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Chapter 3

York wanted to take her into his arms and fuck her. There was so much anger in his blood right now that that was all he could think about. When she drew back to no doubt hit him again, he caught her hand in his and kissed it.

“Once was quite enough.” She jerked her hand away from him and rubbed the kiss off. It was that or rubbing it in, and that’s what he wanted to believe. She was so angry that she looked beautiful. More so than when she came for him. Standing up, he towered over her, and when she took a step back, he watched her face. “You enjoyed that as much as I did.”

“Did you have sex with me while I was out?” He sadly told her that he’d not. “What right did you have in treating me that way? None. You took something from me that I did not want you to have.”

“True and untrue. I think I took something from you that you rather enjoyed. Tell me truthfully that you didn’t enjoy that.” The slap this time was expected, and he pulled her to him so that she could feel his anger too. Wrapping her arms around her back brought her breasts to his chest, and he blew his breath over the mounds that he could see there. “If I were to take you right now, you’d scream out my name again and faint dead away. Tell me that’s not true and I’ll let you go.”

“I’m going to hurt you when I’m free.” He released her, and she stumbled back. “You’re a bastard.”

“A vampire. One who finds you to be everything that I’ve ever hoped for in a woman.” She took another step back, and he took one forward. He told himself that it was in the event she fell, but he just wanted to be close to her. As they stood there, both of them breathing hard but for different reasons, he looked at her from head to toes and back up again. “You’re very beautiful. And my mark on your throat will keep others away from you. They’ll know that you belong to me.”

“I belong to no one.” He threw back his head and laughed. She, of course, didn’t think it was all that funny. “You’re not a vampire.”

“I believe my marks say that I am.” She asked him what he’d done to her. “Besides making you come hard enough to pass out? I took some of your blood. I can find you anywhere you go and feel you when you wish for me to come to you.”

“I want nothing to do with you.” He wanted to prove her wrong, but he didn’t just then. He had a feeling that he could take her right now and she’d come to him willingly. “I want you to stay away from me from now on. I don’t want you around me.”

“You have no idea what your blood did to me. In addition to giving me the best hard-on I’ve ever had, it made me stronger because you were coming when I drank from you. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll say that it was the best climax you’ve ever had.” She lifted her chin, and he nearly laughed again. But something in her eyes made him hold back. “I wish I could have tasted your pussy when you came for me. I bet your juices taste like honey and cream. I could find out now if you’d allow me to.”

“We’re never having sex again.” He pouted, knowing something that she didn’t. If he were to touch her, she’d come to him right now. “I loathe you.”

“Hate is a powerful word. How about if I show you how little I’d have to do to have you beneath me. Have your sweet pussy wrapped around my cock while I fuck you hard. You’d like it hard, wouldn’t you?” He could smell her then and inhaled deeply. “You smell like a woman with a great deal of need. How about if I were to help you with that need and we’d both feel better?”

When she turned on her heel and left him, York had to sit down. All this sexual play was draining to him. Having her the way he said, all he could think about was having her bite him. He knew that he could get her there sometime soon, but the play was more fun. She was his, and he wasn’t going to allow her to get too far from him before he pulled her back in.

When he heard the front door slam, he let her go. He knew where she was at all times, and he was all right with her running away this time. He also knew something that she didn’t. That she was his mate and that he could claim her at any time. She might not like him right now, but he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that she was safe.

Her father and brother were someone that he needed to find and make understand that he wasn’t going to tolerate them hitting her again. No matter his reasons, York was going to have to kill him if he didn’t cooperate with him and leave his pretty little mate alone.

For the rest of the evening, he played around on his computer. He loved playing games on his computer. It was the best way he could learn to relax. His brother Radford did the same thing when he wasn’t busy. Though how he had time was beyond him. He was an emergency room doctor at the local hospital, and he was normally really busy when he went to see him. Thinking about his brother now, he decided to go and see him.

As usual, he was busy. Waiting to be able to talk to him, he sat in his office and played on his game. He only had a phone for games and didn’t care that he had to pay so much to just use it for that. The only people who had his phone number besides his brothers and mom were the local banker, to call when there was land to be had, as well as the blood bank where he donated money to. York, like his brother’s, had saved up billions of dollars over the years and had more than they knew what to do with. Just as he was ready to stop playing and go back home, Radford came into his office.

“Mom said you met your mate.” He asked him how that was going. “I’m assuming that she’s some vampire that’s older than you and has you tied up in knots.”

“You’d be wrong. I think you might even know her. She’s been in the emergency department quite a bit. Her father and brother beat her for her money.” He asked her name. After giving it to him, he nodded. “She’s only twenty-five. Beautiful and pissed off at me. I don’t blame her. I’ve been baiting her since I met her.”

“Why?” He shrugged. He really didn’t know why he was trying to piss her off. “What do you want me to do the next time she comes in? While she’s not a regular, when she does come in it’s because she’s been beaten badly and is in a great deal of pain. I’ve never known who was hurting her, but he doesn’t hold back when he does.”

“I’m going to kill them.” Radford said that wasn’t too smart. “No? Why? They’re hurting what is mine.”

“You said she was pissed off. What did you do to make her feel that way toward you? You said that you’ve been baiting her. That doesn’t sound like you at all. Do you want her pissed off?”

“I find that she’s even more beautiful when she’s upset with me. I won’t do that forever, but until I can convince her that I’m truly a vampire and that she belongs to me. I hope soon, but in the meantime I’m going to enjoy her.” He didn’t tell him that he’d already tasted her and wanted more. It was none of his business. “Is there a pattern to when she comes in? I mean, is there a time of the month that he beats her more?”

“I don’t know. Let me check.” Getting up so that he could use his computer, he pulled up her records. “She comes in about once a month. I didn’t know that. The last time she was in was about three weeks ago. I’m assuming that you’ve healed her this time because she’s your mate.”

“She wouldn’t allow it. But I doubt she’s in pain.” He knew that when he’d taken from her, he’d marked her so that she’d be known as his by any other vampire around. That magic alone would keep her from dealing with the pain that her father had given her. “She’s a mechanic. I first saw her when she fixed up my cars to be driven. Christ, she’s a beautiful woman, and I find myself wanting to tie her to the bed so that I know where she is at all times. Not that I don’t, but she’s pissed off enough to get herself into trouble just to vex me.”

Tying her to the bed brought up all kinds of thoughts. She’d look beautiful lying there naked. Adjusting his cock so that he wouldn’t hurt, he told his brother that he’d like to know if her father ever came in.

“Yes. Usually a day or two after she’s been in. She owes a great deal of money to the hospital. About thirty grand. They ask her about the bill every time she comes in. But she is making payments on it. Her father and brother aren’t.” He asked what sort of injuries they had. “They’ve been beaten to shit. Both eyes are usually black. He has some cuts on his body. Once when he came in, he had nine broken ribs. She doesn’t usually look as badly as he does, but she needs stitches, and we put them in. I think she’s getting better at protecting herself if it’s only him that’s beating on her. Do you know if she has any other family?”

“A brother that does the same thing as her father.” He could search her mind, but he didn’t. She was someone he wanted to get to know better by the old-fashioned way. He asked Radford if she’d been hurt from work. “I mean, she works with a lot of tools. Perhaps she’s been hurt that way.”

“A couple of months ago she came in with a large cut on her hand. She said that a screwdriver had slipped.” Radford read a bit more. “It was clean, like she’d been taking care of it, but it needed stitches because it wouldn’t stop bleeding. We gave her enough dressing to come back in and remove the stitches, but she never returned. She either removed them herself or went to someone else to get them taken out.”