He just looked at me.
And then it clicked. “I was smelling your pheromones. You were turned on.” As soon as I said it, I felt my cheeks heat. Why did I always have to put my foot in my mouth? “So, did you smell any pheromones on the bodies?” I asked, trying to move past my comment as quickly as possible.
He shook his head. “There were no pheromones on these victims, either because they diffused before I arrived, or—more likely—they never were secreted to begin with.”
“You know,” I said conversationally, “this is all kind of gross.”
He gave me a meaningful look. “I bet I could change your mind about that.”
My face flushed yet again. “Why didn’t you call me?” I asked. I wasn’t referring to the murders, and he knew it. I wanted to know why he’d never called to see if I was okay after the fire, why he’d never insisted that we restart my training.
He ran a hand through his hair, a sign that he was agitated. “I wanted you to come back to me on your own terms.”
“Why would that even matter?” I asked hotly.
“Do you want an honest answer?” he replied.
“Yes.”
“Fine—just remember you wanted to hear this.” I knew by his tone that he didn’t think I was going to believe him. He was probably right. “You run from things that scare you.”
“Thanks for the psychoanalysis Andre.” My voice was only a wee bit sarcastic.
He raised an eyebrow. “You wanted to hear the truth. You ran from Cinque Terre. You ran from me that night at Bishopcourt. Believe it or not, I’m a fairly quick learner.”
He looked at his hands. “I couldn’t keep chasing you. You needed your distance.”
“Andre, I didn’t need that much distance,” I said, my voice wavering.
He met my eyes. His were red. “That night at my party you looked at me like I was a monster. And that is what I am—a monster.” He came up to me and cupped my face. “You deserved—you still deserve—better than me, yet we are fated to be together. Soulmates.”
With him this close, none of it seemed important. So I did the only illogical thing there was to do: I wound my arms around his neck and kissed him.
Chapter 6
At first his body froze beneath mine. He probably had no idea what hit him. Then his hands wrapped themselves around my back, and he lifted me so I wouldn’t have to stand on my tiptoes.
I locked my legs around him and he moved his hand to cup my butt. His lips parted my own, and I felt as though I were on fire.
Oh God, this is why people fall in love.
I ran my hands through his hair as I kissed him. This couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be real. Only a day ago this wasn’t possible. And now it was happening. I hoped that this didn’t slip through my fingers the same way his hair was. Because we were both real good at messing things up.
He set me on his desk, right next to a small Egyptian statue, and he broke off the kiss. He leaned his head against mine and placed his hands on either side of my hips. His breathing was just as ragged as mine and both of our fangs were out.
“We should . . . probably take this . . . slower,” he said between breaths.
“Yeah.”
I guess that was what happened when you suppressed your heart for a little too long. It got you back when you least expected it.
It was a vindictive little bastard like that.
***
I slipped off the desk and picked up my bag. “I think I should probably get back to Peel.”
Andre tried to take my bag from me. I resisted. “I don’t think so fang boy,” I said, holding onto my messenger bag. “I can carry my own bag.”
He let go of the strap he was holding and instead took my hand. “I am not a boy,” Andre said, brooding next to me.
“I guess you’re just going to have to prove that along with the perks of pheromones.” We left his study and began down the hall.
“There is nothing to prove, soulmate,” he said, affronted. Meanwhile, my stomach fluttered at the term he used. Soulmate. It was just a term, it didn’t mean anything. Yet it meant everything.
Andre was fun to tease, but I needed to stop. He was starting to look genuinely offended. I guess no one had ever questioned his masculinity before. “So when do you want to meet up again to work on the case?” I asked.
“Tomorrow,” he said darkly. “Make sure to wear warm clothing.”
“Oh, and why is that?” I asked.
“We have two crime scenes to visit.”
***
I watched the bright lights of Peel fly by as we drove through the city. We’d just finished discussing my training. Somewhere in between investigating the murders we’d work on controlling my vampiric abilities.
Just ahead of us, the castle loomed, looking deceptively dilapidated. Beyond it the ocean shimmered under the moon.
“So,” Andre said, “a naked man showed up in your bed?” His voice was even and controlled, which meant that he didn’t want me to know what he was thinking.