Page 12 of The Vampire's Seduction

“Really? Where do you get the blood, Dr. Rodriguez?” Her heart stuttered to a halt. His lips curved up viciously. “Yes, I know your name, where you live, and even your favorite restaurant.”

“The…the blood we get from volunteers,” she hurried on. “Sometimes directly from the government.” Vampire blood, or VB, due to its addictive and high potential of abuse like heroin, was a Schedule I controlled substance. She had to account for every milliliter used.

His gaze flashed bright red. She backed up into the headboard, her heart in her throat, as he roared, fangs flashing. “Stop lying to me!”

He tossed a phone at her. Olivia picked it up. The screen showed a picture of a sterile lab with three vampires strapped to gurneys. They looked gaunt, their dark veins and bones sticking out against the paper-thin skin. She zoomed in on the picture and saw the IV bags filled with blood flowing into the vampires and the other tubes draining their blood. The Zylotech logo was stamped on the equipment.

The implication was clear.

“What—? Is this—?” Horrified, she glanced between Marek and the phone. “That’s not possible.” How did Zylotech have the money or the manpower to capture and hold vampires?

“Stop pretending. You expect me to believe you didn’t know anything about where the blood came from?”

“I swear, I didn’t know.” Olivia bit back the sobs rising in her throat. She averted her gaze from the phone. Whatever Marek may think, she viewed vampires as human as the next person.

Marek snarled and paced away, his body vibrating with restrained violence.

“I’m just a researcher,” Olivia went on, grappling at words, at anything to convince him of her innocence. “Zylotech gave me a grant. I don’t even work for them technically! Please, I didn’t know about this.”

“You didn’t think to ask?”

Anger flashed, fast and furious. More than anything, she hated when men condescended to her. That didn’t change even in life-and-death situations.

“I told you. It’s donated blood,” she snapped as her brain shouted at her not to antagonize a murderous vampire. “Some vampires want the research to succeed.”

He suddenly towered over her. Her back already against the wall, she had nowhere left to run. All two-hundred-fifty pounds of male muscle leaned forward; his arms dropped on either side of her. Her mind blanked at his closeness as his vampire allure wrapped around her.

“Or all you care about is winning recognition. Fuck where the blood came from as long as it served your purposes.”

Don’t slap him.Olivia’s knuckles hurt from clenching the sheets like her life depended on it. And it did, because if she slugged the son of a bitch, he’d kill her in a blink.Reason with him.

“I don’t care about the recognition. I just want to help people, but not if it means torturing vampires. If I had known, I wouldn’t have worked for Zylotech.”

“I should kill you,” he hissed, not believing her for a second. “And send your body to Zylotech as a warning.”

Her swallow was audible in the deathly silent room. “Zylotech won’t care,” she said, pushing past the fear choking her. Nobody would. Her only relative was in a coma.

Impossibly, he moved even closer until their noses touched. His eyes glittered with predatory intent. “Then what shall I do with you?”

Her eyes dropped to his full lips, the only soft part in his stone countenance. His powerful body hovered over hers. An outsider might think they were lovers whispering intimate things to one another. What would it feel like to kiss him? His breath smelled like peppermint. So strange, since vampires didn’t eat.

Take your eyes off his lips, woman! He just threatened your life!

“I…” She cleared her throat, all her bravado gone. “Please, let me go.”

She didn’t want to die.

His gaze flicked to her lips before snapping back up. His nostrils flared as though he was smelling her. An answering heat rose within her.

Wait, was he attracted to her too?

Olivia squeezed her thighs together.Get it together!How could she be so turned on when her life was at stake?

Vampires. She’d known their effect on humans, but none of the ones she’d met before had actively tried to seduce her.

But why was Marek trying to seduce her? Was he? It was difficult to think with the cloud of desire muddling her brain.

“No.” His cold rejection doused her inner flames. “I think I’ll keep you for now.”

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