“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. 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 the things he’d said and done since had started overriding his outside appearance. When she looked at him now, there was no ugliness, only a man who was trying to protect her.

And how did she want to repay him for his kindness? By biting him.

She couldn’t allow herself to do that. She had to get out of this place. Without a word, she turned on her heels and rushed out of the kitchen.

“Where’re you going?” she heard Gabriel’s voice behind her. “Maya!”

But she didn’t want to listen to him.

In the corridor, she turned toward the stairs. She needed her handbag with her keys so she could go home. Before she could set even one foot on the first step, Gabriel was already behind her and turned her around to face him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his face a mask of concern and confusion.

She tried to find the right words, but nothing came out. How could she tell him what she really wanted? To sink her fangs into his neck while she explored his naked body with her hands, when all he wanted was to protect her.

“I promise they won’t hurt you anymore. They fear me too much. I’m their boss. Nobody will touch you or force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he promised.

Maya shook her head. She believed him, but it wasn’t enough. “I don’t belong here. I’m going home.”

Gabriel’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t go home. That rogue is still out there. It’s too dangerous.”

“I need to go home. I can’t stay here with you. This is not my life. This is not me.” Tears started welling up in her eyes again, but she pushed them back. “I have a job, a life. My parents—what will I tell my parents? And my friends? Paulette and Barbara will be so worried if I don’t tell them where I am.”

“We’ll help you figure things out. I will help you,” Gabriel insisted.

“And what, make up lies to hide what I am? Or will I be dead to everybody else?”

His hand stroked over her arm in a gesture so comforting, she wanted to lean into him.

“We all have to make up new lives for ourselves. We stay young while everyone around us ages and dies. I’ll help you figure out what to do about your parents and your friends. But for now, you can’t tell anybody, not while we’re trying to take out the rogue.”