around the room avoiding eye contact at all costs. Caleb frowned. He’d barely put a thread of power into the few words they’d exchanged so her reaction shouldn’t have been that strong to him. Not that he’d been unaffected. There was something about her that had caught his eye. A familiarity he couldn’t explain. It was definitely beyond finding her simply attractive.

He watched the band setting up on stage, and wondered if he should head home. If he pushed too hard in one night he risked the chance she’d run and then where would he be? He’d give her some space and come back tomorrow.

Then he saw her walk on stage.

She'd let her hair down, and the fall of straight black silk fell nearly to her waist. She still wore the same skintight jeans that molded long, lean legs and very feminine curves, the jeans he imagined peeling from her body as she writhed and begged for him to hurry up.

He took a sip of beer. A man couldn’t help but wonder how she’d respond to the dark nature of his thoughts. He imagined his hands curled around her narrow waist before working his way beyond the gentle flare that led to her lushly rounded ass.

His cock lengthened, pressing tight against his zipper as images of her naked body spread out before him overtook his brain. Thoughts of soft, pale skin had his fangs descending with a surge of desire while imagining his first pierce into a creamy thigh. The flood of her essence would be like a burst of sunshine on a cold, dark night.

“Hey, Caleb buddy, you're about to see what really brings us out to this dive night after night.” Caleb fought the urges rushing through him as he focused on his friends again. “Abby is one hell of a singer.”

Caleb looked back to the stage as Abby stepped up to the microphone. When the band started a slow melody, the crowd fell silent, waiting, every eye on the enchanting woman about to sing to them.

She swept her eyes around the room, briefly connecting with him before her lids slid shut and the first line of lyrics slipped from her ruby lips. “
I'm not sure about this. I'm not sure about anything anymore. I fight to look inside.”

The dark voice from the small, beautiful woman whipped through him, heating his blood and flooding his mind with more lustful images. Images of their two bodies intertwined across blood red silk sheets. His fingers wrapped in her long hair, pulling her head back, exposing her pulse at the base of her pale throat. Her arms wrapped around his back, urging him forward. Those haunting amethyst eyes imploring him to take her as his hips surged forward, burying his cock to the hilt.

Shaking his head, he forced the all-too-real images from his mind.

“
Who are you and who am I?”
Her velvety voice reached for him as her eyes opened, releasing a small tear. Caleb watched the tiny drop track down her cheek. He fought the urge to run to the stage and drag her away. The compelling need to claim her came from deep within his soul.

Mine. All mine
. The thought shocked him with a certainty he didn't understand.

Caleb managed to force his gaze away from the stage to look around the room at all the people sitting enraptured as Abby crooned to them.

“
If I awaken it’ll be to my sin.”
 Her voice called to every person in the room. Luring them to her. She had a rare gift indeed. As a vampire, he should be able to resist a mortal call. Why her? What made her different from all the many others? Why now? He tried to hold onto those questions like a lifeline but found it impossible to resist her. He turned back to face the woman of his desires, only to find her staring straight at him, focused and sure.

“
Always safe in your eyes of blue. For an eternity I’d gladly face my death….”

With a start, he realized her song belonged to him. But how could that be? They’d just met. She couldn’t know what he was. As the song faded into the final chorus, he wondered about the images he’d seen. He’d felt the smooth, satiny skin of her leg wrapped around his naked hip. Her spicewood scent filled his mind with reality. Fiction? The past? Or the future….

The crowd around him erupted into thunderous applause. He watched in amusement as a blush crept into her cheeks. She seemed quite the contradiction, one minute a shy country girl waiting on tables then in the blink of an eye she’d changed to a sultry singer with a stunning talent. He couldn’t wait to unwrap her story. Slowly. One layer at a time. There was definitely more to Abby Douglas than he’d expected.

His interest stirred, he looked around the bar, taking in the rough-hewn furniture, some of which was in disrepair. Many in the crowd were also a little rough around the edges. Everything about her and about this place had turned into a contradiction. A puzzle he wanted to figure out. After the show, he would find out firsthand what a woman like her was doing in a place like this.

* * * * *

Abby tipped the bottle, taking a long pull of cold water. First something cool, then later she would soothe her throat with some warm tea and honey. Tonight’s show had seemed particularly difficult for her. Something about Caleb's presence in the audience troubled her. She couldn't explain exactly what. It had taken every ounce of her willpower not to squirm under his stare.

“Great set as always, Abby.” The drummer of the band rubbed his hand along her arm from shoulder to elbow, the stroke of his fingers a little too familiar but nothing she wasn't used to. This was Brian after all. Gorgeous but not her type at all. She watched him get in the pants of every willing female groupie all the while trying to get her to jump in bed with him as well.

“Thanks, Brian.” She offered a shy smile as he continued touching her. Before she could extricate herself from her band member, a low rumble sounded from behind her, startling her. Brian's hand jerked from her arm as she whirled, coming face to face with Caleb, and he didn’t look happy. With a black look aimed at her band mate, his anger and hostility was impossible to miss.

“What—what are you doing back here? This area is for employees only.” She hated how tripping on her words gave away his effect on her. She needed some time and space to pull herself together.

“Abby, I doubt my coming back here to congratulate you on a tremendous job would be that much of a violation.” He met her gaze. “In fact, I think my timing was perfect.” He shot another dark scowl in Brian's direction.

Bryan held up his hands in mock surrender. “Time for me to jet, Abby. You going to be okay?”

“Of course she will, why wouldn't she?” Caleb's threatening tone skittered down her back like a sudden chill sweeping the room. A flicker of apprehension crossed Brian's face, yet he stood his ground, not backing down. She didn’t know whether to be proud or offended that her band mate wanted to protect her. Since when did she need someone else to run interference from a fan? Both men postured and she half expected someone to whip out a measuring tape. It took a slight nod from her before Bryan backed down and decided it was okay to leave.

When her friend walked away, she turned and focused her gaze upward, taking in the stern demeanor emanating from Caleb.

“Was that really necessary?” She asked.

His expression softened. His eyes darkened. With slow deliberate steps he moved closer, invading her personal space. “How can I do this with your drummer hanging all over you?”

Without giving her a chance to respond, he dipped his head close to hers, pressing his lips firmly against hers. The next thing she knew his gentle touch morphed into a scalding pressure that took her breath away. His kiss seemed urgent and exploratory as his tongue probed at her mouth, coaxing her to open to him. Abby closer her eyes and savored the moment. The soft and firm pressure of his mouth melted her on the spot. She briefly thought to resist, but how could she? On a sigh she opened, allowing him entry. She marveled at the taste of his kiss as she fell deep into the drugging embrace of his arms.

His hands moved along her back in a gentle caress before sliding up to her neck and tangling in her hair. Her body tingled with the sharp sensations his fingertips created along her scalp. One hand fisting in her hair, he tugged her head back at a slight angle, giving him easier access to take them deeper, into a more intimate kiss.

Fighting the onslaught of desire for this stranger, she pulled away from his mouth. “Stop—I can't.”

His arms tightened around her. “Why not?”

“I don't even—I don't know you.” She placed her hands against his chest to push him away, which was a huge mistake. The thin shirt he wore did little to hide the feel of rock hard muscle and warm male flesh. Her heart tripped. She longed to run her fingers along the bare skin, feel the heat, press her mouth to that spot to see his reaction. Weary of being alone all the time, she contemplated letting go, for once taking refuge and comfort from where she could get it. Caleb wanted her, and she didn't want to say no. She allowed her hands to roam across the plane of his chest, admiring every inch as she went. When the pads of her fingers grazed across a hardened nipple, a sharp, low hiss emanated from him. A smile spread inside her at his reaction.

Looking into his eyes, she saw dark desire welling there. His look was so intense he appeared fierce. Was that why the mysterious photo showed up in her mailbox today? Possibilities and scenarios ran through her mind, distracting her from Caleb's powerful pull, the reminder of the picture forcing her out of the moment.

“Look at me, darlin’.” Caleb's husky voice pierced her thoughts, capturing her attention.

“I am looking at you.”

“Not really. Your mind is elsewhere. Right here, right now, your mind should be focused on me. On this.” Where his words might have frightened her with their intensity, they soothed her. A hard shiver of wanting coursed through her, her instinctive response to him more powerful than she could imagine.

Abby stood mesmerized as his seductive mouth descended on her throat. The soft sweep of his lips against her bare skin gave her shivers along the length of her body. Moisture flooded her panties as her heart rate accelerated. All thoughts of not knowing this man fled her mind as her body pressed up against his hard length. His teeth nipped at the sensitive skin of her neck, sending jolts of pleasure singing through her blood. Just that quickly, she lost the fight against her hot, hard cowboy.

With every graze of his teeth, he felt the sweet rush of Abby's blood under her skin. His fangs ached with the need to sink into her soft neck, to pierce the vein that would deliver Abby's unique flavor. A flavor he imagined would be sweeter than honey. When his cock swelled further against her belly, he silently cursed the clothes they wore as well as the public place they stood in. He needed her under him now, wanted to hear her beg for more, cry with the need for pain and pleasure he instinctively knew she harbored inside. Oh yes, she would be a treasure to a hard man like himself. An innocent to soothe his jaded soul.

Her body softened against his, acquiescing to his insistent need for her surrender. He backed her up against the hard concrete wall, shielding her from any other's vision.

Mine. Mine.

Lost in thoughts of her pliant body writhing against his own, Caleb didn't realize someone approached him from behind until he was upon him. Danger. He sensed another predator in the room. He whirled toward the presence, shoving her behind him in a protective gesture, to find the same man who'd had his hands on Abby when he'd entered the room earlier.

What the...?

How could I have missed it before?

Vampire.

Caleb saw the brief flicker of realization in the other man's eyes as he realized the true nature of him as well. His kiss with Abby had distracted Caleb long enough to lower his shields, giving the vamp plenty of opportunity to sense him. Regardless, it was only a matter of time anyway. It took a lot of energy to hide from another vampire and was usually only possible for short periods after a feeding.

“Abby, we go on again in five.” The pointed look thrown in Caleb's direction by the other man made him snarl. The energy coming off him was arrogant and something else.... Something suspicious.

“No problem, I'll be ready.” Her hands pressed against his back, trying to push him, but Caleb refused to budge. Despite the searing heat from her body pushing at his control, he stood his ground and stared down the other vampire, waiting to see what the other man had planned.

Several tense seconds later, Brian blew out a breath. “All right, Abs. I'll be in the next room waiting for you if you need anything.” With one last hard glance at Caleb, he turned and strode from the room.

“Your little friend there is feeling mighty protective of you, Abby. Anything I should know about?” He turned back to her, staring down into the clear violet of her eyes. He knew his sexual pheromones were at their peak when she repeatedly shook her head, trying to clear her mind of them.

“He's harmless. Overly friendly at times, but harmless.” There was a silky, sexual layer to her voice when she spoke to him. He found it impossible to resist as he recaptured her lips again, crushing her to him. Her sweet scent washed over him once more, urging him to take her here and now. It had only been two nights since his last feeding, but tonight he was starved and only Abby could sate him. His control slipping, he brushed his hand against the curve of her breast, his fingertips grazing across a hardened nipple.

A sharp gasp rewarded his efforts. He had to feel her wet heat surrounding him now, ached to pound into her again and again. His hands slipped under her blouse, seeking her bare skin. The smooth silk against his own undid him. In a frenzied state, he reached for the waistband of her jeans, releasing them at preternatural speed. The scent of her arousal flooded his senses in his haste to touch her wetness.

“Abby, it's time.” Brian's voice from the next room shocked them both back to awareness as they sprang apart. Ragged breathing filled the room.