A Vampire's Soul by Carla Susan Smith Page B

whom?”
    â€œWhoever takes her place.”
    â€œAnd what was the warning?”
    â€œThat I will always exact payment in full.”
    A number of random questions began bouncing around inside my head. “What did you do with the . . . um . . .”
    â€œBody?” I nodded and Gabriel shrugged. “Nothing. I am sure by now it has been discovered by the authorities.”
    â€œSo that wasn’t your house then?” I don’t know if his appalled expression was because I had thought he lived in such an architectural nightmare, or because I assumed he would have no problem committing murder under his roof. I decided to move on. “But the police will know how she died, right?”
    All the episodes of CSI I’d watched on TV came back to haunt me. How would the wounds in her neck not be thought suspicious?
    â€œForensics will show her throat was cut, nothing more.” He gave me a look that said he appreciated my concern, even if that wasn’t my intent. “Manipulating evidence isn’t so difficult.”
    â€œI’ll keep that in mind,” I murmured.
    Understanding the bigger picture helped . . . and it didn’t. I was still unhappy about the woman being naked, mostly because I didn’t know what had happened before my untimely entry into the room. Had Gabriel already slept with her? I didn’t need to ask him; my complete lack of a poker face relayed my insecurities.
    â€œI didn’t have sex with her, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Gabriel continued. “I told you I would have no other but you. Making her think it would happen was simply a way of increasing her heart rate. Nothing else.”
    Now why hadn’t that occurred to me? Increased heart rate equaled increased blood flow, and I could certainly vouch for the effectiveness of such a strategy. My heart went into a full gallop whenever Gabriel aroused me. I opened my mouth to ask another question, and then snapped it shut decisively. The look on Gabriel’s face said I had pushed him about as far as he was willing to go on this particular subject.
    So I asked a different question.
    â€œDo you really believe I’m promised to you in some way?”
    â€œOf course.” He frowned and looked troubled. “Do you truly not feel the connection between us?”
    â€œNot in the way you do apparently,” I muttered more to myself than him.
    â€œThink back to the very first time you saw me in the bar. What was the first thought that came into your head?”
    â€œThat I knew you, that we’d met before—but it isn’t possible!”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I would remember it—I know I would!”
    â€œAnd you will.”
    Anasztaizia had told me vampires could move quickly, but I hadn’t really understood what she’d meant. One minute Gabriel was filling the doorway, and the next he was standing by the bed. I swear to God all I did was blink. I never saw him move.
    Taking my chin in his hand, he raised my head. The feel of his fingers stroking my jaw was electric, and, thirsting for his touch, I leaned into his palm. I’m ashamed to say it took a moment before my eyes met his, because I was too busy reacquainting myself with his torso. But when I did look up, it was a glorious moment.
    Framed by thick dark lashes, his eyes had changed. The familiar hypnotic blue was now shot through with a gold iridescence, and they stared back with an intensity that scared me. Gabriel was the absolute carnal experience—a thousand and one encounters that I could not name but wanted to experience in the worst possible way. Whether he was vampire or human, I couldn’t shut off my feelings for him. I wasn’t a faucet, for God’s sake!
    â€œA bond already exists between us,” Gabriel said, his voice raw with emotion. “It was created a long time ago, and is one that cannot be broken by either human or vampire law.