Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (36 page)

But
he’d
do
it
alone.

He
threw
himself
down
on
the
bed
and
stared
at
the
ceiling.
Closing
his
eyes,
he
tried
to
sleep.
No
way.
The
notion
came
to
him
that
he
was
waiting
for
something,
and
he
was
unsurprised
when
the
buzzer
sounded.

Rolling
to
his
feet,
he
smashed
his
hand
down
on
the
panel
without
checking
the
viewer.
He
knew
who
was
out
there—he’d
been
expecting
her.
No
doubt
come
to
parade
herself
in
front
of
him
and
expect
him
to
be
all
turned
on
by
her
tight
little
body
in
those
tight
little
clothes.

“What
the
hell
do
you
want?”

Even
in
the
four-inch
heels,
she
only
came
up
to
his
chin,
and
he
had
to
look
down
to
sneer
at
her.
Straight
into
her
cleavage.
He
tried
to
remember
her
breasts
last
time
he’d
seen
them,
bloody
and
marked
by
the
vampire,
but
he
couldn’t
summon
the
image
to
his
mind.

The
fastener
of
her
top
was
lowered
so
the
creamy
mounds
almost
overflowed
the
hot
pink
jumpsuit.
Jon
forced
his
gaze
upward.
Her
eyes
were
downcast,
almost
demure.
Another
act.
She
tilted
her
head
to
look
up
at
him.
For
the
first
time,
she
was
wearing
makeup,
her
eyes
ringed
with
smudged
black,
making
them
appear
even
bigger.
Like
great
limpid
pools
of
neediness.

She
licked
her
lips.
“Can
I
come
in?”

“No.”

“Please.
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
for
saving
my
life.”

“Then
say
it
and
go.”

Alex
blinked
up
at
him,
her
eyes
glistening
with
unshed
tears,
and
a
wave
of
horror
threatened
to
roll
over
him
and
suck
him
under.
He
wanted
to
yell—don’t
do
this.
Instead,
he
gave
in
to
the
inevitable,
stepped
back,
and
gestured
for
her
to
enter
the
room.
Leaving
the
door
open,
he
turned
back
to
face
her,
folding
his
arms
across
his
chest,
doing
his
best
to
look
formidable.

She
stood,
nibbling
on
her
lip
as
if
unsure
what
to
say
now
she’d
wheedled
her
way
in.
Finally,
she
took
a
deep
breath.
“I
know
you
think
I’m
a
kid.
But
I’m
not—I’m
a
woman.
You’d
know
that
if
you
took
a
moment
to
look.”

He
didn’t
want
to
look.
Or
maybe
he
wanted
to
look
too
damn
much.
This
was
exactly
why
he
should
have
nothing
to
do
with
her;
she
clouded
his
mind.
Confused
issues
that
were
normally
crystal
clear.

Her
hand
went
to
the
clasp
at
the
front
of
her
jump
suit,
fiddling
with
it,
and
his
gaze
followed
the
movement.
The
fit
was
so
tight,
he
could
see
her
nipples
clearly
defined
under
the
material.

Heat
pooled
in
his
groin,
and
his
balls
ached
viciously.
He
had
an
almost
overwhelming
urge
to
toss
her
skinny
ass
on
the
bed
and
lose
himself
in
her.
Except
her
ass
wasn’t
skinny.
It
was
surprisingly
full.
Like
her
breasts.

She
wouldn’t
know
what
had
hit
her.

And
that
was
the
problem.

The
little
fool
had
no
clue
what
she
was
asking
for.

Maybe
she’d
tempted
Bastion
the
same
way.
And
the
poor
sap
had
died
because
of
it.
He
almost
wanted
to
kick
himself
for
that
betraying
thought.

Slowly,
she
lowered
the
fastener
farther,
until
he
could
make
out
the
shadowy
curves
of
her
breasts.

His
dick
was
already
rock-hard.
Luckily,
she
wasn’t
looking
in
that
direction.

As
she
stepped
closer,
her
scent
teased
his
nostrils.
She
smelt
like
warm
woman.

“I
was
so
frightened,”
she
murmured.
“I
thought
I
was
dead.
I
was
sure
I
was
dead.
And
he
was
hurting
me.”
A
shiver
ran
through
her
small
frame,
and
she
gazed
at
him
with
those
limpid
eyes.
“And
then
I
thought
we
were
going
to
die
back
there,
and
all
I’d
ever
know
about
sex
was
pain.
I
just
want
to
forget.”
The
fastener
was
lowered
another
inch.
“I
know
you
like
to
do
the
chasing.
But
one
kiss?
Is
that
so
much
to
ask?
To
help
me
forget.
Then
I’ll
go,
I
promise.”

She
was
manipulating
him,
but
he
could
do
absolutely
nothing
about
it,
and
when
she
licked
her
lips
again,
he
groaned.

“You
are
the
dumbest
woman
in
the
universe,”
he
muttered
before
giving
in
to
the
unavoidable.
Her
mouth
was
soft.
He
had
every
intention
of
keeping
his
own
lips
closed,
but
her
small
tongue
pried
them
open,
thrusting
into
his
mouth
so
he
tasted
her
sweetness.

His
cock
twitched,
and
he
shuddered
with
the
effort
of
keeping
his
arms
by
his
sides.
She
was
rubbing
up
against
him
now
like
a
bitch
in
heat.

The
cradle
of
her
pelvis
rocked
against
his
shaft,
and
he
groaned
into
her
mouth.
She
went
still
before
drawing
back
to
peer
down
the
length
of
his
body,
and
his
cock
twitched
again.
When
she
peeked
back
up
at
his
face,
her
eyes
were
wide,
and
for
a
moment,
something
flashed
in
her
expression.
Then
she
lowered
her
lashes
so
he
couldn’t
see
what
she
was
thinking.

But
she
was
as
turned
on
as
he
was,
the
hard
points
of
her
nipples
pressing
against
the
soft
material.

Jon
couldn’t
help
himself.
Sliding
his
hand
inside
the
open
top,
he
cupped
her
breast,
rubbing
his
palm
over
the
beaded
nipple,
squeezing
gently.
She
winced,
and
he
went
still
then
dropped
his
hand
and
stepped
back.

She
moved
in
close
again.
“Please,”
she
whispered.

He
parted
the
material
and
stared
down
at
her.
Dark
bruises
marred
the
perfection
of
one
full
breast.
The
other
sported
a
double
fang
mark
where
the
blood-sucking
bastard
had
bitten
her.

“It
doesn’t
matter,”
she
said.

“The
hell
it
doesn’t
matter.
It’s
all
that
matters.
You’re
a
kid
in
need
of
protection.
And
I’m
not
in
the
business
of
protecting
anybody.”

“Too
late.
You
already
saved
my
life.”

“Then
I’m
not
in
the
business
of
protecting
you
again.
Go
find
someone
else.”

“You
won’t
need
to.
I’ve
learned
my
lesson.”

“Darling,
people
like
you
never
learn.”

“People
like
me?”

“Reckless
people.”

She
frowned.
“I’m
not
reckless.
I’ll
have
you
know
I’m
the
most
unreckless
person
ever.”

“Yeah,
right.
That’s
why
you
came
begging
me
to
fuck
you,
hours
after
we’d
met.
And
that’s
why
you
went
running
into
a
vampire’s
lair.
And
no
doubt,
why
you
stowed
away
on
that
ship
in
the
first
place.
It’s
only
a
matter
of
time
before
you
do
something
else
stupid,
and
as
Rico
said,
next
time
maybe
you’ll
get
us
all
killed.”