A strong arm grabbed Vanda and pulled her back.
She stumbled. "Phil! What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing, Vanda?" He glanced at Corky, who was now hurling insults at individuals in the crowd. "Don't let her see you. She'll know it was you." He dragged her back.
"I'm not afraid of her. And where are you taking me?"
"There's an emergency exit behind the stage."
Vanda tried to dig her heels in, but her stilettos merely wobbled. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
He shot her an amused look. "Afraid of me?"
"Hell, no." Hell, yes. Whenever she was alone with him, she lost all self-control and ended up kissing him.
He pulled her through some swinging double doors into a deserted hallway. "This way."
"Don't even try to kiss me again. It's forbidden. I could tattle on you and get you in big trouble."
"Or I could give you such mind-blowing sex, you would beg for more."
"Ha! I never beg for anything."
He stopped abruptly and pulled her into his arms so fast, she slammed into his hard chest. The air was knocked out of her and her heart rate jumped into high gear.
He leaned forward, his breath hot against her brow. "Never say never, sweetheart. You like kissing me."
"Do not." Oh God, he felt so good.
His lips skimmed along her cheekbone. "You were forbidden years ago, and I obeyed the rules. I was young and foolish. Not anymore." He nuzzled her neck.
"Phil," she whispered, and pressed against him. He was so strong and warm.
"We don't need the rules. We're rebels." He suckled her earlobe.
"Yes." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Kiss me. Now."
He leaned back, his mouth curling. "Are you begging?"
"No." She glared at him. "I'll make you beg."
He chuckled. "I thought I was. But first we have some business to attend to." He led her farther down the hall.
"What business?"
He opened a door and ushered her inside. "Your first anger management class."
"My what?" She gasped when she spotted her image frozen on a television screen.
"Good evening, my child." Father Andrew stood next to a conference table.
Phil had shown her interview to the priest? How could he do this to her? Rage shot through her.
She picked up a chair. "You want some anger? I'll give you some anger! Manage this!"
CHAPTER 10
"Get down!" Phil shouted at the priest as Vanda hurled the chair across the conference table.
The chair crashed into the wall, denting the Sheetrock six feet away from Father Andrew, who crouched underneath the table. With vampire speed Vanda grabbed another chair, but Phil wrenched it away and seized her by the wrists.
"Let me go!" She kicked at his shins.
She wasn't as strong as a male Vamp, but with her rage in full bloom, she was damned close. Phil struggled to hold on. He could always unleash his inner wolf and take her down in a second, but he refrained. She was upset enough already.
He pushed her back against a wall, pinning her wrists to each side of her head. "As your anger management sponsor, I have to say—"
"You're not my sponsor." She attempted to knee him.
He twisted and took it in the hip. "I have to say you're not managing your anger in a constructive manner."
"Let me go, you traitor!"
"Calm down and I'll release you."
She met his gaze, her eyes a stormy gray. She lowered her voice to the barest of whispers. "I'll tell him."
So, she was threatening to tell the priest that he'd indulged in forbidden kisses with his charge. Phil leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Do it. Then he'll fire me, and I'll be free to bed you tonight."
Her breath hissed against his cheek. "Damn you." She raised her voice. "I'm okay now. You can let go."
He leaned back. "No more throwing chairs?"
"Only if you're sitting in one at the time."
He released her. "I know you're upset, but we really just want to help you."
She moved away from him, rubbing her wrists. "You call this help? The two of you ganging up on me? I hate this stupid therapy crap. You want to examine all my old wounds and poke and prod at them till they bleed. What is the point? It doesn't make any of it go away."
"Ignoring it doesn't make it go away, either."
"I told you to leave my past alone." She glowered at him. "I trusted you."