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buffet,” he replied coldly. “If you want to feed
once I’m gone, you’ll have to learn to take humans.”
    That effectively wiped away the high hopes
she’d awoken with. “You planning on going somewhere I can’t
follow?” Her effort at lightness was forced at best, pathetic at
worst. He was really leaving her?
    “With any luck,” he growled.
    He was to the end of the hall and two steps
down the stairs before he realized she wasn’t behind him. Even in
the dim light, she could see his scowl. “Get a move on,” he
snapped. “We don’t have all night.”
    Her feet were rooted to the spot by a rush of
cold panic. She opened her mouth, fighting the urge to beg him to
stay. This wasn’t what she’d thought would happen when he’d offered
her life as a vampire! “You promised you’d take care of me,” she
whispered, remembering his words in that dark tunnel as they’d fled
the destruction of his home. “When you turned me, you said you’d
take care of me. You didn’t say you’d abandon me to fend for
myself.”
    His face hardened. “I am taking care of you,”
he shot back, every word a bullet of anger. “You’re alive, aren’t
you? Have I not fed you when you were hungry? Did I not teach you
to control your bloodlust last night? You can use sex on anyone,
not just me. Tonight you will. Now get your ass in gear, Kira. Dawn
waits for no one.”
    “No.”
    The word
was out before she so much as thought it but she didn’t take it
back. Hurt feelings or not, she wasn’t the begging type. Crossing
her arms over her chest, Kira raised her chin. His dominant
behavior last night had been a sexy, kinky game, but this was
pushing her limits. She didn’t know what the hell was wrong with
him but he’d never spoken to her like this and she wasn’t going to
start taking it now. “Your attitude sucks, Orion. I didn’t use sex on you and you fucking well
know it. Find another tone when you speak to me or you can take off
for wherever you’re going without me.”
    Forget the terror that waited to swamp her at
the thought of fending for herself alone. She’d rather do that than
allow anyone to demean her.
    He took a menacing step forward, then
stopped. Their gazes clashed for a long moment before he sighed
harshly and let his head drop back, eyes closing. “All right,” he
said, the hard anger vanishing from his voice to be replaced by
weariness. “All right. You’re right and I’m sorry. Kira, please
come here. I need to get out of here and I’m not leaving without
you.”
    That was better. She uncrossed her arms and
took her time walking to his side. “You’re not usually a bastard,”
she said when she stopped beside him. “Want to tell me what crawled
up your ass and died, or do I get to guess?”
    Finally he met her eyes again and she was
relieved to see the old Orion looking down at her. He shook his
head at her language but she was sure she saw the hint of a smile
at the edge of his mouth. “I should know better than to bully you,”
he admitted. “Let’s just get out of here first. We can talk
outside.”
    “Whatever.” But this time she followed when
he started down the stairs.
    The bass beat still hammered, getting
progressively louder the closer they got to the bottom. The already
faint light dimmed further, then was replaced by black lights.
Orion surprised her by taking her hand when they turned the final
corner.
    They emerged into chaos.
    Even when she’d dated Barrett, Kira had never
been inside Club Nighthawk. Now she knew why both men had warned
her away from it. A seething, writhing mass of humanity filled the
huge club, surging to the beat of the heavy metal band on the
stage. Every dark corner held a couple -- or more -- and the scent
of blood and sex was heavy in the humid air. Without understanding
how she knew it, she sensed the presence of vampires throughout the
crowd, inciting the humans’ desires, feeding their own bloodlust
and taking what they wanted without the