Read Online Bitten by the Vampire by Bonnie Vanak - Free Book Online

me.”
    â€œIf you’ve hurt her, I’ll rip your throat out myself,” Lucien said tightly.
    Jones laughed, thumped his chest. “Can’t touch this,” he sang mockingly. “You know the rules.”
    â€œGet out of here.” Lucien used his powers to depress the gas pedal. Startled, Jones screamed and wrestled for the steering wheel as the cab sped away.
    He hauled Mara to the sidewalk. Wrinkling his nose at the sulfuric smell of demon, he held on tight. She shrieked. On the curb, Lucien pulled her hard against him. Her gray skin was icy, her amber eyes swirled with blood red. Her strength astonished him. He wrapped his arms around her.
    He began to rock her, using touch to soothe and calm.
    â€œShh, Mara. It’s all right. It’s all right. You have nothing to fear. I’ll make damn sure he’ll never get his hands on you again. I’ll rip him to shreds if he dares to touch you.”
    Crooning, he used his hypnotic voice to draw out her cold fury. Gradually she stopped fighting. The blue returned to her eyes and her skin became pale, her nails returning to the blunt, pared ends. The cold, dark aura swirling around her faded.
    Mara sagged against him, her eyes closing. His heart cracked. Lucien stared at the woman in his arms, her angelic self chasing away the snarling demon.
    He could save her, he realized.
    Maybe in saving her, he could even save himself.
    Cradling her in his arms, he traced her moist, red lips with an index finger. Mara’s eyes fluttered open again. Light caught the flecks of blue, chasing away the demon red completely.
    â€œLucien? I lost it again. Is Petra okay? Please tell me she’s not hurt.”
    â€œShe’s fine. I reached them just before they laid paws on her.” And cracked their skulls open, he thought grimly. The hunters would awaken with headaches and fresh determination.
    â€œGood. You care about what happens to her, I can tell. It’s nice.” Her voice drifted away. “I wish someone felt the same about me. No one has, since my parents died.”
    The simple declaration shook him to the core. He held her tighter. I could care.
    He did not want to.
    She looked shaken, worry creasing her brow. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? I don’t want to hurt you.”
    â€œYou didn’t hurt me,” he assured her.
    â€œGood. I don’t want you to get hurt, Lucien.” Mara touched his face.
    The caress was a warm, velvet stroke. Emotions coursed through him. No one had cared about him in years. Even Petra, his closest companion, took his well-being for granted. The warmth in Mara’s eyes undid him, as did her rosy mouth. It was a promise of the sweetest taste of heaven, a chance to redeem his damned soul. She smelled like fresh peaches.
    Hungering for a taste, he framed her face with his hands and settled a soft kiss on her rosy, parted lips.
    Lucien kept kissing her, needing and craving this connection. He siphoned away her anger, her fears, replacing them with his calm, icy control. All the while his own control slipped.
    When they finally broke apart, Mara looked languid and pliable. “Now where?” she asked, looking like a woman ready for love.
    Lucien gritted his fangs. She wasn’t going to like this, but he had little choice. “And now, you sleep.”
    He passed a hand over her face, catching her as she slumped into unconsciousness.

Chapter 9
    The paved driveway resembled a small road as it wended through field and forest. Acres of pines and oaks and gently rolling hills surrounded the red-brick house. The leaden sky was sullen and the remoteness made city-born-and-bred Mara queasy. It was a perfect home for a vampire who wanted to hide himself away.
    Too far away for her.
    Near the house was a detached garage, big enough to house a yacht. Mara studied the angles, seeing possibilities. Seeing a place to evade Lucien while she planned her escape. She guarded this thought,