by Cat Devon
“Jayne Ann Krentz.”
“I like her books, too,” he said before smiling and adding, “You seem surprised.”
“I am. She writes romances.”
“I know she does. I like romance.”
“You do?”
He nodded again. This time a lock of his dark hair tumbled over his forehead, giving him a bad-boy roguish look. “You couldn’t tell by the way I kissed you?”
“I could tell you’re good at it,” she said. “Kissing, I mean.”
Her gaze was held by his. His brown eyes were dark with passion. It was difficult to look away but she forced herself to do so before she ended up in his arms.
“What about cards?” she said a tad desperately, picking up the box on the worktable. “Are you good at playing cards?”
“I am.”
“Care to play a game?” she said.
“You’re on.” Alex opened the box and expertly shuffled the deck with all the dexterity of a dealer at a Vegas casino. “Poker? Texas Hold ’Em?”
“Go Fish,” she replied. At his blank look, she added, “Let’s play Go Fish.”
He appeared disappointed. She wondered if he’d hoped she’d want to play Strip Poker or something. While the prospect of having him remove his shirt did have its appeal, she was trying to be strong and not give in to temptation.
“If you really want to play Go Fish—”
“I do,” she said.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” He dealt her the required number of cards. “Ladies first.”
And so they began. “Got any sevens?” she asked.
“Go fish. Got any twos?”
She handed over her two of spades. “What about music?” she asked. “What music do you like?”
“Benny Goodman. Big-band music,” he replied. “Got any threes?”
“Go fish. I like Coldplay,” she said.
“They’re good,” he agreed.
As Alex looked down at his cards, she noticed the thickness of his dark eyelashes. He had such a strong face that the sweep of those lashes caught her by surprise. So did the curve of his lower lip. She studied the hint of stubble appearing on his jawline.
“Do you want some?” he asked.
She blinked.
“Music,” he elaborated. “Did you want to hear some music?”
Did she? She didn’t know for sure. She was only certain that his kiss had branded her in a magical way that left her wanting more.
Alex was well aware of the looks Keira had been giving him. Aware and aroused by them.
“Music?” he repeated.
“Sure.”
He reached for the small remote that activated the sound system. “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic blared out. He could tell she was surprised by the way her eyes widened slightly. This was clearly a song she knew and enjoyed. He watched her lips moving as she started lip-synching along.
The memory of their kiss refused to leave his mind. So did the flash of her smile when she eventually beat him at cards or the sound of her laughter when he cracked a classic cop joke.
There was so much more to her than he’d initially realized.
Alex felt like a heel for being so mean to her but he’d had to protect his clan. Now his focus was shifting to protecting her, and that was dangerous. Not just for him but for her, too. Vamptown was counting on him to figure out who was stealing blood to prevent tension with the Gold Coast clan from spiraling out of control.
And what was he doing? Playing Go Fish with Keira. Getting to know her better and feeling closer to her each minute. He should regret doing that. Part of him did. The other part was the problem.
He’d never considered a romantic relationship with a human woman before, let alone one with her bloodline. But there was this thing between them. She must be feeling it, too. She’d certainly responded to his kiss with passion and enthusiasm.
She was so damn smart. He wished the circumstances were different so they could work together to solve these thefts. But he wasn’t naive enough to think that would be an easy option.
As if reading his mind, she said, “I’ve been wondering … what do the thefts have in common? I mean, aside from the fact that they’re stealing blood. What else is a common denominator here? The location, for sure, as most of them took place in the same general area.”
“I can’t talk about the case.”
She sighed irritably. “Can’t or won’t? You’ve already talked about it with me.”
She had him there. He was set on automatic default to reject her curiosity.
“Come on,” she coaxed him. “Talk to me.”
Too many others were depending on Alex for him to risk confiding in her further until he was certain she could be trusted. He couldn’t just base his decision on his gut or his libido. There were still too many unknowns regarding her relationship to her hunter grandfather and his journal for Alex to reveal more of what he knew about the case—like the fact that they suspected vampires had wiped the video feeds clear.
Yes, Keira knew there was surveillance video from the theft sites, and yes she’d attributed that to vampires, incorrectly suggesting that it was because vampires couldn’t be filmed. That wasn’t the case here. But he couldn’t give her additional information at this point.
“I can’t tell you any more,” he said.
“I guess that means our temporary truce is over.”
“I guess it does,” he said.
“It’s your loss,” she replied.
He tried to squelch the pang of regret he felt but it stayed with him as she gave him the silent treatment after that.
Later that night, Alex texted Neville to dig deeper in Horace Turner’s past, going all the way back to the Great Chicago Fire. It was possible he was using another name in those days. Alex wanted details and he wanted them fast.
Looking at Keira now, curled up like a kitten on the couch, you’d never guess that she was related to one of the most vicious vampire hunters of all time.
He was amazed at the ease with which she fell asleep. But then much of what she did and said amazed him. He’d never met another woman like her. He’d known from the first moment he’d seen her that she was trouble, and that instinct had only intensified when she’d leaned across his desk at the police station and murmured, “Your vampire heritage.”
But he’d never anticipated that she’d be The One. He wished his sire had told him more about what that entailed. But Mitch had always avoided that conversation. And frankly Alex had had a hard enough time trying to adapt to being a vampire.
He’d been dedicated to saving lives as a human. But when he became a vampire that changed. He’d seen so many of his buddies die that he’d thought he’d become immune to the finality of death. But the pain of their loss had hit him with the force of a tidal wave. He’d gone on a killing rampage across Asia. Even after the war he’d kept killing with a rage that went clear to his soul, had he still had one.
He’d done bad things. Things he regretted. The vampire life wasn’t a natural fit for him. Mitch had chosen him for a reason but that reason was never completely clear to Alex, and that was incredibly frustrating. All Mitch had said was that something in Alex’s ancestral past linked him to the vampire world. He had never gone into specifics.
Yes, Alex had abilities that some other vampires didn’t, from being able to drink beverages besides blood to his ability to cloak. But he didn’t know why. He only knew that he was meant to be where he was right now with this woman sleeping nearby.
He moved closer to her, leaning down to slide her hair away from her cheek.
She sighed and grabbed hold of his wrist. “More,” she whispered.
He suspected she was in that twilight place between sleep and alertness. But he allowed her to tug him down so she could kiss his lips. She tasted delicious.
She’d started to trust him when they’d talked earlier. He’d sensed that. He couldn’t betray that trust now by taking advantage of her. She d
idn’t know what she was doing, but he did. She was driving him wild with the sweet seduction of her tongue. This had to stop.
It took every ounce of self-control he had to pull away. She sighed and turned her head, nuzzling into the blanket he’d lent her. She’d changed clothes in the bathroom, exchanging her skirt and top for a pair of pajamas printed with typewriter keys. Her movement had dislodged the part of the blanket by her feet and it was only then that he realized she was still wearing her shoes, as if planning on making a swift getaway in the night.
She was tough, he’d give her that. But he was tougher, and he’d have to be to keep this situation from becoming even more dangerous than it already was.
Chapter Nine
Keira woke slowly the next morning. Why was she on her couch instead of her bed? Had she fallen asleep watching Perry Mason on classic TV last night? It wouldn’t be the first time. There was something about those vintage black-and-white shows that she found soothing.
Then it all came back to her—her grandfather’s journal, the vampires on her fire escape, her apartment in ashes. And Alex. Hot, sexy, brooding Alex.
Had their temporary truce last night been a dream? Had they played cards and laughed and joked? Was that real? Had he kissed her again or had that only taken place in her imagination?
Her eyes flew open to find Alex standing over her, grinning. “How is our intrepid girl reporter today?” he asked. A quick glance at her watch told her it was just after six AM. He was entirely too cheerful for a vampire this early in the morning. Now that she was sitting up, she realized she had a crick in her neck from sleeping on the couch. She hadn’t felt awkward last night wearing pajamas in front of him since they covered more of her skin than her skirt and top had. But for some reason she felt vulnerable at the moment and that irritated her.
Was she the only one who’d been affected by their kiss yesterday? Last night they’d bridged their distrust long enough to … what? How would she describe what they’d done? Play cards and talk. How groundbreaking was that? Not groundbreaking enough for him to really confide in her … or for her to really confide in him. Her irritation grew.
“I am not intrepid. I’m no Lois Lane!”
“No?” he drawled. “She did tend to get into some pretty dangerous situations.”
“Meaning I’ve done the same thing?”
He just gave her a look.
“Okay, I admit coming to see you without a real plan may not have been my brightest moment.”
“Ya think?”
“Yes, I do think, contrary to what you are insinuating. I usually do think things through before acting on them, although there are times when I just take a leap of faith. This was one of those times.”
“If you hadn’t come see me, you might have been home when those vamps came to get you.”
“Maybe that wouldn’t have happened at all if I hadn’t opened up this vampire thing by coming to see you. That vampire, Lawrence Lynch, who came to talk to you while I was there may have been behind the break-in at my place.”
“I never gave him your name.”
“Maybe he already knew.”
“Had you seen him before?” Alex asked.
“No. But now that I think about it I did feel like I was being followed. I didn’t see anyone specifically. It was just a weird feeling. Nothing concrete, and it didn’t last long.”
“When was this?”
“After I left the Taste of Chicago press lunch, right before I confronted you at the police station.”
“You should have told me earlier.”
“I didn’t think it was real,” she admitted.
“Why are you rubbing your neck?” he asked her.
“I must have slept on it funny.”
The next thing she knew, he was sitting next to her and gently massaging her neck. “Where does it hurt? Here?”
She nodded.
“You’re all tense,” he murmured.
Whose fault is that? she would have said had his touch not made her feel so good. He was so close that she could hear him breathing. Then he abruptly stopped and moved away.
Clearing his throat, he said, “You still haven’t explained why your grandfather sent you to see me. Was it only because I was next on his hit list? I would have thought that would be enough to keep you away. Or did you come to warn me?”
“Warn you about what?”
“That I was next?”
“He wrote that I’d need your help.”
“Help doing what?”
“He wasn’t real specific,” she said.
“And that didn’t raise a red flag for you?”
“Forgive me if I act on it when I read that all hell is going to break loose if I don’t contact you.”
“Contact me, a vampire whom your grandfather planned on killing. A vampire when your grandfather believed we were all evil.”
“Hey, I didn’t say it was logical,” she shot back.
“None of this is logical.”
“You can’t keep holding me prisoner here. People are going to know I’m missing. I have work deadlines. I have co-workers and friends. They’re going to look for me.”
“Maybe.”
“No maybe about it. They’ve probably already reported me missing.”
His expression remained impassive.
She pointed an accusing finger at him. “They did report me, right? And you covered it up.”
“Who knew you came to see me?”
“Lots of people.” In retrospect, that would have been a smart thing to do. Not to reveal the vampire stuff, but at least to tell someone she was checking out a story at the police station.
“Liar,” he said.
Telling someone probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. Alex would just have compelled his cop buddies to forget it.
“Why is a vampire masquerading as a Chicago cop?” she demanded.
“I’m not masquerading.”
She’d done some minimal research on Alex before confronting him. She knew he was in charge of some special case division but couldn’t get any details on what that was. Thefts from blood banks seemed to be a special case to her, so it made sense for her to go see him as her grandfather had instructed. Not that her grandfather could have known about the thefts; they’d happened after his death.
She was getting a headache trying to figure this all out. Besides that, she was starving. The only food she’d had since the press luncheon yesterday was a cupcake. She’d checked the kitchen but found only containers of blood in the fridge. That had taken away her appetite pretty fast, so she hadn’t bothered checking the cupboards.
Wait, she did have some of those cupcakes left. A huge cup of coffee would sure be nice.
As if on cue, Alex offered her one of the two mugs he held. “Do you take it black?”
“What is it?” she asked suspiciously.
“It’s coffee. I can drink a variety of things, including wine and coffee.” He took a swig from the mug he’d kept for himself.
“Is that normal? For a vampire, I mean.” She’d asked him before but he hadn’t really answered.
“Not necessarily.”
“What makes you so special?”
His smile was seductively inviting. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“The fact that you’re bossy and arrogant.”
“Nah, most vampires are bossy and arrogant. That doesn’t make me special. Try again.”
She belatedly took the mug he’d offered her earlier. “Yesterday Bruce said something about you being able to cloak. I’m assuming that means the ability to avoid detection. Is that a common vampire ability?”
“You read your grandfather’s journal. What did he think were common vampire abilities?”
“He certainly didn’t mention drinking wine and coffee. Or anything about cloaking.”
“Your curiosity is a dangerous thing,” he told her.
“It’s why I became a journalist.”
“Not exactl
y a booming job market at the moment.”
“Like being a vampire is?”
“Point taken.” Alex flashed her another one of those trademark smiles of his.
“So tell me why you have these special abilities.”
His smile disappeared. “Because the vampire who sired me had them.”
“Where is he now?”
“Dead.”
“What happened?”
Alex looked away from her to check his phone, which had just indicated he had a text. “I’ve got to go to work. You can take a shower if you want.”
Did that mean she smelled? Was he trying to tell her that she needed to take a shower? She could feel herself blushing so she lifted her coffee mug and focused on drinking from it. Not only was Alex a hot and sexy vampire but he also made a damn good cup of coffee.
“Sierra will be coming to stay with you while I’m gone,” he said.
As he walked past her toward the door, she smelled his scent. It was spicy and fresh and triggered the memory of her dream last night that he’d kissed her and left her wanting more. Maybe that was left over from him leaving her that way earlier yesterday.
“Any news on the blood thefts?” she asked him. She was losing it here. She had to keep the focus on the case and not on Alex. But damn, it was difficult to do that when he radiated sexuality.
“That’s why I’m heading to the station.”
“Maybe I should come with you,” she said, eager to get out of the loft.
“You’d just be a distraction,” he told her bluntly before walking out the door.
* * *
Alex wasn’t in a good mood when he walked into his office. Craig’s wife, Bunny, was sitting next to his desk waiting for him. “I did it,” she stated dramatically. “I’m responsible for the blood thefts.”
Alex stared at her in amazement. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s my fault.”
Alex guided her into the empty interrogation room, the one he used for vampire-related business. He’d disabled the cameras so they wouldn’t record and then compelled the human cops to avoid that room.
“What is this all about?” he demanded.
“I told you.”
“Why would you steal blood? You don’t even drink it. You go for the artificial stuff, right?”