by Denise Agnew
Clarissa didn’t sit next to him as he hoped she might; she settled into the loveseat next to Ronan’s side of the couch. Deep inside him a craving built, the need to touch Clarissa driving him to an internal desperation.
Tonight he would show her the power of his seduction and she wouldn’t resist it.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed his agitation. They needed to inform her on the particulars. Without the details she’d be unsafe, wandering in the morass of peculiarities that promised to swamp the town in unimaginable misery.
Slowly the others gave Clarissa the low-down. Lachlan and Erin explained how they met, including the part about Lachlan and Erin being able to read each other’s minds. Ronan didn’t expect Clarissa to question that information, considering she already knew he could read her mind. Erin eased into the vampire discussion.
Clarissa waited until the couple paused in explanations before she spoke. “So Lachlan was bitten by a vampire and as a result he has some of their powers.”
“You got it,” Lachlan said. “I can move fast like a vampire, although not with quite the speed they can.”
Erin laughed. “Quick enough.” She went on to explain the first time she’d seen Lachlan demonstrate the ability when he saved a glass from crashing to floor. “I wasn’t sure I’d even seen him move, but there was the glass, safe and sound.”
“What else can people bitten by vampires do?” Clarissa leaned forward in her chair and propped her elbows on her knees, clear interest etched into her face.
“Micky and I can answer that one,” Jared said, “because we were bitten by the ancient one.”
“Ancient one?” Clarissa asked.
As explanations continued, the twisting and turning felt like molasses to Ronan. He didn’t add information, knowing his friends would do a better job. He noticed, though, that they left out the fact he and Sorley were vampires.
One bottle of wine and three hours later, Clarissa had the entire story from the first day to the present, from the ancient one to the dark force that had taken Micky and how Gilda had found her way into the other dimension to help save Micky.
Clarissa looked shell-shocked but still intrigued. Relief made Ronan happy, an emotion he couldn’t count on feeling often over the years as he hunted the ancient one.
“There is a very important part they ingeniously left out, Clarissa,” Ronan said as he cast a wary look at his friends.
Clarissa lifted one auburn-hued eyebrow as she sagged back into the pillows piled on the loveseat. “There’s more?”
She sounded exhausted.
“One very big more,” Sorley said his gaze fell on Ronan. “One gigantic piece I wouldn’t feel right tellin’ you.”
“Well?” Clarissa asked. “Don’t stop now.”
Ronan shifted to the edge of the couch. “You’ve had enough for tonight. Tomorrow we need to caucus here again and make plans.”
“So,” Clarissa said, her eyes sad, “what do we do now? I’m willing to help whatever way I can.”
Sorley smiled. “There’s a way you can help, that’s for certain.”
Ronan gave the Irishman a stern glare. “I’ll tell her later.”
“Why later?” Clarissa asked, frown lines appearing between her eyebrows.
Ronan couldn’t tell her, tactlessly and carelessly in front of everyone, that she had to have sex with him to save the day.
No. That would be just too feckin’ rude.
He said instead, “We’ve known for some time that there’s another solution—or possible solution—to the horror that’s haunting this town.”
“Oh?” Clarissa asked.
He breathed in her subtle perfume, a soft musk that drove him crazy every time he caught the scent. “Like I said, I’ll tell you in private.”
Clarissa’s smooth brow creased and she sat forward one more time, her hands gesturing, long figures elegant and poised. “I need to know now. We need to plan what to do, now.”
Right. She’d decided to be stubborn. “I’ll take you back to the hotel and we’ll talk there.”
Good, Kieran. Now she’ll just think you’re using this as an excuse to get her into bed.
He decided to project a thought into her mind. It’s very private and you could be embarrassed if I talk about it here in front of the others.
When he purposely captured her gaze, he thought he saw understanding there. Then a thought whispered from her mind. All right you stubborn bastard.
He grinned, satisfied and amused. Knowing looks passed around the room, and for the first time in a long time, Ronan felt his cheeks heat. Shit, he hadn’t experienced a blush…a real honest to God, mortified blush in decades. Feck, no. Try centuries.
This pretty colleen would drive him to his end, one way or the other.
Ronan retrieved their coats from the hall closet and her fanny pack. As he helped her on with the coat, Micky and Jared prepared to leave as well.
“Do you see anything else in the dreams?” Lachlan asked Clarissa. “What do you think starts this whole disaster sequence Halloween night?”
Sadness twisted Clarissa’s features. “I wish I knew.”
“Even if we know all this disaster is coming, how can we stop it?” Micky asked as she slipped on her coat.
“I was hoping you all could tell me.” Clarissa’s sad voice, a little resigned, gave Ronan pause. He didn’t like that this strong, tough woman sounded like she might give up. “Because I haven’t got a clue.”
* * * * *
As Ronan and Clarissa piled into her car, Ronan offered to drive her back to her hotel. A little less feisty then when she’d arrived, she acquiesced. She found she liked throwing him off balance. Maybe this big, conceited man thought he could keep her under his constant watch, and that he could pull something on her with his intellect and persuasive personality.
Little did he know.
As they pulled out of the driveway and headed down the icy road, Ronan drove cautiously, much to her surprise and satisfaction. She’d never liked guys who drove like maniacs, especially in bad weather. Clouds obscured the stars tonight. Light traffic traversed the streets, and a hush seemed to settle over the town as it cowered under the threat of a serial killer.
With a shiver of cold and fear, Clarissa adjusted her hat. Ronan flicked a glance her way.
“You’re awfully quiet,” she said.
“There isn’t much to say after everything we told you.”
She drew in a cleansing breath to resurrect her equilibrium and courage. “Except for one thing. What was so important and so embarrassing you couldn’t tell me until we were alone together? Go ahead, spit it out.”
His voice, when it came, held a husky, sexual nuance that made her heart beat faster and anticipation tingle in her stomach. “I suppose if I say I’d like to wait until we get to your hotel room you’ll be angry and suspicious.”
As if he’d switched a light bulb on she felt both emotions. She tugged her hat down on her head and wiggled her fingers in her gloves. “Exactly.”
Ronan’s grunt sounded assured, one of those noises a woman could expect a testosterone-laden male to make when he thought he knew the lay of the land.
“Then it sounds like I’m better off if I wait until you’re in the hotel room.”
She glared at him. “Why don’t you just spit it out? What are you afraid of?”
“Nothing frightens me.”
“Huh. Right.”
Another glance, this one tinged with that golden fire, came her way. “Do you believe everything we told you tonight?”
His subject switch surprised her. “Yes, of course. Why?”
“I’m glad. It means what I’ll tell you later won’t be so difficult to swallow.”
He turned down Main Street and headed for her hotel.
“Were you bitten by a vampire?” she asked suddenly, hoping her question would get a quick answer from him.
“Yes.”
His ready answer took her aback. She’d e
xpected more quibbling. She took a deep breath to gather her thoughts around this startling information.
“Okay. So you’re like Lachlan, Jared, and Micky then.”
Without a word he turned into the hotel parking lot and located a space close to the front door. He turned off the ignition and handed her the keys.
“It’s more complicated than their situation. But yes, I’m like them in many ways.”
“Then why the big secret? They told me what they are. Did you think I wouldn’t believe you?”
His gaze didn’t turn golden as she expected, an unearthly calm settling around him. He gazed through the front windshield into the night. “Your acceptance of what we told you is amazing. Micky and Erin had to have more proof. But I’m thankful you believed us.”
“Micky saw shadow people all her life and yet she needed more proof?”
“She didn’t tell anyone for years for fear of ridicule. And Jared needed more proof even after she told him about the shadow people.”
Before she said another word he opened his door. She’d barely taken a breath when the passenger door opened and her heart slammed up into her throat. Ronan stood there patiently, as if he hadn’t been in the driver’s seat a second ago.
“Ronan.” She put her hand to her chest. “You scared the hell out of me.”
He held his hand out and gave a devilish smile. “I can move far more quickly than Jared or Lachlan. I can move faster than the human eye can see.”
Feeling a tad breathless, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to draw her from the car. “What do we have here? A little competition?”
He winked and drew her closer, the mischievous look in his eyes making her wary. “I don’t need or want to compete with them.”
As he closed the passenger door with a solid click, she said, “Because your ego is large enough?”
“Because as powerful as Jared, Lachlan, and Micky can be physically and mentally, I’ll always have more strength.”
Curiosity made her say something she wouldn’t have a few days earlier. “Come inside for a few minutes. You’ve got some explaining to do.”
With one hand he touched her cheek. Warm and gentle, his gesture felt like precious gold and diamonds, a gift bestowed only to a woman he cared for a great deal.
“Oh, I can come inside for more than a few minutes if that’s what you want.”
Liquid heat poured into her loins at his double entendre.
I mean it. His voice whispered in her mind. If you want me, you only have to ask, Clarissa.
Surprise at his bluntness threw her off balance for a moment. Her mouth felt dry, her throat tight with expectation and nervousness. Excitement also welled inside and demanded fulfillment. Without a word, uncertain how to express her chaotic feelings, she slipped her hand from his grip and started for the front door of the hotel.
Two female clerks and a security guard stood behind the front desk in the small hotel. The ladies, middle-aged strawberry-blonde twins, smiled and nodded to Clarissa and Ronan. The short, rotund guard gave Ronan a suspicious glare. When Ronan gave the man a bored expression, the guard turned away.
Stifling a smile, Clarissa continued to the elevators. She pushed the button to go up. Keeping her voice low, she said, “You have an interesting effect on people.”
One of his thick, roan-dark eyebrows lifted. “Sure, and it’s only your imagination.”
She cleared her throat delicately. “Bull. I’ll bet women faint at your feet and men cower.”
“You haven’t fainted.”
She snapped her fingers. “Darn, that’s right. But maybe it’s because I’m immune to your charms.”
Oops. Wrong thing to say.
He didn’t use his preternatural speed, but within seconds his arm slipped around her waist and he drew her against his side. Warmth enveloped her body in comfort and a dreaminess she’d felt many times whenever she came near him. She shivered with pure delight, captured up in one of those eternal moments.
Nuzzling aside her hair, he whispered into her ear. “If you think you’re immune, I can prove otherwise.”
The elevator pinged and the door opened. He led her inside and when the doors closed he didn’t release her. She could hardly reach the button to push for her floor.
“In fact,” he said, “I’ll prove right now that you can’t resist our attraction.”
His gaze flashed yellow, their light brilliant enough to make his pupil and iris disappear. She gasped. “Ronan.”
Metal groaned loudly. The elevator jerked and she started to lose her footing. Ronan tightened his hold, chest to chest, thigh to thigh.
With a mechanical sigh, the elevator stopped.
Blinking, she looked into his yellow eyes and watched as the glow disappeared. His glorious dark eyes returned to normal.
Disbelief made her mouth pop open, but for a second she couldn’t believe. “You didn’t.”
He grinned.
“Holy shit,” she said. “You did.”
Chapter Eight
Ronan’s unrepentant grin would have irritated Clarissa if she hadn’t been so fascinated by what had just happened.
Her mouth opened, but he cut her off. “There’s more I can do.”
With a smile both cagey and sweet, he snuggled her closer until they couldn’t have fit a piece of paper between them. Clarissa’s heart did double time as she marveled at his cheekiness.
“Okay, so I’ve seen your parlor trick. Someone is going to realize this elevator is out of commission.”
He brushed his lips, warm and tantalizing, over her forehead. “Not unless we push the emergency button or they realize we’re stuck in here.”
“Are you saying you’ve somehow hijacked this elevator and you can’t start it again?”
“Nope. Didn’t say that.”
She pushed against his chest in token protest. “You’re worse than a boy with a toy.”
He chuckled softly. “I can be.” Filled with heated desire, his voice lowered yet another notch into pure sex. “When I see something I want I go after it.”
“Consequences be damned?”
“Sometimes.”
She shivered, a drop of fear lingering.
Ronan’s voice eased into her mind, liquid, soft, and sensual. I would never harm you. I will always protect you.
Her heart sped up. Once and for all she knew it in her soul. He might be the scariest, strongest man she’d known, but he wouldn’t hurt her. Not physically, at least. All along her body she savored his masculinity. Although he held her in an unbreakable grip, she never felt more cherished or alive.
“Why did you stop the elevator?” she asked. “Other than to prove you could, of course.”
To her surprise and disappointment he released her. He started walking around her slowly. As he ambled, Ronan caught her gaze, his concentration as intense as a touch. “I like the thrill of a little danger. Don’t you?”
She made a little huff. “With everything that’s going on in this town you think we need another challenge?”
His pace eased as he circled, then came to a stop behind her. “This danger is different. Beyond anything you’ve experienced.”
“I’ve been trapped in an elevator before. Ten years ago.”
“Were you frightened?”
“Actually I was bored. I was stuck in there for an hour with my aunt. And believe me, you don’t want to get caught in a department store elevator with Aunt Liz.”
His hands gripped her shoulders and started to massage. His fingers kneaded relaxation into her muscles.
His breath brushed her ear. “Are you bored now?”
Her heart thudded, her breathing quickening. “No.”
Ronan’s fingers soothed her, asked her to relinquish control. “Afraid?”
“No.”
Everyone is afraid at one time or another. His thoughts came into her head. What do you fear the most other than hot, wild sex with me?
She inhaled, drawing in a c
alming breath. It was unbelievable the way he twisted and turned everything back to sex.
He drew her back against him, and she remembered the first time she’d met him and they stood in the cemetery like this.
“You think all I want is sex?” he asked.
“Isn’t it?”
His lips brushed her earlobe. “No.”
“Then what else do you want from me?”
“Your trust. We don’t have much time to understand how to destroy the ancient one. But I do need you to believe in me without question if we’re going to accomplish that.”
“How can I trust you? I barely know you. It doesn’t matter that your friends have faith in you…you’re not having sex with them.” A wild, ridiculous impulse urged her to say, “Or are you?”
She felt him stiffen, his rhythmic massage coming to a halt. Instead his fingers trailed down her arms, then back to the collar of her coat. Without hesitation he unbuttoned the garment. Not with the quick flash he’d performed before, but with the methodical motion of a normal man without extraordinary abilities.
“I think it’s getting hot in here.” His voice rasped in her left ear this time as he drew her coat off her shoulders and down her arms. He tossed it in a corner. “Do you have fantasies about ménage à trois?”
As his fingers slid down to her waist and lifted her thick, marled-wool sweater, shock slithered into her. His warm hands cupped her waist.
“I’m totally heterosexual,” she said. “And I’m not interested in sex with another woman.”
“More than one man?”
Amazed at the direction of their conversation, her senses a whirl and her composure cracked, she sputtered the next answer. “I haven’t…no I haven’t done that.”
“Haven’t done it or haven’t fantasized about it?”
“Neither.”
“But you do fantasize.”
“I’ve been too busy and too tired to fantasize lately.”
“Too bad. We’ll have to do something about that.”
He gathered her thick, long hair with one hand and then kissed the back of her neck.
Yearning centered deep in her stomach and moist heat gathered between her legs. Her body didn’t seem to care that she didn’t trust him. He turned her around and gathered her into his arms again, his hands sliding down to cup her ass. Once again those fascinating eyes radiated potent energy, a shimmering fire that commanded at the same time it compelled.