The Red Lily (Vampire Blood #2)(35)

Deb scoffed. "No need to thank me. The vampires made me an enemy when they took my father from me." She shot an apologetic look to Nikolai. "The vampires of the Glass Tower, that is."

Nikolai walked between them. "Yes, I understand. There is good reason why I am no longer a part of their ranks."

Once they reached the top, Deb held out her hand for him to shake. He did.

"If more vampires were like you, there would be no need for a bloody war."

He smiled and released her hand, uncomfortable with the compliment. "Farewell and safe travels."

"Aye," replied Deb. "Same to you both."

 …

Sienna took the arm Nikolai offered her as he led them through an alley onto the street, the clip-clop of his boots and the swish of her skirt a soft accompaniment. Lobdell was smaller than Sylus, but it appeared to be more sophisticated. Cobblestone streets and paved walkways instead of dirt roads. Most shops were closed now. The streets were quiet except for the pub two blocks up, spilling yellow light onto the walkway. Street lanterns marked every corner. The starry night was clear of any clouds that had hampered the day, a half moon offering a luminescent glow.

"It's a beautiful night," she said, as if they were simply two lovers taking a leisurely stroll together.

"It is." He crooked his arm against his side, drawing her closer, covering her gloved hand with his own. She liked that. "You did a fine job in there. Even if you overstated on my behalf."

She tilted her head up at him. "It wasn't an overstatement. What I said was true. Arabelle has spoken nonstop in her letters of you and your training, the tireless hours you've put in, the exhausting repetition of training new recruits."

Sienna cherished those words about the lieutenant in Arabelle's letters. She had imagined how he might look instructing the soldiers on the sandy shores of Cutters Cove. So grave and stern, the wind tousling his blond hair. Funny that she thought he was too serious to have such beautiful hair. Somehow, it made him even more alluring.



       
         
       
        

He clamped his jaw tight. The light of the corner lamp edging his profile in gold, his jaw a hard slant.

"Are you upset to have so many more recruits to train?" she asked, trying to find out the mystery that had cast such a gloom.

"No," he answered definitively. "The recruits are needed. Direly. The Barrow brothers have become my sergeants at arms and can assist with training."

"Then what has put you in such a mood? You've been so … angry since tea."

He pulled her to a stop before the tavern, raucous laughter and singing spilling out of the open door. His face was fixed in darkness with his back to the bright window of the pub, silhouetting his broad shoulders and blond hair that hung loose and wild to his nape.

She could no longer make out his expression. But his hand tightened on her arm, keeping her in place as he pressed close and brushed a stray lock of her hair off of her cheek, his fingers leaving a trail of heat in their wake. They feathered down along her jaw to her chin, his thumb brushing across her parted lips. She could not move if the devil himself were after her. She was transfixed, his vampire eyes gleaming bright in the dark.

"You, Sienna. You make me angry … and afraid and desperate and fiercely protective and … "

He swept his thumb back a second time.

Sienna let her lips part farther, her breath coming out in white puffs. A deep growl rumbled in his chest, a beastly sound so low it trembled down her spine and settled low in her belly, evoking a breathy gasp and a tingle between her legs.

"The things I want to do to you, sweetheart. They are not good. But they would feel … delicious."

"Tell me," she whispered.

He chuckled darkly. "You tread such a dangerous line. I am doing my best to keep our relationship professional. But it is near impossible when you say such things to me with that look on your face. If I voice my thoughts, there will be no turning back." He brushed the pad of his thumb a third time. "Are you sure?"

She slid her tongue out and licked his thumb, holding his catlike gaze.

"I have my answer." He lifted her bodily and blurred vampire-swift out of the light of the tavern and into the quiet shadow on the next block where the street was empty. Pinning her to the wall with his body, his hands laced with hers and held above her head, his mouth hovered a hairsbreadth away.

"I want to tear these clothes off of you and taste every inch of your skin. I want to lick you between your thighs till you slide away into oblivion. I want to drive my cock inside you and mark you so deep that you know you are mine. I want to make you come so hard that you beg me to do it again. And again. And again."