Dark Mate (MATE series) (8 page)

She would try to resist him.
She might even try to kill him again. Gabriel winced and rubbed his
shoulder.

The little human had tried to
stake him, with a porcelain shard.

Gabriel smiled dreamily as he
ran his fingers over the small scar. She had made her first mark on
his body. His body throbbed at the thought of her nails digging into
his back as he sank into her, her nails and her teeth scoring marks
all over his body, marking him as hers...

With a gasp, he shook his head
hard and shoved himself to his feet. The chair crashed to the floor
as he strode to the door.

He wrenched the door open and
turned to glance at the bed over his shoulder.

She was sleeping so soundly.
He could hear her soft, even breathing, and hear her strong, rhythmic
heartbeat.

Eva wasn't turned. He hadn't
drained her blood. He hadn't plunged his fangs into her neck and
sucked her dry. But she had his blood in her now. She had a Master
vampire's blood in her, but she wasn't a vampire like him. She could
walk in the sun.

Perfect.

She would be perfect for the
task.

Once she awoke, he would send
her out to look for Vonetta.

She shuddered and cried out
suddenly in her sleep. In a heartbeat, Gabriel was at her side, his
hands outstretched to wrench her away from her terrors. But he
stopped himself abruptly, and curled his fingers into fists.

He watched her for a long
time, thinking a million thoughts which made no sense to him.

Finally, the subtle change in
the air told him that the full moon had risen. Everything changed in
the night, in the moonlight. People changed, feelings shifted.
Emotions and moods surged and ebbed with the waxing and waning of the
moon.

The darkness was liberating,
intoxicating.

Gabriel turned away from her
and strode to the door. Bowing his head, he misted himself far away
from her.

He wanted to forget. Forget
everything, forget her. He wanted to forget how strong and real his
fear had been.

If she had died, if he had
lost her...

It had been a long, long while
since he had felt so...exposed. In fact, it had been so long since
he felt anything at all. Not fear, not passion, and definitely not
love.

For the first time, he felt
alive, alive and vulnerable. Strange, intense emotions surged to the
fore, emotions he was powerless to control. He wanted Eva, wanted to
possess her and protect her.

Gabriel materialized at the
top of the highest skyscraper in New Moon City. The city looked
starkly beautiful in the night.

Beautiful and fragile.

Just like her.

No, he couldn't love her.

He could never love her.

Eva opened her eyes and stared
up at the high ceiling. She moved her leg and sighed at the
smoothness of the sheets against her bare skin. With a start, she
gasped and jerked up.

This was definitely not her
bedroom, and she was most definitely not in her own bed. Where was
she?

Her eyes darted to every
corner, taking in the spacious bedroom, the muted wallpaper, and the
expensive furnishings.

For a moment, her mind was a
complete blank. She was in someone else's bed. And she was naked,
completely and utterly naked.

What happened? Who did this
to her?

Eva's hand flew to her neck as
her mind came fully awake. She was in Gabriel King's bedroom.

She had fought him, and
stabbed him. She had fought madly, like a wild animal, but still she
was here. She hadn't managed to escape. Her plan had failed.

Her shaky fingers ran along
the length of her neck. She remembered smiling up at Gabriel's
horrified face as she twisted the shard in his shoulder. And she
remembered the harrowing sensation of drowning in her own blood.
Her blood had been everywhere, in her mouth, her throat, her eyes.

“
I should be dead,”
she whispered.

Her hands shook as she patted
down her own body. She took a deep breath, just to confirm that she
was still breathing. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her
chest, and feel the warmth of her body. She was alive. Right?

Her fingers fluttered to her
neck. She had cut her throat, and had been bleeding to death in
Gabriel's arms. She'd known she was dying, but she had felt no fear.

Yet here she was, well and
whole. She couldn't feel any wound, any scar tissue. There were no
stitches across her neck, and...no fang marks.

How did that terrible wound in
her throat just disappear?

She should be dead by now.
Unless...

With a sense of dread, Eva
opened her mouth and felt her canines. They felt normal. Her teeth
felt the same, like human teeth. But that didn't confirm anything.
When Gabriel retracted his fangs, he presented a mouthful of straight
white teeth.

Was she still human, or had
Gabriel bled her dry and turned her?

Throwing back the covers, she
scrambled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She stared at her
own pale, disheveled reflection. Slowly, she turned in a circle and
scrutinized every inch of her body. She looked the same.

She examined her neck
carefully and saw only a faint, fine line. No bite marks.

Was she a vampire, or was she
not?

One way to find out.

She bit her finger until she
tasted blood. She continued sucking furiously, filling her whole
mouth with blood.

Slowly, she swirled the blood
round her mouth, forcing herself to taste the blood.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she
swallowed slowly, waiting for her body to react.

When she had swallowed every
last drop of blood in her mouth, she opened her eyes and stared into
the mirror. Her mouth was bloody and she looked frightful, but no
fangs protruded from her mouth. Her gray eyes looked tired and
sunken, but they weren't red and glowing with blood lust.

Her lopsided smile looked more
like a grimace. Turning the tap on at full blast, she splashed cold
water on her face and rinsed the taste of blood from her mouth.

The taste of blood didn't
awaken her hunger or drive her into some sort of frenzy.

She'd heard that newly turned
vampires were a nasty, bloodthirsty bunch. They were hungry,
disorientated and desperate. They wanted blood, and didn't care who
they had to kill to get it. Eva straightened up with a shuddering
breath.

She wasn't a vampire. She
wasn't dead. But...she just wasn't the same. She could feel her
blood thrumming powerful in her veins. Her body felt stronger, and
her senses were sharper. The water from the tap dripped into the
sink with a plop that was far too loud and clear. Even her eyesight
seemed to have improved. She wasn't leaning forward, but even from
this distance she could see every tiny, delicate line in her eye.
She stared at those feathery lines radiating from her pupil to the
edge of her iris, and slowly backed away from the mirror.

She heard a sound at the door.
It was just a breath, a small sigh, and yet she heard it distinctly.

Eva whirled, holding her
breath as the door was unlocked from outside.

With another quiet sigh,
Gabriel stepped into the room.

“
You've recovered
fully,” he said, looking at her with a satisfied smile.

Her hand pressed against her
throat. “How?” she breathed. “How am I still
alive?”

Gabriel walked to the bed and
sat down, not meeting her gaze. He seemed to be trying to avoid
answering her question.

“
Something is...not
right,” she said, staring down at her body. “I feel
different. I should be heavily bandaged, lying in bed, unable to
move, or speak, or drink at all. But I...I'm feeling fine! I'm not
covered in blood, or bandages. Look at me! How could I have
recovered fully?” She glared at Gabriel's side profile and saw
a muscle working in his jaw. “What...did you do, Gabriel?
Tell me the truth.”

“
I cleaned you up. I
washed all the blood off your body.”

Eva inhaled sharply. His huge
hands had been all over her body. He had washed her all over while
she was unconscious.

She shook her head quickly to
clear it. “And?”

Gabriel met her eyes this
time, his mouth set in a tight line.

“
What else did you do,
Gabriel?” she demanded. “You did more than just wash me.
Why does my body feel...”
Better, stronger, sexier.
“... different?”

“
You have my blood in
your body now.”

“
You...”
Disbelief turned to rage. “You turned me? I...”

“
I didn't turn you,
Eva.”

“
Then how did your blood
get in my body? Why?” Her voice shook. “Why did you
put your vampire blood in me?”

“
I did it to save you.”

“
Save me?” She
laughed hysterically. “By turning me? I'd rather...”

“
You're not a vampire,
Eva,” he said levelly.

“
Then what am I?
A...freak, a ghoul, your minion...? What?”

Gabriel blew out a breath.
“You're still human, but...you're connected to me.”

“
Connected to you,”
she repeated numbly. “So I am your minion.”

From his expression, she knew
that what she had just stated wasn't too far from the truth.

“
So I'm like your
puppet. You can force me to do all your dirty deeds. You can
command me to kill someone, and I'll do it with a smile on my face.”
She shook her head slowly as she backed into the wall.

“
I won't command you to
kill. That's not why...”

“
Then what? What would
you make me do, Gabriel?”

“
I want you to find
her.”

“
Her?” It took
her a moment to realize who he was talking about. “You want me
to find your long lost vampire fiancee.”

“
Yes.”

“
That's all?”

He exhaled heavily. “Yes,
Eva. That is all you have to do.”

“
And after I find
her...” She narrowed her eyes.

“
I will release you.”

Eva smirked. “That sure
is a nice way of saying 'Then I'll kill you.'”

Gabriel let out a slow sigh.
“I will release you, Eva. A vampire can choose to release
his...”
Mate.

“
His what?”

Gabriel stared at her for a
moment before replying dispassionately, “I swear that I will
release you completely when you have completed your task. The
connection between us will be irrevocably and forever severed. You
will never see me or hear from me again.”

Eva thought for a while, then
nodded. “Okay.” What else could she say? She wasn't
exactly in the best position to argue or bargain. “Deal!”
She stuck out her hand.

Gabriel stared at her for a
long while without replying. She was beginning to worry that he was
going to go back on his word when he grasped her hand suddenly.

“
Deal.”

Her body jerked visibly at his
touch. His hand seemed to burn her, sending a jolt of electric
current up her arm and through her whole body. Every nerve ending
came alive, and heat pooled low in her belly to explode between her
thighs. Eva was aware that her breath was coming in sharp, short
spurts, and her body gravitated towards his almost against her will.
She arched her back, her body begging for more.

“
Eva...” he said
hoarsely against her ear.

“
Take me,” she
whispered, her mind foggy with lust. She didn't know what made her
say those words. All she knew was that she was going to explode if
he didn't touch her. And she wanted him to touch her all over. She
wanted to feel him deep inside her. Her need was a pulsating
physical ache, torturing her and driving her out of her mind.

“
I...”

Eva raised her head and
hissed, “This is part of the deal, Gabriel. Pleasure me, take
me fully, or I won't help you find
her
,” she spat.

His eyes bore into hers, and
she saw his fangs stabbing out. She gave a cry when he grabbed her
suddenly and threw her onto the bed.

She saw him tear off his shirt
and kick off his pants in a blur, and when she felt his hot, bare
chest press down on her, she closed her eyes and smiled grimly.

A small part of her brain that
was still functioning knew that this mating frenzy was just a side
effect of having his blood in her body. She didn't really want him.
This was just sex, wild, meaningless sex.

This was all about blood and
sex.

It was her strange new blood
that was making her horny as hell. So horny she didn't really care
what she had to do to have him. If she had to use his fiancee as a
bargaining tool, so be it. She'd do anything, just to ease that
screaming, maddening ache.