Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)(96)

“No,” she whispered.

Tyler’s voice took on a pleading tone. “Sweetheart, give us a chance. I know I can make you happy, and I know you make me happy. We’ve both suffered enough.”

Ashamed of her own weakness, she whispered, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust anyone again, Tyler. If you know about my portrait, then you know it was my own brother that sold information to Arcadia about how to find me.”

“Baby, we’ve got all the time in the world for me to earn your trust.” He kissed her forehead. “Just give me a chance.”

Her skin prickled, and she looked with alarm at the big windows of the room where the dawn began to ever so slightly lighten the horizon. “Tyler, unchain me.”

His hold on her tightened. “No.”

“No?” She shoved him away, regretting the way his face tightened with pain at her harsh move. “Unchain me!”

“Calm down,” he said in a soothing voice. “In about thirty seconds, you’ll see why you don’t have to worry.”

Far, far away on the edge of the planet, the sun began to rise, and her body slowly grew heavy, relaxed. She fought the sensation, trying in vain to pull the silver chain from her ankle. Even though she knew on an intellectual level that Tyler staking her out to die in the sun didn’t make any sense, her instincts screamed at her to run, to get underground, to get safe. She’d been forced to spend many nights away from the protection of her home, so she knew how to find a hidey-hole, but she couldn’t do anything if she was still chained.

“Tyler,” she screamed, “let me go!”

“No. I will not let you run this time, Lisabetta. I let you go before because I didn’t understand why you refused to let anything develop between us yet kept seeking me out. We are destined for each other, meant to be together. While your mind may not be ready to acknowledge this, your body does. So I’m not letting you run to Sargon for a mind wipe. You will remember tonight, and you will sleep in my bed. I will protect you with my life while you dream beneath my covers. Please, trust me.”

She was about to claw her foot off like a fox caught in a trap when her sensitive ears picked up the hum of small engines. A moment later, steel shutters fell over all the windows, shutters bearing the crest of Sargon’s House. Stunned, she slumped to the ground and fought off the weakness invading her.

“Where…did you get those?” she forced herself to say, her lips growing numb and the words coming out slurred.

“Sargon had them installed after the fifth night we were together.” Tyler smiled at her, and she would have glared at him if she had the energy. “We actually had a bet. Sargon thought you would turn me in less than four dates, and when he lost, he had these shutters, and a bunch of other shit, done to my home so you would have a safe place to rest when you finally gave into my ‘barbaric charms.’”

The world began to fade around her, and the last thing she saw before going into a deep sleep was Tyler bending down and removing the chain around her ankle.



Hours later, the moment the sun sank behind the horizon, her body came awake with a vengeance, hunger clawing at her as she took in the delicious scent permeating the soft sheets she slept on.

A low growl of need worked its way out of her, and she opened her eyes, her instincts urging her to seek out the source of this delicious smell. As she sat up, she absently noted she was nude, but that wasn’t an issue. Her body would only make it easier to seduce and drink from the delicious male animal that tempted her.

As she rose from the large bed and the silver silk sheets slid from her body, she vaguely thought about the irrational way she was acting, but that idea was fleeting and quickly burned up in the hunger of sangue fever. Opening her senses, she quickly found the source of her need, the perfect antidote to the lava burning through her veins. As she moved swiftly through the large home, she darted from shadow to shadow and easily avoided the mortal woman washing dishes in the kitchen.

Soon she came to a back patio area that was perfectly set up to seduce her senses. Vases full of white roses graced the glass tables arranged next to the sumptuous lounge chairs. There were a few votive candles scattered about, but most of the patio was cloaked in shadows. To mortals it would be too dark to see, but to her light-sensitive eyes the whole scene was soothing. She took a step forward, her gaze going right away to the source of her hunger.

As soon as she saw Tyler standing in the middle of the patio, joy filled her, and she smiled at him.

Tonight he wore a pair of black lounge pants and nothing else, revealing the hard muscles of his body, built up from a lifetime of helping out on his parents’ cattle ranch. Memories were coming back to her now, and she took a moment to savor them, bits and pieces of a hidden past filled with pleasure and love. Tyler watched her closely, his whole body tense, the shadows creating delicious works of art on his solid frame. She flared her nostrils and took in a deep inhalation of his scent, a purr working from deep in her throat as his pheromones saturated her mind.

Tyler gave her a small smile. “Hungry, sweetheart?”

Speech was beyond her, the need heating her blood further, making her * wet, her nipples hard. The night air caressed her skin, and she tilted her head back, relishing the feeling of the breeze on her breasts and her hair tickling her bottom. While she’d always enjoyed the heightened sensitivity that came with being a vampire, she’d never reveled in it as she did now, embracing the arousal filling her veins, encouraging the flames of Sangue Fever higher until she glowed with the warmth. Tyler’s quick inhalation as she cupped her breasts sent a feminine thrill through her. She wanted him, and she had centuries of experience at seduction on her side.