He had heard legends of Vampires, but he had never met any during his long life. Boatwright had never mentioned any other creatures. If anything, Boatwright had boasted that Werewolves were the only creatures of the night that were real.
“We are the only ones that truly live.” Simon remembered Boatwright bragging to him shortly after the alpha changed him. “And I am the alpha, the leader, the only one who can make more. I alone control who can become immortal and who will die. The Werewolves I create are the only ones in the world.”
Simon had believed his former alpha. The only Werewolves he had ever met were the ones Boatwright created. They were the ones Simon would later kill. He had spent centuries believing he was the only creature of his kind on Earth.
His eyes shifted down to Tory’s relaxed face. He traced her flushed cheek with the trembling fingers of his right hand. She was not pale or cold like the stories said a Vampire would be. She had delivered the furniture to his house this afternoon in broad daylight. He had watched as the sun highlighted the colors in her rich, brown hair.
“No, it has to be something else,” Simon murmured as he tenderly stroked her cheek. “She is warm. She was outside in the sun. No, there is another explanation.”
“Why would she go to a cemetery at night?” Youssef asked. “No normal human would venture there alone after dark. Not only that, I thought I saw… things moving there. Simon, something is not right. Let me take her to her apartment. I can leave her there. I think it would be best if you disappeared for a while until I find out what is going on.”
“No!” Simon replied sharply, glancing up at Youssef with a piercing glacial glare. “She stays with me until I know what she is and what happened.”
“Very well,” Youssef forced out in a heavy voice. “I just ask that you use caution. She has some type of hold over you. I’ve never seen…” Youssef’s voice died at the silent warning in Simon’s eyes at the mention of what happened a short time ago in the cemetery. “At least let me see what information I can find on her and Alexandru Carson. Promise me you will use caution until I can see what I can find.”
“Do your research,” Simon agreed. “I can look after myself.”
Youssef gave a sharp nod, but remained quiet. Simon knew his friend wanted to argue. He also knew that it would be useless. No, he would keep an eye on Miss Tory Carson, a very close eye. She would be under his control, in his bed, and if he had anything to do with it, what happened in the cemetery would only be the beginning.
Two days, Simon thought, leaning his head back against the headrest. Two days until the sexual urges of the beast take control of me. Nothing can save Tory, then.
Chapter 8
Tory stretched, yawned, and wiggled her toes back and forth. She didn’t remember the bed in the apartment being this comfortable. She yawned again and slowly opened her eyes. Her head tilted sideways as she stared up at the high ceiling. A frown creased her brow as she studied it. This wasn’t her bedroom.
A low scream escaped her when a man’s face suddenly appeared in front of her. Not thinking, she pushed her hands up against his chest with more force than she was intending. Horror darkened her eyes as Simon’s body flew up almost to the ceiling above the bed from her thrust.
Tory shifted into a bat as gravity kicked in and he started to fall. Flapping frantically, she flew up and landed on the top of an armoire set against the far wall of the bedroom. Peeking over the top, she winced when Simon landed in the middle of the bed with a loud thump. Her eyes widened and a delighted grin curved her lips as she admired his bare ass. Her admiration turned into a startled squeak when he suddenly moved.
Her eyes locked with his for a moment when he turned and glared up at her. Scrambling awkwardly backwards until she was up against the wall, she waited with a pounding heart. It didn’t take long before a pair of piercing blue eyes was staring at her from over the lip of the beautiful, dark wood cabinet.
Tory stared back at him for several long seconds, wondering what she should do. Deciding she couldn’t stay on top of the cabinet forever, she scooted toward the edge while keeping her eyes on him. He seemed to understand what she was about to do as his eyes followed her, but he didn’t try to grab her.
With a little sneeze, she pushed off the armoire. She fluttered to the other side of the room before she transformed back. With a quick reach, she grabbed a dressing robe off an elegant eighteenth century style chair and pulled it on before she turned around to face Simon. A rosy blush rose up her cheeks, but she forced her eyes to remain on his face, instead of his magnificent body that was clearly exposed.