A profess—She was trying to hotwire the ride?
Less than thirty seconds later, the bike’s engine growled. She gave him a satisfied smile. “I tinker. It’s my thing.”
That smile…the way her eyes lit up…Gorgeous. She rose and, not even thinking about it—his hand sank into the thickness of her hair. He pulled her head close to his and his lips locked on hers. The kiss was fast, hard, and not nearly deep enough. But that taste of her—that blend of honey and champagne—sent his blood boiling.
Reluctantly, his head lifted. His hand stayed in her hair. “Sorry about the roses,” he rasped. “I’ll get more. More chocolate, too.”
Her eyes widened. Her lips were swollen and red and wet from his kiss. “Will that happen before…or after you turn me over to Luke?”
His jaw locked. “Get on the bike.”
“Since you asked so nicely…” She climbed on behind him. He’d thought that he might need to tell her to hold tight, to urge her to move that delectable body closer to his.
But he didn’t have to tell her anything. Her legs curled behind his, her breasts flattened to his back, and her arms locked around his stomach. “Haul ass, okay?” Amber urged him. “Because I don’t exactly have a good track record with vampires.”
His gloved hands curled around the handlebars. “So…you’re a human who’s managed to behead a vamp and piss off the two most powerful paranormals out there?”
She gave a faint cough. “What can I say? I have talent.”
She had lies. And he didn’t want them. He turned his head so that he could see her beautiful golden eyes. “You will tell me your secrets.”
She smiled at him. “Only in your dreams.”
His jaw locked. “Sweets, you don’t want to know about my dreams.”
“No.” Sadness tinged her voice. “You don’t want to know mine.”
“Give her to me!”
The bellow came from the right.
Cass wasn’t particularly surprised to see Gregory lunging out of the back exit and stalking toward them. Gregory never stayed down long. That was one of the things Cass had admired about the guy—back in the day.
Blood dripped down Gregory’s chin. And he was dragging his back leg—that leg still looked broken.
“Someone’s a fast healer,” she muttered.
When someone had fresh blood, yes, he was. And Cass was betting that blood dripping down Gregory’s mouth had come from a recent victim. “The Lord of the Dark doesn’t like it when paranormals call attention to themselves!” Cass shouted the reminder at Gregory. “So Luke is going to be pissed if you’ve left a trail of bodies in your wake.”
Gregory stopped. He lifted one hand and pointed at Amber. “I want her.”
“Tell him that he’s not getting me,” Amber said, her lips moving close to Cass’s ear.
Cass’s lips almost twitched. “You’re not getting—” he began.
“I want her!” Gregory bellowed.
“Over my dead body.” And his lips weren’t twitching any longer. Red hot fury filled him and he held out his right hand. Power pulsed, trailing from his tattoo to his hand, growing, surging…
“Um, what’s happening?” Amber asked. Her hold on him tightened. “Because you just got a whole lot warmer.”
Yes, he had. “I won’t hurt you, just keep holding on.”
He spun the motorcycle so that he was facing Gregory. Cass drove toward him, gaining speed. He knew the vamp would try to jump out of his way.
So he was bringing in a new weapon.
His scythe appeared in his right hand. He saw the fear flash on Gregory’s face. Gregory had seen him use the scythe in the past, so the guy knew just how dangerous it was…particularly to a vamp.
Are you in the mood to lose your head? Because Cass was betting that Gregory wasn’t.
“Holy hell!” Amber gasped.
The vampire was running, moving at his super human speed, so Cass threw the scythe, and it hurtled, tossing end over end in a fast arc, right to his prey. It sank into the vampire’s back and Gregory fell to the ground.
Cass clamped both hands around the handlebars and turned the bike to the left. He didn’t look back.
But Amber must have because she suddenly cried out, “That…that thing just vanished!”
Yes, the weapon would have vanished after it found its target.
“You have light that shoots from your hand, and a magical scythe? A tattoo that turns into a real weapon?”
“I have a few more tricks,” he growled back at her. Maybe his words were a warning. And maybe he was just bragging because Amber had sounded impressed.
“Damn, Reaper, you are scary.”
Yes, he was.
But she was still holding him tight. So maybe he wasn’t too scary for her.
***
Fucking hell.
Gregory groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. Cass had actually used the scythe on him. Talk about hitting below the belt.
Or stabbing me in the damn back.
And to think…they’d once been best damn friends.