Copyright © C C MacKenzie 2015

“Gia, control your vampyre,” Daniel’s voice rose in a way that made her blink.
She took a deep calming breath and her claws made a shtick sound as her fingernails returned to normal and her incisors retracted.
“Something’s gone wrong. This cannot be right,” Daniel muttered as if talking to himself. Blue eyes bored into hers. “I’ve changed you for ever, without your permission. Aren’t you at least a little bit angry with me? Anxious? What’s been done to you cannot be undone.”
Now she scooted to the edge of the bed and stood.
The room didn’t spin.
She was stark naked, baby, and loving it.
Again the feeling of euphoria, of elation, threatened to overwhelm her.
She was a vampyre.
Hot damn ditty.
With a cocky swing of her hips, she sauntered over to him, got into his face.
“Angry? I’m not angry,” she purred, dragging her nails down the taut six pack of his belly, making the muscles beneath her fingers quiver. “Wanna see me angry?”
He captured her wrist.
“Watch the smart mouth,” Daniel warned.
His tone wasn’t good-natured now, but sharp as a blade.
And that tone had her vampyre sit up and eye him very carefully.
She heard her pulse thunder in her head, hurtling in time to the sudden sprinting beat of her heart.
Perhaps now was not the time to toy with him?
As if he could read her mind, he smiled.
And she decided it was downright nasty.
“You do not want to mess with me, Gia. Trust me.”
The Scottish burr in his voice did something crazy to her hormones.
She gave him big eyes and decided the time had come to draw a line in the sand, as it were.
“I’m not messing with you, Mr. Dracula. I’m telling you to back the hell off. You don’t own me. You don’t control me. I don’t belong to you. I don’t belong to anyone.”
Hips swinging, she strolled around the room.
Her eyes flicked to his as she ran her fingertips insolently over the luxurious velvet of the couch, over the soft silk of the many pillows.
Then she turned to him, met his eyes dead on.
“Except for a little dental work and a thing for liquid protein, I’m still my own person.”
Now he moved into her, into her personal space.
“I’m going to take a leap in the dark here and say you’re scared and that this is all a big act.”
Her snort of utter derision made his eyes go slitty.
“Are you for real? I love being vampyra. I can kick-ass, including yours.”
He ran his tongue over his bottom lip in a way that made her itch to lick him, all over.
The way he looked all sexily perplexed was doing wonderful things to certain parts of her anatomy that seemed to be incredibly sensitive to his many moods.
“You have a lot to learn, fledgling. Be very careful of your vampyre when you are angry.”
His tone was so reasonable it made her want to bite him.
Her fangs dropped from her gums and he growled a warning rumble deep in his throat before continuing, “Our continued existence is conditional on the fact humans remain unaware of us. I sympathise with your need for revenge on Donatti. But you cannot exact that revenge as a vampyre.”
Seriously?
She tossed back her luxurious mane of hair as her eyes flung him a challenge.
“I can’t believe it. A tolerant vampyre?”
“I am personally accountable for your continual development and wellbeing. You are my responsibility.”

She looked at him and her amazing eyes the color of claret went as hard as stone.
And Daniel’s belly did a little jump, not from lust, but from the transformation in her eyes.
Power.
He’d seen great power many times before and Daniel knew he was staring at it now.
For the first time he wondered if he’d unleashed something he might not be able to control.
Again she ran her fingernails down his torso, past his belly button.
Again he grabbed her wrist.
And she sent him a wicked, wicked little smile.
Nope, fangface. I’m responsible for me.”
He blinked.
Fangface?
As a vampyre Prince, and as was his due, Daniel was used to receiving a certain amount of deferential respect. Yep, he’d definitely opened up a Pandora’s box of something.
Her physical changes now were an abrupt dilation of her pupils as blood flooded the whites of her eyes and her skin went too pale, too fast.
She can’t control it, was his first thought.
Then he wondered what it was.