“I know.” My voice shook. This urge made me ashamed when it first appeared a year ago. I was beyond shame now. Even alcohol didn’t grip me like this when I used to drink.
A void expanded inside my soul and Rurik’s blood never filled it. The hunger slept for a little while, but came back roaring. In the last month, it never slept.
“Maybe you should reconsider crossing over and become vampire. I never thought the blood lust would be so strong with a bond.”
“No, I’m not ready to give up the sun.”
He caressed my cheek. “Stuck between two worlds, you have all our vises and none of our strengths.” With his fingernail, he opened a wound on his neck.
I didn’t require any further invitation to drink. The metallic flavor flowed down my throat, what was left of my humanity cringed, the other part savored every drop. It satiated my hunger beast but never touched the void it created.
Maybe Rurik was right and I should take his offer. Bound to each other, only he could make me vampire. Other vamps could kill me, but never cross me over.
He rose before I felt satisfied. “I bought you a gift.”
I licked my lips and watched my lover pull a garment in a dry cleaning bag from under us.
“It’s a dress for tonight.”
It should be against the law for men to shop for women without supervision. Don’t get me wrong, Rurik had wonderful taste—what he liked me to wear bordered on pornographic though.
My smile wavered. “Let me see it.”
“No.” He strode across the room and laid it on the bed. “It’s Rio, Rabbit. On New Year’s Eve, live a little. You’ll look beautiful in it.” Then he left me alone, lying in the closet on a pile of wrinkled clothes, a broken closet rod at my side. “I’ll run us a bath,” he called out from the bathroom.
I wandered to the bed and opened my present. With a little glue in the right places, the red dress might actually cover the important parts. A note pinned inside the bodice caught my attention. Romantic gestures kept relationships alive and this one made me happy. I opened the paper.
It wasn’t the kind of love note I expected. This one came from my ex-boss, Colby.
Chapter Two
The Copacabana Beach spanned the shores of southern Rio. Rurik spun me around as we danced on a raised platform by the white sand, surrounded by hundreds of people gathered to ring in the New Year. Fast-paced Samba music played and couples boogied with abandon under the clear night sky.
Rurik took dancing lessons with me for my birthday present six months ago. Not that he needed them. They were so I could keep up with him. The crowd-shuffle most of us practiced in the nightclubs irked him. He preferred a partner, like the old days, and ballroom genres were more to his taste. I wish we had the whole night to practice our moves.
Most women around me wore less than I did, but the red, thin silk of my dress clung to my curves and reached above mid-thigh with slits running to my hips. All held together by two spaghetti straps that crisscrossed my bare back. I couldn’t wear a freaking bra under it, not even one that attached around my waist. The back was too low, almost exposing the top of my ass. I kept pulling at the hem, checking the straps.
Prior to our departure, I bitched about Rurik’s idea of sexy. “I don’t mind,” he had said.
No shit.
“If I have to go braless then you go shirtless.” I crossed my arms, thinking like a fool that I had won.
The white silk shirt he wore fluttered to the ground and he offered me his arm. “Then let’s party.” How could I argue with a gorgeous man who treated me like I was the center of his universe?
Guilt stung as I recalled the note in my dress. Colby, the man who’d taught me about vampires and dragged me out of the bottom of a Jack Daniel’s bottle, wanted to meet tonight. Alone. I’d made a promise to Rurik I’d never keep secrets from him again. Yet here I danced with my lover, the very man I made the promise to, and I broke it by not saying a word.
He would never have let me meet Colby without him. Torn between the love for my vampire and the respect for my vampire slayer, I tried to live in the moment. I knew later there would be hell to pay.
As we parted in our dance, Rurik twisted me around then trailed his hand over the back of my shoulders while I did the same to his. Sweat trickled down the center of his chest and his black hair clung to his pale skin in sharp contrast. The desire burning in his eyes as I shuffled toward him made me love the stupid red dress.
Before I reached him, a young Latino man stepped between us. His broad chest blocked my way and he offered me his hand, as if asking for the chance to switch partners.
“No, thanks.” I shook my head and tried to go around him. He feigned not understanding me and stepped into my path.
I saw Rurik’s thunderous expression around the man’s shoulder. It took restraint for a vampire not to harm a mortal and Rurik barely contained it as he grabbed the fool and yanked him away. They got into each other’s face and spouted a round of Portuguese, which sounded like insults. I played the role of the dumb blonde who tried to pull her supernaturally strong boyfriend out of a fight. Not because I thought he’d get hurt, but to save the young idiot’s life.
“Come on, it’s Rio. Let it go.” I tugged at his hand. “I want to dance and make love, not fight.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes trailing from my legs to my face. “Maybe I shouldn’t have bought you that dress.”
I leaned against him and whispered, “Only you get to unwrap me.”
Now ignored, the young man left without incident.
“After the fireworks the beach will empty.” Rurik waggled his eyebrows as he circled his hands around my waist, drawing me closer until I pressed against him.
“Only if I get the top.” The last time we had sex on the beach it took me over a day to pick all the sand out of my ass.
“Oh baby, you know what I like.” He leaned in close and embraced me. Lips pressed together and tongues tangled while the fireworks began to explode over our heads. The crowds cheered, but we had our own private fireworks going on. I loved being enveloped in his indestructible strength, or touching the tip of my tongue to his fangs. What a way to ring in the New Year. I sighed as his hand wandered up the back of my thighs until it reached under the hem of my dress.
I jumped and slapped at his hand. “No public exposure, thank you very much.”
He grinned back, showing a little fang. “I want you to keep that dress on while you ride me. Wait here a moment, I can find a secluded place on the beach faster by myself.”
He took a step away then hesitated and turned to me. “Stay in the crowd, you’ll be safer.”
I watched him disappear in the mix of tourists and locals. This was the chance I’d been waiting for, the opportunity to sneak away for a moment and meet Colby. He waited for me on the rooftop of the Copacabana hotel, right across the street. How he knew we’d be here was beyond me. I’d stopped questioning Colby’s abilities ages ago.
Guilt wrung my heart. I didn’t deserve Rurik. With a sigh, I twisted to look at the hotel. Colby probably watched me right now, waiting for me to betray Rurik’s trust.
Squaring my shoulders, I stomped as best as I could in high heeled sandals across the street, through the front lobby and took the elevator to the rooftop. I scoped out the area.
The scene here reflected the one on the beach except the clothes people wore looked more expensive. I stuck to the edge of the crowd and recognized a tall redhead dancing like only a white man could.
He waved.