Claiming the Vampire by Chloe Hart Page B

is that he offered me a choice.”
    “You mean between dying and becoming a vampire?”
    “No.”
    He was quiet for a minute, and Celia forced herself to stay silent as well. He had to tell her this at his own pace. And it wasn’t like he was going anywhere. She could afford to be patient.
    “I knew I was dying, when my maker came to me. I could feel the life draining out of my body, soaking into the earth. Death had its claws in me. And I didn’t want to die.”
    Another silence. And still she stayed quiet, not moving, not speaking.
    “When he came, I knew there was something different about him. I could feel his power. When he told me he was a vampire I believed him. When he said he could save my life I believed that, too. And then he said I had to choose. Me, or another bloke. There was a second plane shot down not far from mine, and the vampire said that pilot was dying, too. So he told me to choose. I could choose to save myself, to become immortal…or I could choose to die and let the other man have the gift.”
    He smiled without humor. “I don’t have to tell you how I chose. And a man who could make that choice doesn’t deserve you, Celia.”
    She knew if she’d showed sympathy or compassion he’d reject it. So she asked a question instead. “How would you choose now?”
    He turned his head away. “I don’t know.”
    “Bullshit,” she said for the second time that night.
    He met her eyes again. “You think you know me, Celia, but—”
    “I do know you. If you had to choose between my life and yours, what would you do?”
    “I would choose yours. But that’s because I’m in love with you. It doesn’t mean I—”
    “What if it was Liz? What if you had to choose between saving your life and saving hers?”
    He swallowed. “I would save her. But that’s because she’s your best friend. I don’t—”
    “And Jack? What if the choice was between your life and his?”
    “I would choose his. But that’s because he helped me save your life that night. I owe him.”
    Celia laid her hands on Evan’s shoulders. “And what if it was a stranger? A soldier you’d never met, dying in a field?”
    His brown eyes were full of pain. “Celia, for God’s sake. Don’t make me do this.”
    “What would you do, Evan?”
    “I would save him! But it’s too late for that now. Don’t you see? I can’t go back. I can’t ever change what I did.”
    “No, you can’t. But you’re not that terrified boy anymore. Why can’t you see the man you are now ?” Her hands tightened on her shoulders. “I love you, Evan Grant. And I’m not a fool or a martyr. Do you think I would love a man who didn’t deserve it? If you don’t trust your own instincts, trust mine. Let go of the past and look at what’s right in front of you.”
    There was a moment of utter stillness, as though the world had stopped on its axis. She glared down at him, and he stared back at her.
    Then, suddenly, Evan’s eyes turned yellow and his fangs burst from his gums. He gave a snarl that made the hair stand up on the back of her neck, and he jerked so viciously on his handcuffs that the vampire-proof chains snapped.
    Adrenaline shot through her, but she couldn’t move. In an instant he’d triggered the mechanism to release the cuffs from his wrists and ankles. A second later, she was on her back under him with her arms pinned against the pillow.
    “Say it,” he growled.
    Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might crack a rib. Her pulse roared in her ears. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
    He gripped her so hard she felt muscle touch bone. “Do you want me?”
    “Yes,” she gasped.
    “Then claim me.”
    “You’re mine,” she cried out, and a shudder passed through him.
    “Oh God, Celia. And you’re mine.” His eyes went to her left wrist, which bore a faint white scar from his first bite.
    She shook her head. “No. My throat.”
    She arched her head back, her heart beating so furiously she