The light of the full moon disappeared as he closed the front door. Darkness enveloped us, and soon his arms encircled me in an arc of coolness.
Heart To Heart: First Chapter
“Angel Brown.” He whispered my name fervently, like a prayer…and I wanted him more than almost anything: more than sunlight, more than even music.
But despite the intensity of my love for him, there was still one thing I wanted more than Sawyer Creed.
Blood.
“Getting thirsty again,” I whispered, trying not to breathe in his mouth-watering fragrance.
He picked me up and cradled me in his arms. “Let’s take care of that.” I relished the haven created by his lean, muscular chest as his long legs moved a few strides to the Grand Room, named for, and host of, the two grand pianos we’d played endlessly over the past six months.
He touched me as if I were the most fragile thing on earth, as if I’d break from the slightest movement of air. But I was Shimshana—a newborn immortal blood drinker from the ancient race that had sired vampires. And he was mortal—a novice wizard and medium just coming to grips with his magical abilities after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about who and what he was.
We’d just said good-bye to the last of our session guests after spending the past ten hours recording tracks. Included in the crowd were the other members of my girl group Kat Trio—Julietta and LaLa; guest musicians and rappers; our group’s manager, Nina; and various people from our Boston record label, House Quake.
“I’m glad we finished recording all of our songs with you today,” I said while stroking his five-o’clock shadow. “But I thought they’d never leave.”
“Been wanting to do this all day.” His raspy voice was next to my ear. “Get you alone.”
Shimshana is what we are and what we have—an unraveling intestinal tube that extends up through the throat and out of the mouth to draw blood from people or animals. It shivered in my stomach as he gently set me down on the piano bench.
Unlike my heart, which banged against my ribs, his heartbeat was as steady as it always was. But the glint in his emerald-green eyes gave away his excitement.
At six foot four, he was a full foot taller than me, but was able to pick me up only when I lightened my body weight. I could easily overpower and crush him with the smallest amount of applied pressure. And right now the sound and smell of the blood coursing through his body almost drowned the sounds of my own heavy breathing.