Craig glanced her way and then back to the window. The drapes that used to cover them were on the floor. The glow of the streetlamps shone into the apartment, spotlighting several different areas of destruction. “We went to the hotel where they were staying. Damek had sent them there under compulsion.”
“Compulsion?” Evie asked.
“Basically, he plants a suggestion in their minds, one they can’t disobey.”
Craig was still coming to grips with the idea that he could do that too.
He felt the shudder that went through Evie. “Is there anything Damek can’t do?”
“Hell if I know. Damek keeps to himself, even with his friends.” Craig had always thought he understood why, but now he truly understood. Damek was protecting his friends as much as he was protecting himself. In all the centuries the vampire had lived, how many evil creatures—vampire, paranormal and human—had he been forced to kill in order to survive and spare innocent people? It boggled the mind.
“Anyway, one of the hunters wasn’t all bad. He was conflicted, had only joined the hunters after his sister was killed by a vampire.”
“How awful.”
Craig nodded. “I scrambled his memories and sent him on his way. He should be home by now.”
Evie shifted, coming up on her knees beside him. “You scrambled his memories?”
“Yeah.” Craig stood and began to pace the small space. Broken items, clothing and books crunched beneath his boots. “Damek thought I should test my abilities.” He whirled around. “It was amazing what I could do. I dampened some of his memories until they were all but gone. Then I implanted a few new ones, using his existing memories to fashion them. Kinda like rewriting computer code using an existing one as the base.” What bothered him the most was that he’d actually enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to change Evan’s memories. “It fascinated and sickened me at the same time.”
Evie scooted off the daybed and came toward him. “That’s only normal.
You’d be abnormal if you didn’t get some joy out of your new powers.” She placed her hand over his heart. “It’s the fact that you were sickened by it that means you haven’t lost your empathy.”
He hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Damek said something similar.”
Evie gave a low chuckle. “Who’d have thought the ancient guy and I would ever agree on anything.”
Craig’s mood lightened, but only for a brief moment. He hadn’t told her the worst of it yet.
“What is it?” Evie moved closer until their bodies were almost touching.
He could smell the spicy fragrance of her skin. Every muscle in his body tightened and his cock jumped to attention.
He wanted to grab her and kiss her until he couldn’t think, didn’t have to think. For that reason, he walked away, leaving her standing in the middle of the room with her hand still in the air. He stood by the window and gazed out over the city.
It hadn’t changed, but he had.
Irrevocably.
“I killed a man,” he blurted out. “Not with my hands, but with my mind.”
He heard—no, felt—her moving up behind him. She slid her arms around his waist and pillowed her breasts against his back.
“Why?”
Craig dropped his forehead against the glass, enjoying the bite of cold against his skin. Not that he really felt cold, it was more the sensation of it.
“The other hunter was older. He’d killed so many people. Many of them were innocent, and he knew that in his heart.
He just didn’t care. He enjoyed killing.”
“And if he’d lived he’d be a danger to you and me, to Damek and Sonia, and maybe even to Isaiah’s pack. Am I right?”
Evie’s hands on his stomach were distracting him and making it harder to think straight. “Yeah.” Unable to not touch Evie any longer, he turned and pulled her against him. “I stopped his heart. Made it look as though it was natural causes. The authorities will find him and that will be the end of that.”
“Wow.” Evie’s hold tightened on him. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”
Not what he’d been expecting her to say. Craig leaned back and stared down at her. “You’re not disgusted by what I had to do? Afraid of my powers?”
The soft smile she gifted him with almost brought him to his knees.
“Afraid? Never. I know who you really are.” She cupped his face. “The real man. And I know that having to kill him hurt you, but you did it anyway because that’s who you are. You protect the innocent and your family and friends. I understand that.”
He caught her chin and made her look at him. “Do you also understand that you’re mine? We belong together.”
He took a breath and said the same words he’d said last night. “I told you I won’t let you go.”
“I know. I’m counting on it.” She went up on her toes and pulled his face down. Their lips met and passion exploded.
Craig yanked her into his arms and lifted her feet right of the floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
He had to have her. Right here. Right now.
Evie’s very soul ached for what Craig had been forced to do. She almost hated Damek for making Craig do it, but she understood his reasoning. He wasn’t trying to be mean. He wanted Craig to know he could defend himself and those he loved in case Damek wasn’t there to do it for him.
Last night, the older vampire had almost been too late. Craig had to learn just how much power he wielded and how to do so to the best of his abilities.
Damek was a hard taskmaster, but Evie couldn’t wish for a better teacher for Craig.
“Evie,” he gasped her name as he turned and held her against the wall. He kissed her, his lips and tongue devouring her, stealing the very air from her lungs.
The tip of one fang nicked her lip and Craig groaned, sucking on the small wound, licking away the blood and healing it. “I’m sorry. I can’t stop. I need you so much.”
She’d never had anyone need her the way Craig did, needed anyone the way she did him. “I want you.” She peppered his face with kisses, wanting to show him how much she cared.
Craig’s lower body pinned hers against the wall. He tugged at her shirt and she helped him pull it off, leaving her naked from the waist up. He gave a low groan and cupped her breasts. They weren’t overly large, but they were firm and well-rounded.
“So beautiful.” He kissed and licked the mounds, getting closer and closer to her taut nipples. She tugged on his hair, dragging his mouth to where she wanted it. His low, pleased laugh made her pussy clench.
Then he was sucking the tip of one breast, gently pulling at the nipple with his lips, teasing it with the tip of his tongue. Evie gasped and clutched at his shoulders. Frustration filled her when she met fabric and she tore at the offending garment until it shredded under her elongated nails. She tossed the pieces aside and feasted on his bare shoulders and back, wherever she could reach. His skin was almost hot to the touch, not cold as most might expect of a vampire.
He lifted his head, his eyes glowing, not red, but that brilliant blue she loved so much. “Naked. I have to get you naked.”
He pushed at her legs until she released the grip she had on his waist.
The second her feet hit the floor, he attacked. He pulled at her jeans and panties. He had her naked in seconds.
She tried to get at his jeans, but he made that impossible by kneeling at her feet.
He shoved her legs wide and buried his face against her pussy. She cried out and grabbed his shoulders for support when her legs threatened to give out.
There was no gentle preliminaries, no tentative touches. This was a man out of control. This was sex at its most primal.
He drove two thick fingers into her slick channel, pushing deep. His lips found her clit and he sucked. Hard.