Eternal Hearts (22 page)

She slowly looked over the people she’d known for so long but could barely identify with as the beast unfurled in her stomach. Red tinged the room as the pounding of hundreds of heartbeats echoed in her ears, followed by the thick metallic scent that nearly overwhelmed her senses. But just when she felt the tips of her fangs graze the inside of her upper lip, Mary grabbed her hand.

“So exactly how did you meet Drake…and where can I get one?” she asked. “‘
Cuz
I swear just looking at him is
givin
’ me hot flashes.”

Toni’s fury quickly subsided as she contemplated how to answer the question. “We met at my hotel last night.”

“You met him last night and you’re out here with him already?” Mary cast a glance in Drake’s direction then back to her. “Way to reel in the
Hottie
! At least I know one of us is getting laid tonight.”

“Oh my God,” Toni groaned. “For your information, he’s the one who wanted to come down here and dance. I was perfectly happy sitting upstairs at Grey’s.”

“I’d rather be down here with him.”

Toni smiled at her friend. Truth be told, she’d rather be someplace quiet and alone with him. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really great guy...but you know The Underground was never my favorite place to be. It’s so dark…and loud.”

“I know you’d rather be somewhere else.” A wild smile raced across her face as she made exaggerated twisting motions with her hand. “You’d rather be on the hood of a car with him in a dirty garage somewhere, tightening his nuts.”

Toni blinked at her. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“No, what you can’t believe is just how much you wanna
do that
!”

She gave into the purely feminine flutter in her stomach. “Yeah,” she admitted as she leaned closer to Mary. “I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.”

Mary wrinkled her nose then laughed. “Hell yes you would be. Not that I could blame you.” She squinted in the direction of the bar. “Who’s he talking to?”

Toni cast a glance over her shoulder. Drake had his back turned and she couldn’t see who he was talking to, if anyone. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I don’t have X-ray vision, so I can’t see through him.”

Mary grinned. “Now there’s the sarcastic bitch I know and love.”

Toni started to laugh but was interrupted by the sharp churning of her stomach. Strange as the notion was, she felt like she might get sick, which as far as she knew was impossible. Closing her eyes, she swallowed a few gulps of warm air in an effort to stave it off.

Unfortunately, her attempt didn’t work.

“Are you okay?” Mary asked.

Toni nodded. “I think it’s just a stomach cramp. I’ll be fine.” At least she hoped she would. This was the first time since being turned she’d felt nauseous. It didn’t make any sense, mostly because it wasn’t like she could catch a cold, and she knew there was nothing wrong with her drink. She could smell even the slightest impurities in blood.

She forced a smile and focused back on Mary. “I’m gonna go back over to Drake. Give me a call sometime and we can play catch up. My cell number is still the same.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but you never answer it.”

Toni picked up her beer and stuck her tongue out over her shoulder as she walked away. She answered her phone. She just didn’t make a habit of answering it at Noon.

After making it about half way back to Drake, Toni’s stomach flip-flopped again. And this time when the pain came, she wasn’t so sure she couldn’t get sick. Without giving it a second thought, she turned and ran for the bathroom.

Drake listened as Oktober gave him the horny details about a rather curvy blonde sitting at a table to his left. “If you get a chance to try her out, take it. She can do some things with her tongue that even women with our condition can’t do.”

He grinned in response to his friend, but as he looked over at the blonde he realized he didn’t have any desire to try her out. There was only one woman he was interested in sampling, and he was willing to bet Toni was more woman than the blonde would ever be.

He turned his attention back to Oktober, who seemed to be staring intently at something behind them. He traced Oktober’s line of sight to the bathroom doors then turned around and laughed. “What? Did you suddenly find yourself wondering how toilets work?”

Oktober shook his head. “No. I just saw a woman I really wanna meet.” He punched Drake in the arm hard enough to send a shock of pain shooting up to his shoulder. “I’ll catch you later. And I’m serious,” he said as he motioned to the left, “
try
the blonde.”

Drake took a deep breath when, after watching Oktober disappear into the half-naked sea of writhing humanity, three different women started their approach. Usually, he’d welcome the kind of distractions they were about to offer…but right now they just weren’t what he wanted.

When Toni finally worked through the crowd of people on the dance floor and into the bathroom, she was surprised to find it completely empty. The significantly cooler temperature of the room made her feel better, but her stomach was still in knots.

After pouring the remainder of her beer down the drain, she gave the bottle a quick rinse then tossed it into the trash. She dropped her hands into the sink and let the icy water stream between her fingers before pooling in her hands. She wasn’t sure cold water would help, but then again, she really didn’t know what to do for the way she felt. As far as she knew, vampires couldn’t get sick – not physically anyway.

She bent down and closed her eyes as she splashed the icy liquid against her face. Almost instantly, her stomach untied itself and she felt normal again. Well, as normal as someone with her condition could feel. And it got even better when a large, warm hand cupped her ass and she felt the rough edge of a paper towel being pressed into her hands.

“Thanks,” she laughed as she wiped her face, “but this is the ladies room and I don’t think you qualify, Big Man.”

“You’re right, Toni. I don’t.”

Toni froze as fear suffused with rage and shot down her spine like a bolt of lightning. That jagged and powerful voice – the same one that had burned itself into her memory three years ago – didn’t belong to Drake.

She let the paper towel fall from her hands and slowly leveled her gaze on the mirror behind the sink, only to be pinned by the swirling black eyes of Oktober. He wore the same sleeveless long coat and matching black leather pants that he had in the video, allowing his flawless caramel skin to practically glow against the pale blue tiled walls.

Nothing about him was even remotely close to human. From the rumbling timbre of his voice to the way each of his muscles looked to be carved from some kind of hard alien stone, he radiated the power of a dangerous, unholy predator, hell bent on destroying everything he touched.

Toni couldn’t pull her eyes away from Oktober even as her thoughts raced. She didn’t have a gun. She didn’t have a knife. Her only weapons, the only defense she had was her fangs. But when she tried to force them out – they refused to heed her call. Her beast shrank back in a twisted mixture of subservience and terror. Oktober was easily the superior predator in the room, and though she only vaguely picked up on it, the animal inside her recognized certain death when it was staring her in the eye.

“I didn’t think I’d ever get to see you again,” he growled as he leaned in close to her ear. “I was sure you were out of my life for good.”

Toni wanted to run, she wanted to move – but her muscles refused to cooperate. His stormy eyes, just as they’d done back when she’d wanted nothing more than to crawl across the floor of her old apartment and turn her television off, held her frozen in place.

When she opened her mouth to speak, he pressed a gloved finger to her lips. “Don’t talk. I’m not here to kill you. I’m not even here to hurt you. I’m only here to unravel a mystery that’s been haunting you for three…long…years.”

Every ounce of breath Toni had been holding rushed past her lips as Oktober dropped his gaze. She scanned the room when she realized she could move again. This was her moment. This was her chance to make him pay for what he’d done to her family. Fangs or not, she had to do something. So she took the only action she could think of…

Reacting solely on blind hatred, she concentrated on her blood for extra strength, balled up her fist, and then turned and swung with everything she had. She stared in horror as Oktober fizzled away into nothing a split second before her fist would have connected with his jaw.

His deep laughter filled her ears. And she wasn’t even aware that he’d reappeared behind her until he wrenched her arm up behind her back and turned her to face the wall. She winced as he pulled up on her arm, forcing her to stand on her toes before he pulled her back against his chest. She shifted when his erection pressed into her ass, flooding her veins with a sickening mixture of hatred and desire.

The human woman she tried so hard to be hated him with every fiber of her being, but the animal inside her wanted her to roll over and bare her throat to him. The beast living in the pit of her stomach craved his attention and favor – good or bad.

Again, Toni tried to fight. She pushed back into Oktober, used his tight hold on her arm as a brace, and then kicked her feet out against the wall. Once her boots connected with the tiles, she pushed with all her strength, hoping to slam him back into the wall behind them.

But he didn’t…even…budge.

Tears welled in her eyes as the realization that Oktober was far more powerful crashed over her. Somewhere deep inside herself she’d known she didn’t really stand a chance, but she would’ve never been able to forgive herself if she’d done nothing. Her family deserved more than that.

Her family deserved everything she had to give.

Toni struggled against Oktober with every shred of strength and determination she had left, but when he wrenched her other arm behind her back, she knew it was over. It took no effort at all for him to hold her in midair as her feet swung down from the wall.

The oxygen burst from her lungs as he took a large step forward and pressed her firmly against the cold tiles. He shifted his grip to hold both of her wrists with one hand, and then turned her head with the other, leaving her little choice but to watch their reflection in the mirror. He slowly slid his tongue over his fangs while he stared down at where their hips connected.

She squirmed when he pushed her hair to the side then wrapped his other hand around her throat. “You smell good enough to eat,” he said as he leaned down so his nose could hover just above the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

Although the beast inside her wanted this man, all Toni could think about was killing him. For what he’d done to her family…for what he was doing to her now.

Knowing she couldn’t fight him on her own, she struggled to suck in a deep breath so she could yell. If Drake heard her, he would come and help her. She knew he would. But Oktober squeezed his hand, strangling the scream before it could escape.

“Don’t bother,” he laughed. “It won’t do you any good.”

She couldn’t do anything but watch as he withdrew his hand from her neck then raised it to his mouth, where he used his teeth to hold the glove in place as his hand slid out of it. He leaned forward so she could see his face. “Here’s where the understanding comes. Brace yourself.”

She tried one last time to fight as his bare hand wrapped around her throat, but her resistance only lasted a second…because in that moment, in that space of time stretching less than the duration of a single heartbeat, she understood exactly why Isabel hadn’t fought him when he’d laid her on the table.

The instant Oktober’s bare flesh touched hers, Toni couldn’t think of anything but him. She wanted nothing more than to please him, and anything he asked she’d gladly do as long as he didn’t stop touching her. And she was so wrapped up in her thoughts of him that she barely even noticed when he released her wrists.

A long sigh escaped Oktober’s lips and blew across her cheek. She immediately sensed his disappointment, but she didn’t understand what she’d done wrong. Was he not pleased by her? She couldn’t allow that.