Nina took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. “All right, Mr. Reddix, well, I’m not sure if Cherri explained to you how this works, but you have to be on the table so I can work on you.” Hearing her own voice going into the professional spiel she used every day helped calm her. “So just undress to the level of your own comfort and lie face down on the table with the sheet across your hips. All right?”
Without waiting for an answer, she turned and started fiddling with the CD player. She took her time, selecting some relaxation music that included wind chimes and the sound of waves breaking on the beach. When she thought she had given him enough time, she turned, expecting to see him on the table.
Instead, he was standing right behind her.
“Oh!” Nina’s heart jumped into her throat, and she stumbled back a step. How long had he been standing there? And how had he moved so quietly that she hadn’t even heard him sneaking up behind her?
“Mr. Reddix,” she said, her voice going high and sharp with fear. “I thought I told you to undress and lie down on the table.”
“I don’t undress for anyone. You’re lucky I took off the hood.” He loomed over her, and though Nina was five foot ten in her stocking feet and nobody’s idea of petite, he made her feel suddenly tiny and frail.
“I…I…” Her brain seemed frozen; she couldn’t think what to say. Looking up at him, she could see that his eyes really were silver. And Cherri had been right about him, he was…beautiful.
It was a strange word to use for a man, but no other word seemed to fit. Now that he was out of the shadows, Nina could see he had the face of a fallen angel—a face so lovely it made her ache just to look at him. She saw a high forehead, a straight nose, and cheekbones any model would kill for, not to mention a full, sensual mouth that looked unhappy, even when he wasn’t speaking. Thick black lashes framed the startling silver eyes, and his cheeks were covered in dark stubble, proving he hadn’t shaved in a while. But it was his hair that caught and held Nina’s attention.
Is it really… blue? It was, a blue so dark it was almost but not quite black. To Nina, who had spent years hanging around the salon where her mother had worked, the color looked real, not dyed. But who had silver eyes and blue hair? Nobody human, that’s who. Now she was certain, he had to be Kindred.
“Look,” she said, backing slowly away in the general direction of the door. “I don’t know who you are or what you want but I’m half Native American—that means I can’t be claimed by a Kindred. I can’t—”
“Who said I was claiming you?” he growled softly.
“Oh, uh…” Nina abruptly felt stupid. Just because he was Kindred didn’t mean he was there to get her. Probably, he just wanted a massage, like any other guy. “I’m sorry. I just thought…never mind.” She took a deep breath. “Well, if you want a massage, you’ll have to get on the table. I can’t, uh, work on you like that.”
“Actually, it’s just my wrist that hurts.” He held out a muscular arm to her, and Nina saw that he had a small black tattoo on the inside of his wrist. It looked kind of like a snake but it was too small to be sure.
“Oh, well…you still have to be on the table.” For some reason, she was reluctant to touch him. Something about that tattoo made her nervous.
“I told you, I don’t get undressed for anyone.” He held out his arm more insistently. “If you could just look at my arm.”
“Well…” Nina didn’t like it, but he was being so insistent she didn’t know what else to do. Pushing aside her fear, she cradled his large hand in her much smaller one.
The minute she touched him, a strange shock of electricity seemed to go through her. It traveled up her arm and straight to her heart, making her feel like someone had just used a defibrillator on her.
“Oh my God!” She tried to pull back, but the man suddenly had her by the wrist. His silver eyes widened as he looked down at her.
“How?” he demanded hoarsely. “How are you doing that?”
“D-doing what?” Nina stuttered.
“I can’t feel you.” He shook his head. “Or the girl up front. She’s completely muted all of a sudden—I can’t feel a thing!”
“What are you talking about? You’re touching me right now.” Nina twisted in his grip, but he was much too strong for her, and she couldn’t get away. “Let me go!”
“Not until I make sure.” He pulled her closer and forced their hands together, pressing her palm closer and closer to the small black tattoo on his inner wrist.