Blood Haze Read Online Free Page A

as he contemplated her question. “I’m both those things.”
    “Me,
too,” she whispered, as she snaked her hand around his neck to pull him to her,
and kissed him softly. “Me, too,” she repeated again, not sure who she was
trying to convince more, him, or herself.
    Drew
wrapped his arms around her and drew her up against him, and held her for a
long moment. Finally, brushing his lips against her temple, he said, “I have an
early meeting tomorrow, and then I need to drive up and see my mother in the
retirement village. I’m supposed to meet up with your brother after that. We’re
hooking up with some guys from our Rowing Team. I don’t know how late we’ll be.
So, I’ll just plan to see you on Sunday, okay?”
    She
gave a nod of her head, “Okay, please be careful… and watch out for Ian. You
know how he tends to over-indulge.” She paused, before adding emphatically, “I do love you, Drew.”
    “I
know. It’s just you and me, kid ,” he
said in his best Humphrey Bogart imitation.
    She
smiled at the old line. He was right, she knew all his stuff… and that was
okay.
    ~X~

 
    Lynx
Rogan stood on the balcony outside of his bedroom and stared up at the
star-filled sky. A soft breeze ruffled the curtains in the room behind him,
outside of that, and the random howl of a distance coyote, the night was silent.
He lifted a square, squatted-glass to his lips and sipped at the smooth
bourbon. He rolled the woodsy-tasting liquor around his tongue, before allowing
it to slide down his throat.
    Arabella Marks .
An image of the woman swirled around his mind just as the bourbon had rolled
around his mouth. That she was a beauty was a given – what with her long, dark
hair and crystalline-blue eyes. She had a soft, shapely body that would
automatically draw any man to her. But Arabella Marks had a secret; he’d seen it
in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what it was yet, but he would find out. That secret
made her feel vulnerable which would cause any man she met to be drawn to her;
which then, would make them want to protect her – and to desire her.
    He’d
been surprised when he’d tried to draw her to him via the power of his gaze,
but she’d been strong enough to resist him. He couldn’t remember that ever
happening in all of his seventy years. Normally with humans, you gazed into
their eyes and then could command them to do whatever you wanted. But this
woman, she was different somehow… harder to reach… or stronger willed maybe.
She’d been tempted, he’d felt it, but she’d pulled away both times. He wondered
what it would feel like to have her choose him for himself, and not because of
the gazing. Maybe he’d try it and see.
    “Ah,
here you are,” Karmyl said from the double, French-doors.
    Karmyl
Rogan, his natural-born sister – if natural, was what they could be considered.
It was natural in the sense, they’d both been born to the same vampiral
parents, and were the only two actually related, out of all that lived in their
haven on the estate of Night Shade.
      “Here I am,” he replied.
    Lynx
had realized Karmyl had been up to something. She’d been determined since he’d
arrived from Cape Horn that he visit the Night Owl. Since Karmyl amused him,
and since he was closer to her than any other in their haven, he humored her.
Lynx liked women, especially human women – with their soft skin and rushing
blood. He liked to toy with them, take what he wanted, then walk away. They
were not a challenge. Female vampires on the other hand, while more
challenging, didn’t really spark him like the humans. And while there were many
in the vampire community who thought it a sacrilege to treat humans humanely,
he wasn’t that shortsighted. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they
needed the humans for their very existence. So, if one could obtain desirous
pleasure before feeding, why not?
    “So…
what did you think?”
    That
his sister had had an ulterior motive, he’d had no doubt. Upon