Free A Vampire's Promise by Carla Susan Smith Page A

connection to warrant a second date. But I wasn’t stupid or unobservant. For all the talking I was doing—and it seemed Gabriel was able to pull information from me as easily as any Internet search engine—he said very little about himself. The few details he did reveal—originally from Norway (I’ve heard stronger accents from people born in Minnesota), no living family, and an occupation that involved doing this and that —he offered cautiously. Instinctively I knew not to push him, telling myself he needed to get more comfortable with me before revealing personal details. It was better than thinking he didn’t want to waste time sharing information with someone he had no intention of seeing again.
    If there was one unsettling aspect to the evening, it was the physical attraction—mainly because I had no control over it and had no idea if he felt anything remotely similar for me. If Katja was a sample of the kind of woman he was used to being around, then I was completely screwed. And not in the way I was hoping for. I couldn’t even console myself with the fact that he’d held my hand during the movie. Since getting into the car after leaving the movie theater, he hadn’t tried to touch me in any way.
    Finishing my second—or was it third?—cup of coffee, I glanced at my watch. “Oh geez, is that the time? I really need to get home.”
    â€œWhy?”
    His question caught me off guard, and I looked up, certain I’d misheard him. There was no actual reason, but I thought I’d be graceful and give him a way out. Surely he’d had enough of my inane blathering by now? He tilted his head, and I stared into his eyes just as the overhead light caught his contacts, making them shine with an eerie glow. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t look away. The deep cobalt blue intensified, deepened even more, if that was possible, making me think I could see something moving in the depths. The circle of color began to shimmer and then started to bleed out into the surrounding sclera. It reminded me of spilling old-fashioned ink onto a piece of white paper, and I felt him catch hold of my hand and pull me into his arms.
    The rational part of my brain said this couldn’t be happening because for Gabriel to do such a thing would require passing my physical body through the table. A table that was bolted to the floor, thank you very much. My irrational side, however, simply told me to shut-the-fuck-up. The booth, the table, the sad waitress who continued to stare longingly at Gabriel like he was the special at an all-you-can-eat buffet, everything would be gone if I would only open my eyes and look. So I did. And it was.
    Gabriel was holding me in his arms, and as in any worthwhile fantasy, we were both naked. I could feel the warmth of his skin pressed against me, the smooth firmness of his chest against my more than ample one, the muscles that rippled and flexed beneath my touch. His thigh was wedged inside my open stance, with his erection pressed against my belly.
    I gasped at the feel of him, too intimidated to actually lower my eyes, and he kept one hand pressed firmly against my lower back so I wouldn’t be tempted to move away. I looked up at him. His mane of white hair appeared to be longer than before. Caught on a breeze I could not feel, it drifted around us like a sensual blanket. I stared in wonder, and then amazement, as I watched his eyes change.
    The cobalt had now totally bled out, obliterating the white completely, and his pupils began to transform themselves. They were no longer black, but a brilliant gold. If I was supposed to be afraid, then I was going to seriously disappoint someone, because I wasn’t. Intuitively I knew Gabriel would never harm me. Instead I felt this was exactly where I was supposed to be, and the sense that we had met before returned. Only it was much stronger this time.
    You know who I am.
    The words