A Drop of Red Read Online Free PDF Page A

words kept punching at her. Why do you keep pushing me?
    She didn’t know. And maybe she didn’t want to.
    He was shaking now, his eyes silvering again as he fought the vampire within.
    “You want this, Costin. . . .” she whispered. “Admit it.”
    At the mention of his name, he jerked his head back, like something had shifted inside of him.
    And her instincts told her that it wasn’t a change of heart.
    Wary, Dawn watched him. His previous attack in bed had been brutal, and this was too prolonged. She had an idea about what might be ailing him now.
    Even without going into his head, Dawn freakin’ knew.
    In the next breath, he had righted his posture, and when he opened his eyes again, they were still silver, but Dawn knew they’d be blue under any other circumstances.
    Damn it, just what they needed. Costin must’ve really been worn down by fighting his hunger to allow this to happen.
    “Just because we talked about you doesn’t mean we want you around,” she said, bracing her hands against his chest. “Get out of here, Jonah.”
    Costin’s deeper, more eloquent voice gave way to Jonah’s younger, brasher American one.
    “Is that how to welcome me back?” he asked.
    Dawn glared at him, but he didn’t seem to mind.
    No, he was too busy taking in the view from this newly dominant position in his vampire body, absorbing the warm air from the heating vent on his skin, enjoying the smell of lavender from a vase on an end table. All his senses would be heightened, and he was obviously reveling in them firsthand.
    When he was done, he looked down at Dawn, at his hand on her bare breast.
    Lifting his eyebrow in amusement, and maybe in wry apology, he removed his touch, even while keeping his other arm around her.
    “Don’t ever tell me I’m not a gentleman,” he said.
    “Oh, you’re a keeper, all right.”
    He laughed softly. “Last time I saw you up close and personal like this, we were moving into this place. Just like Costin to pick a fixer-upper to nest in, isn’t it?”
    Maybe Dawn should’ve been stunned by his casual attitude, as if him showing up and taking over happened all the time. But at this point in her life, even Jimmy Hoffa crashing through the roof and smashing onto her bed wouldn’t have seemed strange.
    “Yeah,” she said, “it’s been a while. But you might also recall how, at your last visit, Costin pressed you right back into the depths of this body, where you belong. Why don’t you leave before he has to bother again?”
    “That would mean going back to my jail cell, and I like to get out into the yard every once in a while.”
    She continued glaring. “You need to let go of me.”
    “And ruin a fantasy?”
    But, surprisingly, he did loosen his hold. After a pause, he even exhaled and shook his head, then used one hand to close the gape of her nightgown, although that didn’t do much to chase the goose bumps from her skin.
    She tried to pull away from his other hand, but he still had a grip on her arm.
    I need a crucifix, she thought. But the nearest and most available one was way on the other side of the bed, where she’d dropped it earlier after calming Costin.
    There weren’t any other weapons within reach—not even a vial of holy water to flick at him.
    So she geared her mind for an attack, hoping that all the telekinetic training she’d done would pay off.
    Jonah read her body language. “I can guess what’s coming next. Remember, what Costin knows, I know. You and I are linked just as surely as you and the boss man are.”
    She shut her mind against him. That way, if she could catch him by surprise, she might have a chance at thrusting him across the room with the force of her will. Maybe it’d even jar Costin back into control.
    Calling upon each and every acting! skill she’d learned from Hollywood, she relaxed. But that only made Jonah suspicious.
    Great.
    He finished giving her an endlessly long look, then turned his attention to perusing her new,