wants for herself.
“You are over eighteen, right?” he mumbled as I yanked his shirt loose from his pants.
Honey, you have no idea . “Like way over.” I kissed him hungrily and pushed his head back so I could follow his throat with my lips. My mouth hovered there over his pulse, the gentle thrum like hummingbird wings against my tongue. Heat suffused my cheeks and gums ached as the change started, little pinpricks giving the telltale sign my fangs were growing...
I forced the change back. Later ... I’d have just a taste later ...
I came back to his lips and my head swirled as his tongue swept past mine, tasting vaguely of cinnamon. His body was warm—so much so, that I imagined I felt cold in comparison, even though I had fed only days ago. I craved that warmth...knowing it, being a part of it.
He didn’t seem to notice any difference in my body temperature though. Or, if he did, he didn’t give a damn. His fingers ran up my arms, over my shoulders, to my neck, and through my hair...
The lock picks !
I grabbed his wrists and guided his hands back to my shoulders.
“Don’t touch the hair,” I advised him.
Okay, so I was getting a little distracted. I had considered seducing Nathan and I ended up with James. Well...all right, James was doing some seducing of his own. I guess it was a mutual seduction.
“There should be some rooms around here.” He started trying doorknobs as we stumbled down the hall.
“You’re sure we should be taking advantage of our host’s hospitality like this?” I tore off his jacket, which I think lessened the believability of my concern.
We fell against a door and it flew open under our weight as he turned the knob.
“He should have locked the doors,” he said with a grin, and kicked the door shut once we were in the room.
He took me in his arms, lifted me off the ground, and carried me blindly in the dark. We tumbled onto the bed—
And I froze.
“What’s—” he began, but I slammed my hand over his mouth, wincing as I hoped the force wasn’t enough to decapitate him. It would be really messy—I had done that once before. Well...twice.
He tried to speak again, but I hissed for him to be quiet.
My “ Spidey Sense ” was tingling. Sure, my senses were vampire-y, but “Spidey” just sounded better. Whatever the sense was called, something was definitely tingling, and it had little to do with the attractive man undressing me.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway. James moved my hand away and we slowly sat up to listen.
Another set of footfalls followed. Heavy, thumping. Male. A pair of low voices rumbled. If I listened closely—
“Why would she come when she knows how you feel about her?” one of the men demanded.
“I told you she would be welcome, yet she didn’t have the decency to show. That is your problem, not mine...”
A door slammed, and that was the end of the conversation.
Who “she” was had me curious. Could that have been the O’Connors? Who else would be wandering around the upper level of the house? Besides guests getting naked, of course.
The interruption was enough to remind me why I was there in the first place. I had to quickly rob and murder a couple of warlocks. No pretending otherwise. But here was James, all rumpled and adorable...
When faced with a choice between a really cute guy and money—and you’ve got three hundred years of perspective—you remember what’s truly important in life.
I hopped off James and started for the door. Attractive men always end up aging poorly anyway.
“You know, now that I think about it, maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said. “I really am sorry—”
“It’s quite all right,” he assured me as he followed. “I understand completely. We are his guests, after all.”
“Exactly,” I agreed, glad that he wouldn’t push further. If he didn’t take “Sorry, but no,” as an answer, I would have to kill him, and that would be a shame.
I eased open the door and held
Jane Hunt
Jonathan Maberry
K. Sterling
Tara Fox Hall
James Kakalios
Jacquie Rogers
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Elizabeth Moynihan
Shiloh Walker
Mary Balogh