My Vampire Idol(7)
Damn, she really liked the sound of that fantasy. It was going right to the top of her list.
Her voice wavered as they reached the climax of the sad love song, every member of the small audience groaning so loudly with need she doubted they would catch her minor mistake.
The imposing Scot stood abruptly, leaning the guitar against the chair. Grabbing Rose’s wrist, he pulled her behind the curtain without a word.
When they were hidden from view he whipped her around to face him, gripping her shoulders in a rough way that made her shudder with arousal.
“Whatever you’re doing to them, stop it now, my dear.”
Oh fuck, the way he spoke…
“Um, huh?” The people in the bar. “Oh. That isn’t as easy as it sounds.”
“I can’t promise I’ll... Stop them. Now.”
She wanted him right now… “I’ll try, but you have to stop touching me first.”
He took his hands away with obvious difficulty and Rose inhaled deeply. “Thank you, Mac.”
“So informal?” He took a deep breath. “I don’t suppose we really need introductions since you’ll be leaving now.”
She wasn’t going anywhere. He might as well learn about her stubborn streak now.
A strange sound, like a snore, broke the tense silence.
Rose glanced down at his jeans. “Is something dying in your pants?”
Mac swore and reached in his pocket, pulling out a cell phone and swiping his large thumb across the screen. “Fucking juvenile delinquent keeps getting into my phone. Thinks he’s funny…”
Rose crossed her arms across her chest so she wouldn’t give into the temptation to touch him. She didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. “He does that to you too?”
He read his message, then his eyes lifted to pin her to the wall with their intensity. “He says your name is Rose. I didn’t know Saint had cousins.”
She lifted her chin. “Your shifting friend, Thomas Lyons has cousins. I’m sure you must have had them when you were alive. Did you think because Saint’s a demon that he doesn’t—that he can’t have family?”
“Not at all.” He lifted one dark auburn brow. “I never asked, and he never offered. Most of the time we focus on in-the-moment issues. What he’s done to drive me crazy this time, or why he left dirty dishes in the sink, that sort of thing.”
Oh. He was looking at her so strangely. What else had Saint told him in that text message? “Well, life is full of surprises. I didn’t know you owned a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Or that you could sing.” Or that you’d smell so good I’d want to beg you to fuck me.
“I’m adapting to life on the run,” he responded with a quirk on his lush, beautiful lips for an instant before his grim expression returned. He moved closer to her, towering over her and making her tremble. “And you can sing as well. I suppose you’re the siren’s call that sailors are warned about. Tell me when the rest of The Devil’s Garden is arriving, hunter. How do you mean to bring me in and who are you supposed to report to?”
The Devil’s Garden. It was what the vampires had long ago taken to calling her and her sisters: Magnolia, Pansy, Daisy, Gardenia, Ivy and Rose. Saint must have told him, knowing Mac would recognize the name. There weren’t many of his kind that hadn’t heard stories about them.
Damn it, Saint. She wanted to kiss him, and her cousin had practically put up a “no trespassing” sign by mentioning her sisters. Rose supposed there was no harm in telling him the truth. To a point. Just to ease his mind. “We’ve spread out to search for you since you dropped off the grid. New York, Florida, Scotland… I don’t have to check in with them again until the day after tomorrow unless I get a lead. Which they won’t expect because I never do.”
His fingers reached up to trace the roped necklace that rested against her skin. “Never? And you didn’t call them before you started arousing my audience and distracting me with all that sexual energy? Interesting. Bored, demon? Or just hungry? If the latter, I’ve heard of a nearby diner filled with cruel and thoughtless people ready for you to seduce. Leave this group alone and go entice them with your particular charms.”
She was hungry, but he was the only meal she required. Rose lifted her hands to place them on his chest, her thighs tightening at the hardness of him. The strength beneath her hands. She scraped her nails across his nipples and down to his stomach without taking her eyes off of him.
His gaze narrowed, his thick lashes concealing those crystalline gems. “Is this how you hunt, demon Rose? Are you the siren and the bait—with your short skirt, perfect curves and dark, innocent eyes—meant to distract me until they can spring the trap?”