Page 57 of Twilight Longings

She stumbled forward when the man holding her pushed her away and ran for his life.

A moment later, her world went black.

Saintcrow swore softly as he lifted Kadie into his arms, locked the Viper, and transported the two of them to his lair in Morgan Creek.

Damn,damn,damn. Of all the bad luck.

Bad luck that turned worse when he laid Kadie on the sofa. Her eyelids fluttered open. She took one look at him and let out a scream that could have been heard in Cheyenne. She bolted upright, darted toward the fireplace, and grabbed the poker.

Saintcrow blew out a sigh. No doubt he looked like something straight out of hell, covered in his own blood, his clothing torn, his eyes still showing a trace of red, the blood of the man he’d bitten still on his lips.

Vampire.

She lifted the poker when he took a step toward her, though after what she had just seen, she wasn’t sure it would be any defense. “Don’t come any closer!” Clutching the poker in both hands, she took a tentative step toward the front door. When he made no move to stop her, she took another. And another. Jerked open the door. And fled into the night.

Kadie ran as if she had wings on her feet, ran toward the house he had given her until she couldn’t run any more. She glanced over her shoulder to see if he had followed her. But there was no sign of him. Breathless, she paused, one hand pressed to her side.

When her breathing returned to normal, she walked the rest of the way as fast as she could. She paused when she reached the front door. She didn’t have her keys. They were inside, along with her handbag. She was about to run down the hill to the hotel and rent a car when the front door opened as if by magic. Once she was inside, she locked the door even though she knew it wouldn’t keep him out. She drew the curtains across the windows, turned on every light in the place, and huddled in a corner of the sofa, clutching the poker to her chest.

Tomorrow, she thought. Tomorrow morning while the sun was up and he slept in his coffin, or wherever vampires slept, she would take the Corvette and leave this accursed place just as fast as she could.

Saintcrow showered, pulled on a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and returned to Casper to pick up the Viper. The two bodies were gone. Damn fools. A quick brush of their minds had let him know they had intended to rob him, assault Kadie, and steal his car. Well, they had picked the wrong man to mess with.

A deep breath carried the scent of the third guy. Saintcrow stood there for a long time, debating whether or not to kill the man for laying his hands on Kadie. In the end, he slid behind the wheel and drove back to Morgan Creek, wondering what Kadie’s reaction would be when she tried to leave in the morning and discovered she couldn’t cross the bridge.

Chapter Thirty-Three

When Kadie opened her eyes the next day, it was after three o’clock in the afternoon. She had stayed awake until after sunrise, too afraid to close her eyes after running away from Saintcrow the night before. Finally, fully clothed except for her shoes, she had crawled into bed and fallen into a deep, troubled sleep.

An icy tremor ran down her spine as she recalled the incident in the cafe parking lot. They had been accosted by three men. One man had held her while the other two turned on Saintcrow. Terrified, she had watched them attack him. She’d been certain they were going to kill him when, with frightening speed, Saintcrow had killed one man and buried his fangs in the other. Even now, she could scarcely believe what she had seen.

Impossible as it seemed, Rylan Saintcrow was a vampire.Vampire.How was it even possible for such things to exist in this day and age? Why didn’t people know?

Grabbing a pillow, she clutched it to her chest. They had been lovers. That was the scariest thing of all. But surely he had forced himself on her! No way would she have agreed to sleep with a monster. Not even one as devastatingly handsome and desirable as Rylan Saintcrow.

She was very late for work, she thought, but that didn’t matter. She was leaving here just as soon as possible. Shewould be traveling light. Saintcrow had purchased everything she had, but she wasn’t taking any of it with her except a change of clothes. After all, she had to wear something.

Scooting off the bed, she changed out of the dress she had worn to the theater and into a pair of jeans and a sweater, stomped into a pair of boots, grabbed the car keys and her handbag, and left the house. She paid little attention to the speed limit as she drove down Main Street. She wondered briefly if Saintcrow would have her arrested for stealing his Corvette, but it couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t walk to the airport. And she didn’t have the patience to wait for Uber. She wanted to leave this place, and she wanted to leave now.

She drove straight through town toward the bridge while the wordvampireplayed over and over in her mind. How could it be true? It couldn’t. And yet it was.

She was halfway across the bridge when the Corvette slowed to a dead stop. Frowning, she tried to restart the car but nothing happened. She checked the gas gauge, but it showed a full tank.

She let out a shriek when Saintcrow suddenly appeared on the bridge, standing between the car and the road to freedom beyond. A quick image of last night’s terror flashed through her mind.

Kadie’s heart skipped a beat when he approached her side of the car. She flinched as the window rolled down, seemingly of its own accord.

“Going somewhere?” he asked, his voice mildly amused.

Staring straight ahead, her knuckles white around the steering wheel, she bit down on her lower lip, hoping he would just go away. He didn’t, of course.

“We seem to be starting over,” he said, with a faint smile.

Still not meeting his eyes, she asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Saintcrow scrubbed his hand over his jaw. He had been hoping that now that she knew what he was, she would remember the rest of it.Damn. Should he tell her they had lived here together? Married? That she had once been a vampire? Or would the shock be too much after last night? In the end, he decided against it. Better to give her a day or two to process what had happened the night before.

“It’s like I told you,” he said smoothly. “We met here, in Morgan Creek. We were friends. And lovers.”

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