The Vampire's Curse, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #2) by S.J. Wright Page A

anything to lose myself completely in the magic that was Michael.
    I stepped in front of the truck and just watched him for a few moments. I wanted to preserve this moment somehow. I wanted his image etched permanently onto my brain, my flesh, my bones, so that I could look back and see it all again. I didn’t want to wait another moment to feel his skin against mine.
    He stood there at the edge of the road, the trees immobile and pale behind him. They looked like ghosts waiting expectantly for the next move to be made between the mortals before them. What would they see, those half dead wooden beings waiting patiently for spring to breathe new life into their limbs? Would our little play in this dark landscape be enough to entertain them until the undeniable surge of life sprang forth inside them at the end of March?
    Spring seemed very far away. I treasured the cold air around me, the spindly bare trees that reached fruitlessly toward the heavens. At that moment, though, my whole being was focused on the vampire before me; the dark wavy locks of hair that brushed the collar of his long wool coat, the intense hooded eyes that sent shivers through me with every glance. I wanted to hear his voice. I would have begged for a word at that moment.
    Instead, I gathered the hollow shell of responsibility around me and asked him, "You pushed the field out this far?"
    Silence. Only silence from him, the focus of my every breath, thought, and hope. I ducked my head down and felt a painful slice go through the heart of me. Was he rejecting me? After everything that had happened, after the blood I'd spilled and the tears and the awful battles, was he going to turn his back? That kind of heartlessness would destroy me.
    I heard a muttered curse issued from him, and he shifted. Those sky blue eyes closed. His head went back. His fingers curled up into tight, fearless fists. I couldn't drag my gaze away from him. The power behind his every move held me prisoner.
    In a few breathless moments, his voice came to me in the numbing breeze.
    "If you invite me in right now, it won't just be an invitation into the containment field." It was a simple statement of fact. He wasn't asking me a question. He was declaring what he knew to be the startling truth.
    My breath rose in a cloud before me over and over again, as I contemplated this undeniable path we had both stepped onto and rushed along without much planning, without enough caution or judgment. And there it was. Such things happened.
    "You won't deny me?" I whispered.
    He didn't laugh. He moved towards me with guileless determination, his expression unreadable. A few feet away, he halted and regarded me with a serious expression. It was impossible to see either hesitation or anticipation in the smooth angles of his face.
    "Deny you? You honestly think I can do that?" He swore again, the words floating away in the wind before I could discern their meaning.
    I turned inward, examining what had come before. I thought about Alex and what he'd done to me, how he'd made me feel so weak. Would it be the same with Michael? Would he infuse me with some of his own power? Would he be able to deny himself the taste of my blood once we had crossed every other boundary? How much control did he have over his desires?
    Always doubting. I was tired of the questions blazing through me, sick of being so cautious around him. I wanted to throw myself into the fate that had been assigned to me and let everything fall where it may. I couldn't control anyone but myself. If something terrible happened, would it be my fault? I didn't deserve to put my entire life on hold, dreading what might come.
    I dropped my mantle of doubt on the cold road, and I pushed my shoulders back.
    "Come in, Michael. Please." Strong words, coming from me.
    With his jaw clenched tightly, he stared at me. Then one of his hands came forward tentatively, as if testing some unseen boundary. There was no barrier, so he stepped towards me. The