Free NocC 002 - The Ancients 01 - Bonnie Vanak - Bitten by the Vampire - Harlequin 2011-10 by Nocturne Page A

spent. Lines bracketed his mouth and there were purple shadows beneath his eyes.
    He looked as if he hadn’t slept at all. Not since she climbed out of his bed and locked herself in one of the guest bedrooms. She set the book down and gave him a pointed look.
    “Checking up on me?”
    “Lunch is ready downstairs.” He sat in the armchair’s twin, feet firmly planted on the polished wood floor. “Your powers should return by nightfall. In the meantime, you should eat to regain your strength.”
    “So you can use me as your private blood bank again? No thanks. I’ll starve.”
    “You must eat, Mara.”
    Ignoring her grumbling stomach she shrugged. Wishing she were anywhere but here. Wishing she was anything but who she was. No one trusted her. Believed in her.
    All I have is myself .
    Mara tried to ignore the lump rising in her throat. She’d had sex with this man, let him into her body and into her soul. And yet she sensed he hid something deep inside and would not share it, share himself fully with her.
    He talked of balance while the emotional scale tipped firmly in his favor.
    Lucien walked over to the window, lifted the lace curtain with the back of one hand. “Sometimes winter arrives early here. It is not unusual to get a sudden snowstorm.”
    “Wonderful. Cold and nasty. And you dragged me out of sunny Miami for this?”
    “It’s my world, Mara, a world far from the dangers of yours.”
    “Your world scares me, Lucien. How do you live here, alone, except for that green bundle of teenage hormones you call a gremlin? It’s so lonely here, so quiet.” She shivered.
    “Sometimes it’s best to retreat from the world awhile.”
    “Maybe you enjoy isolation, but I don’t. I need people around me, I need the thumping pulse of the city, the warmth of people surrounding me.” She drew in a breath, struggling with her rising temper. “I want to go home, Lucien. Please, let me go! There is nothing more for me here.”
    Not with you standing there like a cold marble statue . How could a man so passionate in bed become so distant out of it?
    A heartbeat of silence descended. Mara watched his rigid shoulders. Guilt filled her, but she pushed it aside.
    “You wish to leave…me.” He spoke over his shoulder, his voice tight.
    Emotions knotted her stomach. Mara struggled for a response when he turned. Lucien’s expression was blank, his feelings firmly in check. A vampire as cool as the air brushing against the frosty glass pane.
    A vampire guarding his heart, never allowing her inside him. He’d tunneled into her emotions and yanked away her powers. Tall and powerful, he looked as elegant and refined as the furnishings. Mara decided to gamble. She took a deep breath.
    “I won’t stay with someone who can’t care for me,” she finally told him.
    He seemed rigid as rock. Mara waited, hoping. Maybe there could be something between them. Finally he nodded.
    “It’s wrong to hold someone against her will. You must be free to live your own life, make your own decisions.”
    Damn it, he sounded as indifferent as a college textbook. She wanted to shake him up, make his teeth rattle. Anything to get emotion out of him.
    “Yup, free to live my life. Unlike you, who’s holed himself up here like a hibernating bear. I’m not afraid of facing life, Lucien. Not like you are.”
    The velvet glove was off, the first struck hard. But her taunt did not work. The taut edges of his profile showed.
    “If that is your dearest wish, I will let you leave. After Jones is arrested. Soon, he will be apprehended by the human authorities. An anonymous tip by a good citizen about a psychopath stalking college students.”
    “You did this?”
    He shrugged. “For you, yes. It was worth bending the rules of noninterference.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered. “It means a lot to me. You do care, don’t you, Lucien?”
    Emotion shadowed his eyes. Then his gaze shuttered.
    He was shutting himself away again.
    Revenge suddenly