“They aren’t harassing me now.”
“Fine. I would have stopped harassing you.”
His eyelids dipped to half-mast, and what remained of his emotions drained: anger, expectation, everything. Except desire. Desire that heated the entire room, crackling and charging. “I don’t want you to stop.”
The hello and good-bye kisses she’d so badly wanted, well, she was finally in danger of receiving them. She gulped, swallowing the lump trying to block her airway. “Then I would have harassed you nonstop,” she whispered.
His gaze moved to her lips. “Would you have allowed me to feed from you? Whenever I wished?”
No. “Yes.” Maybe.
In a blink, he was on his feet. The desire drained, as well, and determination took its place. “I’ll hunt her down and apprehend her now.”
Ava’s desire vanished just as swiftly. So. He hadn’t craved her. He’d craved a never-ending happy meal. She should have known. Suspected, at the very least. “You’re staying here,” she said, standing, swaying. “Mia told me her orders. We’re not to interfere.”
“Mia isn’t my boss.” He moved toward the door.
Scowling, Ava jumped in his path. “She’s mine.”
He halted just before contact and glared down at her. “Out of my way, Ava.”
As if he couldn’t move her. “You had your chance. You blew it. So, like I said, you’re staying here.” Do not tremble. Do not show a single weakness.
Down, down he leaned, until his nose was level with hers. Still he didn’t touch her. “Just how are you going to stop me?”
God, he smelled good. Her living, breathing butterscotch buffet. Focus. “We’re partners, right?”
He offered a reluctant nod, one that finally brushed skin against skin. There was no preventing her shiver then. The heat, the sizzle … consuming.
“Well, partners have to trust each other, and right now, neither of us trusts the other. Right?”
Another nod, another brushing of their noses.
Another shiver from her. “Rather than getting me in trouble, we’re going to spend the next few hours learning to trust.”
“How?” One word, but like his whip nonetheless. Where was that thing, anyway? She could tie him down with it.
“Well, there’s an exercise I’ve seen people do.” Good thinking. “You stand behind me, and I fall back. You catch me, and boom, I learn to rely on you and trust you to always protect me.”
He arched a brow, clearly doubtful. “Learning to trust is that easy?”
“Yes.” A lie. She wouldn’t trust him, not fully, no matter what—he saw her as food, damn it!—but the exercise seemed like a really good idea just then. Not just because they would be wasting time, distracting him, but because he would have to put his hands on her to catch her. And she really wanted his hands on her. Not for pleasure, but for inoculation.
She had to overcome this craving for him.
“And while we’re doing this,” she said, squaring her shoulders, “you can tell me all about vampires. Everything I need to know to capture one.” Tomorrow, she would fulfill her end of their bargain.
Several minutes ticked by in silence. He watched her every torturous second of those minutes, gaze hooded, yet still managing to wreck havoc on her nerve endings. They felt razored, sensitized.
“All right,” he finally said, voice as devoid of emotion as his eyes. Eyes that fell to the hammering pulse at the base of her neck.
Thinking of drinking from her, even now? she wondered as she gave him her back. Dangerous on her part, perhaps, but she wasn’t too worried about him swooping in for a taste of her. At the moment, he was too interested in gaining rights to her blood, and if he took a sip without permission, he’d never gain those rights.
“Are you just going to stand there?” he asked, whisper-soft.
That whisper traveled the length of her spine, and she had to steel herself against another decadent shiver. “Tell me something about vampires first.” While she prepared herself for what was to come.
Another pause. Then, “Each vampires has a different ability.”
Do it. Just do it. She allowed herself to fall backward. “Yours is manipulating time.”
“Yes.” He caught her just before she hit and held her there, suspended in the air.
She gazed up at him, his face upside down yet still beautiful, and licked her lips. His hands were as warm and strong as she’d imagined. “What are some other abilities?”
“Teleporting.” His voice was strained as he eased her to her feet. “Mind control. Camouflage. Vampires like Bride can do everything, though.”
She prayed the strain wasn’t from her weight. “Bride.” The name echoed through her mind, and then she remembered. Bride, his former fiancée. A spark of jealousy ignited. Did he still yearn for the lovely, dark-haired vampire? “She can do everything?”
“Yes. Everything,” he replied, unaware of her sudden shift from nervous anticipation to fury. “Well, except manipulate time. Now, is it your turn to catch me?”
“No. Still mine. I’m stuck on the word everything.” Ice crystallized the words, making them as hard as diamonds. Again she fell back.
Again he caught her—still warm, still strong, but even more so—and held her suspended. The violet of his eyes snared her. “Anything you can think of, she can do.” The strain in his voice was even worse. “What’s hard to understand?”
I am. I’m heavy. Unlike lithe little Bride, who couldn’t weigh more than a hundred and ten soaking wet and weighed down with rocks. “Just shut up.”
And wow. Bride was not only beautiful and sensually lean, she was beyond powerful. No wonder McKell had waited so long to marry her and no other.
Hello again, inferiority complex, Ava thought hotly.
McKell set her back on her feet. His fingers remained splayed over her ribs, hard but not bruising. “My turn now?”
“No. I’ll tell you when. Until then, keep catching me.” Each word ripped from her throat, leaving a raw, venom-burned wound. Why was he so eager for his turn, anyway? She was going to drop his ass flat. Like he deserved. “Were you upset when Bride married Devyn?”
“Yes.”
Bastard! “Why didn’t you kill him?”
“Because killing him would have made her hate me.”
And he wanted—still wanted?—Bride to love him? Depression replaced her anger. “I don’t like this game,” she said. Really, she didn’t like Bride. All-powerful Bride, she inwardly mocked. Possessive McKell had let someone he considered his go, rather than fight and cause hatred.