Page 2 of Beautiful Heart

“It’s in the next block,” he said, opening the limo’s back door wider. “Shall we?”

Gerri frowned. “I’d rather walk, if you don’t mind.”

The man nodded with a smile that sent another warm shiver through her. “Of course. Give me just a moment.”

He leaned in the back door and spoke to his driver in a tone so low Gerri could not understand his words. When he straightened and closed the door, she started walking down the block, knowing he would catch up. After all, she was a slow-moving crippled woman and he was … not.

The man stepped up beside her as his long, black car drove away. “My name is Livingston Daniels, Miss.”

“Gerri Markham,” she answered, the childhood manners her mother had instilled into her kicking in.

“Gerri, interesting name. Is it short for something?”

“I was named after my grandmother. Her name was Geraldine, but everyone called her Gerri. Thank heavens, my mother refused to name me Geraldine,” she explained, not sure why she felt so comfortable sharing secrets about her life with this stranger.

“Ah,” was his only response as they reached the corner. “Smart mother.”

Gerri looked both ways, just to make sure there were no cars in the vicinity before stepping off and walking against the light. The man, Livingston, stayed beside her, looking as if he would like to take her hand, but holding himself back. Which was good, because though she felt a tugging in her heart and pussy to get closer to him, she was not sure what would happen if he did touch her.

As it was, an intriguing scent of citrus and ocean had her panties growing damp and her resolve to stay single forever wavered. Even as she fought the need to snuggle into him and just sniff his neck, she had to remind herself that he was, after all, a stranger.

****

Livingston Daniels had planned to spend a quiet hour or so at the café before his assistant, or someone else from the city’s vampire coven, found him. Coming upon a bland woman facing down two gutter rats who were also blands, added a unique spice to an otherwise dull break from his duties as prince of the vampire coven.

“I’m not sure where my parents got the name Livingston, but my close friends have been known to call me Liv,” he said.

He did not tell her some of the other names people called him—Prince, Your Highness, Vampire. Exposing those names would wait until after he learned more about the woman, though from the instant attraction he now felt toward her, she would eventually be privy to all of his secrets.

Keeping pace with the woman proved easy. She was limping heavily, but did not allow the damage to slow her down. The story behind her injury only increased his interest to learn more about her. Bland or not, he was intrigued.

As they crossed Tenth Street, he fought the instinctive urge to place his hand on her back, or offer his arm. Instead, he locked his hands behind his back and forced himself to keep his hands to himself.

Looking into store windows they passed, he studied her and not the goods on display. She appeared in her late forties or so, with light brown hair that had been pulled back into a braid draped over her right shoulder that ended at the fullest part of her breast. The available light did not allow him to tell much more about her appearance.

The top of her head would fit nicely under his chin if she ever agreed to hug him. Her dark leggings showed off shapely legs, though her thigh-length, oversized white t-shirt only hinted at her woman’s curves. He could not wait to see her in the full light the café would provide.

Halfway down the next block, he stepped ahead of her and turned down the alley where Mystic’s All-Night Café was located.

He took two more steps before he realized she was not beside him. Turning back, he saw her staring past him. The protective barrier spells Kingsley James, the city’s head mage, had put in place when the city began to grow decades earlier continued to work well. It wasn’t until a person actually passed over a white painted line on the pavement and entered the alley that they could see it was not like other alleys in the city.

“You want me to go down there?” she asked, obviously skeptical about following him down what appeared to be yet another of the city’s dark and dirty alleys, filled with trash, dumpsters, and who knew what kind of vermin, human and otherwise.

Livingston smiled as he nodded. “Can you trust me for the next fifteen seconds?”

Gerri looked from him to the alleyway and then back again. “I’ll try, but if I end up tied up in the back of van, I’m going to be very, very disappointed in you.”

“I understand,” he said, unable to hold back a grin.

Unable to keep from touching her, Livingston took her free hand and felt a strong surge of connection pulse through his palm. It was like touching a live wire with a million volts of energy flowing through it. He sucked a breath as his cock immediately responded, filling so fast, it left him light-headed.

Gerri’s corresponding gasp confirmed he was not the only one feeling the attraction. When she tried to pull her hand from his, he refused to release her.

“Trust me, Gerri,” he said as he pulled her along into the alley.

Chapter Two

Though her heart still thumped fast and furious from her encounter with Stupid Blond and Idiot Sidekick, Gerri followed Livingston as he began once again to walk into the alley. She took five steps forward. The appearance of the alley changed after the first three. Two more and she stopped in amazement. Gerri looked at her escort and then back at the scene before them.

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