Vampire Cowboy Read Online Free Page B

they remembered little of the encounter, except that the foolish gentleman had left thrice the normal fee.
    This was different, very different. He felt far more for this pretty American woman than the usual mild tinge of interest. There was something about her—the way she talked and moved and laughed. And there was the way she had cowed a roomful of men. He smiled at the memory. He even found the way she tried to convince him that Haley was a good place to live—when she so obviously did not think so—charming. He hoped she’d lied because she wanted him to stay.
    Could it be that she was awakening passion in him, passion that had lain dormant for two hundred years? Yes, he wanted to feed, yes, he wanted—needed—blood, but he craved the taste of hers. He longed to have sex with her as well and there was something more, something he had not felt for all those centuries. Perhaps not since he’d been a mortal man several lifetimes ago. He was overcome with raw sexual desire mixed with a yearning for her, a longing to be united with her.
    Disconcertingly he realized he could love this woman and might want this woman to love him. It was absurd—and dangerous. She didn’t deserve to become entangled with a monster like him. It would be best for her if he left Haley as quickly as he could.
    He shifted uneasily on the cushion, pushing the chicken around his plate. Best to end this encounter quickly, but what could he say? He had no wish to be discourteous. In fact he wanted to please her, wanted to see her smile the way she had when she felt the softness of the cashmere blanket. He wanted her eyes to light up at the sight of him as they had when he opened the picnic basket and revealed the chicken.
    He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, to caress her delectable body and hold it tight to his own while she looked at him with her own uncompelled desire.
    “More,” she said, holding out her glass. His hand trembled slightly as he poured. He wanted her all right. A lot. He was hard and pushing against the stiff fabric of his new American trousers. His heart was pounding
    She knocked back about half the glass and again set to eating the chicken with considerable gusto. As though she hadn’t eaten in a while. Or she had very bad manners. Or both. Daniel watched, fascinated, as she gobbled one piece of chicken after the other. He found it barbaric and strangely arousing. As if he could be more aroused than he already was. He watched her sink her teeth into the flesh of the chicken, and imagined her biting him in passion, thought of his fangs piercing her firm skin. She flicked her tongue against her lips. He longed to lick where she had, to follow that tongue with his own, into the sweetness of her mouth.
    He pulled himself back firmly. A few more thoughts like that and he’d easily forget his resolve to refrain from compelling her to lust for him. He tried not to stare at her neck where he’d like to kiss and nip and…
    A bit of chicken fell onto the breast of her extremely modest gown. He wanted to pick the piece up with his fingers, touching her there ever so gently, and then put that bit into her inviting mouth. He’d like to leave his fingers there between her lips for a few seconds to feel the slick, warm, softness.
    He hadn’t felt like this for years and this was not the time to start. He didn’t need to be disturbed this way, his carefully controlled emotions and desires unleashed. And he should not upend her life. He would leave Haley just as soon as he could. She looked up at him from what remained of the chicken she’d been eating. She grinned. He smiled back. Nice, friendly woman , he thought, more interested in eating the chicken than she is in me.
    “May I find you another piece?” he inquired. “Or some more champagne perhaps?” He smiled again. “Do you have any idea how lovely you are?”
    As he watched, her eyes changed. They gleamed in the moonlight. She wanted him—after all his long years, he