Page 27 of The Way You Bite
“You’re the one who put yourself at the crime scene. Not my problem. Matches, please.” She shook her held-out hand and wiggled her fingers.
“I thought you wanted to end the war.”
She dropped her hand with an agitated snort. “I believe I clearly said I didn’t want anything to do with the war. Ending it is your business. Is this why you won’t leave me alone? You think I might have some leverage to end the war?” She laughed. “Dominic and Ambrose might spin my death for their own purposes, but I guarantee everyone will be relieved I’m gone.”
She’d given him a perfect opening to get her away from her vamp family. “Come with me. I’ll get you out of the country.”
“Right. I’m going to trust the arch enemy of my people because there’s this…” She glanced at Eric several yards away and lowered her voice, “Thing between us? I don’t think so. You’re like every other ancient being. You want something and you’ll do whatever necessary to get it.”
Before he could broach the subject of her mixed heritage as a point of persuasion she stepped forward and put her hand on his chest. “Matches, please. I…”
She didn’t finish. Her eyes dilated and lips parted as the magnetism between them hit her.
He couldn’t breathe. She looked down at his noticeable erection.
Fuck. His control was slipping. He glanced at Eric out of his peripheral vision.
“Don’t start this here.” It came out as a growl.
She reached into his pocket and grabbed the matchbook. In her haste she stumbled. He caught her with a hand around her waist. Her breasts landed against his chest. She froze.
“Sweet Jesus.” He was struck dumb. And he wasn’t a werewolf who got stupid very often.
The scent of her arousal hit him with a jolt. He closed his eyes to block out the view down her shirt and released her.
She stepped away but didn’t drop her gaze from his. Her pink tongue moistened her lips.
“This is insane,” she mumbled. She lit a match, tossed it through an open window, and jumped away. It went out before it hit the car.
He suppressed a chuckle.
He got a glare from her before she lit a second match. This time she got closer before she dropped the lit match and hopped away from the car. It grew into a small blaze.
“Great.” She grabbed her backpack. “The best plan is for you two to go your way and I’ll go mine. I think Eric agrees.”
“Wait, we should talk.” Shit, he hadn’t brought up the real issue.
“We’re done. Stop following me.” She waved at Eric, pulled her long sleeves down over her hands, and took off, walking away from both of them.
“What was that about?” Eric asked as they both watched her walk around the warehouse and out of sight.
“She’s up to something. This wasn’t something she concocted in the past hour. This took planning.”
“You’ve got that meeting with Ambrose in twenty minutes. We need to head out.”
Gut instinct advised he not leave her, but he couldn’t reschedule Ambrose. Now he was more curious than ever to discover what was going on between Vee and her fiancé. “Put TC back on surveillance duty.”
…
Vee had forgotten her passport. She’d taken it out to enter the number for a connecting flight to Paris and left it on the kitchen counter. She wasn’t used to needing human ID, but for a flight she needed to blend. A quick trip back to her apartment wasn’t ideal, but unavoidable.
The almost setting sun and low light reduced the risk of sunburn. Still, she kept her sleeves pulled over her hands and her hat angled over her face. Her head throbbed with each step as she neared her apartment building on foot. The need for sustenance had become imperative. No blood upstairs, but she could have another Pepsi.
Just as she reached to type in the door code, she heard a throat clear behind her.
She whirled. Her head spun, causing her to wobble backward until she hit the door. A wolf stood a few feet from her. In her haste, she’d forgotten to scan before venturing to the front door.
Stupid.
“I don’t recommend you go inside, Dr. Scarpa.” Between the guy’s piercings and the unnerving way he stared, she deduced he might be one of Lexan’s guards. If not, Lexan should consider hiring the guy. He had intimidation down to an art form.
“Who are you?”
“TC.” His concentration turned to the building. He cocked his head as if listening. Several seconds later he continued, “Lexan better be sure about you, because I’m about to save your ass.”
