Just One Bite by Kimberly Raye Page A

not as much as I like to spend money. Or plastic. Or gift cards.” Which he knew full well since he’d harbored a fugitive (me) a few months back when I’d been wanted for murder.
    “Hometown?” he persisted.
    “A small but filthy rich village in the south of France.”
    “First bite?”
    “The son of a nearby peasant farmer. Pierre. He had killer abs.”
    “Biggest weakness?”
    “MAC lip gloss and Brad Pitt.” And you. The thought rushed through my mind before I could stop it and, sure enough, Ty’s gaze deepened as if I’d come through in hi-def.
    Duh.
    Despite our mutual agreement to end our sexual relationship, we were still mentally linked since we’d shared both sex and blood ( not at the same time—otherwise I’d be even more into him than I was).
    Since I still hadn’t learned how to consciously block him the way he blocked me, he read me loud and clear. Meanwhile, I rarely got so much as a signal from him unless he wanted me to.
    “You’re still into me, huh?”
    Like now.
    “I said was, ” I told him, averting my gaze. “Meaning past tense.” I shook my head and rushed on, “What’s with the twenty questions anyway?”
    “I ran into Ash tonight. He mentioned that you got caught in the middle of one of his takedowns over at St. Michael’s. Something about a rogue demon trying to escape during an exorcism. You stopped him.”
    “And?”
    “We’re talking a demon. Straight from the bowels of Hell.”
    My brain cells clicked. “That explains it. I don’t think I’ve smelled anything that bad since Killer swiped one of Mrs. Janske’s goldfish and hid it in the laundry hamper.” I shook my head. “But I still don’t get why you’re grilling me.”
    “The demon got away. One minute they were about to exorcise him and send him back to Hell, and the next he up and disappeared.”
    “And?” I arched an eyebrow.
    “The only way for a demon to escape one body is to possess another. Since he came into direct contact with you, it’s possible that he ditched the poor bastard he was in and slid into you when you touched him.”
    “Me? Possessed by a demon?”
    “It’s possible.”
    “Says you. There’s nothing possessing me.” Except maybe a smidgen of vanity. And a healthy dose of lust. “I mean, I would know, right? I would feel it?”
    “Without a doubt. It’s an all-out war. You versus the demon. It can get pretty ugly.” He glanced behind him. “When I saw the door, I thought the mental battle had turned physical.”
    “I just had a little trouble with my key.” I did a nanosecond of soul-searching and came up with nada for ugly, slimy demons. Then my attention snagged on Ty again and I couldn’t help but smile. “You came over here because you were worried about me.”
    “That, and there’s a pretty big bounty at stake.”
    My expression, along with my ego, died. “You really know how to burst a girl’s bubble.”
    He grinned. “Hey, it’s all about business.”
    Yeah, right.
    He knew as well as I did that there was no use admitting that he was more worried about me than losing out on a few grand. Even if we hadn’t been from opposite sides of the vamp spectrum, Ty had his own issues. Namely, a vengeful, sadistic sire who refused to let him have even a moment of happiness.
    Ty knew Logan (said sadistic sire) was watching, and so he refused to get involved with me for fear that I might get caught in the cross fire between the past and the present.
    Too sweet.
    That was just one of many strikes against us, and so there was absolutely no reason for Ty to acknowledge his concern or for me to feel even the least bit touched by it. I should take him at his word and toss him into the pot with all the other cold, emotionless, money-grubbing vampires out there.
    “How much is the bounty?” I couldn’t help myself.
    “A lot.”
    “Translate that into dollars and cents.”
    “A lotta dollars and an equal amount of cents.”
    “You don’t know, do you?” Which