Free PS01 - Tall, Dark & Lonely by R.L. Mathewson

needed something else to talk about before she walked away.
    The only thing a mile down the road was Mrs. Buckman’s boarding house and a few other houses, and a convenient store. He
    knew she didn’t live near him. Was she visiting?
    Ephraim gave her a lopsided smile. “I don’t feel right leaving you to walk by yourself, but if you insist I would feel better if
    you allowed me to check on you later to make sure you arrived safely.”
    She gave him a weird smile. “Sure….that’s fine,” she said slowly as if she was a little confused.
    He cocked his head to the side and studied her. There was something very familiar about her. Even fifteen feet away he felt like
    he was missing something. He decided to push for more answers. Maybe something would remind him of her identity.
    “I’m afraid I’ve forgotten your address, perhaps you could take pity on me and remind me so I can do the gentlemanly thing
    later.”
    She laughed.
    At him!
    He wasn’t being foolish, he was sure of that. Sure he was out of practice, but he felt that he was being charming. Her eyes were
    shimmering with humor as she shook her head. “I’ll see you later, Ephraim.” She turned, still laughing and began walking away
    from him.
    He was about to ask her what was so funny when a gust of wind swept her beautiful black hair up. The wind carried her
    fragrance to his nose. He stumbled backwards and landed his ass on the hood of his car. It couldn’t be.
    She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. Those damn brown eyes. It was her. Madison laughed again as she turned her
    head around. He could only sit on the hood of his car, watching her go.
    He dropped his head in his hands. “This is not happening.” This woman was supposed to be a tomboy. She was supposed to be
    unattractive to keep them both safe. It was bad enough that he craved her blood, but now he desired her body. This was not
    good. This was a test. This was a test to see if he could resist temptation. That’s what this was.
    No woman should be this tempting. It was too much. And what the hell was she doing still being a virgin? When he thought she
    was a tomboy he understood her predicament, but now…..hell. A virgin? It made it worse. The package was too damn
    tempting. A surprising beauty with blood that sang to him that was untouched by another man. She might as well place a target
    on her neck.
    He pushed himself away from the car. No, no this was fine. As long as they both remained at the boardinghouse she was safe.
    He had rules after all and he never broke them, ever. He did not feed where he lived. He just had to get the rest of his body in
    line and he would be fine because feeding from the virginal Madison was not an option. She was the only woman he would not
    be content with just a feeding, he would take her body and life as well. That would wreck everything.
    Things were different these days. Back in his day he could feed off as many whores and criminals as he wanted. If he took their
    lives it was no big deal. No one would miss them. Occasionally he over fed in one area and had to flee but as he learned to
    control his feeding by using more than one victim so that he could feed without taking a life. Today, they could track him down.
    Her body wouldn’t be seen as a feeding. It would be seen as a depraved lunatic and they would hunt him down using his
    fingerprints, hair and anything else they could find. He didn’t want to be forced into hiding, but that was exactly what would
    happen if he touched her. No, Madison was safe from him.
    Chapter 4
    Madison shook her head, laughing softly as she walked inside the house ten minutes later. That was really weird. She couldn't
    deny that she found the little episode endearing. He’d been so cute when he was trying to flirt. There was no doubt in her mind
    that he was trying to flirt. She bit her lip trying to stop herself from laughing.
    His attempts at flirting were obvious, awkward and unpracticed and