With a groan, he returned to her mouth and demanded entrance. She opened without hesitation, and that moment of surrender sent a surge of heat to his groin. He'd been struggling with arousal since she'd first straddled his lap that evening. And now, with her soft and compliant in his arms, and her tongue touching his own, he began to ache with need.
He planted his hands over her sweetly rounded arse and ground her hard against his erection. She broke the kiss with a gasp. The look of alarm in her eyes should have warned him, but he was too hazy with lust to take heed.
"I want to make love to ye, Emma."
CHAPTER 9
"No." She pushed against his shoulders. Make love? With the Undead? Although she had to admit there was nothing dead about the erection pressing against her. And there was nothing truly objectionable about Angus. God help her, if he were human, she'd have stripped him naked by now. But dammit, he wasn't. He was a vampire.
She stepped back. "I–I can't."
"I'm no' yer enemy." His eyes still glowed red. "Do ye no' trust me now?"
"I do, I think." She rubbed her brow. "But we're just barely friends. It's a big jump to being… lovers."
"Friends doona kiss like that."
"We got carried away, that's all. It—it was just a kiss."
He frowned. "One hell of a kiss. Shall I give ye a reminder?"
"No." She whirled around and picked up the basket. "Like you said, dawn is approaching. And we need to take this food back, and the dress I'm wearing, and get back to New York." She was talking too fast, anything to keep from thinking about what she'd done.
"Emma."
She took a deep breath and faced him. The glow in his eyes had faded to a dull pink. Thank God. "Are you ready to go?"
"I want to know how ye're feeling."
She forced a laugh. "Well, that's not very manly, is it? What man wants to talk about feelings?"
"I know ye have feelings. Ye loved yer parents greatly, and ye feel passionate about yer work."
"Please." She lifted a hand. "I don't know what to feel. Or think. I can't even believe I did that. I shouldn't have."
He regarded her sadly. "Lass, we've been headed down this road from the beginning."
"No, we're too different. We can't possibly… "
"I've always done what I felt in my heart was right, yet I have my share of regrets." His mouth tilted in a crooked smile. "You would not be one of them."
Her heart ached in her chest. Oh God, he was everything she'd ever wanted in a man. Except for the part about being undead. Or immortal. How could she possibly get around that?
"Have I at least convinced ye to give up slaying? Do ye believe that I care for yer safety?"
"I–I have to think about it." She raised a hand when he started to object. "I know you care. And I'll be more careful. I'll be more discerning now that I know some of you are noble and kind."
He nodded. "That is, at least, some progress. And ye should know that I will always seek to protect you. I will always be here for you."
Her eyes burned with unwanted tears. She hadn't heard words like that in years. Not since the last of her family had died. "I have to be honest with you. If I discover the bastards who murdered my parents, I will go after them."
"And I'll be there beside you." He extended a hand. "Deal?"
"Deal." She shook his hand.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her brow. "Let's go."
She grabbed on to him as everything went black.
Bugger. He was falling for her fast. During his four hundred and ninety-three years as a vampire, his kisses had rarely been for pleasure. There had always been a dinner to gain or something to prove. Kissing Emma had not been spurred by lust for blood or prestige.
It was Emma herself who had pulled him in.
And what a kiss. You would think a man his age would have hundreds such moments to recall. But instead of becoming commonplace, such moments had become more rare.
When he dropped Emma off at Austin's apartment, she insisted he leave her be. He still worried that she nursed regrets. Hell, he had some doubts himself. Not about his feelings. He knew he cared deeply for Emma. He just didn't know if it was fair to woo her when he was undead. How could such a relationship work?
After making her promise not to go out hunting alone, he teleported to Roman's townhouse. The alarm went off the second he materialized in the foyer.