by Michele Hauf
Bella dared a look at the limo again. Knowing now that there might be a vampire woman sitting inside, staring at her, lifted her anxiety level to a new high.
“Good girl,” Severo cooed. “Now, we’ll give the mistress of the night reason to believe you’ve no interest in that pasty human who spins discs in the club.”
“How—”
He kissed her. And he manhandled her. Severo’s hand slid up her thigh, raising her skirt. He pulled her against his body as he’d done last night. But this kiss wasn’t as violent, only insistent and claiming.
Did he want to show the vampire woman across the street that Bella was his? This wasn’t what she wanted. No matter who watched.
“Wait a second.” She pushed against his chest—it was firm, solid—but he wouldn’t be dissuaded.
“One more, sweet. Give the curious vampire bitch a show, or you’ll have vamps on your tail for longer than you wish.”
“But I don’t—” Want to kiss you didn’t come out. Because the protest didn’t feel right. Did she want him to kiss her? “This isn’t going to work.”
“Worth a try. This time open your mouth for me, Bella. I want to taste that cosmo again. I think I may develop a liking for them.”
“You’re a jerk,” she said on a gasp.
“A jerk who’s trying to protect your pretty little ass.”
With a protest stuck in her throat, he snuck his tongue into her mouth. Before she could weigh the possibilities of biting it, Bella found herself reacting to the powerful and disturbing intrusion by pulling him closer and matching his tongue dance with her own.
God, this was so wrong. He was a stranger. He could be dangerous. He wasn’t even human.
But he could kiss.
He held her possessively, one arm behind her back, his strong fingers splayed down to cup her hip. Another hand caressed her torso, right up under her breast. He wasn’t about to allow her to lead, and that should bother her, but it didn’t.
“So sweet,” he muttered into her mouth. “My Bella.”
Okay, wait. The kiss was acceptable. But claiming her as his own?
“Let’s go.” He ended the kiss so abruptly, Bella thought he might have heard her crazy thoughts. He tugged her along, leading the way.
“You think Elvira got the hint?” she wondered breathlessly.
“Doubt it. Vamps are stupid, blood-hungry animals.”
“And you’re not?”
He swung her to an abrupt stop at the intersection, though the light was green. “I am not an animal.”
“But you confirmed that you’re a werewolf.”
“Three days a month I howl at the moon, and yes, then I become an animal. But the other twenty-seven or twenty-eight days, I am a man. Got that?”
“Yep.” She was not going to argue with anything that could howl at the moon and change into an animal, no matter how few days a month. “You don’t like vampires much, do you?”
“I despise them.”
Bella followed his swift pace across the street in time to beat the light. “I can walk by myself. I mean, I know where I’m going. You don’t need to pull me.”
He let go of her arm, and Bella walked faster, ahead of him. Normally she loved the sound of her heels marking her steps, but now they only reminded her how desperate this situation could become. Because if she thought she would be safe once she arrived home—accompanied by a werewolf—she must be ten kinds of crazy.
He whistled lowly, a satisfied sound. A comment on her back view, likely. She slowed to walk side by side. He did not meet her eyes, but she swore he wore a smirk.
So the man did have a soul. Maybe.
She flat-out asked him. “Do you have a soul?”
“That’s an odd question.”
“No more odd than your being a werewolf.”
“Perhaps it is you, a human, who is the odd one. Yes, I do have a soul.”
“Good. I mean, whatever. Do vampires have souls?”
“Yes. But they don’t see their reflections.”
They arrived at the door to her building, a three-story walk-up. Bella owned the upper loft. It was set into a hill, so her third level led out to the patio and the pool in her backyard.
“Here we are,” he offered.
“Yes, I suppose you know that. I suppose every vampire in the city now knows, too.”
“Exactly.” He opened the door and strode into the foyer. “Which is why I’m seeing you right up to your door.”
He knew she lived on the third floor? Dread curdled her saliva.
“I, uh, I don’t think so. I’m fine now. I can lock this outer door after you leave. Just go, please?”
Stoic and determined, he stood on the bottom step. He was a head taller than her—and she was wearing four-inch heels. Broad shoulders squared the bruised leather jacket and caught his long, mussed brown hair, which looked clean but not combed. His dark beard was trimmed close and a mustache framed his mouth.
Bella didn’t want to look at his mouth too long. She knew the feel of it. And it wasn’t something she should be thinking about if she wanted to make the guy leave.
He splayed out his hands, but it wasn’t a surrendering move. The man wasn’t going anywhere.
“Fine.” Bella marched past him, up the first few stairs, but stopped. “You go first.”
“I prefer to bring up the tail. Easier to keep an eye out for intruders that way.”
“But they could be lurking up ahead.”
“I don’t smell any,” he answered plainly.
Bella sighed heavily, turned and marched up the stairs. So he was staring at her backside. She should appreciate the attention, but despite the wonderful kiss, it made her crawly.
Her mother had drilled the whole stranger-danger routine into her brain when she was a child.
So why had she taken a new route last night? It was as though she’d been looking for danger.
And she had found it. Rather, it had found her.
Now to get rid of it.
Sticking the key in her door lock, she decided too late that she should have waited. The man pushed the door open and prowled inside.
“I didn’t invite you in. Now you’re going beyond a protective walk home, and entering without permission. I thought you sorts needed permission to cross a threshold.”
“‘You sorts’?” He smirked and strode to the center of her living room, his limp more apparent now with the lights on. “Just the vamps, sweet. I can cross any threshold I like. Nice place. If a bit junglelike.”
The loft had an open floor plan, the living room, kitchen and bedroom all open to share one huge room. Admittedly Bella had gone overboard with the plants, but she liked that they kept the air clean.
Severo’s gaze followed the long white chiffon drape that hung from the cathedral ceiling to the floor, separating the living room from the bedroom at the far end.
Observing the wide planter with the massive blooming cactus, he strode to the patio doors and tapped the glass. “A pool, too?”
“Yep, living the high life. So, if you’ll leave, I’ll lock the door behind you and get out my garlic. I have a cross on the wall there that I can use in a pinch. So you see? I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Bella kicked off her shoes and leaned against the kitchen counter. She wiggled her pinched toes, but her focus was not on comfort. The drawer with a butcher knife inside was a leap away.
“You won’t be fine.” He approached her so swiftly, the fear rose in her body and Bella felt it flush her cheeks. “They’ll watch you all night.”
“You don’t know that.”
“If my suspicions are correct, Elvira won’t rest until she’s satisfied.”
“Meaning?”
“She must want you dead, or at the least, injured, if she believes you a threat to her latest snack.”
“Seth is not a snack.”
He backed her against the granite kitchen counter with an arm to either side of her. She should be getting use
d to his urgent obsession for uncomfortable closeness, but it still made her nervous. The plastic clicks of her skirt spangles made the situation slightly strange. His size made her feel small.
But she couldn’t deny her interest in this overwhelming, in-your-face man who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“No human can ever be anything more than a snack to a vampire. Unless she turns him.”
“Turns? You mean makes him a vampire? Oh my God, can she do that? Will he know?”
“He’ll know. But he’ll be too infatuated to protest.” He dipped his head and ran his nose along her neck.
“Stop it. I want you to leave.”
“Make me.”
Bella swung her arm up and slapped the man hard across the cheek. The sound of flesh to flesh echoed sharply. He reared back, shook his head and delivered her a leering grin.
“Try it again,” he challenged coolly. “Come, Bella, raise my ire. Stir my blood.”
This time he caught her hand before it connected with his cheek. Gripping her wrist, he licked her palm from fleshy base to quivering fingertips. And behind the lascivious act, he grinned again.
“By now you should know your fear excites me, sweet.”
“Don’t call me that. I don’t want you here. Can’t you understand that?” Bella’s glance to the phone, which was too far away, by the couch, stoked him to action.
He pressed a palm over her throat. Bella feared he might become violent. Finally he would do what he wanted to do last night. Why had she allowed him inside the building?
Because she really was worried about the vampires.
His eyes were so intense, they stilled her. She could only gasp as he slid his hand to the red spangled neckline. His thumb slipped behind the fabric and over the top of her breast.
The sound he made was sexy and wanting, a moan for something he desired but wouldn’t take. Clinging to the counter, Bella reacted to the illicit touch with a whimper of her own.
“Bella,” he whispered as he moved nose to nose with her. “You want my touch?”
She shook her head. A squeeze of his fingers rocketed a delicious twinge of pleasure from her breast to her belly and down to her loins.
“Then remove my hand. Push it away.”
She grabbed his wrist with both hands but didn’t move it. And in her pause, he bent to kiss the top of her breast while he massaged the nipple with his fingers.
She craved the way he made her feel. The dangerous aura of his presence. The uncertainty of what he would say or do to her next. The erratic pace of her heart was caused by fear and a discomfiting desire.
“Please,” she whispered. What had he said his name was? “S-Severo. It’s…not right.”
“What? A man you just met touching you like this? I told you to take my hand away. And then I’ll leave.”
“No, you…” You’re a werewolf! Why did that bother her more than being touched so intimately? “Please just go. I can’t do this. I’m too freaked right now.”
“I understand.” His hand slid up to her neck again, and Bella regretted the lost touch at her breast. “I’ll leave, but I won’t go far. I’m keeping watch tonight.”
“Fine,” she said, not because she approved, but because she wanted him gone so she could be alone with her crazy self.
He opened the door and turned to her, but he didn’t say anything. Dark, glittering eyes held her in his grasp. Right there, still under his thumb.
“Thank you,” she said. “For looking out for me.”
“You’ve fixed yourself to my senses, Bella. I can’t get you out of my head. And I don’t wish to. Sleep well.”
He closed the door and Bella collapsed over the counter, her arms stretched out and her cheek smushed against the cool granite.
“Vampires and werewolves? Oh, my.”
Chapter 5
F ollowing a long shower, Bella padded through the loft and switched off all the lights. The streetlights out front always cast a yellow streak across the floor. Tonight it comforted her.
After her encounter at Silver and her unnecessary escort home, she couldn’t hit the bed fast enough. But on the way, she stopped before the window and tugged aside the blue chiffon sheer.
The connection of gazes startled her, but she didn’t turn away. Severo sat across the street on a bus-stop bench, staring up at her. Her own personal security guard.
Or her own personal stalker.
Who was a werewolf.
She should be horrified, but to be honest, all she could feel was relief.
She looked but didn’t find any vampires lurking in the trees in the park across the street. Not that she would know what they were, anyway. Nevertheless, if they were out there, she was glad to have a protector on the beat.
Bella woke to sunshine. Because it was the weekend, she had all day to wonder over her strange new world.
“I have to call Seth.”
She started for the phone but paused by the window to look across the street. The bench was empty. Vampires didn’t do daylight, so her protector had left.
How could she be so accepting and calm? she wondered as she picked up the receiver and hit speed dial. Because she had proof.
Sunnyside Belladonna, Seth often called her when he wasn’t addressing her as Bellybean. Always willing to see the good, even when standing amidst a muck of bad. And if shown the truth? She believed it. It was a waste of time to deny what she’d witnessed.
“Seth, how are you?”
“It’s freakin’ ten o’clock, Bella. How do you think I’m doing?”
“You’re usually up by eight. Oh, no, are you no longer a morning person because of your girlfriend?”
“Can we have this discussion later?”
“Fine, but we do need to have it. Severo said something last night that makes me wonder about your girlfriend. I’m scared for you, Seth.”
“Severo? Who in hell—Is that your werewolf?”
“He’s not my werewolf.”
“Yeah? Well, don’t start sucking face with the guy. I’ve always imagined you walking down the aisle someday with a mortal man. And you know how scared you are of dogs.”
“Tell me about it.”
She had mapped out her jogging routes specifically to avoid any houses with dogs behind fences. Big dogs, little dogs, didn’t matter. She didn’t like any of them. Rather, it wasn’t a question of dislike, but a real fear.
“Listen, Bella, let’s meet at the Moonstone at six, okay?”
It was their favorite restaurant and was a few miles down the strip. “Deal. I’ll see you later. Last one there picks up the check.”
A brisk swim was in order. Releasing the latch on the patio door, she slid it open to the gorgeous summer day. Birds chirped and the grass was so green, it belonged in a cartoon. Everything seemed right. Truly, she must have dreamed the world doing an upside-down flip.
Padding outside in her undies and T-shirt, Bella never worried that anyone would see. The six-foot-high fence, and the fact that she lived at the top of a hill, guaranteed privacy. And the first- and second-floor owners had but a view of the street on the other side of the building.
Tugging up her shirt, she stopped halfway over her ribs when something jumped the fence.
He landed deftly, one hand to the ground in a predatory pose. With a smirk, he noted Bella’s jumpy reaction. Severo rose, stretching back his shoulders. He utterly dominated the small backyard.
Her protector had returned.
Bella tugged her shirt down to her thighs to cover her spare pink underwear. She could make a run for it, but he’d probably beat her to the door. Then he’d crush her barely clad body against his and kiss her and—
“Good morning, sweet.” Severo strolled to the padded lounge chair angled by the pool and sat. Stretching out his legs, he twined his fingers behind his head, though the leather jacket and biker boots were hardly pool wear. “Nice day for a swim. Don’t let me interrupt. You were set on skinny-dipping?”
&
nbsp; “Why are you here?”
“Still on the beat.”
“But the vampires don’t come out during the day.”
“You’re right. Truth is, I wanted one last look at you before leaving.”
“Well, you’ve seen me. Now you can go.”
“Your tits look great in that thin shirt. Makes me want to suck them.”
She crossed her arms high over her chest. As crude as the comment had been, she lifted her chin and looked down through her lashes at him. He liked her breasts?
Stupid, Bella. You’re playing with fire. This one is different than most men, who can tease without promising anything more.
His eyes strayed lower. It was either hug her arms across her breasts or hold the shirt down.
Bella decided to walk down the three steps and sit at the pool’s edge. The water crept through her underwear and wet the hem of her shirt. The man’s intent gaze hardened her nipples.
She plunged in. There. Now he couldn’t see anything.
“I’m not going to perform for you,” she said, frog-stroking through the water, “so you may as well leave. Go home and get some sleep.”
“You are insistent that I leave you. And after I’ve done you two favors.”
“Two?”
“Saving your life and keeping said life safe. So I think you owe me at least a chat. Aren’t you at all interested in learning more about me?”
Treading where the water dipped to eight feet, she eyed him curiously. Yes, she did want to know more. Like how he was able to track her merely by scent. Like why he felt that he had some kind of God-given right to intrude on her life.
Also, why it was that she couldn’t simply call the cops and have him arrested.
And why was it that she found him more attractive today, in full daylight, than she had last night in the dark? He was still scruffy and unkempt. The beard and long hair framed his dark gaze and bold features. The look didn’t so much say “Protector” as it screamed “Dangerous.”
Ignoring her erratic thoughts, she dove forward and did an underwater somersault. Surfacing, she spewed water and slicked back her hair. The water refreshed her. Now, if she didn’t have an audience, she would get naked.
