She frowned at him, her brows and forehead creasing. Then she started laughing. Bend over your arm, belly laughing, until tears leaked out of her eyes. Her head still hurt, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing.
“I’m serious, Kate. This isn’t a joke.”
She laughed until she couldn’t catch her breath. “Oh… Okay. Yeah, right. Good one.” What is he playing at?
“Kate, I’m happy to give you a demonstration.”
Still laughing, she tried catching her breath, gazing at him. “Woooo… Okay.”
“Okay, what? You believe me?”
She sat back in the chair, arms crossed over her chest. Still chuckling. “Okay, give me a demonstration.”
A slow grin spread across Dev’s face and he rose from the loveseat, stalking toward her slowly, like a lion does its prey. God, he moved with such elegance it was mesmerizing.
She stopped laughing, her heart beating fast. The look on his face was pure lust, total desire, and she immediately became wet between her legs. How did he do that to her?
He spoke in a low, gravelly voice. “I can hear your heart beating, Kate. Your pulse has skyrocketed. Your arousal has spiked.” Her breaths were coming fast and choppy as he slowly came closer. Of course her pulse had skyrocketed. He was near. He knew what he did to her, so that didn’t mean diddly.
“I can smell your arousal, love. I can always smell it. It drives me crazy with want.” His eyes…they started glowing and she could see that his incisors had lengthened as well.
Oh shit. Last night’s missing piece came rushing back so fast it almost knocked her over. She shrank back in the chair, bringing her feet to her butt, curling her arms around her legs.
“Stop. D-don’t c-come any closer.” He stopped instantly and held his palms up.
“Kate, I’m not going to hurt you. I would never hurt you. You are my Moira.”
“Your Moira? That sounds like a made up term. I-I don’t believe you.” But she did. Deep down inside, she knew what he said to be true. She’d sensed something different about him from the moment he’d stepped into the room at the police station. They were two powerful magnets drawn toward each other, so strong nothing could keep them apart. She knew he was meant for her. Oh my God. This could not be happening.
“What type of special investigator are you?”
“I was truthful with you about that. We work with the police on special cases they can’t solve.” Still holding up his palm, he tentatively took a couple more steps toward her and knelt down in front of her chair. He reached a hand out to her but lowered it when she shrank away even further.
“Like cases involving vampires?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
She cursed under her breath.
“Kate, you do believe me. I can see it in your eyes. I swear on my life I would never see any harm to come to you, by my hand or any other. You have nothing to fear from me. You know this. If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done it many times over by now.
“I’d planned on telling you today and I didn’t want you to find out this way, but things are happening to you that we need to figure out…together. Do you remember all of what happened last night?”
“Y-yes.”
He placed a hand on her knee and she stayed frozen, feeling the ever-present electricity seep into her body. “Tell me what you remember.”
Her gaze flicked back up to his eyes, which had stopped glowing. She whispered, “When I walked into the room downstairs, everyone looked at me with…with…”
“With glowing eyes?” She nodded.
“What else do you remember?”
When she just continued to watch him, mute, he softly encouraged her, “It’s okay, love.”
“I—I… One of them tried to attack me and I screamed and ran. Then…then all of a sudden you were in front of me on the stairs and I fell.” Her brows creased. “Wait a minute. Did you push me?”
He jumped up, glaring down at her. “Hell, no, I didn’t push you! How could you even think that? I told you, Kate, you are my Moira and I would never hurt you. I would die protecting you. I will never give you anything but pleasure, love.”
Embarrassment heated her face. Even now, when her head was spinning and she felt like she’d entered a Twilight Zone episode, she felt an irresistible pull toward this man—or whatever he was. She was certifiably crazy. She had to get out of here. Now. She needed time to think through what was happening.
She abruptly stood and went to the closet to her get her overnight bag.
“Kate, what are you doing? Put that away.”
“I’m leaving.”