LITMIR.BIZ

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the pulse fluttering like a butterfly on amphetamines at the base of her throat. Not to mention that she was clutching her silver handbag as if it held the crown jewels.

      Or maybe a wooden stake.

      “Are you coming in?” she demanded, then she bit her bottom lip. “Oh, do you need an invitation?”

      He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb and folded his arms over his chest.

      “Not for a hotel room. I’m just the naturally cautious type.”

      “Aren’t you immortal?”

      “Immortal in the sense that I can’t die of disease or old age, but a vampire can be killed.”

      “How?”

      He laughed softly. “You can’t expect me to answer that question.”

      “Why not?”

      “That would fall under the category of being naturally cautious.”

      “Fine.” The hazel eyes flashed with annoyance before she turned and walked toward the center of the hotel room. Then with the skill of a trained courtesan, Anna bent over to offer a stunning, gut-wrenching view of her perfect butt. “If you want to stand in the hallway all night, knock yourself out. I want to get out of these demon-spawned heels. They’ve been pinching my toes all night.”

      “Damn…” It was the most obvious bait that had ever been thrown in Cezar’s path. She might as well have a flashing neon sign. Cezar, however, was a vampire who had been denied the pleasure of desire for nearly two centuries. He’d dare any trap, take any risk for a taste of this woman. “Now that’s a temptation I can’t resist,” he murmured, stepping into the room and closing the door.

      At the sound of the lock settling into place, Anna whirled with astonishing speed. Cezar saw the glint of silver as she lunged toward him with a pair of silver handcuffs. He could have avoided the cuffs as they snapped around his wrists. One swing of his arm could have launched her and her damnable torture devices across the room.

      Instead he allowed her to believe she had managed to confine him in her devilish coils. The cuffs burned like a bitch, but they hadn’t been crafted specifically to hold a vampire and there were enough other metals mixed in with the silver to mute its effect. Besides, his tolerance for silver was higher than most vampires. He could free himself if necessary. And if it made Anna feel more comfortable…well, he would play along.

      For now.

      Planting her hands on her hips, Anna regarded him with a smug smile. “Ha.”

      “Ha?” Cezar gave a mocking lift of his brows. “You sound like a villain in a cheesy melodrama. Do you intend to throw me onto the nearest railroad tracks while I scream for help?”

      “What I intend is to get some answers that are long overdue.”

      “There’s no need to lock me up. Granted it might be fun under the right circumstances, but surely we can sit down and have a rational conversation like normal, non-crazy people?”

      “But we’re not normal, are we, Cezar?”

      “Speak for yourself, querida.” He gave a hiss as the cuffs shifted on his wrists.

      She tried to remain in her Rambo mode, but Cezar didn’t miss her small wince. Even two centuries hadn’t managed to harden that far too tender heart.

      “Does it hurt?” she demanded.

      Cezar held up his wrists to reveal the blisters that were already marring his skin.

      “It’s burning my flesh, what do you think?”

      She bit her bottom lip. “Tell me what you’ve done to me and I’ll release you.”

      “Anna, I’ve done nothing to you.”

      “I know I’m not a vampire, but obviously your bite turned me into something…” Her words trailed away as she lifted her hand and pressed it to her neck.

      The precise spot he’d taken her blood all those years ago, he realized with a flare of possessive pleasure. “Something?”

      “Something weird.” She glared, holding him entirely responsible for her weirdness. “Tell me what’s wrong with me.”

      “At the risk of pointing out the obvious, there’s nothing at all wrong with you, querida. In fact, you’re nothing less than perfection.” He lifted his cuffed hands. “Well, except for this handcuff fetish of yours. Next time we go with leather and whips.”

      “Don’t lie to me, Cezar. Something happened that night.” A shudder wracked her tiny body. “Everything…changed.”

      Cezar smiled at the doom in her voice. Anyone would think that discovering she was immortal was some hideous fate rather than an astonishing stroke of fortune.

      “What changed?”

      The gold flecks smoldered as she pointed a finger in his face. “Damn you, this isn’t funny.”

      “Anna, I’m not teasing you,” he soothed. “Tell me what happened after I left you that night.”

      She wrapped her arms around her waist, as if suddenly cold. “After we…”

      “Made love?” he prompted as her words faltered.

      “After we had sex,” she corrected. “I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until almost dawn. I had no choice but to sneak out through the window and return to my aunt’s house. When I got there it…”

      Once again her words broke off, but this time it was an ancient pain, not embarrassment, that held her in its grip.

      “What, Anna?” he said softly, not bothering to try to enthrall her. As a budding Oracle she would be impervious to such mind tricks. “Tell me.”

      “The house had been burnt to the ground.” She at last forced the words past her stiff lips. “Along with my only family trapped inside it. I was left on my own with nowhere to go and no one to turn to.”

      “Dios. How did it happen?”

      “I have no idea.”

      He scowled at the realization that the Oracles had deliberately kept her troubles secret from him. If they had not interfered he would have sensed her need. “What did you do?”

      She gave a shake of her head, her honey hair brushing over her bare shoulders and filling the air with her exquisite scent. Cezar quivered, his fangs aching for a taste. The only reason he resisted temptation was the memory of what had happened the last time he had taken blood from this woman.

      He might not be the smartest vampire ever made, but he occasionally learned from his mistakes.

      “I took the coward’s way out.” Anna’s voice was bitter as she became lost in her memories. “I hid in the bushes and allowed everyone to believe that I had died along with my aunt and cousin.”

      “Why?”

      “Because I was afraid.”

      “Afraid of what?” he prodded, genuinely curious. The Oracles were rarely forthcoming, and while they had revealed that this woman was born to join their ranks, they had yet to explain exactly what she was.

      She couldn’t be human. Her immortality proved that. And he could detect no demon blood running through her veins. Added to the fact that she didn’t seem to have a clue about her powers, it left nothing but a gaping question.

      A question he intended to find the answer to before she was taken by the Commission.

      “I don’t know.” A pretty frown tugged at her brows. “It was as if a voice was whispering in the back of my mind to flee. It seems ridiculous now, but at the time I was convinced that if I stepped from the bushes I would be dead.”

      Premonition? A natural ability to sense danger? Dumb, blind luck? Dios.

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