Free Drawn to the Vampire (Blood and Absinthe, Book 4) by Chloe Hart

of you as an ally. It’s good to be reminded of what you really are. And you’re right. The location of the bite won’t make the experience any worse, because nothing could. So I guess I accept your condition after all. I’d appreciate it if you’d go get the damn Gem and whatever else you need. I’ll be waiting in my car at the gate.”
    And with that she turned and walked away.

Chapter Five
    A few hours later, flying over the English Channel, Luke found himself asking a question he’d rarely asked in the four centuries of his existence.
    Why was he such an arse?
    Luke was used to taking what he wanted and apologizing later, if at all. In more than four hundred years he hadn’t experienced any real guilt over being what he was. There were times he positively reveled in his dark existence, when the pleasures of being a vampire outweighed everything else.
    Not that there hadn’t been any pain during those long years. Lately, especially, his lost humanity had begun pulling at him, filling him with longing for the things that were forbidden to him now. Sometimes the pain of that longing seemed almost unbearable. It was that pain that had led to his quest.
    But all that was personal pain. Selfish pain, he admitted reluctantly, born out of his own frustrated desires.
    What he was feeling now was different.
    It was that damn wish, he thought savagely, glancing at Kit in spite of himself. She was sitting on the opposite side of the plane, looking out the window with her chin cupped in her hand, her short golden hair shining even in the dim light of the cabin.
    Her generosity had been so impulsive, so obviously an expression of who she was. And now she was sitting there looking so young and vulnerable, and at the same time so full of courage and strength and determination…
    God help him, he wanted to protect her, fight for her, take care of her.
    What the hell was happening to him?
    It was a desire to stop it, whatever it was, that had caused him to impose his little condition on Kit in exchange for the Gem. Her own reaction had confirmed he’d done the right thing. She’d said herself she was starting to trust him. So he’d given her a harsh reminder of who he was: a vampire with a taste for blood…and other things. It was better for both of them that she not forget that.
    So why was he feeling all this sodding guilt , for Christ’s sake? Why was he wishing he’d allowed Kit to start trusting him, letting that trust turn into—what? Companionship?
    He didn’t even know what that would feel like. He’d been alone for so long—by choice as well as necessity. Merton Ambrose was the closest thing he had to a real friend.
    Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk. He’d done it, Kit was royally pissed at him, mission accomplished.
    Time to move on.
    Still, the guilt he continued to feel, however unnecessary and unwelcome, might have been the reason for what he said to the driver of the car that met them at the private airfield outside Paris.
    “Hotel Fontaine,” were his words, met with a respectful “Oui, Monsieur,” as the limousine left the tarmac.
    The Fontaine was one of the most elegant hotels in Paris. Something of a well-kept secret, it was tucked away on a quiet street in the Marais, near the Place des Vosges. Luke had originally planned to stay the night at a less exclusive address, but when he’d opened his mouth to tell the driver where they were going, he’d made the mistake of glancing at the small blond girl beside him.
    A journey to the underworld was a chancy endeavor at best, and they could easily end up dead—or worse. Might as well sleep on silk sheets until then.
    They’d driven in silence for forty-five minutes and had reached the outskirts of Paris when Kit cleared her throat. It was the first time she’d spoken to him since she’d walked away from him at the tower.
    “I thought you said the portal was in a cemetery,” she said stiffly.
    “It is,” he said just as stiffly,