Her hand turned over. Her fingers opened. A gleaming, diamond ring rested in her palm.
Pain stabbed into his chest. Into the heart that was hers. She’d possessed it from the moment he’d met her.
Simone’s gaze was on his face. “This is why you wanted me to meet you in Central Park tonight.”
His hand lifted. He took the ring from her palm.
“Why are you telling me to leave when you were planning to ask me to marry you?”
“Because everything has changed.” In an instant. He shouldered past her. He had to get away from Simone and the scent of blood and sex. The lust rode him hard, and he was afraid, so afraid, that he’d lose control again.
He grabbed fresh clothes from his closet. Dressed as quickly as he could, then Ben hurried down to the lower level of the penthouse. He rushed by the Christmas tree. A huge, fourteen foot tree that he and Simone had painstakingly decorated.
He hadn’t put up a tree since his parents died. He’d been cold and empty, just going through the motions of life.
Then he’d met her.
“Ben, wait!”
If he waited, they’d f**k again. And he’d drink from her once more. No. He wouldn’t take her blood. She was already too pale. The woman might not survive another attack. And, worse, he might not be able to stop if he tasted her again. “I’m sorry.” He shoved the ring into his pocket. “If you won’t go, I will.”
“It’s Christmas!”
He glanced at the grandfather clock. Almost midnight. Just a few minutes away.
“Don’t do this!” Her footsteps rushed toward him. “Whatever is happening, we can handle it. Together. We can—”
She touched him. A dark desire seemed to ignite at her touch. He twisted, grabbed her, and pinned her against the door. His mouth crashed down on hers. Hot and hard, and he thrust his tongue past her lips and he—
Blood.
The taste of blood filled his mouth. He must have bit her. Sliced her lip with his fangs.
Take more. Take everything. That was his demand, from a dangerous place inside of Ben.
For an instant, he imagined f**king her against the door. Driving deep into her and making her scream as he sank his fangs into her throat and took more of that delicious blood from her. He could take and take until—
Nothing was left.
He pulled away. Squeezed his eyes shut. “We’re done.” His voice was hoarse. Hollow. All emotion gone. There was no room for emotion.
Not when he was on the edge.
If I touch her again, I’ll hurt her. Hurting her might not be all he did.
Ben was afraid he might kill her.
Simone put a hand to her mouth as she stumbled away from the door. He yanked that door open. Left her, before he broke.
“I love you.” Her words followed him.
But he couldn’t stop.
He ran toward the elevator. The whole damn area was filled with Christmas decorations. Bright red bows. Smiling angels. Sparkling lights. When the elevator doors opened, Christmas music spilled out to him.
The walls in the elevator were made of mirrors, and his twisted image glared back at him. Simone should have seen the monster when she looked at him. His golden eyes—his eyes should have been green. The fangs. The woman shouldn’t have missed the fangs. He’d bit her, drank her blood, and she’d still whispered that she loved him.
He rubbed his chest. His heart hurt. He hurt because Ben feared he’d lost his life.
Central Park. His head jerked as the thought rushed through his mind. He just had to return to the park. Find the bastard who’d attacked him. Then he could make the guy undo whatever hell he’d wrought on Ben.
When the elevator’s door opened, Ben lunged out into the lobby, then ran for the exit. He hurried out onto the busy New York street. Snow was falling, coming down harder with every moment that passed.
If I can find that guy in Central Park, maybe things can go back to normal. Ben lurched forward.
Cars sped around him. Horns blasted.
“Ben!”
He heard Simone’s cry, but Ben didn’t stop. He raced across the street.
Brakes squealed behind him. A pain-filled scream ripped into the air. The cry chilled his blood.
There was a…thud. A sound that sickened Ben as he spun around.
Time slowed then. He saw Simone—a black SUV had just hit her. The impact had thrown her into the air, and she bounced against the vehicle’s windshield. The windshield cracked beneath her, and Simone rolled, sliding off the SUV’s hood and falling to the ground.
Other drivers hit their brakes. There were collisions as the vehicles slipped in the snow and slammed into each other. The driver of the black SUV jumped out and ran toward Simone.
Ben could smell Simone’s blood again. Only this time, the scent didn’t call to the strange new beast within him. The scent terrified him.
Ben leapt across the street. He seemed to reach Simone in an instant. He grabbed the driver who was leaning over her. Ben hurtled the man back, then he bent over Simone.
Her eyes were closed.
Blood streamed from a gash on her head. And her neck…Simone’s neck was at an unnatural angle. “No.” He shook his head. His shaking fingers touched her shoulder. “Baby, no!”
Sirens screamed in the distance. He lifted his hand and put his fingers to her throat. Ben searched for her pulse.
Only there wasn’t one.
Simone! This was their night. He’d planned it all so perfectly. A proposal in Central Park. Making love under the Christmas tree that she loved so much in his penthouse. He had presents for her. Dozens of presents that he’d wrapped and hidden upstairs.
Simone didn’t have a family. She’d been alone, just like he was. They were going to start a new life together. They were never going to be alone again. Always—together. That had been his grand plan, just hours before.
Her pulse wasn’t beating.
“Mister, I’m so sorry!” A man’s voice. Coming closer. It was the fool he’d tossed away seconds before. “She ran right in front of me. I think she was chasing someone—”
She was chasing me.
And he hadn’t even looked back at her.
Fear and pain twisted through Ben. But he bent, and carefully—I should have used care before!—he brushed his lips over hers. No breath whispered from her mouth. Simone didn’t move at all.
The pain in his chest got worse. Burning at first, then…icing. Freezing him as the snow fell.
“Mister…mister, let’s get her help!”
His beautiful Simone. She’d swept into his life just weeks before. Changed everything. She worked at the shelter on Forty-Ninth Street. She baked cookies for the people there. She—