Viv’s expression went from startled to scared as she inched backwards, away from the bright orange waves that now separated them.
The fire alarm sounded, and the overhead sprinklers kicked on.
The cold water hit him, and everything seemed to speed up then. He grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and rushed forward. White foam spewed, drenching the flames until the last lick of orange fizzled. In a matter of seconds, the wall went from a fiery blaze to a smoldering black mess.
Garret chucked the extinguisher and crossed the threshold. He reached for Viv. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, but he wasn’t convinced. Fear brightened her eyes, and his chest tightened. He swept his gaze from her head to her toes and back up again. She was soaked from the sprinklers and still a little freaked out from the sudden fire, but otherwise she looked okay.
His gaze collided with hers, and the strange glimmer seemed to fade into the blue depths. Her eyes glittered, the color shifting, morphing, into a brilliant blaze of purple.
And suddenly she looked more hungry than afraid.
Time seemed to stand still for the next few moments as they stood there staring at each other. The sprinkler rained down on them, cooling off the temperature in the room. But it didn’t begin to touch the heat that churned inside of him.
His body tightened and his vision blurred, and he knew his eyes gleamed just as hot, as bright, as wild as hers.
The air sizzled, and steam rose. The water chugged and splattered for several more seconds until the automatic shut-off finally kicked in.
“What just happened?” Her voice, soft and breathless, barely pushed past the frantic beat of his heart.
He licked his lips and gathered his control. “The, um, air conditioner has been acting up.” Like hell. But it was the best he could come up with and a damned sight better than the truth—that he wanted to kiss her.
He wouldn’t.
No matter how much he suddenly wanted to.
“I guess it finally blew,” he added.
His hearing perked and through the sound of dripping water he could hear the steady drone of the central cooling unit.
Judging from the “yeah, right” look on her face, so could she.
“Temporarily,” he rushed on. “It must be one of those things that comes and goes. You know, one minute the problem is here, the next it clears itself up.”
“Probably.” That’s what she said, but he could see the doubt in her gaze. He could also see a hell of a lot more thanks to the sprinklers.
Her clothes were soaked. Her silky red shirt plastered to her breasts and outlined her hard, ripe nipples. Water ran in tiny rivulets down her face, her smooth, curved neck, to disappear in the deep V between her luscious breasts. She was soaked, her skin slick and gleaming, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she was just as wet between her legs.
He could easily find out. All he had to do was reach out. Hitch up her skirt. Trail his palms over her soft, smooth ass. Plunge his hand between her silky thighs. Dip his fingers into the hot, sweltering folds. Stroke her swollen, throbbing clit.
As if she read the decadent thoughts wreaking havoc on his control, her nostrils flared and her chest hitched. Urgency gleamed in her gaze, and he knew she wanted him to touch her and find out.
If only. But she didn’t want him. He could have been any man. He was nothing but a meal ticket to her.
Nothing.
That’s what he told himself, but he didn’t quite believe it. Not with the two of them standing so close, the air so steamy and hot as they gazed at each other, into each other. While he couldn’t read her the way he did a human, he could see the uncertainty in the way she caught her bottom lip and gripped her hands together.
The sight chipped away at his control because Viv Darland didn’t feel such things. She was a vampire, for Christ’s sake.
Commanding. Determined. Self-assured.
She looked anything but at the moment, and it tied his damned self-control into knots.
That, and he couldn’t forget the fear in her eyes. The real, raw fear caused by the fire.
“You should really get that fixed,” she told him, as if eager to ease the tension that crackled around them. “The air conditioner, I mean. I would imagine it gets pretty hot in here what with all the equipment.”
“Yep, it’s definitely an equipment problem.”
Her gaze slid past him to the welding unit, the sheet cutter, the shaper. “What with all the stuff in here, the place could go up in flames if you’re not careful.” She glanced at the ceiling. “But then I guess that’s what the sprinklers are for.”
“Yes.” His gaze dropped to her nipples pressing provocatively against the drenched fabric before shifting back to her face, and suddenly he couldn’t help himself.
He reached out.
His fingertip circled one hard tip outlined beneath the wet fabric of her shirt. She hissed and went perfectly still.
“There’s nothing like a good sprinkler system to calm things down,” he murmured. A few more strokes, and she clamped down on her bottom lip. “Or liven things up.”
“I…” She seemed to be fighting hard for her own control. As hard as he’d fought just a few moments ago. But the battle was futile. The pull between them was too fierce. Too compelling. And suddenly it was all he could think of.
His gaze collided with hers. “You look good wet,” he murmured, and then he pulled her into his arms.
GARRET SAWYER had lived and breathed in Viv’s memory for so long. The feel of his hard, hot body pressed against hers, his arms locked tight, his lips eating at hers. But the memories were nothing compared to the real thing.
Electricity skimmed her skin and heat firebombed the pit of her stomach as he drew her close.
Closer.
His hands spanned her waist, slid over her ass and cupped the round fullness. He pulled her flush against him and lifted her. Her legs came around him, and he hoisted her, sliding her up the hard ridge of his erection until he was eye-level with her chest. His tongue flicked out, and she barely caught the moan that worked its way up her throat.
Heat licked the tip of her nipple, and a burst of pleasure zapped her brain. She bowed toward him.
He touched her with his tongue again and licked her longer, more leisurely, savoring the ripeness of her. She gasped and clung to him.
His lips closed over her nipple. The wet material of her shirt provided little protection against the searing inferno of his mouth. Heat surrounded her areola as he drew on her, sucking long and hard.
She threaded her fingers through his hair, tilted her head back and gave herself up to sensation.
The pressure of his mouth increased. His tongue stroked. His lips suckled. Each pull on her nipple sent an echoing tug between her legs. She clutched at his bare shoulders, desperate to relieve the pressure building inside of her.
It was coming. She could feel it.
His hands held her steady, scorching her as he nestled her crotch against the ripped hardness of his abdomen.
Then he moved her, a frantic brush of her sex up and down the muscled ridges, and the pressure neared maximum intensity. She was so close.
Too close.
As wonderful as it was, it wasn’t what she wanted.
She wanted him inside of her when she went over the edge. She needed it.
Stop!
The command echoed through her head, and her fingers tightened in his hair. But instead of pushing him away, she couldn’t help herself. She pulled him closer and rubbed herself against him and…there. And there. And, oh, yes, there.
She felt the waistband of his jeans rasp her slit, the metal of his button a cold shock against her ultra-sensitive clitoris, and a lightning bolt went through her. Her nerves tingled, and the sharp edge of her fangs pressed against her tongue.
Desperation rushed through her, and she lifted herself for another slide and shimmy. He stopped her cold, his arms tightening in a grip that rendered her im
mobile.
Her eyes popped open to see a fierce look on his face. His grip tightened for a split-second before it loosened and her feet hit the floor.
The next few moments passed in a dizzying blur. One minute they were pressed against each other, and the next she was standing alone as Garret threw open a small storage unit on the opposite side of the room.
A heartbeat later, he was back. He tossed a Skull Creek Choppers T-shirt around her shoulders. Large hands tugged her wet skirt down around her hips just as the outer doorway opened and two couples filed into the adjoining office.
They were laughing and talking and then bam, four pairs of eyes stared through the wall of windows and fixated on her. Everyone went silent.
Viv gathered the extra large tee around her and tried to control her frantic heartbeat.
But Garret was still too close, his hard body just to her right. In her peripheral vision she could see him wipe his drenched face with a second T-shirt before scrubbing at his hair. Her skin still burned where his fingers had rubbed her thighs as he’d tugged the skirt down to a respectable level.
The hunger raged, urging her to turn and reach for him. To beg for his touch all over her body and finish what they’d started regardless of the audience.
But it was too late.
While he stood only inches away physically, emotionally he’d already traveled a few hundred miles.
Gone was the desire that had brightened his eyes. Ice blue chips glittered back at her when she chanced a glance at him. Regret glimmered in the translucent depths and her chest tightened.
She blinked against the sudden burning in her own eyes. “I—I really should be going.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll finish up tomorrow night after everything dries out.” She snatched up her soaked camera bag. “I’ll need to pick up some new lighting equipment. Is it all right if I leave all the wet stuff here for now?”
Without waiting for a reply, she sailed past him and pushed through the nearest side door marked Exit. She didn’t slow down until she reached the opposite side of the small parking lot where her car was parked.
She stalled for a few seconds and drank in a heavy draft of air.
As if that would help.
She climbed behind the wheel, keyed the ignition and revved the engine.
The roar did little to drown out the sound of his heartbeat that echoed in her ears and followed her as she turned out onto Main Street. Along with the voice that whispered in her ear.
“It’s not happening between us.”
She knew then that while she’d won the battle tonight, she wasn’t even close to winning the war. He had no intention of having sex with her no matter how much he wanted her.
Or how much she wanted him.
“Never, ever again.”
His deep voice followed, whispering in her ear, stirring her insecurity and her doubt.
She shouldn’t have come here.
She wouldn’t have if she could just forget.
The feel of his arms, his hands, his lips…
Her body tingled, and heat spiraled through her. No, she couldn’t forget. And while he might regret what had just happened, the point was, it had happened.
Which meant that it could happen again.
Garret would lose control, they would go all the way, and she would get one more chance to experience the earth-shattering orgasm that had eluded her since she’d walked away from him all those years ago.
That’s all she wanted from him, she reminded herself. She certainly didn’t want him to need her. To like her.
This was all about sex.
Breath-stealing, toe-curling, bone-melting sex.
At least that’s what she told herself as she headed back to the motel.
11
“YOU’VE BEEN HOLDING out on us.” Jake stared at the Exit door where Viv had just disappeared.
Garret shook his head. “It’s not like that, man.”
“Isn’t it?” Jake arched an eyebrow and gave Garret a knowing look. Not because he’d actually witnessed the wet and wild bump and grind.
He hadn’t.
Garret had felt his fellow vampires long before they’d keyed in the security code and opened the outer doorway.
No, Jake knew because of Garret.
Because he was staring at him right now, and he could see the brightness that lingered in his gaze. The tension in his body. The hunger that radiated from him, along with a shimmer of heat. He wasn’t anywhere close to starting another fire thanks to the douse of water and the arrival of his friends, but he was still worked up.
“Who is she?” Jake asked.
“A freelance reporter.” When Jake didn’t look the least bit satisfied, Garret shrugged. “Just somebody I used to know. A long, long time ago.”
“Vampire?” The question came from Nikki. Her lips hinted at a grin and curiosity danced in her excited expression. Garret nodded and she added, “No wonder you’re not interested in a fix-up. Donna Sue’s got a pretty big dose of sex appeal and can give the hotties in this town a run for their money, but she doesn’t have anything close to vamp charisma.”
“So you like this woman?” It was Meg’s turn.
“No.” Like didn’t begin to touch what he felt for Viv Darland.
Disappointment? Definitely.
Resentment? Ditto.
Fear? A little.
Lust? A shitload.
But that was it.
Nothing else. Nothing powerful.
He ignored the small voice that insisted otherwise and shifted his attention to Dillon.
The younger vampire stared at the Exit door before his gaze slid back to Garret. You are so busted gleamed loud and clear. The younger vamp opened his mouth for confirmation, but Garret spoke first.
“Don’t ask.”
Dillon shrugged. “Hey, your sex life is your own business.”
“They didn’t have sex.” Meg nudged him. Excitement lit her face and her eyes swiveled to Nikki. “Did they?”
Nikki looked at Jake. “Honey?”
“Garret?” Jake arched an eyebrow.
“I’m out of here.” Garret turned and reached for his keys.
“We’ll take that as a yes,” Nikki’s amused voice followed him to the doorway.
“A big fat yes,” Meg added.
If only.
Garret shook off a pang of disappointment. He wasn’t having sex with Viv Darland. He wasn’t.
His head knew that, but his damned body didn’t seem to be getting the message.
His groin throbbed, and his muscles ached. Hunger twisted at his insides, fighting and clawing for sustenance.
He tamped down on the urge to find the nearest woman and end the torment eating away at him. He could, but that would mean breaking his vow, and he wasn’t about to do that.
He’d held out this long, and he wasn’t caving now. No sex. Not with Viv. Not with any woman.
Not until he’d reclaimed his humanity.
In the meantime, Garret did what he’d been doing for the past few months when the need grew too great. He headed home to chug a few bags of blood and climb into an ice-cold shower.
“DO YOU ALWAYS wear a suit and tie when you deliver extra towels?” Viv asked when she arrived at the motel to find Eldin waiting on her doorstep.
He wore a pin-striped navy suit, a red dress shirt, red tennis shoes and a wide smile. “It’s part of our first-class treatment here at the Skull Creek Inn.” He handed her a fluffy stack of folded white cotton and stepped back while she slid her key card into the slot and unlocked the door. “That, and I like to be ready for any late night dating opportunities.” The door opened, and he followed her inside. “You can quote me on that.”
“Will do.” Viv set the towels on a nearby table and moved to close the door.
Eldin didn’t budge. Instead, he stood rooted just inside the doorway, an expectant look on his face.
Realization dawned and she shrugged. “I can�
��t take any pictures tonight. I lost most of my film in a freak fire over at the chopper shop.” Okay, so that wasn’t the complete truth. While she had, indeed, lost the rolls she’d had with her, she kept an extra stash in the trunk of her car, along with two back-up digital cameras. But the last thing she wanted was to spend the next fifteen minutes taking pics of Eldin. She was too worked up—too hot—and she needed a cold shower in the worst way. “The inside sprinklers came on and ruined everything.” She indicated her damp clothes.
As if noticing them for the first time, he nodded. “You’re all wet.”
“And so is my film. I’ll have to pick more up at the pharmacy tomorrow.”
“Just write down what you need, and I’ll fetch it for you first thing in the morning.”
“I couldn’t put you to so much trouble.”
“No trouble at all. Just part of our VIP Ultra-Deluxe vacation package which also includes free muffins, a Buy-One-Get-One-Free entrée coupon for Little Pigs Barbecue just a spit and holler down the road and an unlimited supply of Tums. You’ll need it after eating the ribs.” He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. “This outlines all the different packages we offer, and it also includes the itinerary for the vacation I’m taking this summer.”
Viv scanned the page. “You’re taking a couples cruise? I thought you were single?”
“At the moment, but I’m hoping your article can hook me up before I sail. I prefer a blonde, but at this point I’m willing to look at most anyone who might be interested. You can quote me on that, too.”
“Um, yeah.” Viv grabbed the door. “I’d really like to get out of these wet clothes.”
Eldin still didn’t budge. “How you doin’ on ice? You need another bucketful before bedtime?”
“I’m good.” She stepped forward, urging him back a few inches.
“Complimentary soap?”
“I’m still working on the six extra bars you left yesterday.” She took another step, but he stalled in the threshold and she added, “They really work up a good lather.”
“They should for what I’m paying Marvin over at the pharmacy. He says I ought to order the stuff in gross if I want a discount.”
A Body to Die For Page 8