Luther's Return (Scanguards Vampires Book 10)

Though Luther was used to pain—and a slap from a woman who weighed barely a hundred and thirty pounds wasn’t considered pain in his books—the ache from it spread through his entire body. Not physically, but in a different way. As if she’d slapped his heart.

He’d gone too far in his attempt to push her away. Why the hell did she have to push all his buttons?

“Guess I deserved that,” he said with a calm he didn’t possess and turned his face back to her. He was tempted to offer her the other cheek like he had Samson, but feared she wouldn’t get his dry sense of humor.

When she didn’t say anything, he searched for words. He was damned if he was going to apologize. Apologies were for wimps, and it would be a cold day in hell, before he apologized for something that she’d provoked.

“Why can’t you just accept that it’s too dangerous for you to come with me? If I get caught, at least then it’s just my ass on the line. But you. Do you have any idea what they’ll do to you?”

Shooting her would be the least of her problems. The guards would have a field day with her, playing with her before they killed her. And he sure didn’t need another death on his conscience.

“I can look after myself. My brother taught me.”

“He a witch too?”

She shook her head hesitantly, as if she wasn’t sure it was wise to tell him. “Haven is a vampire.”

Instinctively he took a step back. She had a vampire brother? If that wasn’t unusual, then he didn’t know what was. “So that’s why Samson tolerates your presence.” He nodded to himself. “And that other witch? Wesley? Are you related to him too, ‘cause as sure as shit he isn’t your lover.”

“How the hell…” She stopped, letting out a breath, before shaking her head. “Oh, why do I bother? Like I give a crap about what you think.”

He shrugged. “Likewise.” And he’d rather bite his tongue off than ask about that witch once more. However, judging by the way Katie had kissed him, he was certain she had no lover. No woman in an intimate relationship would kiss a stranger like that. Hell, no woman at all would kiss a stranger like that, particularly not one she knew to be an ex-con.

“Fine, now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to our plan of getting into the prison. I’m assuming you have a plan?”

He scoffed. “Has anybody ever told you that you’re a pain in the butt?”

“It’s come up once or twice.”

“I have the feeling you’ve been around people who are way too polite to tell you the truth. Just to give you a heads-up: politeness isn’t my forte.”

She stepped closer, seemingly unafraid of him. God, how he admired a woman who didn’t back down at the first sign of trouble. Who stood her ground, even if that ground was shaky at best.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Katie said in a voice as soft as an angel’s, though he knew there was nothing angelic about her.

Well, nothing apart from her lush curves. Or her plump lips. Her sweet tongue.

Fuck!

She was doing it again: ensnaring him with her witchy wiles. Casting out her net. But this time he was on alert. He would be careful not to get drawn in by the seductive gaze of her green eyes that promised unimaginable pleasures. He’d survived twenty years without the touch of a woman, he could survive the next twelve hours until they could get to the prison, get the information they needed, and get out.

After that, she was on her own. Whatever she did with the information they found wasn’t his problem. He’d wash his hands of her. Be done with it.

He’d leave California, go north, maybe to Canada, start a new life. Far away from the vampires he’d once called brothers.

“Fine, we’ll leave at sunset. Get some rest. You’ll need it. We’ll have to hike in.”

“I’m not tired yet,” she claimed.

“Suit yourself.”

“I’d like to ask you something.” Her voice was even now, almost friendly. That alone made the hairs on his nape stand up in alert.

“I’m all out of answers today.”

She walked—no, sashayed—over to the large sofa and sat down in one corner, kicking off her shoes in the process, before folding her legs underneath her.

“You said you had a hunch who wrote the letters. Why?”

“I never said I had a hunch. You assumed it.”

“But you do have a suspicion. Was it something the guy said?”

“I never met him. Most times we were kept in solitary. So we couldn’t form alliances against the guards. There were strict protocols.”

“What kind of protocols?”

“How many V-CONs were allowed outside their cells at any one time.”

“V-CONs?”

“Vampire Convicts.”

She nodded, a serious look on her face. “It must have been lonely.”

“I prefer my own company to that of others.” It wasn’t even a lie. Though it didn’t mean that he hadn’t been lonely.

“I understand that,” she murmured and looked into the distance.

Surprised by her words, he eyed her. What did Katie know about loneliness? By all accounts she’d been a successful actress, adored by her fans, envied by her peers.