My Blood To Rise Read Free Page B

let me set you up some time,” Beth said.
    Dara snorted. “A blind date? No thanks.”
    “I mean it,” Beth replied. “What you need is a real man who will stick by you no matter what. Stop fooling around with one-night stands. Get yourself a decent guy who’ll stay home and watch movies with you on Saturday night.”
    Dara smiled. “Thanks, sweetie. I really appreciate it, but I don’t want to talk about anymore; just want to put it behind me.” She took a deep breath. “I need to concentrate on these receipts right now. I’ve got a mountain of paperwork to get through this morning. If I don’t’ get it done, Alicia will be gunning for my hide.”
    Beth’s hand fell onto her shoulder. “All right. Just let me know if I can help.”
    * * *
    Somehow, Dara got through the rest of the day. When she was about to leave, Beth waved her down.
    “Are you going to be able to make it home all right? Do you want me to take you? I can make some soup or something.”
    “No.” Dara forced a smile. “I think I’ll just go right to bed and sleep through.”
    “All right.” Then she said, “A couple of us are going to get together this weekend at Mingles. Are you going to feel up to it by then?”
    Dara shook her head. “Thanks, but I don’t think so.” The thought of it made her stomach tighten into a knot.
    Frowning, Beth said, “Well, maybe next weekend.”
    “I don’t think I’ll go on any more dates for a while. Maybe I’ll just become a nun.”
    Beth snorted. “You? Yeah, right. Hey, don’t you know that old saying? When you fall off the horse, you’ve got to get right back on.”
    Dara nodded. “I’ve heard it before. Just give me a chance to recover before you go throwing me into the rodeo ring again, will you? I need some quiet for a while.”
    Beth frowned. “What’s going on? You’re starting to scare me.”
    “I’m the same person I always was,” Dara told her. “I’m just not that into the bar scene for the next bit. That’s all.”
    Beth looked her straight in the eye. “No. There’s something different about you. I don’t know what it is, but something deep inside you has changed.” She sighed. “I hope you get it figured out, because you’re my friend, and I don’t like what I’m seeing.”
    Feeling like a heel for keeping the truth from her friend, Dara reached out to pat Beth’s arm. She would have given anything to tell her friend the truth about what happened last night, but there was no way she would believe it.
    “I’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    She hurried out of the building and headed home on foot. Some fresh air would do her good.
    The chill of evening seeped into her core, and she had to wrap her arms around herself to keep warm. When did the weather turn so cold all of a sudden?
    She was still weak from blood loss, and the chilly breeze seemed cut straight through to her bones. She would have hailed a cab, like this morning, but she couldn’t afford to do that all the time.
    As she walked, her mind kept going back to Andrei. How could she have known what he was? How could a person protect themselves from him and his kind? He looked and acted exactly like any other human man.
    But he wasn’t like any other man, was he? If she lived a thousand years, she would never meet anyone else like him. The thought made her heart cry. All her life, she only wanted a man to love and cherish, a man who would look her in the eye that way. She would never be satisfied with any other man again.
    Her thoughts drifted back to the moment when he sank his teeth into her throat. It had not been painful; it had been the most sensual experience she’d ever had.
    “No,” she said out loud, startling an old woman passing in the other direction.
    Picking up her pace, Dara shook her head. She had to get Andrei out of her mind. He’d sucked her blood and left her for dead. What did she want to dream about him for?
    She was so tired and weak from blood loss, she didn’t