She winced. Apparently, she had hurt his feelings the night before. Somehow, in just a few days, he had ceased to be a monster, an Undead creature, and he'd become a tortured soul who intrigued her. She was hopelessly drawn to him and painfully aware of a yearning she didn't dare act upon.
"I'll take that as a no." He lifted the pipes. "What were ye planning to do with these?"
"I was going to return them to you. With a note of encouragement."
"Ye were going to bring them to my office?" When she didn't answer, his eyes narrowed. "Ye were going to visit me again in the basement?"
She nodded. "Yes."
He dropped the pipes on the bench. "Why do ye seek me out when I'm in my death-sleep? I realize I'm no' a verra good conversationalist, but I can manage a wee bit better when I'm no' dead."
She swallowed hard. "I feel safer when you're asleep-"
"Dead," he corrected her with a wry look. "Am I so frightening when I'm awake?"
Yes. She crossed her arms. "Maybe."
"I would never hurt you."
Her eyes burned. He could break her heart. Already it was aching.
"How can I prove to you that I'm no' a soulless monster?"
"I know you have a soul. You played from your soul." She blinked away tears. "And it was beautiful."
He stepped toward her. "Then can ye stop seeing me as a vampire?"
Her heart pounded. She was teetering on a precipice, so close to falling, and God help her, she wanted to fall.
"Can ye see me as a man? I canna share a meal with you, nor a day in the sun. I canna sleep like a man. But I can feel. I can touch." With his left hand, he touched her face so gently that it squeezed her heart, and a tear escaped.
He caught the tear with his thumb. "I can love like a man." He leaned closer. "And I can kiss."
She drew in a shuddering breath just before his lips pressed gently against hers. Soft, but firm.
He pulled back and gave her a questioning look as if asking permission to continue. More tears threatened to fall. She didn't know what to say. She only knew she wanted more.
His hand moved to cup the back of her neck while his other hand, the prosthetic one, pressed against the small of her back, pulling her against his chest. She rested her hands on his shirt, feeling the hard rock of his chest beneath the soft white cotton.
"Leah," he whispered, and she lifted her eyes to meet his.
Desire flared hot in his emerald eyes, melting the last of her resistance. "Yes," she whispered back.
He kissed her again. A long, sensual kiss, his lips moving, nibbling, and tasting.
Warmth drizzled down her body, settling with a more heated sizzle between her legs. She moaned, and he deepened the kiss, invading her mouth with his tongue.
Her senses swirled, and a vague thought flitted through her mind. She'd never been kissed senseless before. She hadn't thought it was possible. But she was reeling now, free-falling, rapidly becoming a mass of nerve endings, all sizzling and hot.
Her hands slid up to his shoulders, then his neck, and she pulled him closer. Her fingers delved into his ponytail, tangling with his long, soft hair. A whimpering sound escaped her mouth, a sound of surrender, and he growled softly in response.
"Leah." He scattered kisses across her cheeks and brow. "I want you. I want you something fierce."
Her heart nearly burst with longing, and she pulled back to touch his face.
Red, glowing eyes!
With a small yelp, she jumped back.
He released her, lifting his hands. "Doona be alarmed."
She stepped back. "Your eyes are red!"
"Aye. I want you."
"For dinner?" She retreated another step.
"Nay. 'Tis my heart that hungers for you." With a grimace, he adjusted his sporran. "My body wants you as well."
She swallowed hard. What was she doing? It would be crazy enough to get involved with a mortal she'd known only four days, but here she was with a vampire? For a person who had always prided herself on her intelligence, she wasn't being very smart. What did she really know about this man? If she fell for him completely, would she be completely lost?
"I-I can't do this." She ran back to the building.
The next day she woke shortly before noon. With a groan, she rolled over to try to fall asleep again. After a night of tossing and turning, she was still tired.
Sleep had been nigh impossible, for every time she'd drifted off, memories of his kiss had flooded back, and she would experience it all over again. The sweetly possessive feel of his mouth moving on hers. The light touch of his lips caressing her cheeks and brow.
And then the yearning would return, the longing in her heart, and the empty ache between her thighs. And she would wonder if she'd made a mistake. Maybe she should talk to Abby or Heather. They were both happily married to vampires.
Groaning, she rubbed her hands down her face. Enough of this wishy-washy confusion. How could a sane woman even contemplate marriage with a vampire?
Leah, I've waited so long for you.
"No!" She sat up in bed. She wouldn't let those words continue to haunt her. How could he have been waiting for her when he'd only known her for four nights? Maybe he was waiting for someone to love, but that didn't mean it had to be her.
The man was interfering with her job. Last night, after the kiss, she'd tried to go back to the lab to work, but it had been a disaster. The kiss had kept creeping into her thoughts, refusing to let her concentrate. It had replayed in her mind, over and over, growing in importance till it seemed her whole life could be slotted into two categories. Life before the kiss, and life after the kiss. Her life before the kiss had moved step by step ever closer to the predestined event. Meeting Dougal. And kissing him.
She shook her head. She would not allow herself to be manipulated by theories as erroneous as fate or destiny. She would make her own decisions in life. Her own choices.
For example, she would choose not to venture into the basement today. Even if he had written a new note for her, she would not go near him. She would distance herself. She would do her job at Romatech, and then leave.
And never see Dougal again. For she was far too logical to fall in love with a vampire.
Chapter Thirteen
She hadn't read his note. Dougal was fairly certain of it.
He stood in the security office the next evening, drinking his bottle of breakfast blood while he watched the monitors. The captive soldier was still in stasis in the silver room. Leah was in the lab with Abby, concentrating hard on her work. Not once did she glance at the camera.
There had been no lingering scent of jasmine in the basement when he'd awakened from his death-sleep. The newly written note clasped in his left hand had appeared unopened.
He gulped down more synthetic blood. She'd rejected him. He'd poured all his longing into the kiss last night, hoping somehow he could touch her heart, and it hadn't worked.
She'd rejected him.
Had his red eyes frightened her? It wasn't something he could avoid. Whenever a Vamp became sexually aroused, his eyes automatically glowed red.
Was he pushing her too fast? He'd been waiting almost three hundred years, but for Leah, it was now only five nights. He needed to slow down. Give her a chance to adjust. Give her time to get to know him. And trust him.
It might help if he didn't look like a bloody pirate. After the fiasco last night, he'd called the number Gregori had given him. The stylist at DVN had agreed to see him after Laszlo's appointment two nights from now.
He finished his bottle while memories of the kiss flitted through his mind. He could have sworn she had enjoyed it. She'd wrapped her arms around his neck. She'd moaned and melted against him. It had taken just a few minutes for his eyes to turn red and his groin to grow stiff.
He pushed those thoughts from his mind and sat at the desk to e-mail a report to Angus. Freemont had the night off, so Dougal did the rounds himself. A few hours later, back in the office, he saw his chance. Leah and Abby were headed to the cafeteria for supper. It was the perfect time to do another round.
He zipped through the grounds, then slowed down as he approached the basketball court. At this time of night, she and Abby had the cafeteria to themselves. He let himself in through the patio door.
Leah glanced up. Her eyes widened before she refocused on her piece of apple pie.
"Oh hey, Dougal." Abby smiled at him. "What's up?"
"No' much." He approached their table.
Abby spooned some ice cream into her mouth. "I guess your increased mind control wore off. We didn't hear any crowing tonight."
"Nay." He watched as Leah pushed an apple slice around her plate. "I appear to have no effect at all on any mortal."
She glanced up, and he heard her heartbeat pounding louder.
His mouth curled up. Gotcha.
A blush stained her cheeks, and she stabbed the apple slice with her plastic fork.
"I'm glad you stopped by." Abby finished her ice cream, licking the spoon. "We're very close to having a serum to test on the guy in the silver room. Can you come with us tomorrow night when we try it out?"
"Aye." He glanced at Leah. "Congratulations. Ye're making excellent progress."
She shrugged, refusing to look at him. "I'm concentrating on my work from now on."