Master of Darkness by Susan Sizemore

that is.”
    Is that all?
    Laurent heard her wistful thought loud and clear. Which surprised him, because he had no sense of her being psychic. Picking up nonpsychic peoples’ thoughts was possible, even fairly easy—but doing it without any deliberate effort was unusual for him.
    He could see that she immediately regretted the thought and pushed it away. It made her feel weak and stupid. He watched her resolve harden, watched her remember who he was,what she was, and what their relationship was supposed to be. Maybe not adversarial at the moment, but—
    â€œWe could turn on each other at any time,” he said.
    Eden was surprised at the bitterness in the vampire’s tone. And she was embarrassed that he could read her so easily. Most people couldn’t; she’d been told that she was hard to get a handle on. Maybe Wolf saw the simple girl that she really was. Or the anti-mind-reading techniques she’d been taught weren’t worth squat.
    â€œ
Will
we turn on each other?” she asked him.
    â€œYou’re worried about my self-control because I don’t use the daylight drugs.”
    â€œYeah,” she admitted.
    â€œI’ve spent a long lifetime controlling myself without them. I need blood, I need physical release, but I’ve always been in charge of how I get what I need.” He gave her a sharp-toothed smile. “Sex, blood, and rock and roll makes a Prime happy.”
    â€œWe’re not here to be happy. I need to trust that—”
    â€œI’m in charge,” he reiterated sternly. “And that’s the only promise you need from me.”
    She stood. “Then maybe we better go out andmake you happy. You’ve had the blood. You’re not getting the sex—”
    â€œSo I’ll have to settle for the rock and roll.” He tilted an eyebrow and looked knowingly at her. “At least for tonight.” He got up. “We do need to get the computer. It’s likely that there will be Tribe Primes to beat up along the way.” He grinned, and put a bit of fang into it. “I can hardly wait.”
    With a bounce in her step, Eden went to gather her equipment and car keys. She couldn’t help but wonder at why she found the prospect of bashing heads side-by-side with Sid Wolf such an exciting prospect.
    It was clearly way too long since she’d been on a date.

Chapter Seven
    â€œI s that why they were attacking you last night? Because of the laptop?” Eden asked.
    â€œThat was my guess,” he answered.
    He was staring out the front windshield of her small car, and glancing at his lean, lovely profile distracted her for a moment.
    â€œWhat’s it like?” she wondered. “Being able to see in the dark?”
    â€œI don’t know. It’s the only way I’ve ever seen. What’s it like walking in the sunshine?”
    â€œYou could find that out anytime you wanted to. But I’ll never see in the dark.”
    She cringed when she heard the wistfulness in her voice. She was prepared for some scathing comment about a vampire hunter envying a vampire, but she received a gentle smile instead.
    â€œCuriosity is normal,” he said. “At least for our kind.”
    â€œOur kind?”
    â€œWe’re the ones who know that the world isn’t what most people think it is. We know that we’re different. Me, because I’m not human. You, because you know that I exist. Our knowledge shuts us off from the
real
world. All we have is each other. We can’t help but be curious.”
    â€œDon’t your kind want to be part of the real world? Isn’t that why you developed the drugs?”
    â€œI have no idea why the daylight drugs were developed.”
    â€œYou just don’t personally approve of using them?”
    â€œI don’t disapprove of those who do. Don’t your people want to let us be part of the real world, so you can have normal lives,