Read Online Blood Song by Lynda Hilburn - Free Book Online Page A

him. “And since you’re still uptight, I’m going to send a hypnotic suggestion to remain peaceful, no matter what weird things I say.”
    He stared into Grace’s eyes and she blinked several times. Her shoulders slumped and her lips parted. She leaned back into the couch cushions, too relaxed to even sit up straight. She eyed his smooth chest, thinking how nice it would be to run her fingers over the muscles. Maybe lick his nipples to see if they’d harden. And his lips. She studied his kissable mouth. What fun it would be to lean in and suck the lower lip. Maybe give him a tongue massage. That made her smile.
    “Good. You’re smiling. Now we can talk.” He angled to face her directly. “Tell me about your dream, Grace.”
    “The dream? That’s where I first saw you.” The memory replayed in her mind in vivid detail. She told him about being attacked by a creature and how he—Ethan, her angel—rescued her. He kept his gaze focused on hers while she spoke.
    “Okay. I don’t know why you remember that since I went to a lot of trouble to erase the memory, but it wasn’t a dream, Grace. It was real.”
    She fought against the waves of relaxation pulsing through her mind and her body, and struggled to lock onto his words. “No. That can’t be right.” She rallied her willpower and sat up straighter, watching his face, waiting for him to laugh and say he was joking. But his expression didn’t change. A trickle of fear fanned through her briefly before it was swept away by another rush of bonelessness. She laughed. “You’re being ridiculous. There are no such things as blood-drinking monsters with fangs. And maybe angels don’t exist either. It was all in my imagination.”
    He raised a brow.
    “Wasn’t it?”
    “No. The monster in your dream was a newly turned vampire.”
    Grace burst out laughing again. “You’re a real comedian. Or you’re nuts.”
    “I probably am nuts, but I’m telling the truth. My friend Nelson and I were supposed to track the newbie down and capture him before he hurt any humans. Just my luck he got away at the same time you were walking on the path toward your house. He jumped on you, bit your neck, and would have killed you if we hadn’t gotten there when we did.”
    Oh. My. God. He really is insane. But very cute. Is it bad to lust after a sick person?
    They stared at each other for several seconds. “Ethan, I like a good joke as well as anyone, but this isn’t funny. I think you need help—”
    “I’m going to give you another suggestion that you’ll be able to listen to me with calm, detached objectivity . And an open mind . ” He locked his gaze onto hers.
    A tingle ran up and down her spine as he said the last words. Her scalp prickled. The fear and anxiety, present only seconds before, vanished.
    He nodded. “Since I obviously didn’t erase your memories of my visit, was anything out of the ordinary when you woke up this morning?”
    The calm, detached objectivity he’d mentioned seemed to be true, because she could recall her strange morning and her assumption she’d blacked out again without getting upset. “I woke up dressed in the gag gift I’d gotten from friends on my last birthday, my hair was gummy and I felt like I’d been run over by a truck.”
    “Gag gift?”
    “Yes. A sexy red nightie I never wear.”
    He grinned. “You ought to think about wearing it more often. It really suits you.”
    She had a quick flash of anxiety before the feeling dissolved. She settled deeper into the couch cushions. “How could you possibly know that?”
    “After Nelson and I captured the newbie vampire, I carried you to your house and hosed you down in your shower. You were covered with blood from the idiot and dirt from the trail. I grabbed the first thing I found in your dresser, which happened to be the red number. Then I tucked you safe in your bed and left.”
    She didn’t want to believe anything he was saying, but if he was lying, how else could he