Images plagued him, making little sense.
He clung to the female’s voice. She touched him. He knew she attempted to soothe him, yet he couldn’t read her thoughts.
“Open,” he mentally implored.
Her mind became partially exposed to him as he beckoned her closer. His spirit clawed its way to the surface, craving hers. It was a hunger unlike anything he’d ever known.
Her breath entered his mouth, and he felt as if he’d died a thousand times. He saw her lovely face in its true form behind his closed lids. Soft, warm, and expressive. She cared about what happened to him.
He took in her sweet scent, amazed as his spirit encircled hers, wrapping itself around her life force in a slow, sensual slide.
The connection broke unexpectedly, and he panicked. The pain from it went beyond the physical to be felt in his soul.
Something pricked Hauke’s arm, and warm, blessed liquid traveled up, straight into his heart.
It beat for the first time in hours—days… He was unsure of how long he’d been gone. If not for the membrane in the roof of his mouth producing the enzymes he needed to heal and keep his organs from shutting down, Hauke knew he would already be dead. He had no clue how long he’d been in the coma-induced sleep.
The sensation kept coming, and he realized blood somehow pumped into him. The female had to be responsible, he thought, feeling his body soak up every last drop of the coveted source.
Somewhere inside his subconscious, he knew it to be human blood now coursing through his veins. Forbidden among his kind; yet there was nothing he could do but allow it to happen.
Moisture filled his eyes in stark relief, and his protective lenses slid into place. He lifted his lids enough to see shapes moving around the room.
The female’s voice sounded from somewhere near his feet, and he zeroed in on her.
She wasn’t beautiful in the conventional sense, though she was still very attractive. Sensuality surrounded her. He wished she would come closer where he could see her eyes.
A beeping noise echoed around him, and someone shouted from nearby. “It’s alive, Abbie! Get back.”
“I’m okay, Henry. He’s strapped down and not fighting.”
Abbie…
Hauke’s people had been familiar with the English language since the great flood over two thousand years ago. Some of the words had changed over time, but he had little trouble keeping up. Although, the couple in the room with him did have strange accents, he silently admitted.
Hauke didn’t recognize the voice to his left and cut his gaze in that direction. A tall man with gray hair, wearing a white garment stared back at him with wide eyes. Hauke growled deep in his throat, registering him as a threat.
Abbie’s voice broke through his defensive state. “Hello? Can you understand me?”
He brought his focus back on her, and his chest constricted with emotion. It was her. The young girl that nearly drowned in the Gulf all those moons ago.
The foreign feeling did little to slow his curiosity. He openly stared, drinking in her expressive features.
Hauke wanted to communicate with her, but the older man would hear. He sent her a thought instead. ”I comprehend.”
A small intake of air was the only sign that she might have heard him.
He tried again. “Come.”
She slowly moved forward until she stood next to his head. The fact that she’d gone to the same side as the man wearing white wasn’t lost on Hauke. She is protecting me. The thought warmed him.
The female had no idea how much power he possessed. The only reason he hadn’t broken loose and snapped the old one’s neck, stood before him now. He didn’t want her to fear him.
“Abbie.” He liked the sound of her name.
She appeared nervous but didn’t run. There was a determined set to her jaw that he found oddly sexy.
“Move back this instant,” the gray-haired one demanded from behind her. “If that thing gets loose, you could be killed. And we have no idea what type of diseases it carries.”
Abbie spun around. “Just stop it, Henry. He’s alive. Does he look like he’s trying to break free to you? Have you no heart? We have to do something before they get here. He will die at Area 51.”
“It’s not our problem, Abbigail. Their crew is already on the way. There’s nothing we can do.”
Hauke listened to the exchange, understanding enough to know that the one Abbie referred to as Henry planned on sending him somewhere to die.
He could feel his strength returning with the help of the blood now inching through his veins. The hunger for more grew by the second and his fangs began to throb in time with his pulse.
“I’m disappointed in you, Dad.”
Hauke didn’t miss the catch in her voice or the parent reference. He’s her sire. He filed that piece of information away for a later time. His first priority was to get out of there and find the group that had been with him before the explosion.
His heart ached with the knowledge that his sister might not have survived. If she’d died, he would destroy every last human involved in blowing the oil well that separated Naura from him.
“What do you expect me to do? Take it home with me and set up a college fund for it? Come on, Abbie. Be reasonable. You saw the X-rays. That thing may resemble us to a degree, but that’s as far as it goes. You took a huge risk giving it blood. We have no idea what the consequences of that might be.”
“Henry— “
“No,” he snapped, grabbing onto her arm and tugging her away from the bed. “Now keep your distance while I check on the incubated samples. It’ll be gone soon, and we have no choice but to forget we ever saw it.” Henry stalked off, leaving a fuming Abbie to gape at his back.
The door suddenly opened, admitting a short, beefy man wearing dark blue clothing. Something shiny hung from his shirt. He stood there for a moment, leering at Abbie before coming fully into the room. “What are you doing here, Doctor Sutherland?”
It would appear that Abbie was a healer, Hauke noted, watching the man in blue slowly advance forward.
“My father was called in late and forgot his dinner. I just stopped by to bring it to him.” She nodded toward the brown paper bag sitting next to the computer.
“Who is that behind you on the bed?”
Abbie cleared her throat. “That man is sick. I wouldn’t advise you come any closer.”
Hauke didn’t need to open his mind to feel the nervousness in her words. They fairly dripped with it.
“Where’s your father?” Donald turned toward the door Henry had disappeared through only minutes before.
“You can’t go in there, Donald. He’s spinning samples at the moment. You’ll run the risk of contamination.”
Donald nodded, peering back at her with traces of lust swimming in his eyes. “I’ll be in the restroom if you need me…for anything.” Donald winked at her and sauntered across the room, disappearing behind a row of bottle-filled shelves.
Hauke bit down hard enough that one of his incisors pierced his bottom lip. His stomach turned over at the man’s filthy thoughts of Abbie. Hauke didn’t need to touch him to read his intentions.
“Abbie.” Her name came out in a whisper only to be swallowed up by the insistent noises of the room. He tried again. “Abbie.”
She spun around to face him with surprise registering on her face. “You can speak.”
He attempted to lift his arm, but the restraints held him back. It would be easy to break free, apprehend her, and escape. But the thought of frightening her in any way was unacceptable to him.
“Ubi ego sum?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand?”
Though Latin was commonplace among his kind, Hauke spoke many languages. English had been the most difficult to learn due to the backhanded slang most humans used. The need to practice it over the years had been rare since he’d only come in contact with a small handful of them.
He cross-referenced words in his mind. “Where am I?”
“You’re in a lab. Someone found you on the beach. We thought you were dead.” She visibly swallowed. “Wh-what… Who are you?”