Winter's Touch (Immortal Touch Series) (21 page)

“
I took the Arctic Cat out. You cannot imagine how difficult it was to find sustenance in this abominable weather.”

Eva was astonished. “I
did have strange dreams. But...” Something struck her as queer. “No nightmares. There were no nightmares. Not that I remember, anyway.” She studied his face, but as usual it revealed nothing. “You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

“No, Eva. I didn’t kill him.
Other than a little fatigue, he’ll be just fine.”

She took a deep breath and released it slowly
, thankfully. “I can’t believe it. Will he be able to remember?”

“He will remember nothing.
You
are the only one who has ever been able to break through that particular barrier. And for the record, your inebriation had nothing whatsoever to do with your reprieve. Just in case you get the foolish notion to try it again.”

As if
. “Then what was the reason?”

“I simply felt you needed more time to recuperate. I want to keep my butterfly strong.” He dropped the remote on the bed beside him, having settled on
The Shining
. “How very appropriate. Were you aware that some of the exterior scenes in this movie were filmed at one of the nearby lodges?”

“Ah
...no. I didn’t know that.” His amiable behavior was very disconcerting. No trace of the cold, autocratic attitude that came and went with the tide. And to her, this was when he was most dangerous.

Uncertainly, she moved to leave. “I think I’ll go to bed now.”

“You aren’t going anywhere.” The statement was nonthreatening, disclosed merely as a simple fact. “You felt the need to smash the windows in your room, as you may or may not recall. Until I have them replaced, you’ll stay in here. I can’t have you freeze to death.”

Good Lord, did he mean for her to sleep in his bed? With him?
Last night she’d been bombed out of her skull. Tonight would be a whole different ballgame. She’d be consciously aware of his every breath, his every movement, and why the
hell
had she ever broken that damn window in the first place? “I barely remember doing that,” she admitted.

“You did plenty you likely don’t
remember.”

She smiled in spite of herself. “
Really? What else did I do?”

“Talked quite a bit
, not that that’s unusual for you.”

Uh-oh.
“What did I say?”

He gave her a strange look. “Just a lot of nonsense.”

“Fill me in.”

“Oh, let’s just say you should leave singing to the professionals.” His mouth twitched as he tried to suppress a smile.

“Oh, no.” She covered her eyes, mortified.

“You also wanted to go outside and
play in the snow.”

“Well, you know,
that’s
actually not such a bad idea.”

“You won’t be
making any snowmen tomorrow, I’m afraid. This is just a temporary breather. The winds are supposed to pick up again by morning.”

Eva pulled her legs up and slipped
them underneath the covers. “I’m kind of surprised the electricity never went out.”

“Frankly, so am I.
It still might, but I have a generator so not to worry.”

She watched the screen for a while, trying to focus her attention on the movie rather than the Adonis by her side. It was a losing battle.
For heaven’s sake, didn’t he ever get cold? Couldn’t he at least put on a shirt or something?
God
, he smelled good.

“Lainie
said your parents were missionaries,” she blurted, attempting to distract her wandering thoughts.

“
Yes, that they were.”

“
Pretty unusual, considering your grandfather’s line of work.”

“My parents were unusual people. Always
jetting off to some remote corner of the world.”

“They sound fascinating.”

“I wouldn’t know. I spent more time with Lainie than I did with them.” He shook his head, as if tossing off unwelcome remnants of a past best forgotten.

Feeling
rather chilled, she pulled the down comforter up to her chin. “So how did you wind up in Nebraska?”

“I threw a carving knife at a map.”

“You did not!” She laughed.

“I did. It was as good a deciding factor as any.”

“So you moved there after your grandfather passed away?”

“Oh, no. I lived in
a number of places before Fremont. Moved around quite a bit, until I learned how best to cover my tracks. The most important thing is that I remain inconspicuous.”

“It’s going to be hard for someone who looks like you to be inconspicuous.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“Is that so? And what do you mean by that, pray tell?”

“You must have some idea how
...visually appealing you are.” Her face felt hot in spite of the cold room.

“Visually appealing?” This phrase seemed
extremely amusing to him.

“Beautiful, Julian. It means beautiful.”
May as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb at this point.

“Extraordinary.”

“What is?”

“That you can look at me and call me beautiful. Knowing what I am and what I do.”

She had no lucid explanation to offer. Once she had likened him to Satan himself, but she could no longer bring herself to make the comparison. The more time she spent with him, the more she was able to uncover traces of his former personality. Those lost traits that separated human from beast. They remained within him, whether he wanted to believe it or not. His soul had survived death along with his body.

If only
he
was aware of that fact.

~
*~*~

Eva
was on the precipice of sleep when he rolled over to face her, so close that their foreheads almost touched. His eyes were closed, therefore she assumed he was asleep when she pressed a cool hand against his warm chest. To her surprise, she felt a strong heartbeat.

His eyes opened, and he watched her silently.

“You have a heartbeat,” she marveled.

“Of course I do. I’m not dead, you know. What did you think, that I was some sort of reanimated corpse?” He seemed almost offended.

“I thought you were...
un
dead.”

“Is there a difference between alive and undead? I died once, for a short time. Now I live. It’s as basic as that.
You should be sleeping.”

“Well
...you’re not asleep either.”

“
I was until you woke me.”

“It’s cold in here,” she complained. “Can’t you turn the heat up some?”

“I prefer it this way.”

It figured he would only be concerned with his own comfort. What did it matter to him if her body temperature
dropped to ten below zero? She might as well be in her own bedroom with the wind creeping in through the window she’d pulverized.

He snaked a
strong arm around her waist and pulled her unnervingly close to him, eliciting a startled gasp from her. “You see. I’m not cold.”

He was
certainly right about that. Pressed against him, she was apt to heat up in record time and that had little to do with the tranquilizing warmth radiating from his firm body. Through the flimsy silk of her nightwear, she could still feel the steady beat of his heart.

She
could also, without a shadow of a doubt, feel something else.

Something that made it abundantly clear that his urge to procreate was
far from lost.

Trying to ignore the burning ache that was surging through her,
she looked up at him anxiously, wondering if he even realized how his body was reacting. He was focused on her as well, and from the hungry look in his cavernous eyes one thing was obvious. She was in trouble.

Okay, s
he had to say
something
. “I thought...you said...”

“Well. This is an interesting development, wouldn’t you say?” A naughty smile played over his lips.

“You son of a bitch - you were lying to me!” Appalled, she pushed him away and was surprised when he didn’t resist.

His eyes quickly turned threatening. “
Don’t give me that puritanical act,” he sneered. “I have no intention of raping you. Believe it or not, I do have
some
honor. And I never lied to you. This is your own fault, you know.”

“
My
fault? You said...”

“I know what I said.
It’s your blood. Your damned tainted blood.”

“What are you talking about?” Was he seriously blaming her? As if any of this was her doing!

“You really don’t know? Come now. You must. The nightmares you suffered. Have you never wondered
why
you were having them? Why you dreamt of me?”

“What do my nightmares have to do with anything?”

“A single drop. That’s all it took to link you to me forever. Because we were connected from that moment on, don’t you see? And now that I’ve consumed your blood, something is changing.”

What nonsense was he spouting?
“You’ve lost me. What are you saying linked us?”

“My blood! Mine! Think, Eva.
I had cut myself, remember? Your kiss. This was how you were able to remain connected to me, even after I’d erased your memory. Now do you understand? I became a part of you. And now, you are becoming a part of me.”

A memory as
faint as a ghost slowly returned to her. Yes, she had kissed his hand. A forgotten gesture from fifteen years ago...was that the ultimate cause of all this? The years of recurring nightmares, her subsequent abduction, the gradual shift in the vampire’s demeanor?

Then, in
some twisted sense, it really
was
her fault.

“I’m going to need years of therapy for this,” she
muttered.

He was gazing at the ceiling, mind elsewhere.
“One drop. If that tiny amount could have such a powerful effect, imagine the possibilities...”

She had no idea where he was going with
his irrational line of reasoning, but wherever it was couldn’t be good. “What possibilities?”

“
Just think what a pair we would make.” His eyes gleamed in a way that frightened her.

“Julian
. Whatever you’re thinking about doing...please don’t.”

“I wonder if it could
really be that easy...”

“No. I don’t want to hear this.”

“Just listen. Hear me out.”

“Forget it. No way
!”

“There might be a way to change you. Let me try, Eva.” His
soft voice enticed her seductively. “I wouldn’t hurt you. There’s no need to be afraid.”

No need?
On the contrary, there was every reason to be afraid, every reason in the world. Her eyes pleaded with him frantically. “
No!
I don’t want to be your science experiment! You have no way of knowing what might happen. Don’t ask me to do this. I can’t. You
know
I can’t. Please, Jules. Get it out of your head.”

“As you wish.”
Sighing, he began to stroke her hair gently, and somehow she felt that he’d acquiesced far, far too easily. There was no way she’d heard the last on this subject. If there was one thing she’d learned, it was that he would ultimately have his way.

“You could very well be my downfall. Would you destroy me if you were able, butterfly?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she admitted, “No.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I know the real you still exists. And I couldn’t hurt him.”

“Because you love him?”

“Excuse me?” Her heart skipped a beat.

“You told me so, last night. Imagine my surprise.” He smirked.

“I never said that!” Oh God, surely she hadn’t!

“Ah, but you did.”

“I did not! And even if I did, which I
didn’t
...I was drunk. I had no idea what I was saying.”

“
In vino veritas.
In wine, there is truth.”

“It wasn’t wine, it was vodka, so your whole theory goes right out the window.”

“Along with the vodka bottle?”

“Mm, apparently.” They both laughed, and she felt her uneasiness
gradually melting away.

“Come closer. I’ll behave, I promise.” At her dubious look, he added, “I only mean to keep you warm.”

“You do have central heating, you know. Would it kill you to turn up the thermostat?” She scooted closer to him anyway. Apparently she had a thing for masochism, because this was nothing less than sheer torture. She desperately wanted to give in to her passion. Oh, how she wanted to...but how in all good conscience could she willingly give herself to someone like him? What would that make her? Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined herself to be in the arms of a cold-blooded killer, wanting him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.