Come Back To Me
Page 1
By Cynthia Eden
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are not intentional and are purely the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional.
Copyright ©2009, 2020 by Cindy Roussos
All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the express written consent of the author except for the use of small quotes or excerpts used in book reviews.
Copy-editing by: JRT Editing
(build 2)
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Come Back To Me
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Author’s Note
About The Author
A Message From Cynthia
Ready to slip over to the supernatural side? COME BACK TO ME was originally released in the “Belong to the Night” anthology (published in 2010), and, back then, the novella had the title of IN THE DARK. I’ve updated the sexy tale (this story contains 31,000 words), and now Sully and Sadie are ready to hunt…for love and for a killer. Thrills, chills, and paranormal romance are waiting!
Chapter One
Her dead lover stood on the other side of the bar, rubbing his hand against the back of some long-legged redhead and looking very much alive.
Sadie Townsend drew in a deep breath. Caught the scent of smoke. Expensive perfume. Sweat.
I went to that jerk’s funeral. Cried over his grave.
A grave he didn’t seem to be occupying.
She’d even taken flowers to his graveside.
The redhead laughed. Tossed back her head. The man turned, braced his hand against the wall behind her head and leaned in even closer to her.
Rage had Sadie’s back teeth grinding together. She stalked across the bar, elbowing dancing men and women out of her way. Her fingers curled, and a hard fury tightened her body.
Two years. For two damn years she’d thought he was dead. While he was out there screwing redheads. Redheads who wore really trashy pink dresses.
He was bent over the woman, his mouth poised over her throat.
Sadie was going to rip the bastard apart.
The redhead laughed. A high, tipsy giggle.
Sadie growled.
Even though she was still at least ten feet away, and the music blaring from the band jumping on stage was earsplitting, Liam “Sully” Sullivan stiffened. His dark head snapped up. He spun around, and his gaze scanned the crowd. His eyes—too damn blue and bright for a dead man—locked on her. She saw his stare widen and his lips began to curve into a smile—
A smile she was going to knock off his still too-handsome face.
“Sullivan.” His name escaped her as a snarl.
The ghost of a smile vanished from his lips.
The redhead shifted beside him. “Uh, honey…”
Oh, no, she had not just called him—
He glanced back at the redhead. Touched her cheek. “Give me a minute, Sharon.” The Irish whispered beneath his words, softening the vowels, hardening the consonants. Cagey bastard. Usually, he could all but make the soft rolls of his native Ireland disappear from his speech. The Irish was strong, though, when he was either pissed off or turned on. His fingers curved under the redhead’s chin. “Why don’t you go dance?”
And the chick meekly nodded her head. Walked away without another word.
What the hell? Had the woman never heard of a backbone before? He just blew you off, sister. Tell him to screw himself!
Sadie stalked toward him. Jabbed one finger into his chest. “Hey, asshole. Long time no see.”
He grunted.
“Tell me, shouldn’t you be…oh, I don’t know, in a grave somewhere?” She’d put him in one. It would be her absolute pleasure to—
“You shouldn’t be here.” Weaker accent now, but the vowels were still soft. His gaze swept behind her. “You need to leave, love.”
Love. Her heart took the hit, and her entire body trembled. “I’m not going anywhere.” Not without one hell of an explanation. She’d cried over the jerk. She never cried over anything, but she’d cried for him. “If you wanted to break up with me, Sullivan, all you had to do was say so.”
The sex had been great between them. Better than great. Wild. And she was the kind of woman who really, really needed wild.
They’d been teamed up on an FBI assignment. He’d been a liaison from Ireland, working secretly with her team on a hunt for a global killer. She’d never slept with another agent before—she didn’t like mixing her business and her pleasure. But with Sully, she’d broken all the rules.
On their first date, they’d never even made it out of her place. She’d had him naked in less than five minutes. He’d taken her against the wall in her den and had her coming almost instantly.
That had just been the beginning.
He’d been the first human to match her stamina. Matching someone with her unique characteristics was exceedingly hard.
His nostrils flared as he stared down at her. “Sadie, you don’t—” He broke off, and his eyes widened in surprise. “Your scent…”
“Oh, great, you’ve been playing dead for two years and now you want to talk about the way I smell?” Her claws were out now. The fury was too strong for her control. Rage and betrayal burned through her.
She’d trusted him. The night she’d learned of his death…hell, they’d been planning to meet after his last op. She’d intended to tell him the truth about herself.
She’d never before told a human lover the truth.
But Sullivan had been different—or so she’d thought.
Liam Sullivan. Sullivan to most. Sully to friends. To lovers. To me.
The lighting in the bar was dim, but she’d never really needed much light to see. His face was just as she’d remembered. Strong, square jaw. Dimple in his chin. Eyes like the skies over his Ireland—so amazingly blue it almost hurt to look into them. Sexy lips, high brow, chiseled cheeks. A nose that had been broken a few times because her Sully hadn’t grown up easy. He’d lived on the streets of Dublin from the time he was eleven until he’d reached seventeen.
His skin looked a bit paler than before. His hair was a little longer. The black locks skimmed his broad shoulders. He wore a battered black, leather coat, a dark shirt, and loose jeans.
The guy was big—way over six feet. She had to tilt her head back a bit to stare up at him. No, to glare up at him. “I was told everyone on your team died on that last operation.” She should have been on that team. But someone, somewhere, had passed on the word about her relationship with Sully and she’d been yanked at the last minute. Reassigned to some bullshit security detail.
When she’d gotten the news about the slaughter—Sadie couldn’t stop the shudder that worked over her body. God, but she could still see those photos—it had been a bloody massacre. One look at those photos, and she’d almost fainted. Because Sully was one of the victims. Or so she’d thought.
Normally, Sadie wasn’t the fainting type. More the kick-ass, make-’em-sorry type, and that was just what she was about to do. Make the Irish devil very sorry that he’d ever been born.
He grabbed her. His hands locked around her shoulders, and he lifted her up onto her tiptoes. “I misse
d you.”
What? She was supposed to believe that BS line? Lying jerk—
He kissed her. His lips were firm against hers, slightly cool, and—oh, damn.
Her mouth opened. She gave a little moan when she felt the strong thrust of his tongue. The guy had always been one hell of a kisser. He knew just how to move his lips against hers. Knew exactly how to use his tongue. Sliding it against hers. Teasing her mouth. Tasting. Sampling. Taking.
A ball of heat in her belly had her rubbing against him. Pushing to get closer. She didn’t want soft and easy, she’d never wanted that. Hard. Wild—that was the only way she’d take a man.
And Sully, curse his black soul, knew it.
His hands smoothed down her body. Locked on her ass. Squeezed. His erection pushed against her belly. Long and hard. Thick. Oh, she remembered it well.
She remembered too much.
That was the problem.
She tried to pull back, but Sully’s hold didn’t weaken.
Sadie twisted, putting some of her enhanced strength into play. Oh, jeez, but the man’s tongue…
His hold tightened. It was a fierce, strong grip.
Too strong. She could feel the power in his touch. It was a power that hadn’t been there before. What the hell?
His mouth lifted, just an inch. “Fuckin’ missed you,” he rasped, then captured her lips again.
Ice blasted through her veins. Fuckin’ missed you. He hadn’t looked like he was missing her when he’d been all over the redhead.
Bastard.
Sadie purred, a low, rumbling sound. And she bit him.
The coppery taste of blood flooded her mouth.
Sully’s head jerked up. He stared down at her, and his eyes—the beautiful eyes she’d seen in her dreams for so long—flickered sickeningly from blue to black.
Oh, no. Shit. Shit.
Not playing anymore, she shoved against him and managed to break free of his hold. Stumbling back, she lifted her hand to her mouth and shook her head as she struggled to deny the truth that was staring her right in the face.
No, not Sully. Not him.
He licked away the drops of blood on his lips. “A ghrá, you do know what I like.” A ghrá. One of his Irish endearments. One that used to make her heart leap, but now had her tensing.
Sully smiled at her, but it wasn’t the boyish smile of the man she’d known.
It was a hard grin. One that showed the sharp points of his too-long canines.
Her nostrils flared. Scents assaulted her. The same smoke she’d smelled before. The alcohol.
Sully. The crisp scent of an ocean. The sweet fragrance of clovers. Ireland.
No, no, no. This was all wrong. Sully didn’t smell like decay or death. He smelled the way he’d always smelled to her. So good.
But his eyes were black and his canine teeth…they were too long.
Sadness filled Sadie. She knew his type. Knew what drove them. So much darkness. Bloodlust. Sully was lost to her. His kind lived for terror and pain.
True monsters.
Sadie had never thought she’d have to do it, but it looked like she might have to kill her ex-lover.
Hell. Could she do it? A tremble shook her body, and, for an instant, she didn’t see his face. No, she saw the pale face and shining eyes of Jasmine. Her friend smiled, and blood trickled down her neck.
Sadie blinked, and Jasmine was gone, but Sully—a new Sully, so different from the man she’d known—still stood before her.
“Somethin’ you should know, Sadie.” His brogue thickened, deliberately, she knew. “I didnae exactly survive that ambush…”
Her hand lifted. Traced the line of his cheek. “I know.” Soft. Sad. “And I hope you understand…”
A line appeared between his brows. “Understand?”
She knew her smile was broken. Her hand dropped. Do it. Don’t think. She reached for a nearby chair. Lifted it and shattered the wood in a blink.
“Sadie—” Sully began.
Her kind moved fast. Incredibly so. Always had. Her right hand locked around the broken chair leg. She raised her hand and prepared to plunge her makeshift weapon into his heart. “Understand that I’m not killing you—I’m killing what you’ve become.”
His black eyes widened.
What he’d become…
A vampire.
Sadie drove her stake straight toward his heart.
I’m sorry, Sully.
Chapter Two
He reacted too slowly. Sully swore, trying to twist back, but he was trapped against the wall.
The wood drove into his chest. He grabbed Sadie’s wrist, holding tight as his fingers clenched around her delicate bones. And one fact became glaringly obvious.
Sadie Townsend was a hell of lot stronger than she looked. Her golden eyes were determined as she attacked, but her mouth—that sweet, beautiful red mouth—quivered.
Sully could feel his blood rushing out. Soaking his shirtfront. There were screams around them. Folks had turned at the sound of the shattering chair.
The wood was in his chest, about an inch and a half deep. But it wasn’t in his heart. He’d managed to turn just enough to avoid—
“She’s killing him! Oh, my God, that crazy bitch is killing him!”
He knew the voice. Katie. Karla. Something like that. He couldn’t exactly remember the redhead’s name. She was the one screaming, but she didn’t seem to realize that the bar she was in…well, it wasn’t exactly normal.
Folks there weren’t going to lose any sleep over another vampire getting staked. Hell, he could see the faces of the other vamps in the bar. Smiling bastards. They were afraid to take him on, but they were sure happy to let someone else take a stab at him. Or rather, to stake him.
“Love, I don’t want to hurt you.” Truer words he’d never spoken. But Sully had already died once. He’d found the whole experience to be an utter nightmare, and he didn’t plan on passing over again.
Sadie’s trembling lips rose into a grimace. “Hurt. That’s all vampires do. They hurt, they torture, and they kill.”
Pretty accurate—for most vampires. “I’m not like that.” The stake was digging deeper into his flesh. Not a killing wound, but it still burned, and his kind didn’t do so well with blood loss.
He could see the doubt in her eyes.
Fine. His teeth clenched. So be it.
Sully snarled as he lunged forward. The movement shoved the stake deeper into his chest.
Sadie stumbled back and her hand finally, finally, fell away from the stake when she tripped over the remains of the chair and tumbled onto the floor.
He stared down at her. Beautiful Sadie. Soft locks of blond hair fell around her heart-shaped face. Her mysterious eyes glared up at him.
His hand lifted. He grabbed the end of the stake. Yanked it out. Felt the rough splash of blood.
A choked cry came from the right. For an instant, his eyes met the redhead’s shocked stare. She looked like she was going to pass out. Instead, she turned and ran away, as fast as she could.
The band kept playing.
He tossed the stake onto the table. “That hurt, Sadie.”
She bared her teeth at him. Teeth that were too sharp for a human’s. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
“It was supposed to hurt, jackass,” she snapped back.
His head cocked. Sadie. He’d wanted her from the first minute he saw her. Petite. Curvy. With that come-hither smile and those fuck-me heels she liked to wear…
Most of the men in his unit had fantasized about her. There was just something about Sadie Townsend.
Something stirring. Something untamed. A fire, a passion that he’d never seen before—or since.
His gaze slid over her. She hadn’t changed much. Her hair was a little shorter. Maybe she was a bit thinner. He didn’t like that. His eyes narrowed as he studied her. She still had great breasts—full and high. But her hips weren’t as curved, dammit. He’d sure liked her lush hips.
A beauty, no denying it.
One that had nearly taken his heart. Then, and now.
“Ah, love…” Because she had been, though he’d never told her. Sully shook his head and felt real regret as he stared down at her. “You made me lose my meal.” The redhead was long gone.
Sadie’s eyebrows rose. “Tough shit, vampire.” In a flash, she’d bounded to her feet.
Fast. Too fast.
Just as her teeth were a bit too sharp.
His nostrils flared. Her scent surrounded him. The wild scent of a forest. The rich scent of woman.
Odd. Humans usually smelled like food to him. Blood and sex.
But Sadie—there was a heavy fragrance that clung to her. A deep scent. Heady.
His cock tightened.
He’d wanted her like mad when he was a human and being a vampire hadn’t made the desire lessen. Instead, it had just made the hunger more dangerous.
“I cried for you.” The words seemed ripped from her. Her hands were clenched. Her small body taut.
The heart many humans foolishly believed didn’t beat inside of him began to thunder against Sully’s chest. His hand lifted. The back of his fingers brushed over her cheek.
Her skin was so fucking soft.
“Sadie, soon you’ll bleed for me.” A dark promise. Sadie wasn’t getting away from him.
Besides, the woman had tried to kill him. She owed him. Blood, sex, everything.
She blinked. Shook her head. Blond strands of hair bounced against her shoulder. “I’m not your prey, vamp.”
Vamp. “Sully.” He said his name deliberately. Just how much did Sadie know about his kind? She knew how to kill them, obviously. When he’d known her before, he’d thought she was a human, just like him. One who didn’t know about the true darkness waiting behind the closed doors of the world.
She caught his wrist. Yanked his hand away from her face. “Don’t touch me. You lost that privilege a long time ago.”
The anger inside of Sully began to boil. “You’re playin’ with fire.” It was the last warning he’d give her. Sully figured he’d been a pretty good sport so far. He’d let the sexy blond eat his head off with her insults. He’d even let the woman stake him. I bled for her.