Bitten: A Vampire Blood Courtesans Romance by Michelle Fox, Kim Faulks Page B

it down on the leg. The wood cracked as a leg of the chair broke.
    He dropped to one knee, never taking his eyes from my host and wrestled with the shard. The end splintered, sharp and cruel. The vampire turned ashen as he stared at the pointed end.
    Jared waved the wood. “No, but a bullet will slow you long enough to shove this through your chest, won’t it?”
    The soft hiss sounded like a dangerous rattle. “What do you want?”
    I scooted forward on the lounge, not caring if I drew the monster’s attention. I clutched the fragments of what was left of what we had just as I clutched the dress against my body as Jared gave me a ghost of a smile. He stared at my body, barely clothed. “I want what I’ve always wanted… money. I want money and a lot of it.”
    His words didn’t sink in. I stared at him, at this man I’d love for over half my life until finally those words settled. I jerked. My ears rang with his barbed words. “Jared.”
    He smiled at the look on my face, twisting the bloated corners of his mouth into a sneer.
    “How much?”
    The man I once loved jerked his gaze to the vampire and sniggered. “How much do you have?”
    Jared stepped past me without so much as a second glance. This was what he wanted all along. My ankle buckled as I tried to stand. He wasn’t here to save me. He never cared about me at all….
    So stupid… so fucking stupid.
    The white noise repeated inside my head.
    I want what I’ve always wanted… money .
    I saw him then, really saw him for what he was—a liar, a user… and I’d let him. I’d let him… . I took a step, leaving behind the shell of the woman I’d once been and stumbled toward the door.
    “Where do you think you’re going?”
    I inhaled and took another step. Outside, lights sparkled, beckoning me. My feet moved. I clutched the dress in my hand and stared at the stainless handle of the cabin door. Just one more step and I’d be free of these monsters.
    Heavy footsteps echoed behind me. The floor shuddered as I grasped the handle. My hand trembled. I knew his walk. I knew his scent—I knew everything about him.
    But he didn’t know everything about me.
    Jared speared his fingers through my hair to grasp the back of my neck and leaned in. “I asked you a question. Where do you think you’re going?”
    I reeled backwards and swung, knocking his grip free. My hand followed the arc. My palm hit his cheek, fire bit, sending flames through my hand as I screamed. “Get your filthy fucking hands off me. You… liar . You filthy fucking liar. You did this. You did this to me!”
    My breath came hard, filling me up only to abandon me just as fast, still the only constant was rage. It welled in my belly like a rock weighing me down with every step. I lifted my head and stared into his wide eyes. “I hate you. I hate you for what you’ve done to me—I hate you for wasting my life. But I hate myself more.”
    Jared lifted his hand, his other never wavered, pointing the gun at Devlin. The stake —I blinked away tears that weren’t there, and found the shattered leg of the chair tucked under his arm.
    Jared grunted and swung. His fist found my nose. The crunch of my teeth cleaved my thoughts. My head snapped backwards. I stumbled. The floor seemed to slip away. I wind-milled my arms, fighting for balance—and lost.
    My heel snapped and my knees buckled. I hit something hard, stars fell from the sky to burst behind my eyes, bringing blinding pain with them. I rolled onto my side as his screams closed in.
    “You stuck-up fucking bitch. You hate me? You hate me? You never loved me to begin with. This last year, I hated every fucking minute I was with you. I couldn’t stand to look at you. I thought you were going to sell your mother’s place, that’s the only reason I stayed.”
    Movement blurred as he shifted from one foot to another, a hiss of exertion followed. Dark, sodden denim seemed to consume the ghostly light from the dining room as he drew his