Page 30 of Vampires Don't Give Hickeys
I told him every horrid detail, reliving it even though I didn’t want to.
“Did you feel my presence when you got here?” When I frowned at the unexpected question, he bent his head to gaze deeper into my eyes, so deep I didn’t think I had any secrets left, which was totally fine. “Did you?”
“I did.” How could I not?
“So you felt me and heard me but didn’t see me. Why do you think that is?”
“Because you’re part ninja?”
“Becauseyou’renot human. You’re the slayer, but you’re only starting to trust your slayer sense. The only sense that matters. Not your eyes. Not your ears.”
“Well, you are the expert on slayers, I suppose.” I needed to do some research on this whole Necron Brotherhood thing, though I doubted I’d like what I found. But I had to remember that Sawyer hadn’t killed slayer for them and had left them. He wasn’t anything like them, and I could see that clearly.
“You said yourself that you saw and heard some pretty horrific things last night. Some of those things were real, but some of them weren’t. When you rely 100 percent on your slayer sense, you don’t need cotton to block things out or to blind yourself to what’s lurking five feet in front of you.”
“Was that what you were doing? Lurking?”
“Not exactly.” He frowned. “It’s been engrained into my training as part of the Necron Brotherhood to never be seen by a slayer unless I want to be seen. But a slayer who trusts their slayer sense would be able to see me anyway.”
“Why didn’t you want to be seen by me?”
“Because some slayers know that when someone like me appears, painted in Necron Brotherhood ink, it’s because they’re about to be slaughtered. I didn’t know if you knew about them before, and tonight...I could tell you just needed to exist in this house to get your feet underneath you again.”
I smiled, the movement cracking over my skin as if I hadn’t done it in a while. Probably since I’d left here yesterday. “This house gets me, if that makes any sense.”
“It does.” He pointed to the kitchen table where the coffee and pie still waited.
I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”
He handed me the cotton. “Close your ears. Close your eyes. They’re bound by human restrictions anyway, so you don’t need them.”
“Umm, what’s this that we’re doing?” I asked, taking the cotton.
“Focus your slayer sense.” He brought his fingertip between my eyes and touched me gently. “Let it sort out what’s real and what isn’t. You almost trust it because you heard me even with the cotton. Just...focus on being the slayer. Nothing else.”
I nodded, blew out a breath, stuffed my ears with the cotton, and closed my eyes.
“Where am I?” His voice floated from somewhere above.
I locked onto it instantly. “Library.”
The TV behind me turned on, carrying loud voices meant to distract me.
“Now?” he called.
I homed in on the sound of his voice, separating it from the obnoxious noise, even through the cotton.
“Standing dangerously close to that slice of apple pie,” I said.
A low chuckle and then the TV went silent again. “Now?”
A cool touch skimmed my waist and around to my stomach. Sawyer’s hand splayed there and pulled my back flush to the hard expanse of his body. I melted into him, sagging my head against his chest, grateful for his help and his comfort. He tipped my chin up to him, his powerful golden gaze searching, and lowered his head. His lips swept mine, shuddering a bolt of heat between my thighs.
“Right where I need you.” I twirled in his arms so I could face him, my arms locked around his neck, and pressed against him so he would hold me tight.
He did, making me feel safe and snug at the same time, and covered my mouth with his for a long, searing kiss. I’d never even imagined a kiss like that, one that could burn me up from the inside out. He broke it and pulled away, leaving me as a panting, embarrassing puddle while he pulled the stake and my tie free from my bun. My wild blonde curls tumbled down over my shoulders.
“Beautiful.” He ran his fingers through my hair and then stepped back into the hallway. “Now?”
