DRAW A QUICK, SHARP BREATH. HER BODY IS MORE beautiful than I imagined. Reflected light from the fireplace bathes her in a golden, flickering aura. It catches highlights in her hair and throws them back like quick, bright sparks. She's slim where she should be, trim waist, sculpted hips and thighs, and lush where she should be, perfect breasts, firm, round ass. She has no pubic hair, no body hair at all. In spite of the woman's body, it gives her an air of innocence, of vulnerability. I want to cover her nakedness. Ask her to slip the gown back on. To protect her.

Sandra lets me look at her, drink her in. She knows I have no choice, that I can't look away. She fills my mind, whirlwinds my senses.

In the next instant, everything changes.

Now I'm panting with desire. My blood races, my skin heats up with such intense passion, I'm on fire, from within and without. The vampire is dangerously close to taking what it wants. The human Anna, the Anna whose common sense is screaming to get out of here, is slipping away. I no longer want to protect Sandra. I want nothing more than to cover her nakedness with my own. To explore her depths with fingers and tongue. Taste her. Find her pleasure points and make her cry out with the same aching need possessing me.

"What are you waiting for, Anna?" She opens her arms, inviting me closer. "You want me. I feel it."

I do. More than I've wanted anyone since-

Her eyes burn into mine. Her eyes but different. Familiar. Threatening.

"It would have been so good, Anna. I waited so long for a worthy companion. I reveled in finding you, in showing you what could be. I loved you. I loved you."

Her voice. Her voice but different. The words spoken with anger, disappointment, unbearable sadness.

My god.

I take a step back, mind reeling. Sandra's face, Sandra's face, is devoid of expression. Only her eyes are different. They're his eyes, sparked with life. They're his words. His last words.

Avery.