“Understanding what?” Fallon asked.
“Tucker refuses to sleep apart from Maggie, so she refuses to go aground.”
With a quick move, Adrian pinned Fallon against the wall and took her mouth in a hungry kiss.
His mouth was fierce, hot and ruthless. Heat came off his body in waves.
Unease slithered across her skin. She placed her palms on his board, solid chest and gave him a little push. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “Everything.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist. “Talk to me, Adrian.”
“Tucker and Maggie are really screwing up.” His head rose slightly as he locked his gaze to hers. “I don’t want to make the same mistake.”
Fallon didn’t know what to say, so she remained quiet.
His knuckles lightly grazed her cheek. “I’ll make you a deal.” His warm breath brushed her face.
“Seems to be the night for making deals.” Her attempt to melt the tension building beneath his touch failed.
He inhaled deeply. “This might not be the time or place, but here’s the deal. I want you.” The truth sparked in his eyes. His hands moved down her arms, fingers circling her wrists. His body pressed tightly to hers. Then he jerked his hands to her face to cup her cheeks and looked deeply into her eyes. “Not for tonight or tomorrow—but forever.”
Forever? Fallon felt her eyes widen.
A knee wedged between her legs brought him even closer. He was fully aroused his cock hard against her belly. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her nearer.
“Stay,” he whispered against her mouth. This time his kiss was tender and sweet.
Emotion rose quickly only to crash and burn somewhere in her throat when the kiss ended. How ironic was it that she found a man who wanted a future when none existed for her?
His expression hardened. “Chavez will never touch you again. In exchange for my protection promise you’ll stay with me—forever.”
Fallon didn’t have forever. Still she’d be an idiot to pass up what Adrian offered.
Acid churned in her stomach as she prepared herself to deceive Adrian. But she couldn’t do it, not staring directly into his warm eyes. Instead she closed her eyes and murmured, “Yes,” before she pressed her lips to his.
She felt the joy in his tight embrace. It nearly tore her apart.
Dammit! Wasn’t revenge supposed to be sweet? Shouldn’t she be happy to be joining Christy? If so, then why did it feel like her heart was breaking?
Tears touched her eyes.
“Happy tears?” he asked, brushing them away with a finger.
“Yes.” Another lie.
Fallon wasn’t fooling Adrian.
She wore her lie beneath a clear veneer. It hurt, but he would never let her see his pain. Call him a fool, but he knew the bond between them was more than a flighty notion. In time perhaps she would grow to care for him. Now if only Chavez would stay out of the picture long enough for him to persuade Fallon that they belonged together.
What was it about this woman that broke down all his defenses?
Mine.
“Adrian.” A hint of alarm rose in her voice. “Too tight,” she squeezed out airily.
Chagrined, he released the taut grip he had on her and took a step backward. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Is something wrong?”
“No.” Now it was his turn to lie. “I need to hunt. Neither of us has fed since we rose. Maggie took what reserve I had.” Billy’s disappearance had taken priority to everything, even feeding. “Fly with me.” He took her hand and headed down the hall.
Her face brightened. “I still can’t believe that I made the conversion. It was so cool. As mist I feel tossed around a lot.” He heard her excitement as they entered the living room. The house was quiet.
Thank God, Billy was home and okay.
“Darlin’, I have a lot to teach you.” He wanted to teach her everything.
The front door squeaked as he pulled it open and let her pass through. Rain had dampened the ground. The clean scent mingled with the smell of the soil around him.
With Chavez bringing Fallon into the world of immortality, Adrian doubted that she had the opportunity to appreciate the gifts she had been given. It was true that so much was taken from her. Still if she could find an ounce of happiness she would see that life could be beautiful. Adrian wanted to be the man who opened that door for Fallon.
Her smile deepened. “You’ll teach me more?”
“Sure.” The most important thing she needed to learn was how to protect herself against an enemy. In a struggle with a Master vampire she would be nearly helpless, but there were some things she could do to baffle him, hopefully allowing her enough time to get away.
Fallon had taken the first step by ensuring that she fed properly. Even to a vampire proper nutrition was important. He could feel her getting stronger. He doubted she even knew the strength she possessed now that his blood ran through her veins.
Adrian had no intentions of allowing Chavez to get within reach of Fallon, but there were still things that would help her in awkward situations, illusion being one of them. People tended to see and believe what they wanted. The hunted had to use knowledge and intelligence to their advantage.
“We’ll feed and then your training begins.”
Within seconds they were airborne.
They hadn’t gone but a short distance when Adrian spied a campground. The smell of burning pine rose as the couple sat around the campfire chatting.
Fallon, in Gyrfalcon form, landed beside a large blue spruce. He felt her eyes watching as he took human form and approached the campsite.
The young man of medium build rose, placing himself between Adrian and the woman who got to her feet. “Can I help you?”
A quick mind scan and Adrian discovered the couple was married. Their names were Paul and Maria Sweet. As he touched their memories he saw their recent wedding, and the child growing in Maria’s belly she had yet to tell her husband about. He sensed her excitement, subdued by worry. Would her husband share her joy?
Adrian wasted no time bewitching them, muddling their thoughts so that he could feed. Maria waited patiently for her turn, while Paul came willingly into Adrian’s arms. The man was strong and virile, angling his head to allow Adrian access to the vein that pulsed at his throat. Adrian wasted no time. His fangs sank deep into the man’s tender skin.
Careful to take only what he needed, Adrian assisted Paul to sit. With a charming smile on Maria’s face she stepped forward.
The shrill squawk sent a rush through Adrian. His little bird had sensed Maria’s condition. He hadn’t planned to take the woman’s blood, not now that he knew she carried a life.
“Maria, take care of your man. He’s feeling a little weak.” As she turned to obey, Adrian shape-shifted, taking flight to join Fallon who had lifted into the air.
Luckily not far down the road there were two men sleeping within their tent. Their loud intermingling snores revealed they slept deeply. “I won’t be long,” Adrian said.
His bird form made a beeline for the green canvas. Adrian changed shape just before he landed softly on the ground. With a swipe of his hand the flap opened and he disappeared inside.
Minutes later he stepped from the shelter—sated. It was time for Fallon’s first lesson.
Chapter Sixteen
So damn sexy. Fallon’s heart did a little flip-flop. Adrian leaned with his back against a large pine tree just outside the campgrounds at Reservation Lake where he had fed. With his cowboy hat pulled low to shadow his eyes it gave him a dark, mysterious quality. A single knee bent, the sole of one boot pressed to the bark, tightened the material across his crotch. The allure he presented beneath the moonlight nearly drove her to distraction.
His mouth twitched into a sexy grin. He straightened and crooked a finger to beckon her to his side. “Hungry?”
“Starving.” She moved
into his open arms. His warm embrace made her heart flutter. The light sensation shot down her body, reappearing low in her belly. With a shift of her feet she snuggled closer, smelling the raw masculine scent that was uniquely Adrian’s. Amazingly, she felt safe and something more—cherished. He didn’t attempt to hide his feelings as he opened his thoughts to her. He genuinely cared about her.
Men like the one who held her just didn’t really exist, did they? “Too good to be true” crossed her mind. But the feel of his hands in her hair as he drew her nearer proved he was real. The magical way he stole her breath with a kiss confirmed just how good he was.
“Darlin’, you drive me wild.” His deep, sensual voice, and the fact his hands were now palming her breasts through her red T-shirt, made her whimper with need. “I love the little sounds you make.” He rubbed his nose against hers, his eyes pools of temptation. With a tilt of his head, he presented her with his neck.
The pressure of her canines dropping, pushing through gums and bone, made her mouth salivate. She couldn’t help stroking the vein in his throat, teasing it with her tongue, before she bit down.
His low, grating groan was satisfying, even more so the presence of his hard cock against her hip. Light, tingling sensations rippled through her veins as she fed. She drank, loving the power that flowed from him to her like an invisible shield. It made her feel alive. Before she took too much, she smoothed her tongue over her bite marks. Her hands moved on their own accord slipping from around him and straight for his belt buckle. She needed to feel him between her thighs, thrusting deep inside her.
“Not now.” He stilled her hands with his. “We have work to do. Then we’ll play.”
“Work?” She cupped his firm erection. “Are you sure?”
“Temptress.” He chuckled, bringing her hands to his mouth and pressing a kiss to them. As he released her, his expression drew taut, an air of seriousness taking hold. “There’re a couple of things I want to show you before the sun rises.” He moved to a grouping of young trees as he spoke. “Control, as in illusion and deception, can be your friend.”
When he said deception his voice lowered. She couldn’t help wondering if the shadow drifting across his face was meant for her lies.
“Illusion can be used to plant a false idea or concept, allowing you to avoid a confrontation or possibly give you time to escape.”
With his last word he disappeared, but she sensed he hadn’t moved. The whisper of mist wasn’t present. Then she saw the subtle movement in the sticky bark of the tree. She’d know those golden eyes anywhere.
“I didn’t know we could do that.”
He leaned forward. One minute he was one with the tree. The next he slowly visualized, turning from bark to flesh, before he stood in front of her. The sight was amazing.
“But what you want to do is confuse your target.” He stepped back into the tree. But strangely the group of six trees each sported a pair of golden eyes. “You can duplicate yourself.”
This time when he moved beyond the tree there were five of him in human form, each identical replicas of the man slowly stealing her heart. She sent fingers of detection to determine which image was real, but each of them she stroked felt as real as the next. Then, like a spring released, the five forms snapped together forming only one Adrian.
“Projecting yourself to be one place while you’re somewhere else is invaluable in tricking your enemy. Plus it gives you time enough to flee.”
“But how?”
“The secret is to leave a bit of your essence behind.” He must have read her confusion, because he continued. “You mentioned earlier when you take the form of mist that sometimes you feel tossed about. You even experience the scattering of the drops, sort of like you’re being torn asunder. In this case instead of gathering yourself together to form one mass, you leave behind a piece of yourself.”
Fallon felt her eyes widen in disbelief.
“We regenerate quickly so there’s no danger of not being able to materialize again. Of course you don’t want to spread yourself too thinly. It will weaken you.”
“Why is it that I could take the form of mist, but not a bird or cat?”
“Mist is water vapor with little mass, while a bird or cat is solid mass. You would never have had this problem if you had fed properly.” The firmness in his tone was a reprimand. “You have wasted time in your growth as an immortal by rejecting what you have become.”
Adrian remained quiet for a moment. He looked at her with assessing eyes. Then he stepped forward and cupped her face with his palms. “All things are created for a purpose, that includes what we are—vampires. Let me show you our world. A world that can be as wondrous as your previous life, but more sensual and seductive than any human could ever imagine.”
The pull of temptation was almost inescapable. She wanted to surrender to his lure, if only for a second. But she could never forget the promise she’d made to Christy. Yet what stopped her from taking what he offered until it was time for her to say good-bye?
“Show me, Adrian.”
He brushed his lips across hers and she felt his mouth curve into a satisfied smile. “I was hoping you’d say that. I know a place that is a little heaven here on Earth. But first I want you to practice what you’ve just learned.”
Fallon thought of a fine mist. Shape-shifting, her body dissolved into tiny drops of dew. She hovered in the air awaiting his next direction.
“Now concentrate on each separate bead of moisture,” Adrian coached as she felt the immediate feeling of disconnection, of being forced apart. “Push yourself in numerous directions toward several objects. They can be alive or inanimate. Then attach yourself to several of them.”
Amazingly, she was able to adhere herself to several trees like Adrian had done. With another thought of wholeness, she drew her essence together and walked from the trees. A sense of pride bubbled up inside her, but it was nothing compared to his smile of approval.
“Good. Practice. You’ll get better and faster with each time.” He paused. “Come here.” She stepped into his arms. His eyes grew dark. “Now let me show you my place.”
He released her and once again they took the form of birds.
Adrian was majestic in any shape he chose. An impressive wing span swept up and down as if he moved without effort. Feathers darker than the night were highlighted against the gray clouds in the sky. And man could he shake those tail feathers, she thought, following him. She chuckled at her own joke. Her giggles turned into full body laughter.
“What?” he asked, soaring toward the ground and landing softly as he shape-shifted back into his human form.
As she joined him, she glanced at his backside. “Nice ass.” It truly was a masterpiece wrapped in all that tight denim.
His smile was slow and sexy. “Come here.”
Willingly, she went into his arms. He held her—nothing more—just held her like it was the most natural thing to do. Then he once again took her hand and led her down an embankment. With each step she had to bury her boots into the grass, pine needles and soil to make sure she didn’t fall and roll down the mountainside.
In the distance she saw and heard a waterfall spilling into the mouth of the valley below where it continued to cut and zigzag through the land. The stream rushed over fallen trees and rocks.
Almost to the creek, Adrian stopped and sat down, pulling her with him. The slant of the hillside made it easy to lie on their backs and still see the stream, waterfall, and the rising mountain just beyond the water’s edge.
“Reservation Lake is one of my favorite spots.” He sighed, removed his hat and laid it beside him, before he slipped his hands behind his head.
“Hmmm…” She hummed with appreciation. It was peaceful and beautiful. In a place like this she could lose herself. Believe that the darkness that had surrounded her for over a year never existed and that the man beside her would always be there.
Downstream a whitetail deer cautiously approached the
creek. Elegant and sleek, the doe’s ears twitched, listening for danger. Slowly, she lowered her head, sipping from the cool water. Her big brown eyes looked so innocent.
Adrian was right about one thing. The night did hold a beauty. Her night vision as a vampire was sharp and clear.
“Adrian, how old are you?”
“Old,” he chuckled.
“How’d it happen?”
He continued to stare at the stars. “I was thirty-three. Invincible.”
Fallon was glad he gave no pretense of misunderstanding. She wanted to know how he became a vampire.
“I owned a fleet of ships that went from Newport, Rhode Island to the West Indies exporting plantation products like potatoes, vegetables, granite, and whatever else my ships could carry. Beautiful silks, spices and a variety of other exotic goods I brought home to sell and exchange. It was quite lucrative. I was on the top of the world financially. But—” He paused, adding, “I wanted more.”
She couldn’t read his blank expression as he looked blindly into the sky. A bird squawked in the distance. The water continued to whisper across the rocks.
“The sky warned of a storm. The tempest was swift in coming. Violent winds tore at our sails. Waves hundreds of feet in the air.” He drew quiet. When he spoke again, his voice had softened. “Next thing I know I’m on the beaches of Fishers Island, a man’s wrist pressed to my mouth as I drank his blood.”
He turned his head to look at her. “I spent the first century cursing my maker for saving me when no others survived. The second century coming to grips with who and what I was. The last century I have lived my life as I should, appreciating what is around me and attempting to help others.”
She didn’t see regret, only a man who had accepted his fate. If only she could be like him.
Why it was important she didn’t know, but Fallon asked anyway. “Were you married?”
“Yes. And to answer your next question, I had two children, Elisha and Philip.” He looked back to the heavens and she knew their conversation about his life was over. There was still so much more she wanted to know, but wouldn’t intrude.
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