She didn’t want to enjoy anything with him. She wanted to get the Eye and get the hell away from Luke and his crazy self.
Luke. The wolf. The panther. I want away from them all.
Her hands fumbled with the robe’s belt, just to make sure it was good and tight. “I want to leave. I want to get on the boat and go back to Key West.”
He was outside, seemingly not even hearing her. Such a lie—Mina was willing to bet he had super hearing. Supernatural hearing. She hurried out onto the balcony. “Luke!”
Lazily, he turned toward her, propping one elbow on the balcony.
“Take me to the mainland, take—” Her robe blew up and her words stopped on a gasp. Oh, hell. She was pretty sure she’d just flashed the Lord of the Dark. She shoved down the robe, holding the silk against her thighs.
“Absolutely beautiful.”
Her heart was about to burst out of her chest.
“Feel free,” Luke invited with a lazy grin, “to flash me anytime.”
“Not funny,” she snapped back at him.
He kept leaning against that balcony, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Probably because he didn’t. How wonderful it must be to just…be him.
His head cocked as his gaze slowly rose to her face. Her rather flaming face. “I wasn’t being funny,” Luke told her, his voice almost…tender. “I was being dead serious. When I first saw you, I thought you were sexy. A wet dream walking right up to me.”
Her mouth had gone dry and her heart beat raced even faster.
“Now I realize I was wrong. You are absolutely beautiful.”
She wasn’t. Her nose was too long. Her lips too wide. Her eyes—
“Beautiful,” he said again, utter conviction in his voice.
Her fingers had fisted around her robe. “I need to get back to Key West.”
He just stared at her.
She had to get this conversation back on track, ASAP. “Get Marcos to come back and take me to the mainland.”
“Are you trying to use that tricky little power of yours on me?” He lifted his index finger and actually shook it at her as if she were some naughty school kid. “Didn’t we agree that only works when I’m drunk?”
Then I need to get him drunk.
“And I don’t plan on drinking,” he added, as if he’d just read her mind. “When you’re near.”
“Luke!” He was about to drive her insane.
His smile stretched at her. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry I tricked you.” Maybe that was what he wanted. An apology. Her groveling. Fine. She could handle that. “So sorry.” She hoped she sounded sincere. She wasn’t. “I won’t do it again. I won’t bother you again. I just want to leave and—”
“But I don’t want you to leave.” He turned away from her and went back to staring at the sun. “So you aren’t.”
He couldn’t do that. She took two fast steps forward.
“You know about the Eye of Hell. You know about monsters. You know about me. Or at least, you think you do.” He didn’t look back at her.
So he missed seeing her freeze.
“What, exactly, do you think you know about me?” Now he just seemed vaguely curious.
She licked her lips and tried to figure out what to say. And what not to say. “You rule the dark.”
He waved his hand vaguely in the air. “Go on…”
Mina glanced over her shoulder. Oh, but the temptation to run again was strong. She could get down to the dock, dive into the water…
“And find yourself surrounded by sharks.”
She gasped. “You can read my thoughts!”
He laughed again. A low, rumbling laugh that she shouldn’t have found sexy, but she did. Dammit, she did.
“No, Mina.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “But I am starting to figure out the way that you think. You might fear me, but I learned you fear the sharks even more.”
“They have a lot of teeth,” she mumbled. “Sharp teeth.”
“So do I.”
She frowned at him.
“Come take a look at the view. You’ll enjoy it.”
Well, okay, fine. She took her time sidling up to the balcony. The wind hit her again, coming strong off the ocean, but she still had her death grip on the robe, so she didn’t flash anymore skin. Her breath eased out as she looked at the sun. At the waves. At the beauty all around her. “Incredible,” the word slipped from her, but it was true. The view, the scene—it was as if they were thousands of miles away from everyone else. The water just stretched. The waves rolled. She’d never seen anything so gorgeous.
“I agree,” he said, his voice a rasp.
Her head turned and she found Luke staring at her, not the view. He wasn’t smiling. Just…watching her.
Her heart stuttered. “You’re still angry.”
“Because you lied to me, manipulated me with your power, locked me in a cell and gassed me?”
Mina nodded.
He leaned toward her. His fingers slid under her jaw. A delicate touch, one she didn’t expect from him. “No, sweetheart, I’m not angry. I’m impressed. There’s a difference.”
He was—Mina frowned. “What now?”
“How many people…” His fingers slid down her throat, pausing over her frantically beating pulse. “Do you think have ever managed to get the drop on me like that?”