Page 24

K adie stared at the man pacing the floor beside the bed.

Dressed all in black from his shirt to his boots, he was tall and broad-shouldered, his hips narrow, with dusky skin and captivating ebony eyes.

His black hair fell past his shoulders. The thin white scar on his left cheek started at the corner of his eye, continued down his cheek and neck, and disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt.

In spite of the scar, he was a remarkably handsome man, with an air of confidence and power that was almost tangible.

He was undeniably sexy. But he was also as scary as hell.

She had no idea who he was or why he was there.

She glanced around the room, certain she had never seen it before.

Or him. He had introduced himself as Rylan Saintcrow, a name she didn’t recognize.

He had patiently answered all of her questions while remaining cagey about who he was, exactly, or what part he had played in her life.

According to him, her name was Kadie Andrews and they knew each other quite well.

She wondered how well. Supposedly, she was a freelance photographer and had previously lived in Morro Bay, California, with her parents and her younger sister, Kathy.

“What happened to me?” she asked. “Why can’t I remember anything?”

“You came down with some kind of a rare virus,” Saintcrow said. “No one knows for sure what caused it or where it came from.”

“Why am I here instead of in a hospital?”

“They couldn’t do anything for you there. No one knew of any treatment that would help.” The only thing that had kept her alive was the blood, human and vampire, that he had given her.

“Where are we?”

“New Orleans.”

“I thought you said I lived in California,” she remarked, frowning. “What are we doing here? Whose house is this?”

“It belongs to a friend of mine. It’s a long story, Kadie. Why don’t you rest a while?”

“I’m not tired.” She blushed when her stomach growled. She wasn’t tired, but she was starving as if she hadn’t eaten in years.

Saintcrow swore softly. She was human now. He would have to remember that. “I’ll be right back.” On his way out of the room, he closed the door behind him, then went into the living room where Izabela waited.

The witch looked at him, one brow raised. “Well?”

He shook his head. “She doesn’t remember a thing. And she’s hungry. Do you have something she can wear? I can’t take her to a restaurant in a nightgown, and I can’t take her back to Morgan Creek.” Doing so might lead to too many questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

Izabela regarded him through narrowed eyes. “A restaurant?”

“Yeah. She’s human again.”

The witch stared at him. “Amazing,” she murmured.

“She needs clothes,” Saintcrow reminded her. “Can you help me or not?”

“I’m sure I can come up with something,” Izabela said, with a sly grin. A wave of her hand conjured a navy-blue skirt and a long-sleeved white sweater, as well as the necessary undergarments, and a pair of white sandals.

“Thanks,” Saintcrow said. “I suppose this is going to cost me another pint of blood.”

“The clothes are on the house,” she said, with an airy wave of her hand. “But, speaking of blood …” She reached into the pocket of her gaudy green-and-gold skirt and withdrew a large bottle.

With a sigh of resignation, Saintcrow bit into his wrist. And then he smiled. To have Kadie back again, he would gladly give the witch all the blood she wanted.

Thirty minutes later, Kadie stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Why couldn’t she remember who she was, or what had happened.

She wouldn’t even know her name if Mr. Saintcrow hadn’t told her.

And then she frowned. If doctors couldn’t cure her, who had?

Or had the illness simply run its course and taken her memories with it?

Her thoughts turned to the man, Saintcrow, with those piercing dark eyes and broad shoulders. A massive chest. Long, long legs. Large hands. Who was he, really?

Kadie turned away from the mirror. The woman, Izabela, had allowed her the use of her bathroom to bathe and wash her hands and face. Izabela had also provided a skirt and sweater and shoes for her to wear, as well as a comb and a toothbrush.

She glanced at the door. The man waited in the bedroom to take her out to dinner.

How could she go out with a stranger? And such an intimidating one at that.

He claimed they knew each other, but anyone could say that, since she had no way of knowing if it was true or not.

There was something about him, something …

She shook her head. She couldn’t define it, but whatever it was, it was disconcerting, to say the least.

She started when someone knocked on the door.

“Kadie? Are you ready?”

His whiskey-smooth voice sent a shiver down her spine. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Yes,” and opened the door.

His smile was devastating. “Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go?”

“Home. If I knew where it was.” Even if she remembered where she lived, whoever collected her rent had probably sold all of her belongings by now. And what did it matter? She had no income at the moment, let alone enough to pay whatever back rent she owed. “How long was I unconscious?”

“Several months.”

“Months!” She frowned. “If I wasn’t in a hospital, how did I survive?”

Thinking quickly, Saintcrow said, “You were fed intravenously.” It was true, in a way. Fortunately, starvation wasn’t one of the ways to destroy a vampire. They could go for long periods without sustenance.

Because she had no preference for dinner, he took her to Luigi’s, since she had always favored Italian.

Kadie glanced around after they were seated. The restaurant was quite lovely, with red-and-white checked cloths. Italian music played quietly in the background.

“Order whatever you like,” Saintcrow said.

A sad smile played over her lips. “I don’t know what I like.”

“How about if I order for you?”

“All right.”

He signaled a waitress and ordered ravioli and a salad for Kadie, along with a bottle of red wine.

“You’re not eating?” she asked, when the waitress left to turn in their order.

“I dined earlier.”

“Oh.” Kadie glanced down at her lap, thinking it was going to be awkward, eating in front of a stranger. She risked a glance in his direction to find him watching her. Like a cat at a mousehole, she thought.

“Relax,” Saintcrow said, swallowing the urge to call her ‘sweetheart’ as he had so many times in the past.

“I just feel so … so …” She blew out a sigh. “I don’t know what I’m feeling.” He had mentioned her parents, and a sister. Kathy. They must be worried about her. “Has anyone told my family that I’m awake?”

“I’m afraid your parents have passed away.”

Kadie bit down on her lower lip. “How long ago?”

“Two years.”

“And my sister?”

“She’s fine, as far as I know. I lost touch with her over time.”

Kadie nodded. Knowing her parents were gone made her feel oddly disconnected from the rest of the world. She wondered if she and her sister had remained close after their parents passed away.

Her dinner came a short time later. Keeping her gaze on her plate, Kadie picked at her food. She ate automatically, not tasting anything at first and then, suddenly, it was like she was tasting everything for the first time. In moments, she had cleaned her plate.

Watching her, Saintcrow couldn’t help wondering what food would taste like after so many years. It was obvious she was enjoying it. Apparently, years without eating had no effect on an ex-vampire.

“Would it be all right if I had dessert?” she asked tentatively.

“Honey, you can have anything you want.”

Kadie stared at him, surprised by the endearment. It made her wonder, yet again, just how friendly they had been. Not knowing was so frustrating!

Saintcrow sat back in his chair, smiling inwardly as he watched her devour a huge slice of chocolate walnut cake.

She was here, she was alive, her cheeks pink, her beautiful golden-brown eyes bright.

He listened to the sound of her heart pumping sure and steady, and took a deep breath as the urge to taste her roared to life within him.

He remembered the first time he had taken her blood.

It had been the sweetest he had ever known and he had vowed then and there to make her his.

Now, he wondered if she would ever be his again.

After dinner, Saintcrow suggested they go for a walk.

The night was quiet, the sky studded with stars and a bright silver moon.

The silence between them made Kadie uncomfortable.

She couldn’t think of anything to say with him beside her.

He made her nervous in ways she didn’t understand.

The fact that she might never regain her memory was deeply troubling.

How could she face the future when she didn’t remember the past?

How was she going to find her sister? Where was she going to live?

How was she going to survive without a job or a place to stay?

She sent a sideways glance at Saintcrow. How well had she known him? Had they been casual acquaintances? Friends? She swallowed hard. Lovers? The thought of the two of them being intimate sent a shiver of unease down her spine, followed by an unexpected flurry of excitement.

Saintcrow let his mind brush hers. It might not be easy to win her love again, he thought.

Not that it had been all that easy the first time.

But she had been younger back then. In the beginning, she had been his prisoner and she had hated him and had said so often.

It had taken time for her to get used to the idea that he was a vampire, that he was capable of love.

To please her, to prove he wasn’t the cold-hearted monster she thought he was, he had allowed the vampires to leave Morgan Creek and freed their human captives.

He had even returned some of men and women to their former homes.

“Mr. Saintcrow?”

“Rylan.”