Free Survivor by Kaye Draper Page B

release.
     It took a while before I was coherent again.  Peter
lay on his back, cradling me, with my head on his shoulder.  His big hand drew
lazy circles over my hip and lower back.  I tentatively traced the sleek,
muscular lines of him.  I couldn’t believe he was mine.
    He dropped a soft kiss on the top of my head and I
looked up, meeting his soft smile with a hot blush.  I noticed his eyes were
returning to their normal deep green, though they still shimmered a bit.  I
reached up to touch my neck, wondering how bad the bites looked, but I could
barely feel them.  He angled himself to get a look at my neck.  “Our saliva
helps heal the wounds more quickly,” he said softly.  “In a few hours, no one
will notice.”
    I pressed my lips together.  I still felt all dreamy
and unreal.  “This was…I mean, wow,” I said awkwardly.
    He chuckled, the deep sound reverberating through
me.  “Yes,” he said, smiling.
    I cleared my throat nervously.  “Really?”  I looked
up at him, embarrassed beyond belief.  “I mean,” I stammered, “I’ve only had
sex once before, and that was… well not a big deal.”  I had no basis for
comparison.  I was making this up as I went along.  I suddenly realized that I
was babbling, and shut up.
    He frowned down at me.  “Did I hurt you?”
    I tried to keep a straight face, but failed.  “Um…no.”
    He smiled and rolled onto his side to kiss me.  “Good,”
he said huskily.  He deepened his kiss and I melted into him.  He drew my hand
downward and I sucked in a surprised breath.   Already?  I felt my body
responding to him, without his even touching me, thanks to thousands of years
of evolution.

Chapter 8
    I stretched out on the blanket and gazed
up at the big branches of the oak above us.  The leaves swayed in the breeze
and wispy white clouds occasionally drifted across my field of view.  Peter had
brought some work with him and he leaned against the tree trunk and leafed through
a thick pile of papers.  I tilted my head back, smiling at the sight of him. 
He looked exactly like a legal professional- young and handsome but in that
bookish sort of way (though he was a bit too fit to be a true nerd).  All he
needed was a pair of glasses and a few pens in his pocket to complete the image
of intelligent competence.  No one would imagine that he had superhuman
strength and a penchant for drinking blood.  That all sounded too edgy for the
composed, serious man studying the papers in front of him as if they held some
golden nugget of truth.
    “How did you end up being a vampire?”  
    He glanced up at me in surprise, losing that serious
look and becoming my Peter again- an enigmatic combination of bookworm and
seducer.  Setting the paperwork aside, he moved closer and I scooted over to
rest my head in his lap.
    “A long time ago, about the turn of the century-ah,
the previous one- I was a banker.”  His voice fell into a comfortable cadence
as he reached back and became a storyteller.
    I rolled my eyes.  “Of course you were.”  It sounded
suitably nerdy.
    He gave me an affronted look.  “Banker was a
perfectly respectable occupation.  In fact, it was a family legacy.  I had
worked my way up to managing one of the banks my uncle owned.”  He sighed
wistfully.  “I think one day I would have been his heir.”  He pulled his pocket
watch out, running his thumb over it, as he did when he was deep in thought. 
    I arched my eyebrows.  “But then, one dark and
stormy night you were attacked by a vampire in the alley outside the bank.”
    He snorted.  “You read too much.  I was very good at
what I did.  I gained a reputation for handling my clients’ affairs with skill
and tact.”  He shrugged depreciatingly.  “I started attracting very wealthy
people who at times wanted their transactions to be…quiet.  Nothing illegal,”
he rushed to explain, “but just not wanting to draw attention to themselves. 
    I nodded and he