She froze, stunned by that admission. Her chest tightened with empathy. It hurt her to think that something as normal as kindness would confuse him.
He pulled her hands away from him again and cleared his throat. “I will…uh… If you want, I can take you back to where you were sitting.”
Rose nodded. “Okay.”
Her stomach flipped as he scooped her up into his arms again. He didn’t speak as he carried her across the building, to the back corner, and set her on the ground. Rose frowned as he placed something soft into her arms. She ran her fingers across the smooth leather, realizing that he had given her his jacket.
“You can sleep on that,” he said. His voice sounded so different from usual, so nervous and unsure. “I assume you aren’t used to sleeping on concrete.”
“But what about you?” she asked quietly.
“I’ve slept in far worse places,” Kallias said dismissively.
She heard movement behind her, and she realized that he was settling down on the floor behind her to sleep. She wanted to see him, to see whether he was sitting or lying, whether he looked angry or sad, whether he was close enough to touch. “What is it like?” she heard herself ask. “Being what you are, I mean.”
Kallias was quiet for such a long time that Rose assumed that he had already fallen asleep. Then, she heard him answer, softly, “Maddening.”
“How so?” she asked gently.
“Have you ever been hungry?” he asked. “I don’t just mean a craving for food or just wanting to eat out of boredom…but really, truly hungry. Starving.”
That wasn’t a question Rose wanted to answer, but she knew that she couldn’t expect him to answer questions if she wouldn’t. “When I was a child.”
Kallias glanced at her, his brown eyes softening in surprise. “It feels like that, except thousands of times worse, and it never stops,” he said, his voice breathless and strained. “The hunger is always there, always burning, always consuming you. Blood becomes the center of everything. Your senses are attuned to it. You hear it. You smell it. You see it. And you want it, no matter the cost.”
Rose swallowed uneasily. “How do you stay sane?”
“I didn’t, at first,” he admitted. “In the beginning, I went mad. I couldn’t reconcile the part of myself that hated the killing of innocents and the part of myself that was a monster. I couldn’t be within a hundred miles of another person without wanting to rip out their throat. So, I isolated myself far away from people. Between the pain of starvation and the solitude, I lost whatever sanity I had left.”
Her throat felt tight with sympathy. “That sounds terrible.”
He shrugged. “I cheated death. That doesn’t come without a price.”
She blinked. “You cheated death? Are you saying you actually died?”
He scowled at her. “How did you think I became this?”
“You died?” she said in disbelief. “As in…your heart stopped beating? You didn’t just fall unconscious or something? You actually…died?”
“Yes,” he muttered impatiently.
She stared in his direction, stunned. “And…are you still…dead?”
Kallias rolled his eyes. “Do I seem dead?”
Rose frowned. “Well, no, but…”
“My heart beats just like yours. I breathe. I think. I feel. I am just as alive as a human, only I am not human. I awoke from death as a vampire,” he said.
She nodded, trying to process the information. “How did you die?”
“I am finished being interrogated,” he grunted suddenly. “I need sleep.”
Rose pursed her lips. “Believe it or not, civilized people have a polite way of saying that. It’s this complicated English word that’s pronounced: goodnight.”
She could almost hear the smile in his voice as he recited, “Goodnight.”
10
A Kiss of Darkness
Rose opened her eyes but saw nothing. Complete darkness surrounded her, like a cloak over her eyes. She blinked several times, hoping whatever blocked her eyesight would clear so that she could see. She shifted on the cold concrete floor, wincing as her muscles protested its hardness. Her heart began to race as she suddenly realized that she was not in her bed. Her hand traced the soft leather jacket beneath her, and the events of the previous night came flooding back into her mind. She breathed a sigh of relief as she remembered where she was.
Her relief was short-lived, however, because then, she noticed the sound of someone shuffling restlessly. She jumped up as she heard his painful groans. He sounded really hurt. “Kallias? Are you okay? Is something wrong?” she called.
She listened for an answer, but again, she heard only the sound of someone shifting and groaning in agony. “Are you hurt?” she called louder.
Rose waited for a few more moments, hoping for an answer, but the groaning and shuffling continued without interruption. She worried that something had gone wrong, that his wound hadn’t healed like he thought it would. She climbed onto her hands and knees and crawled toward the noise. As she reached out her hand, her fingers brushed his arm. She felt him shaking and jerking convulsively beneath her fingers. At first, she wondered if he were having a seizure, but as she listened closely to his groans, she realized that he was having a nightmare, apparently a pretty terrible one, if the sounds were any indication. She shook his arm gently, but he just continued convulsing and groaning.
Rose shoved him harder, but he didn’t budge. His body was far too heavy for her to move. “Kallias!” she yelled. “Wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”
His body suddenly went rigid, and the sounds stopped. For just a fraction of a second, he just seemed to freeze, and then, before Rose even realized what was happening, she felt her back hit the concrete. Kallias lay on top of her, his weight pinning her to the floor beneath them. His hands gripped her wrists so tightly that it hurt, pinning them to the floor beside her head. She couldn’t move.
Rose realized a little too late that shaking a vampire while he was having a nightmare might not have been the wisest course of action. Her entire body ached from the impact of the floor. She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him who she was, at least, but no sound escaped her lips. She could barely breathe, much less speak, and the only sound she managed to make was a quiet whimper.
Kallias blinked a few times as his mind snapped fully awake. He tried to remember what had happened. He remembered that Theron had been torturing him. But no, he realized, that had been just a dream, a memory. Then, someone…
His eyes widened as he noticed her beneath him. “Rose?” he gasped.
“Yep,” Rose choked, forcing a pained smile, as she finally managed to make a coherent sound. She sucked in a strangled breath and explained, “You were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you, and you just kind of…attacked.”
“Shit,” Kallias breathed as he stared down at her. “Rose. I am so sorry.”
The pained remorse in his voice stunned her. “It’s all right.”
“I should have warned you not to touch me when I’m asleep,” he said.
She laughed in surprise, “Why? Does this happen often?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he loosened his grip on her wrists and turned them gently in his hands, examining the red marks he’d left. “I hurt you.”
“I’m fine,” Rose assured him. “Besides, it was an accident.”
He gently massaged her wrists. “I should have warned you,” he repeated.
The pain in her wrists dulled as he massaged them, but as his fingers alleviated the pain, they also created new sensations, sensations that caused her stomach to flutter and raised chill bumps across her skin. It didn’t help matters that his body rested on top of hers, pressing so sensually against her. “It’s okay.”
Kallias stared down at her, studying her disheveled appearance as he looked for any other marks he might’ve left when he had so savagely tackled her. He stared at her wide, blue eyes, and as he noticed the way that she gazed
slightly to the left of his face, he remembered that she couldn’t see. A pink flush darkened her cheeks from the spike of blood pressure, and her messy red hair fanned around her head like a fiery halo. She breathed rapidly, her soft, pink lips parted.
He could smell the enticing scent of adrenaline in her blood, and even covered in blood and dust, she still smelled of honey and vanilla. There was a certain wildness to the way she looked after waking, and Kallias couldn’t help but notice that she looked sexy like that. Her pulse pounded in his ears, igniting his hunger. He wanted her, and his instincts were driving him to take what he wanted.
Rose hated not being able to see. She wanted to see the expression on his face. She wanted to know the reason for his silence. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see him. She could only feel him. His legs rested between hers, and his bare chest and stomach pressed against her. She didn’t know how to react to the sensation of his body on hers or the way her body reacted to that sensation. Her physical experiences with men had always been so limited. She certainly had never felt like this. And as if the situation weren’t awkward enough, she suddenly realized that she could feel his erection pressing against her stomach.
She blushed. “Uh… So, are you going to get off of me, or…”
His lips suddenly pressed against hers, effectively cutting off her stammering. Rose blinked in surprise, but then, as if they had a mind of their own, her lips molded to his. His lips felt feverish and surprisingly soft against hers. All of the awkwardness that she’d felt moments ago melted away under his hot and demanding kiss. Her stomach clenched, and her skin felt overheated. His tongue massaged hers, drawing a moan from her lips. She squirmed and pulled at her wrists, and she felt him smile against her lips before he released her hands.
Kallias groaned as she intertwined her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer. One of his hands cupped her face, tilting her head back as he deepened the kiss. He ran his other hand along her body until it reached her thigh. He lifted her thigh to curve around his hip. She gasped against his lips as his body pressed harder against hers. Her lips felt even softer than Kallias had imagined, and she kissed with an intense passion that left him hungry for more. She became the focus of all of his senses…her body, her scent, her blood… He felt an overwhelming urge to tear open her clothes and sink his fangs into her neck.
He pulled away abruptly as he realized that he was losing control. His face remained inches from hers as they panted, breathless from the intensity of the kiss. For a few moments, Kallias didn’t move. He just stared at her in shock.
Finally, he rolled off of her, but still, he remained silent. He sat next to her, wondering what had possessed him to kiss her in the first place and why it had affected him so intensely. He could see her out of the corner of his eye. She hadn’t moved from the floor. She just lay there, trying to catch her breath.
Rose sat up, slowly, wincing at the soreness in her muscles. She knew that Theron must have left some nasty-looking bruises on her skin, if the pain were any indication. Although she noticed it, the pain didn’t really bother her at the moment because her mind seemed more fixated on the other sensations she felt. She traced her lips with her fingertips, noticing how they seemed swollen and tender from the kiss. Her mind raced with hundreds of questions: Why did he kiss her? Why did he stop? Why was he so quiet now? Did he not enjoy the kiss? He seemed like he enjoyed the kiss, but what would she know? And yet, Rose didn’t ask any of those.
Instead, she asked, “Do you always kiss women after you attack them?”
He snorted, “No, you are unique in that aspect.”
She nodded. “Oh. Good,” she said. She grimaced at her awkward response. “I have no idea what I’m saying,” she muttered under her breath.
Kallias glanced at her, raising his eyebrow in amusement.
“So,” she said, her voice still a little breathless. “Can we leave yet?”
He shook his head. “The sun won’t set for another hour, at least.”
Rose sighed, “What are we supposed to do for an hour in the dark?”
He chuckled. She could hear the smirk in his voice as he teased, “Oh, I can think of many things, but with my stamina, we’d need more than an hour.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Does that usually work for you?”
“What? Flirting?” Kallias laughed. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
She scoffed, “Uh, no, it doesn’t work on me.”
“Oh?” he said, smiling. His voice dropped lower, becoming gravelly and breathy. “Well, you could have fooled me…with the way you kissed me just now.”
Her jaw dropped. “The way I kissed you?” she snapped. “You kissed me!”
“And you kissed me back,” Kallias said, “very passionately, might I add.”
Rose blushed. “I didn’t want to be rude.”
“Do you honestly expect me to believe that you kissed me like that out of politeness?” he laughed. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you’re a terrible liar.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You kissed me.”
“You already said that,” he said. “And I’m aware of what happened.”
“Well,” she grumbled stubbornly, “Why?”
He looked away. “I don’t see why that would matter.”
She scowled. “It matters because you have made it clear on many occasions that you don’t like me very much. So, why would you kiss me?”
“How I feel about you has nothing to do with it,” Kallias muttered.
“What? It has everything to do with it!” she argued.
“Rose, it was a kiss, not a proposal. It was just a physical action between two people. You’re making something out of nothing,” he said hurtfully.
“Nothing,” Rose repeated coolly. “Right. Of course.”
Kallias looked at her, suddenly feeling a hint of regret. “Rose…”
“No, I get it,” she interrupted. It looked, at first, as if she were done with the conversation, but then, her eyes narrowed, and she added, “You know, many cultures throughout history considered kissing very meaningful. Ancient Rome, for instance, considered kissing so meaningful that it signified a binding contract.”
He rolled his eyes. “And many ancient Norse villages didn’t consider two people married until the Viking fucked his bride in front of an audience. Do you suggest that we base all of our interpretations of things on ancient cultures?”
She pursed her lips at his crudeness. “Of course not.”
“Face it. Kissing is just light foreplay. It arouses you. That’s all,” he said.
Rose gaped. “You are so arrogant! You think that…aroused me?”
A smile tugged at the edges of his lips. Her only indication that he had suddenly moved closer to her was the sensation of his breath against her face. Her breath caught in her throat, and she blinked, wishing that she could see him.
“I know it did,” Kallias whispered, his breath tickling her lips. “You can’t hide much from a vampire, Rose. We have incredibly attuned senses.” He moved his mouth to her ear, and she shivered as his breath fell against her ear. “I can hear when your heart begins to race. I can hear when your breath hitches. I can feel the slightest spike in temperature on your skin. I can smell your…”
“Okay, I get it,” she squeaked, shuffling back to put some space between them. She inhaled through her nose to get control of her rapid, shallow breathing, wondering how he’d managed to set her skin on fire by just speaking. Her eyes narrowed furiously when she heard him laugh at her. “Well, it’s not like you weren’t! I know you were because I felt…” she trailed off, blushing.
His eyebrows lifted at her unfinished sentence. “Well, I never denied it.”
“Is that why you kissed me?” she snapped. “So I’d have sex with you?”
Every bit of humor was gone from his voice when he said, “I wouldn’t do that.” As she heard the harsh thud of his boots, she realized that he had stood. His voice came from above her when he spoke ag
ain. “I know I’m a monster and an asshole, Rose,” he snarled, “but I didn’t realize you thought that lowly of me.”
She blinked, shocked by how much that upset him. “I-I don’t,” she sputtered. “It’s just…I thought… It seems like…that’s what men usually want.”
He glanced down at her. “Someone hurt you,” he realized.
She shrugged sadly. “Doesn’t someone hurt everyone?”
“Yeah,” Kallias sighed, “I suppose so.”
Neither one of them spoke for several minutes, the heat from their conversation dissolving into a cold, sterile silence. It was obvious that neither of them were eager to share the details of the pain they’d experienced. Kallias leaned against a support beam in the middle of the warehouse, watching her. After noticing her rub her eyes for the eighth time, as if that would help her see, he shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He wiped off the blood on his jeans and pressed the power button as he walked over to where she sat.
Rose blinked in shock as a faint light suddenly illuminated his face. His brown eyes shifted to meet hers as he stopped in front of her and held out the phone.
“The battery is low,” he said, “but it’ll give you a light for a few minutes.”
She reached out and took the phone, a surprised smile curving at her lips.
He took a step back and crossed his arms, still watching her.
Rose stared up at him, his form partially illuminated by the faint light of the phone. He’d apparently slept in most of his clothing, just as she had, with the exception of the leather jacket and blood-soaked T-shirt. His black jeans hung low around his hips, and she blinked in shock as she stared at his bare torso. His brown hair fell almost to his shoulders. The intricately colored flames that colored the skin of his neck traveled down his shoulders, disappearing behind his back. The flames seemed to glow in the faint light of the phone, reminding her of real fire. Defined muscles lined his lean chest and abdomen. His form looked too perfect, she realized. Unnatural. He looked more like a sculpture than a person.
The Stone of the Eklektos Page 27