Read Online Bloodline by MAGGIE SHAYNE - Free Book Online Page B

“I’m sorry.” And then, calling up every ounce of will-power he possessed, he rose. It was almost physicallypainful to turn away from those wide, passion-glazed eyes. But he did. He walked away from her, slipped out the window and put his plan for escape into motion.
    And for that, even though it had meant his very survival, he would never forgive himself.
    * * *
    I had opened every drawer, fanned the pages of each book on Ethan’s bookshelves, explored every cabinet and closet, and still I had found no clue as to his past. Or mine.
    Maybe I was imagining the familiarity. Maybe it didn’t mean anything at all. Maybe…
    I sensed that he was near and turned my head slightly to see him standing a few yards from the house, staring through the window at me. I couldn’t help but smile a little bit at the sight of him, so great was my relief that he had actually come back. And in spite of my fear that I would seem silly and needy, I hurried to the door and flung it open.
    He remained still for only a moment, as his eyes met mine, and I felt the oddest familiarity about the intense gaze we shared. Everything inside me seemed to quiver with an unnamed anticipation. My stomach clenched tight when he started walking toward me. It was only a few steps, and yet they were powerful, deliberate strides, and I shivered in delicious longing.
    I only moved away when he reached the doorway, and then only enough to let him pass through. As soon as he stepped across the threshold, his arms snapped around my waist and pulled me hard against him. He lowered his head and took my mouth in a way that told me he was eager, that he was hungry for me. I felt an answering hunger burning inside me as I opened to him, threadedmy fingers through his hair and kissed him back as my body seemed to burst into flame.
    I had been taught about the workings of the human body—how, when, by whom, I did not know. The knowledge, though, remained. I knew about mating and reproduction—at least as such things pertained to mortals. I had no idea what, if anything, was different among our kind. The Undead. And yet I had never, I thought, understood or expected this feeling that engulfed me in that moment in his arms. I had never, I thought, realized that there would be this fire.
    Or had I? Because his kiss was…familiar.
    When he finally lifted his head, I opened my eyes and then gasped, because his were glowing, as if this fire I felt was burning in him, too, and had made itself real, visible there in his eyes.
    I couldn’t look away. “Are my eyes glowing, too?” I asked him.
    He nodded, searching my face.
    A wave of tiredness washed over me then, suddenly and without warning. My knees felt weak, but I stiffened them—and my slowly relaxing spine, as well.
    â€œYou’ve kissed me before, Ethan,” I told him. “I know you have.”
    Again he nodded.
    â€œYou have to tell me. Please, Ethan, I want to know. I want it as badly as I want—as I want…you.”
    He almost smiled. But only with his lips. A brief tug at the corners of his delicious mouth, and then it was gone. His eyes, as the fiery glow faded, seemed to convey worry—a worry I didn’t understand. At last he nodded. “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you all of it. But there’s a lot, and we’re out of time.”
    â€œOut of time?” I frowned, not understanding, but my eyes felt inexplicably heavy, and my neck seemed too weak, suddenly, to support the weight of my head.
    â€œYou feel it. I can see you do. The sun’s about to rise, Lilith. We need to rest now. I wish to God we had a choice in the matter.” And even as he said it, he turned me slightly, keeping one arm around my waist, propelling me forward at his side. He paused only long enough to close and lock the door, never letting go of his hold on me, and then he guided me toward the stairs.
    My head fell sideways against his powerful