Bitten by Darkness Read Online Free PDF

pointless.
“Would you like to see inside?”
    She
stared, willing her nerves to settle. Was he serious? After that kiss and
tingle, whatever the hell it was, and his non-reaction, he wanted to give her a
tour? “It's getting dark,” she said. What she wanted to do was run away. No,
that's not true , a little voice told her. What you want to do is grab
him and never let go.
    “Do you
have somewhere else to be on this lovely Friday night?” His eyes glowed in the
deepening twilight.
    Sienna
shook her head slowly. He held out a hand. She licked her lips, suddenly
unsure. What am I doing? There are monsters out there, eating girls, and I'm
going to go into a strange man's house?
    He read
the indecision on her face. “I give you my word no harm will come to you.
Indeed, it is safer inside than in these darkening woods.”
    How poetic , she thought. As if in a dream, she put her hand in his.
His palm was warm. A thin scar bisected his life-line, a bad omen, her grandma would intone, if she were alive. “Why do I trust you?” Might as
well see what he had to say. He urged her up the stairs. As she climbed, the
familiar weight of her cell phone in her jeans pocket calmed her somewhat. She
could always call Linda’s dad for help.
    He
grimaced at her question, looking unsettled. “Indeed, I was wondering the same
thing about you. Why do I trust you? I should be angry that you've been sitting
on my steps all these years.”
    “What?
It's not like anyone was here. The place was abandoned. And I never told anyone
about it. I’m the only one who knows it even exists.” She hadn’t expected him to
say that.
    He
shrugged.
    She tried
again. “How did you scare off that thing that tried to hurt my friend? Even
drug addicts don't usually scare off just because of a broken bone.” They'd
paused in front of the door. When had they walked past the second barrier? She
hadn’t felt a thing.
    Jasper
just looked at her, silent.
    Sienna
sighed. She’d never been this close to the mansion’s door before. The heavy
wood was beautifully carved with scrolls and fantastic designs. She'd often
wished she could get close enough to touch it, but something always warned her
away whenever she'd tried to climb past the third step. She reached out a hand,
fingered the closest curl in the wood.
    He
watched her touch the door. Something in his body language told her he was
uncomfortable with her questions.
    “You're
not going to answer me, are you?” She turned to him, tipping her head up to
search his face. Not many men were tall enough for her to do that. He was
looking at her hands again. When his eyes met hers, she felt the spark between
them like an explosion in her gut.
    “No,” he
said. He glanced away, then back. “I don't know. Perhaps the attacker knew I
would not hesitate to end his life.” He stared into her eyes.
    Sienna
blinked, dizzy, as if the world had suddenly sped up.
    “How did
you know he wouldn’t care about a little bit of pain?” His gaze pressed at her,
insisted on answers.
    She
shifted, uncomfortable in his presence for the first time. “My mother told me.”
    His eyes
cleared. “Ah.” He opened the door. Inside, a vast foyer stretched the length of
the house, softly lit by beautiful, antique sconces set along the walls.
    She
grinned, amused. “‘Ah.’ Do you use that a lot? Whenever you can't think of
something to say, you just pretend you have a clue and say, ‘Ah.’ ”
     
    He
chuckled, ushering her into the mansion. The door shut behind them with a dull
thud. “You've figured me out.” He pressed a hand over his heart.
    She
laughed aloud, despite herself. Oh, she liked him. She liked him a lot. “You're
a big dork.”
    He cocked
his head at her, but didn't deny the appellation. “What would you like to see
first? The kitchen? The library? That room's a bit worse for wear right now. It's been slowly disintegrating and
I haven't had time to renovate it.”
    She
tapped a finger against her lips,