"What has he done to you?" Tabitha demanded.
"Nothing," she said, her face growing hot as she remembered his kiss. Nothing other than make her incredibly horny.
"Okay, listen," Tabitha said. "I'm going to Eric's, and we'll gather the gang, then head out to find you."
"No!" Amanda said as she saw the dark, angry look descend on Hunter's face. Her heart stopped as she realized he could hear through the phone line.
You can hear her? she mouthed to him. He nodded.
A chill went over her. "Listen, Tabby, I'm safe. Just do what he wants. Okay?"
"I don't know."
"Please trust me."
"You, I trust. Him? Hell, I don't even know who he is."
"I know," Amanda said. "You head over to Mom's and I'll stay in touch. Okay?"
"Okay," Tabitha groused, "but if I don't hear from you by eight o'clock tonight, I'm going hunting."
"All right, I'll talk to you later. Love you."
"You, too."
Amanda hung up the phone. "You heard all that?"
Hunter leaned over her, his body so close that she could feel his heat. His gaze bored into hers. "All my senses are highly developed."
His gaze dropped to her chest where her nipples drew tight from the intense stare. "I can hear your heart beating faster, your blood flowing through your veins as you sit there wondering whether or not I would really hurt you."
The man was truly frightening. "Would you?" she whispered.
He locked gazes with her. "What do you think?"
She stared at him, trying to get a reading on his mood and feelings, but the man was a brick wall. "I honestly don't know."
"You're smarter than I thought," he said as he took a step back.
Amanda didn't know what to say to that. So she called work and told them she was sick for the day. Hunter rubbed his eyes again.
"Do the lights bother you?" she asked.
He dropped his hand. "Yes."
She remembered what he said about his senses. Before she could ask him anything else, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Hola, Rosa. Cómo está?"
Spanish? She thought with a start. He spoke flawless Spanish?
Even more intriguing was the incredibly sexy sound of the words in that strange accent of his. "Sí, bien. Necesito hablar con Nick, por favor."
Hunter cradled the phone between his cheek and shoulder as he massaged the wrist where the cuff was making a red mark. She wondered if he realized the feral intensity that came into his eyes every time he saw the cuffs.
"Hey, Nick," he said after a minute. "I need you to retrieve my car from the corner of Iberville and Clay, and bring it to St. Claude. You can leave it in the doctors' lot."
He let go of the cuff and took the phone back in his hand. "Yeah, I know I'm a real asshole to work for, but you can't knock the pay and perks. Head out at three, and after you drop my car off, you can go home early."
He paused as he listened for a few seconds. "Also grab the backup case out of the cabinet… yeah, that one. I need you to bring it and my spare keys to the hospital and leave them for Dr. Tate Bennett."
He stiffened as if Nick said something that irked him. "Yes, you can take tomorrow off, but keep your beeper and phone on in case I need something."
Hunter growled. "Boy, don't make me change my tone with you. You forget, I know where you sleep." Though the words were harsh, there was an underlying note of humor in his voice. "All right, but don't burn out the clutch again. I'll see you later."
Amanda arched a brow as he hung up the phone. "So who's Nick?"
"My gofer."
She gaped at him. "My God, can it be you actually answered a question? Holy cow, we'd better call Tate in here quick before you keel over dead or undead or whatever it is you vampires do."
"Ha, ha," he said with a smile.
Good night, this is one sexy vampire when he smiles… "Does Nick know what you are?" she asked.
"Only the people who need to know, know what I am."
She thought about that for a minute. "I guess I'm privileged, then."
" 'Cursed would be more appropriate."
"No," she said as she thought more about it. "When you're not being sarcastic, scary, or bullish, you're actually not bad to be around." Impishly, she added, "Of course, I've only been around you for about two minutes when you weren't one of those three things, so who am I to judge?"
His face softened. "I don't know about you, but I have to sleep. I had a long night and I'm exhausted."
She was rather tired, too. But as she slid her gaze to the fake leather sofa, she realized it would never fit both of them. Hunter grinned at her. "You take the couch, I'll sleep on the floor."
"Can you do that?"
"I've slept in worse places." "Yeah, but don't you need a coffin?"
He gave her a droll stare, but said nothing as he led her to the sofa. No sooner had Amanda lain down than she realized it wasn't going to work. "This isn't comfortable. I can't sleep with my arm hanging over the edge and I'm twice as long as the couch is."