Page 31 of Forsaking All Others

“And how could someone so young have enemies they would wish such vengeance upon that it would corrupt their heart?” He leans back in his chair, giving me a penetrating look.

“Well, that’s a long story,” I say quietly. “And one you won’t learn if you bite me.”

“Indeed?” He takes a long, deep drink, tops his glass up again and drains it in one huge gulp. “Unfortunately, that’s not how The Game’s played, Catriona. There are things I’d like to learn about you that we haven’t touched upon, but I’m getting the wind-up signal to say our date has come to a close. Our time is up. I must bite you.”

I stare at him, the colour draining from my face. There’s no escape. I mean, I could try and make a quick run and vault over the railing into the river, but even then the ever-present guards would catch me. No, I’ve put myself into this mess, and now I need to see it through.

‘So this is how it ends? All my strategizing, all my sacrifice, has been for nothing? Christ, that sucks. Ha, sucks. Oh shit.’

“Catriona,” he says, his voice deep, powerful. “Will you accept my bite?”

‘Fuck no!’

“Dalle stelle alle stalle,” I sigh.

“From the stars to the stables,” he shakes his head, “but isn’t that the way of life, triste petit chaton?”

“I’d hoped not, but it would seem so. And I’m not a sad little kitten, not by any means. I made my own fate. Regardless of how it ends, I made it.”

I raise my chin as I say this, and the camera pans in on my expression. My enemies will hear the message in my words, even if the vampire doesn’t.

“Regardless,” he stares into my eyes, his own darkening, “you have to say the words; we have to play the game. Will you accept my bite?”

“Yes.”

I rise as he offers me his hand. It’s warm, completely encompasses mine, and I feel the same tingle at his proximity that I did the first time our fingers touched.

Standing opposite him I wait for what’s to come as the director urges his camera men to zoom in close and “catch it all.”

‘I guess I deserve it. I mean, I’m a murderer, a liar, a traitor to my family and bloodline, playing the game under a false identity... it’s just…this isn’t how I thought it would end.’

At a cue from the director, and still holding my hand, the bachelor pulls me perfunctorily towards him as though spectacularly bored by this whole process and, using his free hand, brushes my long hair away from my neck dramatically.

I close my eyes and tense, screaming inside as he leans close, his lips brushing my throat. At first his bite is just a sharp sting, but within seconds it becomes more, so much more. Groaning, he drops my hand and snakes one of his around my waist; the other he buries into the hair at the back of my neck, his grip iron as he draws my life’s blood in deep, long gulps.

The pain is excruciating, and I grit my teeth and stare wide-eyed at the camera crew. The director looks, for some reason, as shocked as I feel, which I find vaguely amusing. I suppose it’s only because I’m the first contestant to be murdered by this bachelor. But I soon stop wondering about this, about anything, as the sucking goes on and the vampire groans and grips me so tight against him I feel every line of his rock-hard body — and suddenly the pain becomes pleasure like I’ve never known. Moaning, I relax in his arms, wondering if it’s just loss of blood that’s causing me to feel this euphoria as wave after wave of ecstasy ripples through me. Closing my eyes to the camera crew, the lights, I shudder and my legs begin to fail me just as the bachelor pulls away and, snarling like an animal, hurls me from him.

Careening backwards, I almost smash into the table, but I’m caught by strong hands before that can happen and lowered gently onto the cold brick pavers. The same hands that had saved me grip my shoulders and shake me gently, and a voice full of remorse, agony, reaches my ears before I pass out.

“Oh, God. Catriona, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I’m so very sorry.

26

“No, Gerry,” I scowl as I stare at the river, my date on her way to the hospital, “I want to see the Italian again before I announce any further competitions.”

“But,” he shakes his head in consternation, “that’s not how The Game’s played, Viscount. We have a contest planned, a big one. The fans are waiting for it.”

“My Game, my rules,” I scowl.

“But you just had your date with her…”

I grit my teeth and stare at him.

Yes, I just had my date with her, a date neither of us wanted. But it was the end of the date that had changed everything. I shake my head as I think over what just happened and wonder if being stressed and distracted had caused my composure, my control, to slip. Or if something was seriously wrong with me.

But no.

I hadn’t slipped in centuries, and I didn’t slip tonight — something about her blood compelled me to drink.