Vampire Lover Read Free Page B

leaving just one other category to describe the speed, strength, looks and attraction to her blood.
    Vampire.
    Her heart gave one giant thump. Keeping both hands raised to ward him off, hoping that vampires possessed a thread of common sense, contrary to the legends, Kelsie said breathlessly, "Back off! There are a hundred people here, all of them witnesses."
    She should have been scared out of her mind. She should have shouted for help, but his hand on her throat was a caution against it. Staring back at this creature, Kelsie felt the kindling of her anger, in spite of the threat. There wasn’t any way to make this work, jobwise. She hadn’t wanted him, damn it—this creature who was unearthly handsome because he was 18
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    unearthly. He was interfering in a damn good stakeout.
    And—
    She might not live to have another thought of any kind if she just stood here.
    Luckily, he wasn’t pressing too hard on her neck, but using just enough pressure to keep her from squirming free.
    "Surely you wouldn’t be stupid enough to bite me so close to a crowd?" she protested.
    "You were waiting for me." His tone was accusatory. Darkness slipped behind the blue of his irises like free-flowing India ink.
    Kelsie’s stomach dropped at the sight. Her heart was beating so loudly, she couldn’t hear anything else.
    She knew she had to hang on to her anger. If she didn’t, she’d be totally helpless, totally screwed. No way did she want to become part of those missing-people statistics.
    "Vain, much?" she snapped, her fingers tugging on his.
    The vampire’s head angled. One raised eyebrow suggested he questioned her response.
    "I don’t want you, " she said. "I’m looking for a wolf."
    His hold eased. Visibly perplexed, he said, "Wolf?"
    "Why are you here, in public?" She didn’t sound so very panicky, she thought. If his grip loosened more, she could tear herself away.
    "I think you know the answer to that," he said.
    His tone was as seductive as the shadows, seeming to caress her chill-riddled skin everywhere at once, in sharp contrast to the reality of the situation. He had Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
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    just sampled some of that reason for being here from her punctured lip. Blood. An appalling thought, yet she’d be damned if she would show her reaction.
    Animals were attracted to weakness. Vampires were predators.
    "I’m not part of the snack bar," Kelsie said. "And none of your business."
    "On the contrary, your presence is of great concern to me."
    "Said like a true homicidal maniac. But I didn’t believe you existed. I’m not sure if I believe it now."
    "You know who I am?"
    "Don’t you mean what you are?"
    His eyes sought to deepen the connection. "You weren’t waiting for me?"
    "Get over yourself."
    He considered that reply. "You’d find a maniac preferable?"
    "Infinitely."
    The handsome devil gave her a stunning, if uncertain, grin, without offering visual evidence of his species. Kelsie didn’t have to see fangs to realize how serious her situation was. Each passing second made it more obvious that he wasn’t going away.
    He was toying with her.
    Vampires, Kelsie remembered, were little more than tricks of darkness and light, occupying the gray space between life and death. Not here fully, and not there. It was anyone’s guess how they survived at all, or why blood kept them activated.
    This one’s mouth had been on hers before she’d known it—a strange kind of introduction to the threat 20
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    of impending death by blood loss. But she was still alive.
    "Why do you want a wolf?" His eyes were keen and demanding, daring her to explore their baby-blue depths.
    Kelsie refused to answer. She hated being trapped by anyone or anything, anywhere. Her grandmother had raised her to be independent long before turning her loose on Miami. Years of martial arts would help her in another minute, she was sure, if she didn’t drop from fear or fangs first.
    "Wolves haven’t helped your kind in a