hungry, as he had not fed on anything but small animals since the campers.
He was also filled with inward rage at his screw-up. For several minutes, he watched the man struggling to get his car out of the mud where it had slid off the road. The more Dorian thought of Amber in Paul’s arms, the more enraged he became, and the more his hunger overwhelmed him. Finally, he said, “To hell with it!” and instantly attacked the man from behind before he knew what hit him.
Dorian fed furiously at first, but as his hunger began to subside, he realized the man was still alive. He sensed a patrol car coming from the south. He laid the man in plain sight alongside his car for the cops to find, and then quickly yanked the car free of the mud – his way of apologizing – and took off, figuring they’d get the man to the hospital in time. He didn’t even bother to mask the wound. At that moment, he didn’t care.
In a run, he transformed into a raven and took flight, gliding around for a couple of hours, riding the wind currents, trying to sooth his anger, and finally decided to return home. He was glad to see that Klaus had left after taking only one beer. He just wanted to get drunk.
Amber slipped out of bed just before the alarm was due to ring and shut it off. Paul was still asleep, snoring lightly, but not loud. He was so handsome lying there. She felt a tug of warmth as she gazed at him. Their love-making had been sweet, pleasant and unhurried. He was a good lover. Question was – Did she love him? She thought so. But did she love him enough? Because she also knew there was something between her and Dorian. And that something was definitely filled with passion, a desire she’d never thought possible. Was that love?
She had hoped that taking the next step with Paul would solve the matter for her, but as she stood there she realized that she still wasn’t sure. She showered, dressed and then went off to the kitchen to make coffee. She would wake Paul soon as it was ready.
Just as she was pouring Paul a cup of coffee his cell phone rang. She heard him answer it just as she was heading to her bedroom. “Oh…Grady,” he said, and seeing her he smiled. “Yeah…I appreciate it. Thanks for letting me know.” He closed his phone and set it on the nightstand.
She handed him his coffee and he sat up to take it. “Thank you, beautiful!”
“That was Grady?”
“Yes! He’s had the road crew cut up that tree. We can get through now.”
“Wonderful! I can take you to your truck soon as you want.”
“Yeah…” he sighed. “Guess I should get going. Judy will be leaving for school and I need to get the store opened up.”
“I’ll get you some breakfast first. Want eggs and bacon? Or just cereal”
“Cereal’s good…”
“You sure? Don’t mind cooking.”
“Cereal’s my usual…Don’t eat heavily of a morning.”
“Neither do I most of the time…But once in a while I cook breakfast.”
“As good as it sounds, I really should get going.” He took a sip of his coffee and smiled with his eyes. “And thanks for last night!”
She reflected his smile. “You’re more than welcome.”
“Honestly…I was beginning to get really jealous of that Lodovico.”
“You were?” she said, trying to hide anything that might want to surface that she didn’t want him to see.
“But after last night…Well, I feel much, much better.”
“I’m glad.”
“I feel like I can really call you my girl now.”
She grinned hugely. “Is that a fact?”
“Well I don’t mean that I think I own you…” he quickly explained. “Just that I feel that you really do care for me. I wasn’t sure until last night.”
“I’m glad you feel better.” She took the cup he was now handing to her and left him to get dressed.
Fifteen minutes later they were in her car and heading down the road. Once there, she pulled off to the side and walked with him to his pickup. He kissed her goodbye. She watched him drive away, and then got in her car and drove back home.
It was another beautiful fall day. Amber thought of getting her paints out again, but she wasn’t really in the mood to paint. She stepped out on the back porch, her gaze automatically veering off in the direction of Dorian’s cabin. She was still drawn to him! And now that Paul was out of sight, though she tried to resist them briefly, without success, her thoughts were only of Dorian. Before she realized it, she was heading down the path to his cabin. Just as she reached his back porch, she saw him standing there, leaning on the railing, drinking a cup of coffee and staring straight ahead, even more handsome than she had remembered.
Without even looking at her, he slowly said, “Morning, Amber.”
“I didn’t know you saw me,” she said, surprised.
“Didn’t have to see you. I knew you were coming.”
She frowned, confused. “What do you mean?”
He suddenly turned to her. Gaze angry. “I just knew,” he replied without offering any explanation.
“I see you’re not in a good mood. Sorry to have bothered you.” She turned and went to walk away but was astounded to realize that she was facing him. “How did you—?”
“Get down here so fast?”
“Yes!”
“For me to know and you to find out,” he answered. His eyes were still angry and something else. Hurt!
“If you’ll step aside, I’ll just go back home,” she said, not knowing how to deal with him in the mood he was in.
“Did you have a good night?”
She made herself look into those beautiful, hurt and angry eyes. “Yes! Yes I did!”
“Absolutely wonderful!” he said with a sarcastic edge. “All I wanted to know.”
Before she could respond he vanished right before her eyes. She gasped and spun around. “Dorian?” There was no way that it was humanly possible for him to simply vanish like that. Was she dreaming? Was she in some kind of weird state of mind? What the hell was going on? His cabin was still there. His cup of coffee was still sitting on the railing where he had left it. Where the hell was he? “Dorian?” she said again, turning around once more, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. “I’m truly sorry if you’re hurt,” she said. “But you never once asked me out. Not once. I had no idea you really liked me. No idea! For all I knew you were playing with me!” Still no response. Totally confused, she stood there for several minutes before deciding he wasn’t going to show and headed back down the path to her house.
Then, from out of nowhere, he was in front of her again. “You knew yesterday how I felt…and you slept with him anyway.”
“How in hell did you do that?”
Avoiding her question, he said, “Why did you sleep with him when you knew I wanted you?”
“If you really must know…because I know he loves me. You! You…I’m not sure how I feel about you. I really don’t even know you! You are the strangest man I ever met. I do know that I am attracted to you. But I don’t know that it’s love…And I slept with him because I needed to know for myself just how I felt about him.”
“And did you get your question answered?”
She swallowed hard, not wanting to admit the truth.
“Did you?”
She attempted to walk away, but he stopped her.
“I still don’t know for sure…”
“And what does that mean?”
“I know he loves me. And I do love him, but I’m not sure just how much. Because I still feel something – though God only knows what it is – for you! And if I love him, why do I feel this way about you?”
“Maybe it’s because you really love me,” he said, his face softening. “I know I can be a bit much sometimes. And Paul is a… safe kind of guy. I can see why you might think you want to choose him. But after yesterday…after I showed you how I feel about you and you slept with him anyway…Well, it just kind of hurt.”
She allowed herself to get lost in his beautiful eyes. Just looking into them made her s
pirit soar. “I’m sorry, Dorian. This is just all so weird…I’m just having trouble understanding all this.”
“Don’t worry about understanding it, Amber. Please…Just trust me. Trust me and I’ll be there for you.”
Before she could respond he was kissing her again, and she was lost in his embrace, feeling the fire of passion she’d felt the day before, only stronger, if that were possible. She let herself go, returning the passion she felt from him and from within. He kissed her cheek, the tip of her nose, her lips again, and then the nape of her neck. And then she gasped and let out a little cry as he bit into her flesh. Though shocked at first, she didn’t fight him, so lost in the fire of his touch that even the pain of his bite consumed her with desire. “Dorian…” she sighed. “Dorian…”
He held her in the love-bite for several seconds and then let her go, not desiring to weaken her too much. He wiped the blood off his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. Then he pulled back and looked into her eyes. “You are mine!” he said. “Mine!”
At that moment she began to understand a little of what had been happening; knew who had left her the book. She knew that the man who was setting her soul on fire was a vampire! “You left the book on my porch, didn’t you?”
Just a hint of a smile came to his sparkling eyes. “Guilty.” He indicated with a nod to her neck that was dripping blood. “We need to take care of that.”
He took her arm and escorted her to his cabin. There, he led her in his bathroom, gathered up gauze, antiseptic and tape that he’d purchased ahead of time, and dressed her wound. “Between you