Christian straightened as they came out of the bedroom and took the case from her. Tara peered into the living room. It didn’t look like Smokey would to make an appearance. “Smokey is behind the sofa, and the keys are on the side, over there.”
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Chloe said. “And you” —she turned to Christian— “you look after her.”
Amusement flickered across his features, but he nodded.
Tara gave Chloe one last hug and followed Christian down to the car.
Part Two
Discovery and Denial
Chapter Ten
“What time is it?” Tara mumbled.
“Just gone one.” Graham carried a steaming cup of coffee that he put down on the table next to her.
She was on the scarlet sofa in Christian’s apartment. She’d come down from the penthouse just after sunset as instructed and found Christian already up and gone. According to Graham, he’d had a call from Piers soon after he’d awakened and disappeared shortly afterward.
She yawned. “One in the morning?”
“Yes, and Christian’s back.”
A jolt of excitement hit her in the stomach, and she sat up, running a hand through her hair and searching the room. “Where is he?”
“You’re to meet him in the underground garage. He wants to leave straight away.”
They were driving to Yorkshire that night. It was a good four-hour journey even without delays, and obviously, Christian would want to reach their destination well before sunrise.
Because he was a vampire.
“I’ll take your case.” Graham broke into her thoughts. “And meet you down there. Drink your coffee, and there’s a bathroom through there if you want to freshen up.” He picked up her small case and disappeared out the door.
In the bathroom, she stared at herself in the mirror. She appeared pale, her eyes huge and shadowed, and she knew it was as much worry as sleeplessness.
There, she had admitted it to herself. She was scared of going back to Yorkshire. Scared of what she might find there. All day, she’d tried not to think about it, but was heading back to the one place she had sworn never to return to, and was doing it in the company of a vampire.
Underneath the worry was a glimmer of excitement at the thought of spending time alone with Christian. Totally inappropriate excitement. No way did falling for the undead have any part in her future. Still, she couldn’t deny that deep beneath the surface was a cauldron of anticipation that threatened to overflow and set her on fire.
Unless she kept it firmly under control.
She found Christian waiting for her. He was dressed in a long black leather trench coat and leaned, arms crossed, against a black SUV. He appeared wired, like he’d taken something.
“You’re not hungry, are you?” She stared at him suspiciously.
He straightened and a small smile played around his lips. The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, which gleamed with an almost palpable excitement.
“I’m fine,” he said. His voice was low and dark, sending shivers down her spine. “I’ve fed.” His tongue came out and stroked over his lower lip as if remembering something amazingly good.
Why didn’t that make her feel better? She couldn’t help but wonder whom he had fed on. “Good,” she said. “I wouldn’t want you to get peckish on the journey.”
“Sorry about the delay, something came up. Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
His eyes slid over her and a slow burning heat glowed in the pit of her belly. She stared at him for long moments before closing the space between them.
“Let me take your coat,” he said. “It’s a long journey, and you may as well be comfortable.”
Tara slipped out of the coat and handed it to him, trying to ignore the way his gaze wandered over her body. She’d dressed sensibly in jeans and a sweater for the Yorkshire December weather, but his eyes seemed to probe beneath the bulky clothes, to strip her bare.
He opened the car door and tossed her coat onto the back seat. She moved to get in, but his hand on her arm stopped her. She almost jumped.
“Relax,” he murmured.
Her eyes flicked to his face in disbelief. “I can’t. I thought I was leaving all the weirdness behind and starting a new life. Yet here I am.”
“You’ll have your new life.”
“Yes, but I want a new normal life. With normal people,” she reiterated. She thought about adding “not with a vampire” but that was rude. Besides, he’d never actually said he wanted her in his life. Maybe she was just a client, but even as the thought flickered through her mind, he bent and kissed her lightly on the lips.
“Normal can be highly overrated,” he said.