At once, she was uncomfortable and stiff. She could smell his cologne, and though it was expensive, it made her feel slightly nauseated. It was strange, she had always rather liked his cologne, yet now she thought only of the way Alexander smelled—his musky, male scent. Was that part of the ritual, the binding? Did it make it impossible for her to touch another man? Was that the secret the men of their race held over the women? She shoved an impatient hand through her hair and found her fingers were trembling. Maybe there was a way to undo what the ritual words had wrought. After all, she had done the impossible: she had found a way to walk among humans in the noonday sun. Alexander might have reversed her accomplishment, but that didn’t negate the fact that she had done what no other supernatural ever had. “I’m not doing anything, Bert. I don’t know what to do, so I’m not doing a single thing. I’m not asking you to put your life on hold or to wait. I’ve always told you to find a swee
Miah took the girl’s limp, scarred hand into hers, reaching at the same time for her mind. She wanted to examine the child’s memories, to see what had happened to her to make her lie without moving, so lifeless and without hope. At once, a flood of violence and depravity stormed into her. Tears burned and clung to Miah’s lashes. Such a terrible existence. She felt every blow the child had received, every burn, every rape, every act forced upon her, every single act of torture, mental and physical, as if it had been done to her. The scars were on the inside as well as the outside, scars that might fade with time but would never really go away. Her own father had sold her to other men, beaten her repeatedly if she fought them, and punished her each time she attempted to run away. He beat her if she cried and beat her when the men returned her, complaining that she was a wooden doll, uncooperative, and frigid.The images were terrible: fingers forcing their way into the little body, hand
The man stood so close that she could see the hair on his chest through his dirty shirt. He smelled of cheap whiskey and rye. The taint of drugs seeped from his pores. She met his gaze with a calm acceptance of his rage. If he struck her, her friends would see to it that he would be locked up for a very long time. And he was going to strike her. The air was thick with tension. “You bitch. You need a real man to show you how to behave. Your simpering little doctor probably runs to you every time you crook your little finger.” Deliberately, he cupped his crotch lewdly. “You smell good, lady, and I’ll bet your skin is as soft as it looks.” He was breathing too fast, already stiff, and licking his lips with anticipation. His hand moved to touch her face, to feel if her skin could possibly be as soft as it looked. “Don’t!” It was a sharp command. Miah didn’t move. Her eyes blazed at him, glaring with contempt. He was incapable of performing sexually. She knew that much about him. Vulgarly
The girl gripped Miah’s hand in hers. “He’s really gone? Is this man telling the truth? Where will I go? How will I live?” She was panic-stricken. She knew how to retreat from life and pain and was a brutal tyrant. She had no idea how to live in this world. She didn’t even know it was possible.Miah stroked Shaina’s hair gently. “There’s no need to worry about anything. I have friends who will help us. You will be well taken care of, I promise you. For now, all you have to do is lie here in this room and get well. I’ll bring you some clothes and books, maybe a stuffed animal or two. We’ll get you some things to make your stay a little less boring. I will come back tomorrow evening and visit with you. We can talk more about what you would like to do with your life and where we’ll go from here.”Shaina tightened her grip on Miah. “Is he really dead?”“Alexander would not tell an untruth.” Miah said it very softly but with great conviction. “You need sleep now, child. I will be here tomo
Meanwhile, Bert pushed into the room, revealing something very close to fear in his eyes when he looked over at Alexander’s clone. He glanced at Miah talking so intimately with the teenager, and stopped himself from speaking. He glared at Alexander, who smiled rather sarcastically at him, arrogance etched into his classical Italian features. It annoyed the doctor that the man was so good-looking, so tough. Alexander’s rescue of Miah made him look bad. He couldn’t afford to take a chance on breaking his hands. He was a doctor, for heaven’s sake.Alexander half closed his eyes as Miah swirled her tongue over the tiny pinpricks in his neck to close them, savouring the moment and the feeling. She lifted her head, her gaze drowsy, sexy, and satiated, almost as if they had made love. He bent his head and kissed her forehead gently, holding her close for one more heartbeat before reluctantly allowing her to slip away, to take the place of the clone in the chair by the bed. “Thank you, Alexan
Bert sighed before adding, “Then visit her every now and then. You don’t owe her anything. We have plans together, Miah. You can’t make these kinds of decisions without me.”Alexander stirred, a ripple of muscle, no more, but it was intimidating. He growled and talked to her in her mind, “I can see to the child, Miah. I will remove the memory of your promise and replace it with my own. I will see to her care and happiness while you take your time deciding what you are going to do about this human. I do not wish to complicate your life any further than I have already, but like you, I cannot abandon the child.”“I keep my promises, Alexander.” Miah shook her head. “I’m not going to argue, Bert. I’m too tired. I’m going to go out into the night and stare at the stars or something. I need fresh air. I gave Shaina my word. There is nothing else to say.”“I think there is,” Bert snapped, angry that Alexander was witnessing this argument between them. They rarely argued, but he couldn’t keep
“NO! My dress is torn!” Miah exclaimed, her hands clutching the sparkling fabric over her thighs in dismay.Alexander crouched down to examine the frayed remnant of fabric now trailing. He leapt up again and signalled someone. Ten minutes later, she was standing in the bedroom of a fabulous hotel suite, clad only in her lingerie while her dress was carefully repaired in the reception room next door. She flinched and spun around in dismay when the door opened without even the hint of a warning knock.Alexander focused on her small, slender figure, and the laughing comment he had meant to make fell from his memory there and then. She whipped her arms protectively around her scantily clad body, but not before he had had the opportunity to enjoy an enchanting glimpse of her pale rounded curves. He leant back against the door and snapped home the lock, his dark eyes flashing hot gold at the sight of the pouting breasts encased in white gossamer-fine lace that revealed her delicate pink nip
A split second later, Alexander was wondering with an alarm that shook him whether that single act of stunning sex might get her pregnant. And he didn’t want her carrying a child too soon, did he? Momentarily, Alexander, who never, ever deviated from a goal once he was set on it, was plunged into genuine bewilderment by his own change of heart on the baby issue. But when she conceived, it would surely be a case of game over as far as the bedroom was concerned, and he really did not want to put her out of commission in the first month. That said, however, his priorities were unchanged, and he reassured himself confidently: he was simply taking a rain check on that objective.Why shouldn’t he want to enjoy his bride for a while? There wasn’t a man alive who would not want to make the most of a woman who gave him that much pleasure between the sheets, he reasoned, his tension ebbing again. Releasing her from his weight, he anchored her to him with an appreciative arm. But there were more