The Darkness by Nina Croft Page B

life, but that had been long ago. She knew in her heart this wasn’t the same man.
    His eyes roamed over her. They lingered on her throat, and her fear instantly vanished, replaced by something far more dangerous. She could almost feel the scrape of his fangs, and prickles of excitement shivered across her skin. Her body quivered with the memory of the pleasure she knew he could bring. The muscles of her belly cramped, and her insides turned molten. She could scent her own arousal on the night air and knew he could, too. He leaned closer and breathed in deeply, as though trying to inhale her.
    â€œPleased to see me?” he murmured.
    Her eyes flashed to his face. He was making no attempt to hide his response, his eyes darkening to black, gleaming under heavy lids. He looked like a hunter who had scented his prey, and he was starving for her. The breath caught in her throat once more, and her blood thickened until she could feel it pulsing through her veins.
    She’d forgotten the way he made her feel. Although that wasn’t entirely true. The truth was she’d known she would be unable to get through the long years alone, with his memory haunting her at every step, so she’d built defensive walls around those memories. Now the walls were crumbling. She shook her head, forced herself to ignore the feelings, gather her self-control around her like a cloak.
    She licked her lips. Opened her mouth. Closed it again.
    A frown formed on his face as he watched her. He lifted his head to scan the room behind her, and her hand tightened on the door, ready to slam it in his face if he made a move to enter.
    â€œInvite me in,” he said.
    She shook her head again.
    He raised an eyebrow. “Can’t you speak? Somebody cut out your tongue?”
    She swallowed, trying to ease the tightness in her throat. “What do you want, Darius?”
    â€œAt this moment, to come in and…” He paused, his eyes running over her body again. This time she was ready, and steeled herself against any response. “…talk to you about old times.”
    â€œI don’t remember the old times.”
    â€œReally?” He sounded as though he didn’t believe her. “Well, we’ll talk about new times then.”
    â€œI don’t want to talk about new times.”
    â€œYou might not, but I do.”
    The sound of voices drifted down the corridor, and Gina jumped. She peered around Darius to see a couple of girls walking toward them, young, pretty and vivacious. Their steps slowed as they caught sight of Darius. They whispered to each other as they stopped by the door of the next room along, taking too long fiddling with the key card, and casting sideways glances at his tall, indolent figure.
    Gina glanced at his face. He was watching them, a speculative look in his eyes, and something hardened inside her. The two girls finally managed to open the door and disappeared inside with a last longing look in his direction.
    He turned back to Gina. “Perhaps they would invite me in.”
    â€œNo doubt.
    He looked after them thoughtfully, eyeing the closed door. He licked his lips, and her eyes narrowed. “Do you really want me to eat the neighbors?” he asked.
    â€œYou wouldn’t.”
    â€œTry me.” He smiled showing the tips of his fangs. “You know what I’m capable of. I could drain them dry and still come back to you for more.”
    She shook her head. “What is it you want, Darius?” she asked again.
    â€œInvite me in.”
    She remembered then that he couldn’t enter without her invitation, couldn’t cross her threshold. If she closed the door on him, he could do nothing about it. Except go to the next room. She glanced at the closed door where the girls had disappeared. Did she believe he would coldly slaughter them?
    She rejected the idea with her whole heart. If he hadn’t been able to kill a drug dealer and a pimp, he wasn’t