Frost Burn (The Fire and Ice Series, Book 1) Read online

CHAPTER 12

  Quinn pulled up in front of the large house at the far edge of town, pulled the emergency brake, and turned the Jeep off. Dim light shone from around the navy curtains covering the windows on the lower floor of the building. The front stucco façade was a deep orange in color and reflected the moon shining upon it.

  Chris leaned forward in his seat and propped his elbow on the shoulder of her seat. “Nice place.”

  “It was a movie theatre at one time, but it’s been remodeled since then,” she told him.

  “Must be pretty interesting inside.”

  “I imagine so.” Quinn could hear country music playing inside as she studied the building. It was a welcoming, mellow beat after the pulse of the strip club and the competing melodies at the bonfire. “I barely know the couple who owns this place. They come into Clint’s once in a while. They’re about ten years older than me, and I’m not sure how they’re going to feel about me walking in there,” she told them.

  “They’ll get over it,” Julian said and slid out of the seat.

  Quinn didn’t know how to respond to him, but then again, she never knew how to respond to half of what came out of his mouth. She watched him as he walked in front of the Jeep and stopped to study the large building.

  Her attention was drawn to the shadows next to the building as she spotted people moving amongst them. The couple was mostly hidden behind a large cactus. When she heard the sound of giggling and then a slurping kiss, she hastily looked away. She’d had enough of naked bodies and people groping each other for one night.

  Grabbing the keys from the ignition, she jumped out of the Jeep. “Are we going to have to couple up in order to gain entry?” Julian asked her and looked pointedly at the keys in her hand.

  The teasing glint in his eyes caused a strange flutter in the area of her deadened heart; she forced herself to scowl at him. “If you put your arm around me, I’ll break it.”

  He leaned so close to her that she realized the white band encircling his pupils actually had inflections of pale turquoise within them. She tried not to lose herself to his striking eyes, the smile curving his luscious mouth, or the intoxicating pull of his power.

  “One of these days Quinn, you’re going to admit you like me.”

  Her lips compressed into a flat line. She gave him a disapproving look, but she couldn’t deny the excitement sliding over her at having him standing so close. He rose back to his full height and turned toward the house. Chris and Melissa’s eyebrows were in their hairline when he stepped away from her.

  She looked quickly away from the pointed glances Chris and Melissa swapped with one another. They may not be saying anything, but plenty of silent conversation was being exchanged between them.

  Moving past them, she followed Julian to the front door. He knocked on the door and stepped back when the sound of feet approaching from the other side could be heard. Quinn didn’t recognize the woman who opened the door, but it didn’t matter as the woman’s eyes found Julian and stayed there.

  The three of them could have been wearing ninja costumes and waving katanas around, the woman still wouldn’t have spared them a glance. She tossed back her bleached blond hair and stuck a hip out in a seductive gesture. If she pushed her lips out any further, she would be giving Daffy Duck a run for his money, Quinn decided. The woman lifted a hand, wrapped it around the doorframe, and thrust out her ample breasts.

  “Hello there,” she purred. Quinn tried to remain impassive, but she felt her eyes narrow upon the woman. Images of knocking those lips back into place and stopping the fluttering of those lashes filled her mind. She didn’t know how the woman opened her eyes with all the goop she’d coated onto those lashes. “Have you come to join the party?”

  “We have.” Julian waved at the three of them when he spoke, but the woman’s eyes still didn’t flicker in their direction. The sexy smile, and subtle lean in toward the woman that Julian gave her, caused her not to hesitate before stepping aside. She waved her hand in a welcoming gesture, it still wasn’t enough to grant them entrance. “Are you sure we’re welcome?” Julian prodded.

  Smooth as grease, she thought. She couldn’t help but admire his suave manipulation of the woman though.

  Yep, she wouldn’t mind plucking every one of those lashes from the duck mouthed woman across from them as she leaned close enough to Julian to press her obviously fake boobs against his arm. “You’re welcome anywhere I am,” she purred and Quinn couldn’t stop the disgusted sound that escaped her as the woman stepped aside. “Come in.”

  Julian slid gracefully past her, but Quinn’s movements were more measured. She stared at the woman who gave her as much attention as she would a speck of dust. Melissa and Chris followed her into the dimly lit, massive foyer of the home.

  Quinn could just barely make out the bones of what remained of the movie theatre in the two massive doorways across from them. She could picture holding her popcorn and drink as she made her way into one of those doorways to see the show. One of the doors had thick red drapes blocking it; the other had black drapes pulled back to allow people entrance.

  On her right was a kitchen so large she felt the urge to cook for the first time in six years. Stainless steel appliances sparkled in the dim glow coming from the recessed lights. Shiny copper pots hung from a rack over the island in the center of the room. Nothing remained of it, but she assumed the kitchen had once been the concession area.

  To her left was a dining room with a table large enough to seat twelve people around it. The china cabinet behind it had at least a year’s worth of her pay tucked behind its glass doors. Maybe it had once been the ticket and entrance area of the theatre, or perhaps it had been some backroom for employees only, either way it was magnificent now.

  “This way.” Duck lips wrapped her hands around Julian’s bicep and began to walk with him toward the room with the open drapes.

  Quinn tried to focus on her surroundings, but she felt herself glaring daggers into the two backs in front of her. She really hoped this would be their last stop of the night so she could go home and bash the crap out of her punching bag. The idea of pretending the bag was Julian made her almost giddy with anticipation.

  She tried not to think about what the feelings rolling around inside her might mean. She didn’t want him in her life and she wasn’t going to let him any further into it. However, she still wouldn’t mind kicking old Ducky in the ass.

  Shock rippled through her when they stepped into the room. Across the way, the stage that had once held the movie screen had been turned into a dance space with wood floors. The bar behind the dance floor easily rivaled the size of the one at Clint’s. All of the movie seats had been ripped out and replaced with red couches and black chairs that were set up so they faced each other. The people lounging within those seats could talk to each other without having to raise their voices to be heard over the music.

  The idea had never once crossed her mind before, but looking around she realized it was pretty freaking awesome to live in an old movie theatre! She found it difficult to keep her mouth closed as she tilted her head back to look into the space above her. Numerous speakers were set within the rafters; the music drifting from them wasn’t overwhelming or too loud. There were various movie posters hanging from the ceiling that had all been stitched out of cloth. They depicted classic movies with the newest one being Anthony Perkins’, Psycho.

  “Impressive,” Chris murmured from beside her.

  “Yeah,” she said and finally tore her attention away from the rafters. “I guess I should see if those men are here.”

  Chris nodded and she stepped away from him. She refused to look at Julian and that woman again as she began to mingle with the crowd. The few people she knew greeted her, but most of the people within the room weren’t the type to spend much time at Clint’s. She searched for someone she recognized from the fight, and finally spotted one of the men standing at the bar.

  With ease, she weaved her way throu
gh the crowd toward the stage. The sound of the music was louder up here but still not overwhelming. She climbed the two steps and walked across the stage toward the stranger. Stepping beside him, she rested her hands on the bar and leaned forward to study the bottles lined up before the glass. The assortment of liquor lining the shelves would have made Clint jealous.

  “Would you like me to make you something?” the man beside her offered.

  “I’m having a tough time deciding,” she replied with a smile as she tried to recall his name.

  He grinned at her. “I’ll make you something special.” He made his way around the bar and began to study the bottles on the shelves. “You work at Clint’s.”

  “I do,” she answered though it hadn’t been a question.

  “I was part of that fight last night.”

  “Oh really?” she feigned. “It was all so crazy; I didn’t know what was going on.” Ugh, she kind of disliked herself right now. Weak, confused female wasn’t a role she played well. She hoped he’d been preoccupied enough he hadn’t seen her break the other guy’s nose.

  He lifted his head to meet her gaze and smiled as he placed a bottle of rum on the bar. He may like fragile women, but at least he knew how to pick a drink. “It was a little hectic. You should have stayed out of it, but I’m glad you weren’t hurt.”

  Her teeth clamped together; she forced a smile. “Me too.”

  She leaned closer to him while he dropped some ice in the glass. What am I doing? She wondered. This wasn’t her; she wasn’t a flirt. She sure as hell didn’t pretend to be demure and weak, especially not around someone who could possibly be the next Jeffrey Dahmer.

  Then she heard the cackling laughter of Ducky and she knew immediately what she was doing. She was staying away from that shit show. If she was honest, she might admit she could be trying to make Julian jealous, but she found she much preferred to lie to herself right now.

  The ice clinked against the side of the glass when he slid her drink toward her. “Thank you.” Her voice had stopped being flirty and airy though.

  She’d been many things over the years, but one thing she’d always prided herself on was being independent. She couldn’t deny that Julian affected her; she wouldn’t change herself for him though. Julian would be able to find out if this man was a killer just by touching him. Her leading him on would get them nowhere and only make her feel worse about herself.

  She grabbed hold of the glass and swallowed the contents. The man’s eyes lit up as he took her glass to refill it. This was the most she’d ever drank. Thankfully, her digestive system processed alcohol far faster as a vampire than it had when she’d been alive. She didn’t even have a buzz after all of the alcohol she’d consumed tonight. Which was a good thing because Clint would kick her ass if she crashed his Jeep, his baby.

  He refilled her drink and pushed it toward her. Propping his elbows on the bar, he leaned toward her. “So,” he said, and before she knew what he intended, he ran his finger down the scar on her chin. “How did you get this?”

  Quinn recoiled from him; memories flooded her mind. For one horrible minute, she was trapped in a place she’d spent the past six years trying to avoid. Closing her eyes did nothing to block out the blood splattering the room. It did nothing to shut out the image of the only woman who’d ever been a mother to her falling before her. The screams of the dying echoing in her ears drowned out the music filling the room.

  A shudder ran through her. She forced herself to open her eyes and shake off the memories of the past as she strained to concentrate on the present. He’d thrown her off when he’d asked the question. Most people pretended not to see her scars, others stared openly at them, but in the six years since her face had been sliced open, no one had ever outright asked her about them. She didn’t know if she hated him for asking, or if she had a grudging admiration for having the balls to ask when no one else ever had.

  She forced herself to shrug. “Accident.”

  It had been far from an accident but she wasn’t about to tell him that. Her hand was steady when she picked up her drink. Instead of drinking it, she placed it back on the bar.

  “Car?” he asked.

  “No,” she replied abruptly. “Thanks for the drink.”

  He seized hold of her wrist when she went to turn away. Her first instinct was to zap his hand away from her, but she managed to suppress it. With the mood she was in, she might just cause him to fall into the bottles lining the glass shelves and attract far more attention to them than she was looking for right now.

  “What’s the rush, honey?” he inquired.

  “I’m not bear food, my name is Quinn. I have to get back to my friends.” She tugged on her wrist but he didn’t release it. Her teeth ground together. The cells in her body began to slide toward his; she could feel the crackling energy within them as they sought out his skin. “Let me go.”

  The flood of her energy pooled against the palm of his hand. It would be so easy to pull the life force from him, to feed on it and absorb it. She was a vampire in every sense of the word, a drainer of life in every possible way, and the idea of taking it was so very enticing.

  No matter how tempted she was to give him a jolt he would never forget, it wasn’t enough of a reason to flirt with the lure of darkness that came with her ability. There would be so much pleasure if she ever gave in and allowed herself to wield her ability freely, but she could never let herself become one of the monsters she’d always despised. She would walk into the sunlight first.

  His lips skimmed back to reveal his teeth in a strange smile that looked more like a grimace. “What’s going on?” She’d been so focused on the man she hadn’t felt the pulse of power that signaled Julian’s arrival.

  Quinn gave up on pulling her wrist free as she turned to face Julian. She disliked Cowboy holding her wrist, but she didn’t need someone to rescue her. Not when she could blast Cowboy’s grip off of her or rip out his throat.

  “Just getting a drink,” she replied. Julian’s gaze slid from her to the man and back again. The man released her. Instead of pulling her arm away, she left it resting on the bar and smiled up at Julian. “Where’s your friend?”

  Julian’s eyes twinkled; he put his elbow on the bar and leaned against it. Cowboy glanced between them before leveling a resentful look on Julian. “She’s around,” Julian replied carelessly.

  “I’m sure she is,” Quinn said and lifted her drink.

  “We were talking here,” Cowboy protested. He definitely had a set of balls, she decided as Julian had a good two inches and thirty pounds on him.

  Julian gave him the amused look most people gave to a toddler talking into their toy phone. Quinn bit on her inner cheek to keep herself from laughing. “And?” Julian drawled.

  Cowboy made a huffing noise. Deciding Julian wasn’t worth fighting with, he turned his attention back to Quinn. “Would you like to dance?” he asked her.

  Not at all, she thought, but she pondered the proposition while she stared at Julian. The smile slid from his face; his eyes burned into hers as he waited for her answer. Quinn lifted her drink and finished it off. She pushed the glass away from her. The guy went to grab for it at the same time Julian did. Their fingers bumped against each other before Julian pulled his hand away.

  She gave him a questioning look; he shook his head no. Quinn’s shoulders sagged, all the energy drained from her. Before she’d been looking forward to pummeling her punching bag, now all she wanted was to go home, crawl into bed and sleep until she had to go to work tomorrow night. That wasn’t going to be an option, but at least she didn’t have to deal with Cowboy anymore.

  Ignoring the drink Cowboy placed before her, she turned away and hurried down the steps to the main room. Her gaze ran over the few dozen people gathered within. Chris and Melissa were talking with another one of the men from last night, but she didn’t see the other two. The crackle of energy against her spine alerted her to Julian’s presence behind her.

&n
bsp; “Where are the other two men?” she inquired.

  “In the room next door would be my guess,” he answered.

  She weaved her way through the crowd and back out to the main entryway. Her eyes traveled to the red velvet draped over the other massive doorway. “Are we allowed in there?” she whispered.

  “Dewdrop we’re allowed to go wherever we want, once we’re invited in of course,” he added with a wink.

  “People have a right to their privacy.”

  “Not tonight.” Before she could stop him, he pulled back the curtain and stepped inside. Quinn hesitated outside, unwilling to intrude upon someone’s space. He turned back to her, his eyebrow arched as he studied her. “Scared?”

  “Are you going to double dog dare me next?” she scoffed.

  “Triple dog dare.”

  “For someone who was alive when Columbus set sail, you have the maturity level of a teenager,” she retorted.

  Damn she hated that smile, or not so much the smile, but the strange flips and flutters it caused to erupt in her belly. “I’m young at heart. Let’s go you cranky old fart.”

  Her nostrils flared as she glared at him, but she still followed him into the dimly lit hallway beyond the drapes. This area of the movie theatre was far different than the remodeled one they’d just left. She felt a little claustrophobic, as the black walls were only inches away from her arms.

  “I think we just stepped into the nineteen seventies,” she muttered.

  “I really hope there are no black lights somewhere. Even I didn’t enjoy that little trend. With as pale as vampires are, we all looked like freaks under those things.”

  “I’m more afraid of the key party you mentioned before.”

  “I don’t think it’s that either,” he muttered as he surveyed the hall.

  Quinn didn’t like the constricted hallway, but she sensed no impending danger from the shadows surrounding them. They passed by a few doors that were open to reveal the rooms beyond. A library, stuffed full of books and two comfy looking sofas almost made her stop to go snoop. The other two rooms had small beds tucked within the orderly spaces. No pictures, perfume, jewelry, or other personal items marked the rooms. Looking in at them, she assumed they were guest rooms.

  At the end of the hall was a closed door of another room she thought might be the master bedroom; she certainly wouldn’t want people looking in on her sleeping space. Beside the closed door was a set of stairs leading up. The scent of cigarettes and cigars drifted down to her, along with the aroma of stale booze and beer.

  Craning her head, she stared up the stairs but could only make out a faint light above as the stairs curved out of view. It didn’t smell like anyone was having sex up there, but she really didn’t want to take the chance that they might be.

  Unfortunately, Julian didn’t have any of the same reservations she did; he immediately started up the stairs. If the scents changed to something more intimate by the time they arrived at the top, she planned to turn and bolt back down the stairs. She’d leave him behind if he decided to join the party.

  She planned to live years, and experience many things, none of them involved discovering her neighbors involved in an orgy. She fought the urge to cover her eyes when Julian made it to the top and stepped out of view.

  A clinking noise came from above; she could also make out a distinct rattling sound. She couldn’t quite place what was creating the noises as she stepped off the stairs behind him and into a large room. The smoky haze filling the air caused her eyes to water; she rapidly blinked away the tears. Her forehead furrowed as she stared around the room. It took a minute for her to process that she hadn’t walked into some sort of bad porno movie.

  Poker chips clinked together as the people sitting around one of the poker tables tossed them onto the pile in the middle. Two other card tables were set up in what had been the old projection room. There was also a roulette and craps table in the room. All of the card tables were filled with people, and there were more people standing behind them waiting to take a seat.

  “Not what I was expecting,” she murmured.

  “Get your head out of the gutter, Dewdrop,” Julian replied.

  She shot him a look, but he was too busy watching the room to notice her. A few heads looked up when they entered, but for the most part no one paid them any attention and remained raptly focused on their games. She spotted the other two men from Clint’s last night at the roulette table. They had beers in their hands as they watched the ball spinning around the wheel.

  A lanky brunette approached them in a dress Quinn would have considered more of a nighty. Apparently it was perfectly acceptable public wear for this woman as no one else gave her a second glance. The woman raked Quinn with a scathing gaze from head to toe; it seemed she found Quinn’s outfit as inappropriate as Quinn found hers.

  “It’s a hundred dollar entry fee,” the brunette said, her attention solely focused on Julian.

  Julian pulled his wallet out of his pocket. He searched through the wad of cash as he spoke, “It’s just me playing, but I’d like to keep my lucky charm here with me.”

  Quinn groaned inwardly as the trashy brunette looked her up and down again before glancing at the stairs behind her. It was obvious she didn’t think he could possibly be calling her his lucky charm. Quinn didn’t know what possessed her, she stepped closer to Julian and wrapped her arm through his. She smiled sweetly at the woman as Julian lifted his head to stare at her in disbelief.

  “Call me lucky,” she said through her teeth.

  The woman gave her a disdainful look, but she took the hundred Julian handed out to her and slid it into her ample cleavage. “You can call on me for anything you need,” she said to Julian before turning on her heel and walking regally through the crowd.

  Quinn glared at the woman’s back, a back she could clearly see through the mesh of her dress. “Careful, people might think you like me.”

  “Hardly,” she snorted. “I just don’t like snot bag, stuck up women.”

  He looked down at where her arm was linked through his before his eyes came back to hers. She tried to deny it felt good to feel his flesh against hers. Even at its slightly cooler temperature, it heated her in a way she’d never experienced before. His eyes dilated, his fingers sliding over her skin caused shivers of pleasure to dance across her flesh. If she still breathed, she would be breathless, if she still had a heartbeat it would be racing. She felt trapped within his gaze, unable to move as his fingers continued to brush sensually over her flesh.

  Her ability coursed to where their arms connected. To her surprise, it wasn’t seeking out his life force but looking to connect with him in some way. The rush of power she felt when she linked with him caused her to remember why she’d been trying to avoid touching him to begin with. Terror pooled through her, she jerked her arm away as if he’d burned her and took a hasty step away.

  Fighting to regain her composure, she ran her hands nervously over her arms. How much had he seen of her? What had he seen? The spinning of her mind caused the world to blur a little.

  Inwardly, she kicked herself in the ass; her temper had gotten the best of her. However, she had to admit she’d been craving to touch him again ever since that first time. In the heat of the moment, she’d completely forgotten the riskiest thing she could do was let her guard down around this man and allow herself to touch him.

  The longing look on his face unsettled her even more. He stretched a hand toward her, but dropped it back down when she took another step away from him. “Dewdrop…”

  “We should get this over with. Sunrise is only a couple hours away.”

  Before she could hear what he had to say, or what he’d learned of her, she made a bee-line for the roulette table. She had no idea how the game was played. Julian handed out more cash in exchange for chips.

  “Have a lucky number?” he asked her.

  “Thirteen.”

  “Good thing I’m not superstitious.” He smile
d at her, but she was still so rattled she couldn’t come up with a snappy retort. He placed a number of chips on the black number thirteen. Quinn remained immobile as she watched the ball bouncing around the spinning wheel before it finally landed on the number thirteen. “You really are my good luck charm,” he said with a grin as the chips were pushed toward him. “Pick another number.”

  Her fingers trembled as she shook her head. She didn’t care about picking another number, all she cared about was getting out of there. Before she could turn away, he grabbed hold of the hand she’d rested on the table.

  A zing of pleasure ran through her; she tried to tug her hand away from his unyielding grasp. Power grew in her fingertips, her skin crackled with the life force she could feel swirling between them. She didn’t want to harm him, but he refused to release her.

  “Pick a number, Quinn.” His gaze was as unrelenting as his hold on her. She had to be hurting him; he showed no sign of it as his face remained blank. The full force of her power didn’t flow into him but it was enough to inflict pain. Like the rolling tide, she pulled his energy from him and shoved it back into him in equal measure. He kept his hand wrapped around hers when he placed them both on the table.

  “Twenty-three.” Her gaze remained riveted upon his as he held her stare. “Please, let me go.”

  He released her hand instantly, turned away from her and placed the chips onto the number twenty-three. He didn’t look at her as the little ball began to bounce around the wheel again. She was still staring at him when the number two was called. All the chips were claimed by a little man with a cigar hanging out of his mouth sitting opposite them at the table.

  What had he seen of her?

  Her stomach churned with apprehension as she pondered this question. But even more than her anxiety over what she might have revealed to him, the loss of contact with him left her feeling hollow. She dropped her hands down before her and rubbed at the back of the hand he’d been holding. Julian moved around her to stand next to the men who had been a part of the fight last night.

  A waiter arrived to take their drink orders. Julian waved him away, and as much as she would like to chug down a bottle of rum right now, she also shook her head no. She remained rigid beside Julian as she fought to keep herself from bolting out of the room, and this place.

  The wheel on the table began to spin again. She paid no attention to the bouncing ball; she felt as if she were looking through a fog as she watched Julian maneuver through the men. His arm brushed subtly against the arm of one of the guy’s.

  She didn’t know exactly when he came into contact with the other man, but after a few more minutes he bent low to whisper near her ear, “It’s not them. We can go.”

  Quinn forced herself to nod. She followed him mutely to the stairs and watched his back as he descended. The muscles beneath his form-fitting shirt rippled with every step he took. She opened her mouth multiple times to speak with him; every time she clamped her lips shut again.

  They were halfway down the shadowed hall when the question she’d been fighting against asking, finally tumbled from her lips, “What did you see when you touched me?”

  He spun toward her so rapidly that even with her vampire vision she barely saw him move before he had her pinned against the wall. He rested his hands on either side of her head and bent lower to look her in the eyes. She shrank away from him; doing everything she could not to touch him.

  A muscle twitched in his cheek, his eyes were as cold as the ice their color mirrored. “I can turn it off you know.”

  “Turn what off?” she managed to croak out because it certainly wasn’t her.

  “My ability. I can turn it off.”

  She swallowed as she searched his eyes. “Julian…”

  “I didn’t see anything when we touched because I wasn’t trying to. Whatever your secrets are Quinn, they’re yours to keep.” Relief swelled through her; she had only a second to relax before his finger slid over her cheek. She tensed at the hungry gleam that lit his eyes when his finger dipped toward her lip. “For now, but I think you’ll tell them to me one day. So you can stop going out of your way not to touch me.”

  His arrogance caused her temper to rise, but the feel of his finger against her skin turned her insides to goo. “I don’t have any secrets,” she managed to force out. “And I have not been going out of my way to avoid your touch.”

  “Don’t lie Dewdrop, it’s unbecoming.” She fought the urge to drive her knee into his groin. He must have sensed this as his mouth curved into a smile and his finger stilled on her lip. “Easy tiger.”

  The hair on her arms stood up, her skin became electrified when he leaned closer to her. How could she long to punch him in the face so badly and yet find herself so irresistibly drawn to him? Stepping away from him would be the best thing for her to do, but right now she found herself aching to know what those lips would feel like pressed against hers. She wanted the answer to that question more than she wanted to make him scream like a girl.

  The smile slid from his face, his eyes searched hers for a minute before he slowly bent his head. She’d contemplated what it would be like to kiss him, had been denying the truth she’d been yearning to do this since she’d first seen him. But no matter what she’d expected it would be like, nothing came close to the reality of it as his mouth took firm possession of hers.

  Heat sizzled over her body at the same time goose bumps broke out on her flesh. His hand encircled her neck; he pulled her closer to him as he deepened the kiss. Unable to stop herself, Quinn wrapped her hands around his powerful forearms and clung to him. His sinewy muscles flexed beneath her grasp, his tongue slid over her lips in a sensuous motion that made her head spin. She relented to the gentle pressure of his tongue and opened her mouth to him.

  A low groan escaped him; he tipped her head back further and tasted her in deep, thrusting pulls. His kiss was a drug that ensnared her as his tongue pushed her to heights of ecstasy she’d never dreamed she could attain. His body covered hers, his thigh slid between her legs as he pushed her into the wall. What his tongue did to her was nothing compared to what the feel of his firm body pressed flush against hers did. Every part of her begged for more of him, to feel bare flesh against bare flesh…

  Of its own volition, her power surged toward him. She could feel it connecting with him, drawing the essence of him forward and into her in a dance that caused her excitement to increase. Unlike the other times when she drained the life from someone, now she took and gave to him in equal measure. She tried to shut her ability down, but it had spiraled beyond her control, so had the reaction of her body. Releasing him, she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

  Constraint became a thing of the past; the press of his fangs against her lips caused a moan to escape her. Another low rumble emanated from him when her tongue brushed over those fangs. He nipped at her lower lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to make her almost scream with desire. She impatiently tugged at his hair, pulling him closer but unable to get close enough.

  She struggled to regain control of herself when he broke off the kiss. Cloudy with passion, his eyes had deepened to the blue of the Mediterranean Sea as they held hers. He was the most magnificent man she’d ever seen, and if he said one conceited, asshole comment right now, she would blast him so violently she’d shoot him straight through the wall across the hall.

  He didn’t say anything stupid though. Instead, his finger brushed over her lower lip again before he took a small step away. Her hands twitched to grab him and pull him back against her, but his next words stopped her, “The sun will be up soon.”