Page 20 of Death Deals

Out of the glamour, anger flooded me instantly. Before I knew what I was doing, I slapped him clear across the face. The sound of it jolted me fully out of my trance and got Andre off me. He stood there, holding the side of his face and staring at me with wide eyes.

Oh shit. I’d just struck a vampire.

A very powerful vampire.

My heart seized in my chest.

His tongue darted past his lips to check for any blood. There was none that I could see, but did that matter? He rubbed his jaw, and I couldn’t help but notice how red his cheek had gotten.

Then his gaze locked with mine and something new passed across his face. Something dark.

He leaned close to me again. This time, when he smiled, his descended fangs flashed. I tensed.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he whispered, his French accent more noticeable now. “You want me to rip every last piece of clothing off you, wrap your long legs around my waist, and fuck you against this wall relentlessly. I can see it in your eyes.”

I couldn’t breathe for a moment. How did he…? It’s like he’d read my thoughts. Pulled them straight out of my head.

“Looks like I got it right, hm?” His lips brushed against mine again, and the fogginess began to creep forward, the need to have him inside me about to take hold. “You know, I think that could be arranged.”

I raised my hand, about to slap him again, but he snatched it by the wrist and slammed it beside my head. I cried out, the pain sharp and sudden. My left fist lashed out instinctually, but he captured that one, too, pinning it like the other.

I struggled against him, but he held me firm. I kicked out, squirmed, and fought any way I could, but it did nothing but piss me off more.

Exhausted, I blew the hair out of my face and glared at him. He only continued to grin.

Then, releasing my hands, he stepped away from me, straightened his collared shirt, and opened the bedroom door. Throwing one last heated look my way, he walked out.

The moment it closed and he was gone, I knocked the back of my head against the wall and slid down until I was nothing more than a puddle on the floor. Every fiber of my being trembled, unable to process everything that’d just happened.

That kiss… It’d awoken something inside me that’d been dormant for some time. As much as I hated to admit it. I stayed like that on the floor for a while, my face in my hands, trying to rack my brain for a way to deal with this damn vampire and his blood circulating in my veins.

How pathetic was I?

Between my thighs ached, which was a first for me. Despite everything, my body still craved him.

Suddenly too tired and shaky to dwell on it anymore, I crawled to the large bed and climbed under the covers. I grabbed one of the extra fluffy pillows and hugged it close to my body.

As I drifted to sleep, I tried to imagine that someone else was sharing the bed with me. But who that fantasy person actually was—mercenary half-demon, guardian angel, or sexy French vampire—I just didn’t know.

My dreams were full of things you wouldn’t want your mama to know about, if you know what I mean. Which wasn’t too surprising after the bubbling mess of a state Andre had left me in. I woke up covered in sweat, with my clothes clinging to me in not such ideal places, and my lady bits thumping with its own pulse.

Goddamn vampire and his goddamn magic, sex-crazed blood link.

Throwing the covers off, I rolled in bed only to freeze at the sight of Andre sitting there at the edge, facing away from me.

“Holy shit.” I scrambled to the other side of the bed and leaped off. Since I was still holding the pillow I’d slept with, I chucked it at him, nailing him in the back.

Slowly, he turned to face me, seeming unamused. “Was that truly necessary?” he asked.

“Is it truly necessary for you to watch me while I sleep?” I snapped. “This isn’t an angsty teenage novel, you know. Itiscreepy. Not romantic.”

“Sparkling vampires.” He gave a disgusted snort at that. “How those books sold any at all is a mystery to me.”

“Why are you here?” I asked a bit firmer. I hope he knew there was no way I was going to allow this to become a permanent thing.

“I told you. Keeping up appearances,” he replied and stood.

Oh yeah. The wholeclaimedthing.

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