If he really was a vampire, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?
He stared at her for a second, then snorted softly before curling his lip back in a snarl. His canines were as sharp and pointed as any movie vampire’s she’d ever seen. “Happy?”
She peered at them. “You swear those are real?”
His gaze rolled skyward. “Don’t they look real?”
“Yes.” She reached forward before she realized what she was doing. She snatched her hand back.
“You want to touch them? Go ahead. I promise not to bite. Just be careful, they’re sharp.”
“This is weird,” she muttered.
“You started it.”
“That I did.” She reached out again and poked at one of his fangs. “Sure feels real.”
She tested the point with a fingertip. “Ouch.” She yanked her finger back. A drop of blood pearled on the tip. Sweet crispy crackers, what had she done? What if the blood drove him mad? She took a small step back, but nothing about him seemed crazed with blood lust.
“I told you they were sharp.” He frowned and took her hand for closer inspection. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
Still holding her hand, he looked into her eyes. “May I?”
She knew what he was asking. She also realized that she was safe with this man. This man who could probably be very unsafe, if he really was a vampire. The irony was that she’d never felt half this secure with fully human Russell. Her realizations didn’t stop her answer from coming out in a breathy wobble. “Y-yes.”
He lifted her finger to his lips and tenderly sucked off the bead of blood. His mouth was warm and electric, and the contact shot straight through her. Like he’d put his mouth in a very different place.
“Oh.” Another breathy, trembling response. She took a deep inhale to erase the sudden light-headedness threatening to unbalance her, but there was no erasing the desire.
He turned her hand around. “See? All better?”
The blood was gone, but that’s not what she was looking at. His eyes shone with the kind of luminescence of an animal’s at night, but then she blinked and it was gone. “Thanks.”
Her boldness was wavering, driving her to take advantage of it while she could. “Can you make your fangs go away just as easily?”
“Sure.” He grinned to show her they were gone. “Too frightening?”
“No. Too hazardous.” Then she leaned forward and planted her mouth on his.
He went completely still for a heartbeat, then his arms were around her and his hands found homes, one on her hip, the other high on the middle of her back. He moaned softly as his mouth opened to tease his tongue across hers.
She wrapped her hands around his biceps, instantly distracted by the hard muscle beneath the fabric of his suit. Her head spun. She was either kissing a vampire or a crazy man and he really did seem way less crazy than a lot of the guys she’d known. Either way, she was okay with it.
Really, really okay with it.
When she broke the kiss and eased back, he smiled at her. “Does this mean you believe me?”
Did she? Maybe. “I…guess I do.”
His expression softened. “No, you don’t. Not yet. It’s okay. I understand.”
He stared at her throat for a few long moments, long enough that her hand went to her neck. “Okay, I get it, you’re a vampire and my neck is bare.”
“No, that’s not what I was—yes, it is bare. I’ll be right back.” Then he was gone, only to return so quickly she didn’t know how he’d done anything in such a short time.
In his hand, he held a large burgundy velvet box. “As beautiful as you look tonight, this is only gilding the lily, but if you would indulge me…” He opened the box.
Delaney sucked in a breath. “That’s amazing.”
Nestled on the burgundy velvet was a dragonfly worked in gold. Emeralds made up its body, but the wings were set with amethysts, sapphires and diamonds. The insect was strung on a new black velvet cord, but the patina of the gold and the cut of the stones spoke to the age of the piece.
He lifted it from the box and held it up. “May I?”
If this was his way of marking his territory, so be it. “On one condition.”
He closed the box and set it on the entry table. “Yes?”
“Tell me about it. It looks old.” She turned and lifted her hair so he could put the necklace on her.
“It is.” He settled the piece around her throat, then held it there while she moved her hands. “It belonged to my mother.”
His fingers brushed the back of her neck as he fastened the clasp, raising goose bumps on her skin and causing her to wonder what it would be like to have his hands on other parts of her. Or his fangs… “That’s pretty old. It must be worth a fortune.”