It took you long enough to realize it. His mind voice might be cooler than the night itself, but his presence was so, so hot.
It felt like I was walking beside a furnace, and a whole lot of me wanted to snuggle right up to it. And not just because I was cold.
That's because you've only just moved in direct line of scent. Which was a guess on my part. I'd like to think I'd been in this job long enough now to instinctively "feel" when I was being followed.
Which might not be the case, but hey, a girl has to dream a little.
You might never have realized I was there, otherwise. This time his mental tones were laced with amusement that sent a delicious tingle all the way down my spine.
God, what was it with this wolf? I couldn't exactly blame the moon heat anymore, because the full moon was over for the next month. So why did Kye-someone I didn't want to like-have my hormones dashing around so excitedly?
Maybe Liander was right. Maybe my wolf soul had had enough, and was putting her foot down to demand equal loving rights.
Maybe I was just hoping that like all bad smells, you'd eventually go away.
I don't smell bad, and you know it.
He was right, he didn't, but there was no way on this green Earth I was going to admit it.
What are you doing here, Kye?
Same thing as you. Following a target.
The woman up ahead isn't the woman who was in the warehouse with the zombie and the hellhounds, so I repeat the question-why are you here?
He glanced at me then, his amber eyes cool and judging, weighing his options, sizing up the opposition. The tension that rolled through me was part fear, part a readiness to attack.
Probably for the same reason you are. I suspect she's involved with what is going on, but have no proof.
And if he got proof, he'd kill her. I resisted the urge to rub the chill from my arms, although I was no longer sure if the cause was the cold or the man. This wolf might have me in a spin, but he repelled my saner half.
Because in him I saw a reflection of myself-a reflection of the killer Jack wanted me to be.
He was everything I was trying not to become.
And for that reason alone, I'd fight this damn attraction as hard as I could. I didn't need a constant reminder of the future that might be mine.
If you kill her, I replied, wondering how much he actually knew-and whether I should risk doing a full read of his thoughts. We may never get that proof.
Which is the reason, he said softly, that I merely follow.
So no killing tonight?
He met my gaze again, and a slight smile teased one corner of his mouth. It didn't reach his eyes. Didn't warm the cold depths. No killing tonight.
Good. I paused. Does this mean you're going home?
I said it in a hopeful kind of way, and his smile widened. Despite the continuing chill in his gaze, the night suddenly didn't seem as cold anymore.
My wolf soul, it seemed, wasn't going to give up this attraction very easily.
No, Kye said, it means you're stuck with me until we discover just what this woman is up to.
Darn.
Its so nice to feel wanted.
Oh, he was wanted all right. It was just lucky the moon heat was over and I had some measure of control over myself. Not that control did much good given he could probably smell my interest. It was hard for a wolf to hide that sort of thing.
Though he seemed to be doing a damned good job of it.
I should be arresting your ass, I muttered. You've been warned off this case several times already.
You could try if you want to, but it'll cause a bit of a ruckus, and our target just might realize she's being followed.
Which is why I'm not arresting your ass. That and the fact I was just too bone tired to muster the strength I'd probably need to haul his cute rear end into the Directorate.
He smiled again and didn't say anything. We walked another block and crossed over Bourke Street. Laughter and voices joined the bass-heavy beat, and the scent of alcohol and humanity rode the wet night air.
"I liked your performance in the club tonight," he said after a while. I guess he figured us actually having some conversation did look a little better than utter silence should our target happen to look over her shoulder. "Even for a werewolf, you moved extraordinarily well."
I raised an eyebrow. "You were there?"
I was.
"Disguised, obviously."
"Obviously. You didn't spot me."
"Hard to spot someone if they've erased their scent and donned a completely different look."
"True." He glanced at me. "It took me a moment to recognize you. Your look and smell was different enough that I glanced past you several times before I realized who you were. I like your regular look better, by the way."
"Then I'd better keep this one," I said dryly. "You planning to be there tomorrow night?"
"Of course." Telepathically, he added, Now that I know she has an accomplice, it is my duty to track her down and hill them both.
And if he did, I would arrest him. No matter how horrified my crazy hormones might be. "If I spot you tomorrow night, I'll treat you a lap dance."
"I wouldn't."
I raised an eyebrow again. "Why not? We both know you'd enjoy it."
"That is the problem." I am not here to enjoy myself.
Of course he wasn't. He was here to track down and kill. Just like me. A shiver rolled across my skin and I rubbed my arms. If he noted the movement, he didn't do the gentlemanly thing, like offer me his coat. Quinn would have.
As we neared Flinders Lane, Hanna suddenly swung in our direction, looking left and right before running across. She didn't even look our way as she ran past us, moving up the street with a quick glance at her watch.
"Must have an appointment," Kye murmured, his arms brushing mine as the pavement suddenly narrowed.
Up ahead, a figure waited. A slender woman who was all of sixteen or seventeen.
Fuck.
I stopped, and just as I did, Hanna looked around. Kye reacted before I could, his speed almost that of a vampire as he crushed me against the wall and began kissing me.
And oh, what a kiss.
It was urgent and hungry and filled with everything he hadn't been showing, and I reacted as fiercely as I would have had the full moon been nearing completion.
For several seconds, there was nothing else in my world but this kiss and the fierce heat of his body against mine. Then sanity returned, and along with it sound, and I became aware of voices talking.
I broke away, then said, Listen.
I am. He kissed my neck, my ear, then wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me into a hug that was as close as two people could get without being naked.
"But what does the job entail?" the younger woman asked.
"Nothing more than sleeping with a vampire for one night." Hanna's voice sounded a lot tinnier than it had before. Maybe she was wearing some sort of cheap modulator.
I shifted my head slightly on Kye's shoulder so I could get a better look at Hanna's target. Like the other women who'd been found dead, this one was slender in build. Unlike the others, she had large breasts and a wine-colored birthmark covering part of her cheek and running down her neck.
The younger woman raised an eyebrow. "Ten grand for sleeping with one bloodsucker for one night? That seems like an awfully good deal. What's the fucking catch?"