Page 13 of Burn Falls

“Please. Call me Dra—ven.”

I balked, confused why he was using a different name.

He smiled. “I go by my middle name, Draven, except for doctor stuff.”

“Oh.” I smiled, understanding. “Well, thank you, Draven, but really, it wasn’t necessary.”

“It’s not a problem, Ms. O’Bannion.”

“Since you insist on a first name basis, please, call me Calla.”

Draven smiled, and instantly my insides warmed, and my heart kicked up a beat. “I’d like that.” He drank a sip of the whiskey Mikey had placed in front of him before asking, “How’s your father tonight?”

I sighed. “Same.”

He nodded. “Given the seventy-two hours—”

“Can we not talk about my father? I know you’re his doctor and all, but I could really use the break.” I took a sip of my drink.

Draven’s black gaze stared into my emerald eyes. “Hence why you came across the street tonight then?”

“That, and you weren’t on duty.” I blinked at my omission. Fuck, this whiskey was making my lips loose.

Draven chuckled. “I have tonight and tomorrow off.”

I turned my heated face back toward him. “What about my father’s care?” I knew Draven needed days off, but it worried me that he wouldn’t be there because he was my father’s surgeon.

“If anything happens, the hospital will call me. But he’s in good hands with all the other doctors on duty.”

“I hope so,” I muttered, looking down at my empty glass. I flagged over the bartender and ordered another O’Bannion Burn.

Draven turned in his seat to face me, which caused me to look at him again. As I stared into his eyes, they started to pulse, almost as though they were matching the beat of my heart. “Calla,” he breathed as I continued to be mesmerized by the rhythm of his irises. “Tell me about the man who attacked your father.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Athan and I watched Calla’s family leave the hospital as we formed the plan. I was to sneak into O’Bannion’s hospital room and compel Calla to tell me about the vamp who tried to drain her father once Blumberg made his rounds. There was no way I could do it while I was on duty because I had several other patients to attend to, plus any incoming traumas. Also, Calla was never alone.

But the plan was quickly changed when I smelled Calla outside. My gaze darted toward her scent, and I saw her walking across the street and straight into the bar. It was probably better this way, so I didn’t have to worry about being spotted even with my fast speed. No one in Alaska knew I was a vampire.

The moment I touched her arm as I sat next to her, heat lit my entire body. I hadn’t felt warmth like hers in ninety years. Her radiance was fueling my blood flow, and the longer I watched her pulse beat on her neck, the more I had to fight the urge to taste her. Taste all of her, and not only her blood. I wanted to run my tongue along every inch of her as she moaned my name. Wanted to fuck her against every surface of my house, causing the drywall to crumble to pieces from my strength.

Christ, the more time I spent next to her, the more I realized I needed to hurry and compel her for information before I compelled her to go home with me like some perv. I needed to be on my way.

The plan wasn’t to tell her my real fucking name, but I went with it knowing I could compel her to forget. Except, that wasn’t what happened when I tried to compel her.

“Calla. Tell me about the man who attacked your father.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I really don’t want to talk about it. I want to—”

“Calla,” I said her name so she would look into my pulsing eyes again. The moment her gaze lifted, I realized the compulsion didn’t take. How was that possible? She was human, and all humans could be compelled. I’d done it to hundreds of people before.

And no, not to go home with me. It was always after sex because the moment my dick entered their warm pussy, they knew right away I wasn’t human. I was dead, and my body temperature changed depending on the room’s temperature I was in, making them feel coldness as I slid into them—like I was made of ice.

“Please, Draven. I know you’re his doctor, but I just can’t. I came here to take my mind off of it for a few minutes.”

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, still stunned. I needed to talk to Athan, who was hanging around the back of the room with a drink. He could read my thoughts because he was within range, so he immediately appeared at my side confirming he was listening.

“Are you going to introduce me to this gorgeous lady?” he asked, eyeing Calla.