“Show-off,” he grunted, joining her.
They exploded out of the door at the bottom of the stairwell and into the lobby. People milled in alarm, disturbed by the shaking building, but she and Josh cut swiftly through them, out the front entrance, and into the blinding sunlight. At the curb, a man was just opening a cab door.
“Sorry, dude,” Josh said, slipping in front of the guy and pushing her into the back seat. “Medical emergency. My wife here is having a baby.”
The guy blinked, mouth dropped open, no doubt because Serena looked about as pregnant as a Popsicle stick, but he backed away as the cab pulled out into traffic, nearly side-swiping a bus. Though her heart raced and she was more than a little rattled, she gave instructions to the cabbie and tried to ignore the blaring horns outside and Josh’s heat as he settled next to her on the seat.
“I really, really want to know why you’re a demon magnet,” Josh said.
“I want to know what that thing was.”
“No idea.” He swiveled around to watch out the rear window, menace rolling off him in dangerous waves. He was still poised to fight, and she got the feeling he’d go right through the window if he had to.
“How did you know it was in the hotel?”
“Smelled it when I stepped into the hall.”
She watched him, slightly distracted by the way the hourglass tattoo on his neck seemed to be draining sand. “Your sense of smell is pretty amazing.”
“Leftover from Aegis training.” He shifted to face forward, sitting back and spreading his legs wide so his knee touched hers. “Looks like we’re clear. Were you okay last night?”
Very. “What do you mean?”
“Any visits by demons?”
“Oh. No. Everything was fine.”
“Did you sleep well?”
Her heart shot into her throat, which was insane, because he couldn’t know what they’d done in her dreams. “Why?”
His eyes took a bold, leisurely ride down her body and back up. “Just wondering if you dreamed about me.”
“Why in the world would I dream about you? Just because you kissed me? It wasn’t even that great of a kiss.” Liar. He’d kissed her into an aching frenzy.
“You’ve had better kisses?”
No. “Yes.”
“In that dream you’re denying you had about me?”
She huffed. “You’re really full of yourself, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “Hey, every guy wants a gorgeous woman to dream about him.”
Gorgeous? He was buttering her up, and even though she recognized the flattery for what it was—an effort to get her to do those other things he wanted to do with her—she still got warm and fuzzy. But two could play at that game.
“Fine,” she said, with a saucy bat of her eyelashes, “I confess… I did dream about you.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Was it good?” He leaned in and whispered against her ear, “Tell me.”
Desire shivered over her skin. “It was crazy,” she whispered back. “I dreamed you were a vampire. A very sexy vampire.”
“Huh.” His teeth latched on to her earlobe, nipped tenderly. “You have a thing for vamps?”
More than a thing. She’d indulged her curiosity even before she’d learned vamps were real, reading everything—fiction and non-fiction—she could get her hands on. She’d even spent months in several European countries, including Hungary, Germany, and Romania, researching Dracula and the Vlad Tepes origins.
“They fascinate me,” she admitted.
Josh withdrew. “They’re monsters. There’s nothing fascinating about them at all.”
She glanced out as they passed Pompey’s Pillar, the tallest ancient monument in Alexandria, but today the impressive granite structure failed to move her. “You sound like Val.”
“Val’s right.” He shifted his gaze out the window at the palms lining the street. Beyond the trees, new, modern buildings contrasted with older, pockmarked structures, between which she caught glimpses of the Mediterranean. “Tell me you aren’t one of those nut jobs who dresses up like an Anne Rice character and hangs out in vampire bars.”
She tried not to squirm, because she had done that. Only once, and it had been in the name of research. Really.
“You are, aren’t you?” Josh grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. His bright gaze drilled into her. “Stay away from those places, Serena. There are people there who aren’t… right. They’re dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt. Or worse. Because there is worse.” His expression went as dark and haunted as his voice, sending a shiver up her spine.
“I know,” she said. “And I’m careful.”