I Only Have Fangs for You(13)

“Oh that,” she said, searching for some excuse, but her mind couldn’t focus on anything but the slightly roughened pads of his fingertips like suede on her skin.

“They look like cat scratches,” he said, looking back up to her eyes.

“They are,” she said, immediately grasping his excuse. “I—I have a cat.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow to that. “Cats and vampires don’t mix. We freak them out.” His fingers caressed the small welts again. “But I guess you’ve learned that.”

“Yes,” she said again, forcing another smile. Or at least she thought it was a smile. She couldn’t be sure, since she couldn’t seem to focus on anything but him. And his fingers.

Finally, she managed to gather her thoughts enough to ease her hand away from his. He allowed the withdrawal, although his eyes still held hers.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

She nodded. “I just need to make that call. It—it’s a really important call.”

He regarded her closely, and she had the feeling that he didn’t believe her.

“And private, too,” she added, hoping that would get him to leave.

He didn’t move for a second, but then nodded. “Okay.”

He crossed the room, stopping in the doorway to look at her again. His mouth parted, as if he planned to say something else, but then he just nodded and left the room.

Wilhelmina blew out the breath that she didn’t even realize she’d been holding. She sagged back against the chair, the tingling in her body nearly overwhelming. She remained that way, boneless, her mind numbed, unable to do anything for a moment. Then she lifted the cell phone and flipped the cover up. Her fingers shook as she arrowed down to the right number.

“Hello,” she responded to the voice on the other end. Her voice was breathy, but determined. “I need to report a health code violation, and I think someone needs to be sent right away. Carfax Abbey is overrun with rats. Yes. Yes.”

She gave the woman on the other end the address.

“Thank you.”

She hit the End button, her hands still trembling. She’d done it, the right thing.

And in the nick of time, too. Sebastian Young had just proved how dangerous he was—and not just to mortals, but to her as well.



“Have you ever heard of a vampire having allergies?” Sebastian asked his sister-in law, Jane. She looked up from her computer, where she was working on the payroll.

“Is this a joke?”

Sebastian had the strange feeling that it had to be—one he wasn’t in on.

“Have you ever heard of that?” he asked again.

She shook her head. “No, but I’m pretty new at this vampire thing.”

He was relatively old, and he’d never heard of such a thing.

“Have you heard of a vampire having a cat?”

Jane pushed her chair back from her desk and regarded him with her vividly green eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Have you met the new waitress?” he asked, sitting forward in his chair, resting his hands on the polished wood of her desk. “Wilhelmina?”

“No. Is she the reason you’re so agitated?”

He wasn’t agitated. Then he glanced down, realizing he was gripping the edge of the desk. He released the wood and slid back in his seat. He wasn’t agitated. He was—confused. He had no idea what to make of Wilhelmina. He could sense emotions from her that didn’t make sense. Anxiety, even a little fear—yet a very strong determination too. He had the feeling there was a lot going on in her head that she wasn’t sharing.

“She’s different,” he said.

Jane nodded, a shrewd smile on her lips.

“Oh no. No, no,” Sebastian said, waving a hand, knowing where her thought processes were going. “Different in a weird, and very unappealing way.” Even as he said the words, he knew it wasn’t true. He noticed appealing things about her, far more appealing than he’d expected. But she was not different in the way Jane was thinking.

Jane’s eyes widened. “I’ve never heard you talk that way about a woman.”

Sebastian frowned. Jane was right. He appreciated all women, and his words had sounded more than a little rude.

“What woman?” Sebastian’s brother, Rhys, appeared in the office doorway. He leaned on the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, sporting a look much like the one his wife had worn just moments earlier.

“Damn,” Sebastian muttered, “I swear people in love are worse than drug pushers. You are always trying to get others, who are quite happily single, shackled to someone. It’s damned annoying.”

Rhys grinned at his brother, a gesture that still gave Sebastian pause. After nearly two centuries of scowls and general brooding, the fact that Rhys now readily smiled managed to startle Sebastian almost every time.