Gabriel's Mate by Folsom, Tina (fun books to read for adults .TXT) 📗

“It’s disgusting! It tastes vile. It makes me puke,” she spat.

“We weren’t lying,” Zane snapped.

Gabriel shot him a furious look. “And I guess it was your idea to restrain her and force her to feed.” He didn’t need to wait for Zane’s answer to know he was right. “May I remind you that this is not World War II, and you’re not in a torture chamber.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed. Gabriel watched as the cords in his second-in-command’s neck bulged. At the same time, he felt Maya’s body tense. Her instincts were sharp, he realized instantly. Zane had a short temper and a vicious streak. Violence was a way of life for him, and she was right to fear him.

“Whatever works.” Zane’s voice was cold and devoid of any emotion. If he wasn’t such a great fighter, Gabriel would have fired him years ago. But it was smarter to have Zane fighting on their side rather than the enemy’s. And once Zane chose a side, he stuck with it. Where his fierce loyalty stemmed from, Gabriel could only guess, but knew he’d never know the true reason.

“You ever touch her again, I’ll kill you,” Gabriel warned, then swept his gaze over the other two. “That goes for all of you. Maya is under my personal protection. You harm her, you will feel my wrath.”

The shocked looks on his colleagues’ faces told him that they took his threat seriously – as they should. He never made empty treats, and he never bluffed. And he was the worst poker player ever for that very reason.

“Good.” Gabriel turned his attention back to Maya. He was all too aware that he still held her in his arms, and maybe at this moment she felt the same awkwardness that he experienced, because she suddenly stepped out of his hold.

“Yvette was trying to force the blood down my throat when I’d already told her that it was making me gag,” Maya said.

Yvette took a step forward. “I gave her the best quality stuff. She’s making it sound like I fed her animal blood.”

“That’s not what I said. The taste and smell of it makes me sick. I can’t drink it. Don’t you get that?” Maya fisted her hands at her hips and stared at Yvette.

Not wanting a cat fight on his watch, Gabriel raised his hand.

“Okay, let’s just go over this in detail. Yvette, what did you give her?”

“Nothing I wouldn’t drink myself.” When Gabriel raised his eyebrow, she continued, “First the O positive bottle, then even the O

neg. You know Samson always has the best supplies. But she wouldn’t even drink O neg. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Maybe I’m allergic,” Maya interrupted.

“Impossible,” Thomas answered.

“Unheard of,” Zane agreed with his colleague. “Vampires are not allergic to blood.”

Gabriel nodded. He had to agree with them. Never in his long life had he heard of a vampire who would be repulsed by human blood.

“Maya, a newly turned vampire’s overwhelming thirst makes sure you drink whatever human blood is available. It’s instinct, pure and simple.”

Maya’s other instincts seemed to be working just fine – her instant response to Zane’s aggression had shown Gabriel that she was fully attuned to her natural sense of self-preservation, but why she wouldn’t feed, he couldn’t explain.

“Maybe I’m not a vampire then,” she replied.

Gabriel swept a long look over her form. He could clearly sense her aura, and if that wasn’t enough to prove to him what she was, he remembered the moment she’d bitten him. He’d felt her fangs graze him. No, she was a vampire. “Something is wrong.”

Maya swallowed hard at Gabriel’s words. Wrong? There were a hell lot of things that were wrong. For starters, she was a vampire – even if she couldn’t yet accept this fact – when she should right now be at the hospital diagnosing and healing patients. In addition, she was pretty much locked up in a strange house with four strangers – no, make that five with the butler – when she should be at her own little apartment.

p. She wore the clothes of a woman she’d never met. Wasn’t that enough?

Apparently not. So she hadn’t turned into a normal vampire then – that was just her hard luck. Instead of craving human blood, like they told her every newly turned vampire did, she found it disgusting and gagged on it.

But what they didn’t know and what she wouldn’t – couldn’t – tell them was that what she really wanted was to take a bite out of Gabriel.

Literally. The moment he’d stepped into the kitchen to rescue her from his obnoxious friends, she’d fought against her urge to sink her fangs into his arm and feed from him. Yes, feed. That’s what they called it.

When he’d held her to his chest, she’d inhaled his scent deeply. Her senses were so sharp that she could virtually smell the warm blood underneath his skin, so close for the taking. If only his friends would leave the room, maybe she could somehow overwhelm him and take what she needed. And what she needed wasn’t only his blood. She wanted his arms around her and his naked body on top of her or underneath her – whichever way she could get him.

Maya shook the thought from her mind. She wasn’t an animal that attacked without regard for its victim, but by God, she wanted Gabriel’s blood. And she wanted his body just as much. What had she become? A creature driven by her needs alone? Had she lost all her humanity?

She didn’t want to believe it. Her sense of right and wrong was still in place. Her fears still the same as ever, her passion unbridled and ready to be unleashed on the unsuspecting man who’d done nothing but help and comfort her.

She looked up at Gabriel. Strange, only hours ago she’d been scared out of her wits at the sight of him. The ugly scar had looked menacing.

But all