Free Almost Human by Secret Cravings Publishing Page B

him.
I’m not sure what the circumstances were for Fallon. We were forced
to leave before people realized we weren’t changing. Fallon was
left to run the estate. All he’ll say is that he got into a little
scrape with Nyx and was turned. Which actually happens a lot with
Nyx, so it’s not surprising. The man likes to turn people who
annoyed the shit out of him but fought well against him.”
    I snorted. “I guess that explains why Pagan
was turned.”
    “Actually, she was poisoned and he saved her
life, but I imagine he would have turned her anyway. I told her not
to go after him, but she and that brother of hers don’t listen.
It’s like they actually are my children.”
    I rolled over and braced myself on my elbow
so I could look at him. “Geez, I’m getting way more info than I can
handle. I knew a vampire had raised them, but you? You don’t seem
like the adoptive daddy type.”
    His deep laugh echoed around me. “I’m not,
but they turned out all right.”
    “Why did you save me? And don’t give me the
‘Casey asked me to’ line. Surely there was more to your decision
than that.”
    He shrugged. “Vampires are mercurial
creatures. I was bored. You offer a lovely complication to my life
for a while.”
    Anger flooded me, but I resisted giving in.
As much as the idea enraged me that he’d affect my life in such a
way on a whim, I knew he was lying.
    “Don’t bullshit me or try to provoke me.
Give me the real reason.”
    He sighed shortly and glanced away. “Maybe I
respect you and admire your loyalty. You went against your mother
and spared your sister’s life. You were willing to leave me and my
brothers in peace, even though it goes against how you were raised.
All because you trusted Casey.”
    “Fine, I’ll accept that answer, but why did
you let me live in the alley before you knew anything about
me?”
    “Honestly, it was arrogance. I assumed you
weren’t a threat. I don’t mean that as a slam, but I’m a
battle-hardened crusader with centuries of practice under his belt.
I’ve been battling vampire hunters since I was turned. You’re
certainly formidable to other mortals and younger vampires, but
with every year a vampire grows stronger. It’s a rare hunter that
can take down one my age. I’m not in the habit of butchering people
I consider to be unarmed, and I beat you easily. How did I do that,
by the way?”
    “I felt my sister die. Between our
relationship and the fact that we’ve done so many spells together,
we’re closely linked. It incapacitated me.”
    “If I’d known who you were, I would have
killed you. I know your line is dangerous. It’s why my brother
hesitated to tell me about Casey. I might have killed her, knowing
the hell that would rain down on us by turning her. I knew someone
related to her would be able to track her. If I’d just eliminated
her you wouldn’t have been led to us, but my brother loves her, and
I couldn’t.”
    He closed his eyes and tilted his head
farther back on the pillows with a sigh. He released me and
stretched his arms out to the side.
    I watched him for a moment while he let all
the tension drain out of his body. The sound of his heartbeat,
which I’d somehow managed to ignore while he spoke to me, became
louder.
    I’d never thought of heartbeats as an erotic
sound. It actually kind of freaked me out, but lying with him made
it feel erotic. He smelled great, and he looked amazing with his
jeans hanging almost too low. I wanted to lick him from head to
toe, starting with the vein that throbbed in his throat.
    On impulse I slid up his body and caressed
his neck with my tongue. He hummed and wrapped his arms around me.
He placed a hand on the back of my head and pressed me closer,
arching his throat against my mouth.
    My gums ached a second before my fangs
descended. The sound of blood rushing through his veins drowned out
everything else.
    God, I wanted to bite him. I tried to pull
away, but his grip tightened on me, and he kept