“We met the night your car had stalled. I helped you fix it. You were grateful, very grateful,” he insinuated.

She didn’t believe it. No, she would have never allowed him to touch her. “No.”

“Oh, yes. Shall I tell you more about how it was between us?”

Disgust rose in her stomach and settled uncomfortably at her solar plexus. “There’s no us. There’s never been an us, and there’ll never be an us.” Even though she still remembered nothing about him, she knew instinctively that she’d never had sex with Ricky. Her body told her as much. It recoiled from his presence.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.” He took several steps into the room, closing in on her.

“Gabriel will kill you if you lay a hand on me,” she warned and took a step back.

“We’ll be long gone by the time Gabriel figures things out and gets back here.” He pulled a small, flat device out of his pocket and turned it to her. Maya looked at what appeared to be an iPhone with a map. In the middle of it, a red dot blinked. “I know exactly where he is right now, so don’t you worry about Gabriel.”

Maya cursed. “You prick!”

“Now, now, are those the words for a lover?” The sick grin around his mouth made her physically nauseous. She would never be his lover. She’d rather kill herself before she let him touch her.

“You can’t possibly think I’d ever become your lover.”

“The way I see it you don’t have much of a choice, seeing that you’ll be all tied up soon. And then I’ll take what I want, whenever I want and how often I want. It’s your own fault. It could have been different between us. But no, you had to lead me on, make me want you, and then just turn away as if I was a nobody. And generous as I am, I even gave you a second chance. We started all new, and, you little bitch, you did the same thing again. There are days when I really love my gifts.” Then he growled.

“And there are days when I recognize their limitations. Unfortunately now that your doubts about me are confirmed, there’s no more dispelling them, nor erasing your memories. It was easier when you were human, at least I could wipe the slate clean. But you left me no choice.”

The snarl around his mouth made his average face look ugly. She could practically see the ugliness inside him, the evil that lived within him. Her skin crawled with awareness of the bad vibes his body was projecting. She felt it more intensely now that he was only a few feet away from her. The little hairs on her arms rose as if preparing for an attack. And she knew he’d attack. All she could do was distract him until help arrived.

The silence from downstairs told her that Carl wasn’t coming to her defense. Maya feared the worst for the sweet butler, who’d only ever treated her with the greatest respect. “What did you do with Carl?”

His facetious grin confirmed her worst suspicion. “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.”

Maya swallowed hard. She was alone in the house with him. Yvette, the only other person who knew she was alone, was tied up somewhere, Carl was dead, and Gabriel was with the witch. Ricky would instantly know when Gabriel was approaching the house, so she couldn’t expect any help from him either.

She was on her own. On her own with a madman—no, make that a mad vampire. A madman she could defeat with her new strength as a vampire, but looking at Ricky’s strong physique she’d bet her last paycheck that he’d take her in a fight.

Maya let her eyes travel around the room, trying to find anything she could use to her advantage.

“What were you trying to gain by turning me into a vampire?” She had to make sure he continued to talk while she tried to figure out a way of how to get away from him.

“Your undying love and devotion, of course,” he teased lightheartedly, “but I’ll be happy with just your body, your legs permanently spread for me.”

“You sick bastard. You really think I’d spread my legs for you?”

“You did it for Gabriel,” he shot back, hatred suddenly flooding his voice. “What has he got that I don’t, huh? He sure hasn’t got it in the looks department. And he’s no charmer either. I’m just as rich as he is, and I’m far better looking. Is it because he lets you drink his blood?”

Maya gasped. She hadn’t realized he knew.

“Oh yeah, don’t look so surprised. You really think I don’t know what’s going on here? I can smell him on you. You’re positively reeking of him. But don’t you worry, a few days with me and his smell will be gone. I’ll make sure of it, even if I have to drain you of the last drop of blood and replace it with mine.”