When she started to raise a hand as if to feel his forehead, Thomas lunged out of his seat, terrified that if she touched him he wouldn’t be able to prevent himself from doing exactly what he’d just imagined, even with a whole tram full of people watching.
Noting the way her eyes had widened in surprise at his reaction, Thomas muttered, “We get off here.”
He stepped closer to the door, silently begging it to open before she joined him and possibly touched his arm or innocently brushed against him. He was a vamp on the edge here, his mind running as wild as his body. Why the hell hadn’t he read the label on that blood rather than just slapping it to his teeth?
When the doors opened, Thomas immediately burst off the tram, instinctively sucking in draughts of fresh air to try to clear his head, or at least to clear her scent from his nose. Damn, he’d never known a woman to smell so good.
“Thomas?” Inez was suddenly at his side, her scent filling his nostrils anew as she gently touched his arm.
Thomas hissed and jerked instinctively away as if she’d burnt him, then controlled himself and turned to face her. The stunned look of hurt on her face made him want to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but he didn’t dare. Guilt now joining the barrage of other emotions swirling around inside him, Thomas frowned and glanced up the street, relieved when he spotted the tram coming up the street in the opposite direction to the one they’d just got off of.
“You need to take that tram to get back to the hotel,” Thomas said grimly, pointing it out to her. When he glanced at her, she wasn’t even following his gesture, but was staring at him with a silent determination that made him extremely nervous. Rather then try to take her arm, he gestured for her to start walking, saying, “I’ll see you onto it.”
Inez stood firm and shook her head. “I’m going with you.”
“Inez,” he began grimly.
“I know what Sweet Ecstasy is,” she announced, and when he peered at her sharply, she shrugged and admitted, “I called Wyatt and asked about it. You presently have the equivalent of four to six cocktails running through your system. I’m guessing one or two would make you feel very…er…friendly. Four or six probably isn’t leaving you thinking very clearly. I’m coming with you.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Thomas assured her, knowing she really had no clue what state he was in or what he could do in this condition.
“I’m not leaving you wandering around alone while all hot and bothered, especially not in Amsterdam.”
Thomas’s eyes widened. Had that been a bit of possessiveness he’d heard in her voice? He’d known she was attracted to him back in the hotel in London, but that was before she’d known what he was. He’d worried since then over how she was accepting his explanations. Possessiveness was a good sign, though.
“Lead the way, Thomas,” Inez ordered quietly, drawing him back from his thoughts. “Or I’ll touch you.”
Thomas blinked in surprise at the threat, but just shook his head and said, “Trust me, you don’t want to do that.”
On that note, he gave up trying to send her back and turned to head toward a dimly lit alleyway. He moved slowly at first, until she fell into pace at his side, and then picked up a little speed to stay a step ahead of her scent and discourage talking. Thomas was hoping that if she didn’t touch him and he couldn’t smell her and she didn’t talk, he could pretend she wasn’t there and his body might settle down a little. Every nerve in his body had been buzzing since she’d appeared on the tram.
It didn’t work, of course. Inez wasn’t one to be easily ignored.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Thomas glanced over the people walking around them. It was a busy alleyway, the street cobbled and people both heading in their direction as well as walking the same way they were going. Other than the occasional light overhead being electric rather than oil lamps, it wasn’t much different than it had been when he’d first come here one hundred and seventy-five years ago.
“Thomas?” Inez prompted.
“The Red Light District.”
Inez was very glad that she’d decided to come after him. The idea of his wandering the famed prostitution area of Amsterdam in the state he was in was not a happy one.
Her gaze slid over him as they passed from shadow to light. She had been surprised to see him boarding the tram when she’d come out of the hotel. Inez had been positive she’d have to find him by finding the location on the note he’d left behind. She hadn’t looked a gift horse in the mouth, however, but had immediately burst into a run to get to the tram before it moved off. Fortunately, the driver had seen her and waited.#p#分页标题#e#