A slow blink, lashes sweeping down to cover his eyes. When they swept back up, she expected to see the Cajun charmer again. But what met her was that same simmering darkness, that feeling he was ready to spill heart’s blood. “Do you love him?”
“I did once,” she answered honestly. “Now I feel nothing.”
“Liar.” His fingers moved on her skin, hot and real and mercifully quiet. “If you felt nothing, you wouldn’t run so far and hard.”
Her spine went stiff, but she held his gaze as the train rolled into the station. “Maybe I run because I like it. The freedom, the excitement, why would I give that up?”
“Part of you is the wind,” he murmured. “Oui, that is true. But even the wind sometimes rests.”
Shaking her head, she slid her hand around the back of his neck, soaking in the intrinsically male heat of his skin. “Then consider me an endless storm.”
The Cajun kissed exactly as he looked—raw and earthy and lazy . . . in the best way. The patience of him made her toes curl with the knowledge that he’d kiss her as exquisitely in other, softer, darker places. Agile hands stroking over her back, he held her to him as he explored her as thoroughly as she explored him. Decadent, sharp, wild, the taste of Janvier filled her mouth.
And when she pulled away, he bit her lower lip. “Until next time, Guild Hunter.”
“I’ll be holding a crossbow next time.” It was a certainty, given Janvier’s penchant for pissing off high-level angels.
A slow, so slow smile. “You might be my perfect woman.”
“If I am, you’re in serious trouble.” She stepped back, and up into the train carriage, as the final warning tone sounded. “I don’t date vampires.”
“Who said anything about dating?” He gave her that wicked smile he seemed to save just for her. “I’m talking blood and sex and hunting.”
As the train pulled away, Ashwini knew she was in trouble. Because Janvier didn’t know her, he knew her. “Blood and sex and hunting.” It was one hell of a tempting proposition.
Fishing out her phone, she called the Guild Director. “Sara, I’ve changed my mind.”
“On?”
“The Cajun.”
“You sure?” Sara asked. “Last time you hunted him, you told me to keep you away from him or you’d end up in solitary confinement after throwing him into a lava pit.”
“Solitary confinement might be good for me.”
A pause. “Ash, you do realize you live in the Twilight Zone?”
The affection in the comment made her grin. “Normal is overrated. Just make sure I get any hunts where he’s involved.”
“You got it.” The Guild Director blew out a breath. “But I have to ask one thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you two flirting?”
Ashwini felt her lips curve. “If he’s not gator-bait by the next hunt . . . possibly.”
Nalini Singh is passionate about writing. Though she’s traveled as far afield as the deserts of China and the temples of Japan, it is the journey of the imagination that fascinates her most. She’s beyond delighted to be able to follow her dream as a writer.
Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand. For contact details and to find out more about the Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series, please visit her website at www.nalinisingh.com.