Lily

Somewhere in her subconscious, Lily knew things were horribly wrong. She couldn't seem to form a coherent thought past the constant fog of how she came to be lying on a leather-bound seat of an abandoned vehicle sitting desolately beneath a street post.

Strangely, her limbs felt detached and languid, her throat had a peculiar ache and she realized alarmingly that her blouse had been torn clear to the fourth button.

With a horrified gasp, she scrambled out of the truck and dropped onto unsteady legs.

Her head was beginning to clear.

The horrifying events of the night rushed fleetingly through her mind.

She felt like crying but that would be foolish, right?

She pushed away from the truck and realized with a combination of relief then alarm that the truck was planted directly across from her apartment.

Her heart leaped against her chest and she nearly sprinted across the black pavement separating her from her haven.

A thought occurred to her, was this another trap lured by her father? She choked on the thought. How could he do these things to her? How could he hire those men to attack her?

She felt beguiled and betrayed, thoroughly burned.

She pushed her soles into the ground and took off across the road, terrified that the Sedan would come careening around the corner.

She didn't release the breath she had been holding until she was safely inside.

She moved blindly through her apartment, afraid that the lights would draw attention. Was she being ridiculously cautious? To an outsider looking in, she imagined she looked quite the psychopath, but how else could she explain the chills creeping their way over her skin, or the flowing tremors that raked her body?

Lily flipped the switch in her bathroom and choked back a scream at the vision in the mirror. The blood that had worked its way down her throat now trailed the valley between her breasts; the bruise that marred her jaw was not as deeply disturbing as the two punctured holes at her neck.

She stumbled away from the mirror and slammed her fist against the switch, shutting off the light.

How could she have forgotten! The frightening screams of men being aimlessly ripped apart? The Sedan being torn to shreds as if it were made of shallow tin, and most alarmingly, the man with his dark eyes that had feasted hungrily on her throat!

Her skin suddenly warmed beneath the surface, having a strange and explicit affect on her.

Startled by this, she jumped to her feet and fled to the kitchen. She rummaged the drawers until her hands found something sharp and meaningful.

She clutched the knife to her chest and slipped into a corner.

When something small and furry brushed against her calve, she yelped.

Mew!

Charlie's soft whine appeased some of her fear and Lily swept the kitten into her lap, gently massaging his fuzzy head.

She wrapped her fingers around the knife and gripped it firmly, and than realized, she was not alone.

Lily. His voice, that lethal, dark lilt that had called to her simultaneously in her dreams, was now speaking to her casually in her head.

She was going crazy!

Crazy is a woman sitting in a corner clutching a knife and a kitten. How the hell are you in my head right now? She demanded, growing more alarmed.

His deep chuckle swept through her like warm silk.

I have tasted you, Lily. We are linked.

Well unlink it! Was she really having a conversation with a man she thought a blood-sucking fiend?

More of his laughter, and it wasn't laughter spun of humor and sarcasm, it was laughter laced of causalities. She wasn't about to be lulled into that trap.

You think me a threat?

You're reading my mind, aren't you?

She had an inclination that he was grinning.

I am.

Stop that! She cried. I gave you no invitation to be in my head, get the hell out!

What if I were to tell you that I'm not the monster?

She laughed with hysteria. You're a vampire and I'm sorry but that automatically makes you a monster.

So says the hunter.

I didn't know we were hunting you! She spat.

Let me in, Lily. All traces of humor in his tone suddenly gone.

No freaking way!

If you don't let me in, I will simply make my way in.

She shook her head. According to Dracula flicks, you can't come in without an invitation.

Again, she had the image of him grinning.

There are other ways of getting what I want.

Her heart flickered with fear.

You can't just waltz in my apartment!

As I've said, we are linked; I am able to persuade you to do anything. I'm giving you the liberty of inviting me willingly into your home.

She was silent and quite startled that she was actually considering it, but she knew, she'd rather be aware of what he intended for her, rather than in a state of fog and completely helpless.

I admire your spirit, Sunlight. Even your career-obsessed father can't break you of that.

She became angry.

If I let you in, and that's a big IF! We will not be discussing him. Understood?

You're going to let me in.

She hadn't made a move to get to her feet but realized alarmingly that she was already on her feet and moving toward the door.

Stop! I'll let you in!

He chuckled.

You brute!

Her body trembled when she came to stand before the door, the only solid object that kept a monster which thrived off blood, from entering her home.

With the knife still clutched in one hand, she reached out and opened the door.

What waited on the other side was not the image of ravenous thirst. She had imagined fiery, glowing eyes and bared fangs dripping with blood, instead, she faced a man born to be an Adonis. Dark, chocolate eyes moved over the length of her. A physique built of brawn and strength seemed to protest against the black tee and jeans that molded to every sinewy muscle. His chiseled face revealed angles of humor as well as cruelty. The arm extended above his dark head, bulged against the sleeve of his tee, as he peered at her with a sly grin.

He was as wickedly attractive as he was wicked and she feared she would be making a grave mistake by inviting this vampire into her home.

He said nothing but merely watched her with that dark perusal, observing her in a way that made her stomach flip and her skin tingle.

"Are you going to invite me in, Lily?"

Her body quivered in readiness.

She took a few steps back and said very collectedly.

"Will you come in?"

Something in the air shifted at those very words and she realized the invisible barrier that had kept him at bay, had vanished with just four damning words.

Lily retreated as he entered her home, filling the frame with the sheer size of him. Her heart flipped over as he closed the door behind him, his dark eyes fastened heavily on her.

She adjusted her grip around the knife, "If you so much as bare your canines at me, I'll pull a Buffy and stake your ass."

She detected a hint of a grin pulling at the edges of his mouth as one heavily-booted foot step towards her. "Your feeble weapon cannot kill me."

"Yeah, well it could hurt like hell."

His mouth widened into a devilish grin.

"You'll want to change." He said casually, taking another step toward her.

Her heart jolted against her breast, "Why is that?" "Because where we're going, you'll not want to be drenched in your blood."

Her stomach turned over in fear. "I'm not going anywhere with you." Her hand quivered as he stepped into the blade, but its sharpness was pathetic against his solid chest.

Firm, strong fingers wrapped itself around her wrist, and with little pressure, released the knife, and it clamored to her feet.

Lily stiffened, "What do you plan to do to me?"

His dark eyes glinted hungrily in the dark, "I had planned on killing you."

Her throat convulsed, "And now?" she whispered.

His fingers tightened around her wrist, "And now, I plan to have you."

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