A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

Page 154



"What? Did I hurt you?"

"I need… blood."

The way he said it, the expression in his eyes, told her he needed much more than the small amounts he had taken before.

When she had him cleaned up, she slipped an arm under his shoulders and helped him to his feet. Step by slow step, they made it up the stairs to the guest bedroom she had recently redecorated.

He groaned softly as she lowered him onto the mattress.

She hovered over him, clutching one of his hands in hers. His skin was almost as white as the sheets. "Tracy…"

"I…"

Murmuring "It is all right," he closed his eyes.

She stared down at him, stricken by his appearance, by the horrible thought that he might die. She shook her head. He couldn't die. Could he?

She chewed on her lower lip, wanting to give him what he needed, yet afraid. What if he took too much? What if he took it all? What if he turned her into a vampire?

Dared she take the risk?

How could she not?

Her decision made, she stretched out on the bed beside him. "Dominic?"
His eyesopened, dark and filled with pain she could not imagine.

"Take what you need." She turned her head to the side, giving him access to her neck. "But, please, don't take too much."

His lips were cold against her skin. The hands that held her trembled. She felt title prick of his fangs and then closed her eyes as pleasure spread through her. The movies always made it look so painful, she thought drowsily, when it was really quite pleasant.

Fragmented images of Dominic drifted through her mind—a young Dominic riding a horse through a field of tall grass, a newly made vampire on the trail of prey, being burned by the sun when he failed to reach his lair in time.

She moaned softly,then began trying to free herself from his embrace as her instinct for survival surged to the fore.

"Dominic!"