Chapter Twenty-Eight
Madison couldn’t seem to look away from the woman’s expressionless face. The cigarette she’d previously lit dangled loosely from her fingers, releasing a trail of smoke that wafted out around them.
Fighting nausea over what she was about to do, Madison gripped the cigarette by the filter and tugged it free before flicking it somewhere behind her.
“Go for the neck,” Simon informed her in a matter-of-fact tone. “The vein is much larger there. It makes for a quicker and more pleasurable feed.”
Madison swallowed with difficulty. “I will never find anything pleasurable about drinking blood from strangers. Let alone taking it from them without their knowledge.”
“Would you rather they knew?”
“Of course not.” She took a hesitant step toward the unsuspecting woman.
Simon’s next words caught her off guard. “You could always take some of mine…”
Madison paused, her fangs tingling at the thought of latching onto Simon’s throat.
She peered up into his sky-blue eyes, noticing a touch of something resembling insecurity lurking there.
He wanted her to accept his offer, no matter how flippant he tried to appear.
Madison realized something else in that moment…she wanted to drink from him as well. What was happening to her?
The sounds spilling from the busy establishment the cigarette smoking woman had come from seemed to grow in volume the longer Madison stood there staring into Simon’s eyes. Her vision sharpened, tunneling until he seemed to be all she could see.
“Do it,” he whispered, baring his throat.
She could see the pulse beating just below his skin; almost hear the blood rushing through his veins.
Like a moth to a flame, Madison moved forward, her gaze glued to Simon’s neck.
His amazing scent surrounded her, drowning out the dank smell of the dirty alley.
Suddenly, nothing else mattered to Madison but Simon and that masculine scent he exuded.
She slammed into him harder than she’d intended. Her hands gripped the sides of his head and her mouth latched onto his throat.
The fangs tingling in her gums penetrated his skin only for her to realize she’d missed her mark.
Simon grunted from the force of her bite, but otherwise held completely still.
Madison pulled back an inch, ran her tongue along the side of his neck until she picked up on the pulse beating there and then sank deep once again.
“Jesus!” he barked, his arms shooting out to lock tightly around her.
The unique flavor that was Simon exploded across her tongue, ripping a moan of pleasure from her throat. Madison had never tasted anything so delicious. It shamed her for an instant before her eyes rolled back in pleasure, and she suddenly didn’t care anymore.
Unsure of how much time had passed with Madison feeding like a woman starved, she released her hold on Simon’s face and retracted her fangs from his flesh. But he didn’t let her go. If anything, he tightened his arms around her.
“Madison…”
The woman who’d stepped outside to smoke staggered against the building, a soft moan slipping from her throat.
Madison freed herself from Simon’s embrace. “What are you going to do about her?”
“Nothing. Once we’re gone, she’ll return indoors with no memory of us being here.”
More shame poured through Madison. Though they hadn’t physically touched the woman, Simon had forced his way into her mind. That in itself seemed to be a form of depredation.
“Don’t go soft on me now,” Simon murmured, obviously seeing her internal battle of guilt. He took Madison by the hand and led her back the way they’d come. “Do you think she would have simply handed you a straw and told you to suck at will?”
Madison pulled free of his grasp. “Of course not. It doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
He stopped at the gate they’d entered earlier, checked their surroundings and then stepped onto the busy New Orleans streets. “You might never like it. And you are always welcome to drink from me. But I can’t be with you every hour of every day. There may come a time when you will have to do it out of necessity.”
Madison followed him through the gate, her heart heavy with regret. “I’ll just be glad when this is all over. I’m ready to go home.”
The two of them hurried back to the condo, arriving a little before dawn to find Angel seated on the sofa smoking a cigar.
He looked up as Simon and Madison entered the room. “Cuttin’ it kind of close, aren’t you?”
Madison opened her mouth to explain that it was her fault they were late returning, but Simon spoke first. “Where is Sawyer?”
Angel jerked his thumb toward a room to the left. “Working on something to keep us hidden from the Warlocks.”
“He can do that?” Madison felt as if she’d stepped into the twilight zone.
The door that Angel had indicated opened and Sawyer stepped into the room. “I can try.”
“But you’re a shifter,” Madison pointed out. “Not a warlock.”
Sawyer stared back at her without blinking. “I’m not a shifter, I’m a werewolf.”
Madison narrowed her eyes. “Don’t split hairs with me. How the hell are you planning on hiding us from the Warlocks?”
“I can’t hide us. But I can cloak us as long as we’re inside these four walls.”
Simon moved forward, stopping next to Madison’s elbow. He addressed Sawyer. “How?”
“According to Sam—” Sawyer began, only to be cutoff by Simon.
“Sam?”
Sawyer met the gazes of everyone in the room before returning his attention to Simon. “Sam is an old friend of mine who lives in DeFuniak Springs, Florida.”
Madison cleared her throat. “And this Sam just happens to know how to cloak oneself?”
“He should, since he’s a warlock, himself.”
Simon growled deep in his chest. “You’re risking our lives on the word of a warlock?”
“Says the fiend who abducted an innocent woman and child,” Sawyer snapped back. “If anyone’s word should be questioned here, it’s yours.”
Madison stepped between them, her palms coming to rest against their chests. She glared at Simon. “Enough.”
After making her displeasure with Simon’s mouth running known, she turned her attention to Sawyer. “Do you trust this Sam?”
Sawyer nodded once. “I do.”
“That’s good enough for me. How is this cloaking done?”
“By symbols,” Sawyer answered. “Along with a few other things I took from one of the local shops.”
Madison thought about that for a second. “By took, I’m assuming you didn’t purchase them.”
Sawyer shook his head. “I broke in.”
Angel pushed to his feet. “The sun will be rising shortly.”
Madison somehow knew that. She could feel a certain sluggishness in her body, a heaviness to her eyelids.
She glanced around the condo. “Where am I sleeping?”
“With me,” Simon answered, the words falling like lead in the otherwise quiet room.
Madison’s heartrate accelerated, memories of the night before playing through her mind.
Apparently, Simon could read her thoughts if his expression were any indication. Thankfully, he didn’t mention it in front of the others.
He simply took hold of her hand, his gaze flicking to Angel. “Which room belongs to us?”
Angel nodded toward a hallway. “Last door on the right.”
Madison allowed Simon to lead her from the room, down the long hallway, and into the bedroom before speaking.
She opened her mouth to thank him for his discretion, but the words wouldn’t seem to come.
As if moving in slow motion, her legs folded beneath her and her world turned dark.