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some freak of nature that couldn’t die.”

      He chuckled at her sour expression. “I didn’t make you immortal, querida. My only means of doing so would be to turn you into a vampire, and since I can see every lovely inch of you in the mirror and you have what I can only describe as a delightful tan, it’s obvious that you are still very non-vampirish.”

      Anna wasn’t satisfied. She clearly wanted someone to blame. And that someone was Cezar. “Then you put a spell on me.”

      “Vampires can’t cast magic.”

      “Then…”

      Tired of being the scapegoat, Cezar took a step forward. They were alone in a hotel room and he didn’t want to waste time being the enemy.

      Not when she could be easing the vast, roaring hunger that had returned after nearly two centuries.

      “Anna, your immortality has nothing to do with my bite or with any spell.” His voice thickened with need. “You were born special.”

      “Special?” She took an instinctive step back as if sensing his dark need. “Being able to bake a soufflé that actually rises is special. Being able to sing the “Star-Spangled Banner” in key is special. Being able to pass through airport security without setting off the metal detector is special. I’m a little more than freaking special.” Without warning she stiffened, her head turning toward the door. “Shit.”

      Cezar was on instant alert. “What is it?”

      “Do you smell that?”

      Cezar closed his eyes and sensed the air. It was very faint, but unmistakable. “Smoke.” The word was a curse on his tongue. Vampires and fire didn’t mix. “We must get out of here,” he commanded, holding out his arms that were still shackled. He could free himself but he preferred to keep that little tidbit of knowledge to himself. “Anna, release me or we both will die.”

      She muttered a handful of curses as she reached out and slipped the key into the handcuff. They fell to the floor with a thump.

      “There.”

      Cezar absently rubbed his blistered wrists as he allowed his powers to flow outward. His fangs lengthened as he realized that the fire was not only near, but magical in nature.

      This was a deliberate attack on Anna.

      “The fire is just outside the door,” he warned, moving instinctively to scoop her slender body in his arms. The Oracles had charged him with protecting this woman, but even if they hadn’t he would have walked through the pits of hell to keep her safe.

      They had unfinished business.

      Business that even now was making him hard and desperate to be inside her.

      “Stop.” She beat her tiny fist against his chest. As if that could possibly hurt him. “What are you doing?”

      He willed the window open as he dashed across the room. “Getting us out of here. Unless you prefer to remain and sacrifice that beautiful skin to the flames?”

      “The water sprinklers will put it out.”

      “Not this fire. It’s magical, which explains why I didn’t sense it the moment it was started.”

      “A magical fire? For God’s sake…” Her words became a shrill scream as Cezar launched them through the window and they fell toward Michigan Avenue. With a skill only an ancient vampire could manage, he landed easily on his feet, still cradling her closely in his arms. He was rewarded with another blow to his chest. “Damn you,” Anna hissed. “You scared the hell out me.”

      He lowered his head to speak directly in her ear. “Would you have preferred to remain to face the flames?”

      She tugged at the hem of her gown, which had inched up to reveal a tiny pink thong. Cezar’s erection twitched in silent tribute.

      Soon, soon, soon…

      “I would prefer that you warn me before you leap from a twelve-story building,” she muttered.

      He laughed, his body tingling with pleasure. Mi dios. It had been so long since he had felt emotions. So long since he hadn’t been trapped in his cold existence.

      “Next time, I promise,” he husked, trailing his lips down her warm cheek.

      She arched away from his touch. Her mute protest, however, couldn’t disguise the passion that perfumed her skin. Ah, hormones. They were a wonderful thing.

      “There won’t be a next time.” She reinforced her claim with yet another punch to his chest. “I don’t need you or anyone else to save me.”

      He touched his tongue to the frantic pulse that beat at the base of her throat. “You’ve changed, my little shrew.”

      “I didn’t have much choice.”

      His arms instinctively tightened. Damn the Oracles. They had called him away just when this vulnerable woman had needed him the most.

      “No, I suppose you didn’t.” His touch became soothing as he stroked his lips along her collarbone, silently absorbing her intoxicating scent. It was at last the distant sound of sirens that forced Cezar to lift his head. “We need to leave here before it is discovered that you are no longer in your room.”

      “Wait…”

      He ignored her protest as he bolted down the nearly empty street. It wouldn’t be empty for long. Humans had a weird obsession with disasters. And a fire burning in a historic hotel filled with the elite of Chicago society would certainly qualify as a disaster.

      Well, at least to some.

      “Sorry, querida, but I don’t have time to argue.”

      She struggled in his grasp. “Put me down.”

      “Not until we’re away from here. Someone wants you dead and I don’t intend to give them the satisfaction.”

      She stilled, as if startled by his blunt words. “Why?”

      “Why what?”

      “Why do you care if I’m alive or dead?”

      He glanced down at her wary hazel eyes, a jolt of pure male possession racing through him. “I told you one hundred and ninety-five years ago that you belong to me, Anna Randal,” he growled. “No one is allowed to harm you.”

      Chapter 3

      Fury roared through Anna. Damn the arrogant vampire. She had come to Chicago with a plan. Okay, not a good plan, but one that was supposed to trap Conde Cezar and get her the answers she deserved.

      Instead she very much suspected that she had once again been played by this man.

      If there was a trap she was the one who had fallen for the damn lure. And for her trouble she had been nearly burned to death in her hotel room without one answer to show for it.

      God, she had been a fool to ever come here.

      Nothing good ever happened when Cezar strolled into her life.

      He was like her own personal kryptonite.

      Only cuter. With the sort of sex appeal that set her body on fire and made her think of being pressed to the nearest wall and feeling his large, hard…

      No, Anna, no.

      He was bad news.

      And until he gave her a few answers there would be no hot, sweaty, delicious sex.

      Stirring up the embers of her anger, Anna concentrated on the hard, male body that was carrying her with such aggravating ease. She had warned Cezar she was no longer the weak, innocent woman he had known in the past. It was time to prove her words were more than hot air.

      “Stop,” she commanded, forming the image of Cezar trapped in molasses. Thick, sticky, gooey molasses. “I

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