Page 25 of Taken By the Ripper
His mouth lifted in a sharp, toothy grin. “My back pocket. I saw what became of your other flowers, and, well…”
She planted a hand on her hip. “Have you been watching me?”
“You looked so sad.”
Another pang beat against her chest, and she frowned as she glanced back toward the house. From here, she could peer into her drawing room if she wanted to. It would have been easy for the ghoul to do the same even without her knowing. “Why are you watching me?”
She glanced down at the flower, unable to help herself as she cradled it protectively in her hands. Mazie couldn’t destroy this one. She wouldn’t let her.
His gravelly voice sounded only a step behind her. “I worried the vampires would target you after what happened. I don’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to keep you safe.”
“Why?” But as she gazed down at the flower, she realized his romantic intentions. However, she didn’t truly understand his reasons. “I’m just a nurse.”
“A nurse who took on two vampires and bravely landed a couple hits. I know none other with your mettle.”
A pause settled between them, and she took that moment to brush her thumb over one of the soft, velvety petals of the camellia.
He coughed. “That, and you’re my fated mate.”
“Pardon?” she shrieked, spinning around to face him once more.
He rubbed the back of his neck and stared up at the sky rather than at her, and for a moment, she wondered if she’d misheard.
It couldn’t be true. She hardly knew the ghoul. Besides, she’d only recently learned monsters were real. This made little sense.
A long breath escaped him before his yellow gaze honed in on her. He stalked forward slowly, and she stepped backward. At least until her shoulders bumped against the porch railing behind her, and he trapped her against the wooden slats.
“Your scent drives me wild,” he murmured. From any other person, the tone could have been sultry, but his ghoul voice leaked gravel and husk in a way that sent shivers up her spine. Pleasant shivers.
“I-I-I’m not—” she stammered, unable to look away from the intensity of his gaze.
His tail looped around and caressed her face from her temple to her cheek to her chin. Leathery and soft and gentle. Enough for gooseflesh to crawl across her skin and meet the burn raging hotter in her soul.
“I knew it the moment I saw you in that alleyway.” He leaned closer and skimmed the tip of his nose along her throat, inhalingher scent. She gasped. “You aremine. And I refuse to allow a vampire to lay their hands on you ever again.”
“We only just met,” she jested, surprisingly without a stammer. It was difficult to think, let alone form words, when he touched her so tenderly and spoke so softly. “You cannot say such things.”
Besides, he wasn’t the only one vying for her attention. Shockingly.
As if attuned to the direction of her thoughts, he leaned back, his tail swishing back and forth in agitation.
“You are not going to court him, are you?” His upper lip lifted in a snarl. “The detective.”
“It’s not a good idea.”
“Why?”
“It’s causing contention in my home.” She glanced down at the flower in her hand, realizing another reason she hesitated. Detective La Cour was every woman’s fancy. Handsome. Sophisticated. Successful. And she suspected to some degree that he might be wealthy or at least come from a well-off background. Why would someone like him set his sights on someone like her?
“Is there any other reason?” The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. “Perhaps that you might actually like ghouls more than you thought.”
She laughed but then quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, glancing up at the windows high above her. The window belonging to her sister remained lit by the lanterns within, but no shadows or silhouettes passed across the light, and no windows opened, either.
“Fine,” she relented, surprising even herself when she gently pushed his shoulder. But the toned physique beneath her hand gave her pause. The ghoul was solid muscle, all hardness and shape. Almost like stone. But not a gargoyle.
A blush stole across her cheeks as she dropped her hand and stammered, “P-p-perhaps they’re not as terrifying as I previously imagined when standing on this side of the line.”
“And what side is that?” he asked softly.
