Bound by Blood and Sand

by Becky Allen

  She knew what he meant; she just wasn’t sure she was ready to admit it to herself. Or to him. Things were moving way too fast. She had only known him for a few hours. All she knew for certain was that he was drop-dead gorgeous, danced divinely, and owned a popular casino. Hardly enough on which to base a solid relationship. But somehow, with his arms around her and his devil dark eyes gazing into hers, nothing else seemed to matter.

  One song blended into another, and then another, and they continued to dance, making Kaitlyn think he was as reluctant to release her as she was for him to let her go.

  They shared several long, lingering glances, though few words were spoken between them.

  The other patrons all left the room.

  And Zack and Kaitlyn continued to dance, just the two of them, even after the musicians called it a night.

  Usually, it made Kaitlyn uncomfortable when men stared at her for too long, but it pleased her that Zack couldn’t stop looking at her, because she couldn’t stop looking at him, either. His eyes were like dark, mysterious pools and she longed to dive in, to swim to the bottom and discover the hidden depths of his soul.

  She smiled at her fanciful thoughts.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing you need to know.”

  “Is that right?” Zack twirled her around, dipped her once, and drew her into his arms again, his gaze lingering on her lips, sliding down to the pulse throbbing in the hollow of her throat, then back to her delectable lips.

  Kaitlyn shivered with anticipation. He was going to kiss her. She could see it in his eyes.

  And even then he was lowering his head, claiming her lips with his.

  She had never been drunk, never been high on anything, but his kiss made her feel like she was invincible, like she was soaring through rainbow-colored clouds. Like she never wanted to come down.

  And it was just one kiss.

  She had been right about him, Kaitlyn thought dreamily, one hand pressed to her rapidly beating heart. He was dangerous, in more ways than one.

  “Can I see you tomorrow night?” he asked, his voice husky. “Say, around eight?”

  Every instinct she possessed warned her that she was treading on shaky ground. As much as she wanted to see him again, she knew she had to refuse. She meant to say no, but the word that emerged from her throat was a breathless “yes.”

  Chapter 3

  The watcher frowned as he observed Ravenscroft walking the heir to the Sherrad throne home. When had the casino owner and the woman met? Was this just a casual encounter, or something more serious? Did it matter? And how was he to find out?

  He muttered a pithy oath. With Zack Ravenscroft in the picture, things had just gotten a lot more complicated.

  And a hell of a lot more dangerous.

  He shook his head, then flipped open his cell phone and called home.

  Chapter 4

  Kaitlyn woke feeling bleary-eyed. A glance at the clock showed she had slept later than usual, and it was all Zack Ravenscroft’s fault. Last night, every time she had closed her eyes, his countenance sprang to mind while her vivid imagination painted ever-more erotic scenes of the two of them making mad passionate love in her bed. On the floor. On the kitchen table. In the shower. How was a girl supposed to get any sleep with all those full-color scenarios running rampant in her head?

  She would see him again tonight. The thought brought a quick smile to her face and unleashed butterflies of anticipation in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t remember ever being this excited about a date. She could hardly wait!

  After showering, she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and went into the kitchen. It was too late for lunch, too early for dinner. She couldn’t help grinning when she poured herself a small glass of AB negative. What would Zack think if he knew she was a vampire? Would he be horrified? Shocked? Disbelieving? Intrigued? Or totally turned off. Not that it mattered, because he could never, ever, know the truth. It was forbidden to tell mortals about their kind; still, it was fun to imagine what his reaction would be to the word vampire.

  Of course, her people weren’t the monsters of myth and legend. They didn’t go around ripping out people’s throats or draining their victims dry. Back home, there were mortals who willingly offered their blood in exchange for food and shelter and a peaceful way of life in an Old World stone castle known as the Carpa-thian Fortress. She was certain that most ordinary people would find it appalling that men and women lived there by choice, but that was the way it was now that her father was the Master of the Coven. Before her father came to power, people had been confined in the Fortress against their will. Not mistreated, of course, but kept as a ready food supply. Once, her uncle Andrei had told her, in strictest confidence, that the captives had been called sheep.

  Kaitlyn was glad that way of life was gone. She rarely hunted humans. Her need for blood wasn’t allconsuming, in part, she supposed, because her mother was mortal.

  Kaitlyn smiled inwardly as she sat at the table. Years ago, when her father met her mother, it had been forbidden for vampires and mortals to intermarry, and rare for their union to produce children. Rare, but not impossible, Kaitlyn mused, sipping her drink. She was proof of that.

  Even though it was extremely uncommon for Romanian vampires to mingle in society with humans, her uncle Stefan had fallen in love with a mortal woman, too, and gotten her with child. Sadly, the woman and her baby had died in childbirth. Her father said Stefan had never gotten over the loss. Years later, her uncle had left the Fortress and gone to America.

  Frowning, Kaitlyn sipped her drink. Maybe she could hire someone to search for him, she thought, then shook her head. She had no idea if her uncle was still in the United States, or what name he might be using now. Still, trying to locate him was something to think about.

  Rising, she rinsed her glass in the sink and put it in the dishwasher. It was Monday. Laundry day. In the bedroom, she opened a suitcase stuffed with dirty sweatpants, T-shirts, and shorts. She had been in such a hurry to get here, she’d just stuffed her favorite workout clothes into a suitcase to wash later. Gathering up her dirty clothes, she headed for the service porch. She dropped everything in the washer, added detergent and fabric softener, and hit START.

  She stood there a moment, marveling at all the modern conveniences in America. Back home, in Wolfram Castle, washers and dryers, refrigerators and indoor plumbing were relatively new arrivals. Before her father married her mother, the castle had been positively medieval, with no creature comforts to speak of.

  Kaitlyn couldn’t help smiling when she thought of her parents. She had never seen a couple so much in love. Even now, after more than twenty years of marriage, her mother and father behaved like newlyweds, at least when they thought no one was looking. But Kaitlyn had caught them in the midst of some pretty heavy-duty hugging and kissing on more than one occasion.

  “I just hope that you and your future husband will feel this way when you have been married as long as your mother and I,” her father had remarked when she caught them embracing in the kitchen one night. Kaitlyn couldn’t have agreed more.

  Thinking about hugs and kisses brought Zack Ravenscroft to mind. “Mrs. Kaitlyn Ravenscroft,” she murmured, giggling like a schoolgirl. “Mr. and Mrs. Zack Ravenscroft. Mrs. Zack Ravenscroft.”

  Arms outstretched, she twirled around and around, wishing she could speed up time or twitch her nose and make him appear. The thought made her laugh. She had several inherent powers; she could run faster than the eye could follow, she could veil her presence from mortals, she could read their minds—well, most of them, she amended—but making people appear at will wasn’t one of her talents. Sadly, since she wasn’t a fullblooded vampire, she lacked her father’s ability to dissolve into mist, or to transport herself wherever she wished to be. He had told her to be patient, that those abilities might come to her when she was older, but he hadn’t sounded very convinced when he said it. Still, if she had to choose between bei
ng able to transport herself across great distances or being able to eat anything she wanted and being able to endure the sun’s light, she thought she would take the latter two. After all, how often did she need to zap herself to another location when she had a Porsche in the driveway and her father’s credit card if she needed to hop a plane?

  With a shake of her head, Kaitlyn left the laundry room. As her mother had always said, the best way to make time fly was to keep busy.

  Kaitlyn glanced at the clock. It was almost four. Plenty of time to fold the laundry, make the bed, vacuum the rugs, and make herself beautiful before her date arrived.

  Zack rose with the setting of the sun. For the first time since he had built the casino, his first waking thought wasn’t about going to work, but about a woman. Kaitlyn. She had been foremost in his thoughts since the minute she’d walked into the club. Not that he was complaining. He was more than happy to have a beautiful young woman running around in his head. In fact, he’d be happy as hell to have her take up permanent residence there.

  He grinned, thinking the lovely Kaitlyn must have bewitched him. Sure, he was crazy about women. Always had been, but he had always loved them and left them, never looking back, rarely remembering their names once he told them good-bye. But Kaitlyn, she was different. And even though all they had shared so far was one mind-blowing kiss, he sensed he would never forget her.

  With a shake of his head, he left his lair and went up the private stairway to his apartment where he took a quick shower and changed into a clean shirt and a pair of pants. If he didn’t hurry, he would be late.

  He was doing a quick walk-through of the casino floor, on his way out, when he had the sudden sense that he was being watched. Pausing near the dice table, Zack pretended to be interested in the game while he let his preternatural powers expand. Sounds grew louder, colors brighter, smells sharper and more intense.

  He glanced casually around the casino, his gaze resting quickly on each patron. It was still early. The crowd was light. He had no sense of another vampire on the premises, no scent of werewolf, and yet he would have sworn there was another supernatural creature in the building, although there was no trace of it now. Had he imagined it?

  He finished his walk-through, stopped to talk with a few of the pit bosses, conferred briefly with the head of security, and left the casino, bound for Kaitlyn’s.

  She opened the door before he knocked, a smile of welcome on her face. Dressed in a pair of white slacks and a lavender sweater, her cheeks flushed with color, she was even prettier than he remembered.

  “So,” she said, “what do you want to do tonight?”

  “Take a walk?” he suggested. “Go for a drive? See a movie?”

  “It’s a nice night for a walk,” Kaitlyn said.

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

  Kaitlyn felt the same peculiar sensation she had on other occasions when he took her hand in his. Not a chill, exactly, more like a warm shiver of awareness that she felt all the way down to her toes.

  She pondered her strange reaction to him as they walked down the narrow, tree-lined path toward the lake. Maybe what she felt for Zack wasn’t all that extraordinary. He was an extremely handsome man, after all, and there was no denying that she was physically attracted to him. But then, what woman wouldn’t be?

  The night seemed to close in around the two of them as they neared the lake, which gleamed like a dark mirror in the light of the full moon.

  Zack paused at the edge of the water where someone had thoughtfully placed a wooden bench just big enough for two. He waited until Kaitlyn sat down and then sat beside her, one arm resting on the back of the bench. A warm breeze, carrying the fecund scent of earth and foliage, rustled the leaves of the trees. A fish popped up in the middle of the lake, sending ever-widening ripples across the face of the water.

  “It’s lovely here,” Kaitlyn said. “Do you ever come here to swim?”

  “Now and then. Do you like swimming?”

  She nodded. “My father taught me when I was a little girl.” She would never forget how much fun it had been to go swimming with her dad. Of course, they’d had to go at night, but she had never been afraid, not when he was there. Before she was old enough to swim, he had let her sit on his chest while he floated in the water. The most fun had been clinging to his back while he swam swiftly, effortlessly, from one end of the lake to the other and back again.

  “What else do you like to do?” Zack asked.

  “Oh, lots of things. I enjoy going to movies and plays and doing crossword puzzles. I don’t like to cook, but I love to bake.” She smiled at him. “I make a really wicked strawberry pie,” she said. “I’ll have to bake you one.”

  Zack nodded. “Anything else?”

  “I love to read.”

  “Me, too.” He had spent many a long, lonely night in the company of a good book. “What do you like to read?”

  “You’ll laugh.”

  “Why would I laugh?”

  “Because I like to read old fairy tales.”

  He didn’t laugh, but he couldn’t hold back a grin. “You mean like Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty?”

  “Yes, but my favorite is Beauty and the Beast. It’s such a wonderful story, the way Belle learns to love the Beast in spite of his gruff attitude and fearsome appearance.”

  “I guess you’re really into those happily-ever-after endings.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing.” He glanced out over the water, wondering if he would ever have a happy ending of his own. “I guess everybody wants one.”

  “So, what do you like to read?”

  “Murder mysteries. Arthur Conan Doyle. Dashiell Hammett. Mickey Spillane.”

  “Blood and guts, huh?” she asked with a grin. “Death on every page.”

  He had to laugh at that. She had no idea.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked, frowning.

  “I was just thinking how far apart our tastes are in books.” And in food and drink and sleeping habits, he added silently.

  “So, Mr. Macho Man, what do you like to do?”

  “Oh, you know,” he said, flexing his muscles. “The usual manly things. Watch extreme sports on TV. Gamble. Drink too much. Drive too fast.”

  She punched him in the arm. “Be serious.”

  “I know what I’d like to do right now,” he said, his voice soft and seductive.

  A thousand butterflies took wing in Kaitlyn’s stomach. There was no mistaking the desire in his eyes. “Oh?” Her voice emerged as little more than a squeak.

  His finger traced the curve of her cheek. “Shall I show you?”

  She swallowed. “Will I like it?”

  “I think so.” He drew her closer, his voice low and husky in her ear. “I hope so,” he said, and kissed her.

  Her eyelids fluttered down as she turned into his embrace. Her arms went around his waist, and she hugged him tight as she lost herself in the wonder and magic of being near him, of having his mouth on hers. He smelled of sandalwood cologne and musk. The combined scents made her stomach curl with pleasure. A delightful warmth spread through her, leaving her feeling weak and exhilarated at the same time. She moaned softly when his tongue stroked hers.

  Pulling away, she fanned herself with one hand.

  Zack looked at her, a smug, masculine grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

  Kaitlyn blew out a breath. “I think I need a drink.”

  He nodded, reluctant to let her go when he wanted nothing more than to swing her into his arms and carry her to bed, to touch and taste her all night long. But maybe it was better to take it slow.

  “As it happens,” he said, tamping down both his desire and his hunger, “I know a place that serves a great strawberry daiquiri.”

  “As tempting as that sounds, I think I’d better go home.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Kaitlyn nodded. Going home was the last thing she wanted to do, but right now, i
t was the safest thing. For both of them.

  She was vaguely disappointed when Zack didn’t argue. Instead, he took her hand and drew her to her feet.

  She tried to think of something to say while they walked up the path, but words failed her. She couldn’t tell him the truth—couldn’t tell him she was fighting an almost desperate yearning, not only for the taste of his blood, but a hunger for his body, as well.

  Better to let him think that she was a prude, or that things were moving too fast, rather than let him know the truth.

  Chapter 5

  After bidding Kaitlyn a reluctant good night, Zack willed himself to the city, which was roughly twenty miles from the casino. It might have been smarter to build his place closer to the general population, but he liked the club’s solitary location, liked having some distance between himself and the tourists after the casino closed for the night.

  It wasn’t easy, being constantly surrounded by the lure of beating hearts and the coppery scent of blood. It was easier to ignore temptation when it was far away. But tonight, his hunger wouldn’t be denied.

  He knew it was only his imagination, but it seemed that even here, miles away from her cabin, he could still hear the beating of Kaitlyn’s heart, smell the sweetness of her blood.

  Hunger drew him to an all-night café. Pausing inside the door, he opened his preternatural senses and quickly scanned the room. The man at the far table was drunk. The couple in the booth was too old. The woman sitting near the window was an actress down on her luck, but she was young and smelled clean.

  With an effort of will, he called to her, then stepped out onto the sidewalk to wait.

  A moment later, she was there, her eyes void of expression as she waited to do his bidding. Taking her by the hand, he led her down the street and into an alley between two commercial buildings.

  A search of her mind revealed her name. “Alice.”

  She looked up at him, her expression blank.

  “Relax, Alice,” he murmured, taking her into his arms. “I’m not going to hurt you.”