Skye's Trail by Jory Strong

mated in the dark wet heat of their mouths.
     
    She wanted to, but she didn’t.
     
    Her mind overrode what her body desired.
     
    Rico would be a dangerous mate.
     
    He was a cop.
     
    And for her, the hunt and the kill were sometimes inexorably tied together.
     
    The music changed, picking up in pace. Rico stiffened and stepped away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Detective Caldwell approaching the bar. The phone on his belt began to hum. Rico pulled it off and checked the number. “I’ve got to go.”
     
    Their eyes met and locked. Heat simmered between them. He stepped back. “Return Caldwell’s call, okay?”
     
    Aroused. Torn. Edgy with need, Skye nodded and watched him leave.
     
    “Who was he ?” Candy asked when Skye returned to the table. “I mean, he was like, so hot !”
     
    “A friend,” Skye said as she pulled the picture of Jen out of her pocket. “What about this girl? Ever seen her here?”
     
    Mike flashed his fangs. “Is it worth a round of beers?”
     
    “Sure.”
     
    “Okay.” He scooted closer and glanced at the picture. “Yeah, she used to come here every night.”
     
    Dawn leaned forward. “I remember her. She always got in. And she never had to wait in line. But I haven’t seen her in like, maybe a couple of months.”
     
    “She come alone or with a friend?”
     
    “With another girl I think. You remember, Candy?”
     
    Candy studied the picture. “Yeah, I think she had a friend with her. They cut in line every time.” She shrugged. “They were probably friends with a vamp and that’s why they always got in.”
     
    “You ever see them with a vamp?” The kids all shook their head “no”. “And you haven’t seen them lately?” Once again the kids all indicated they hadn’t.
     
    “Thanks.” Skye zipped the photo into the same jacket pocket that held Brittany’s picture then pulled some bills from her jeans and began to count out the beer money.
     
    “Oh my god,” Candy breathed, “oh my god. Vamp alert! Vamp alert!”
     
    Dawn and Mike both twisted in their seats. Skye looked up. The gorgeous “vampire” who’d been sitting with Haley was gliding toward them.
     
    “May I join you?” he asked as he stopped next to the table. His voice was velvet seduction, but it was his eyes that drew her as he sat down without waiting for an answer.
     
    They were as black as a starless night. Yet deep within them a flame burned, tempted, promised ecstasy to anyone who could reach it and bathe in its heat. Skye leaned forward, let the darkness surround her as she moved toward the flame. The lust that had been riding her when she was with Rico returned with a vengeance. She wanted relief. She wanted what the deep flame offered. But the promise remained elusive, just out of reach, encouraging the seeker to move further and further into the darkness.
     
    Without conscious thought, Skye slipped into another world. Into being other . And as soon as she did, she saw the flame for what it was. Understood the power of the hunter in front of her.
     
    A jolt of surprise ripped through her. She’d never met anyone else who could hypnotize as she did.
     
    He was very good at it. And very powerful. But her strength had been forged in hell. With a blink and a slight twist of her head she easily escaped the trap of his eyes.
     
    His face registered shock before it changed into an emotionless mask. The midnight-colored eyes never left her face as he murmured, “I am Giovanni Banderali. Gian to my friends.”
     
    His voice was silky-soft, tempting and beautiful. Yet he was dangerous, deadly—as she was.
     
    Adrenaline whipped through Skye’s body along with desire. “Skye Delano,” she said, letting her voice duel with his, move over him like an erotic fantasy.
     
    The flame in the dark centers of his eyes flared even as the look of a hungry predator flickered across his face.
     
    Skye turned to her companions. They sat around the table in eager disbelief.