Anna struggled to keep track of the conversation. Inside she was a quivering mess. Sybil was dead. Granted there’d been more than a few times she would have willingly choked the life from the annoying bitch. And the knowledge she would never again have to look over her shoulder and discover the woman lurking in the shadows offered a sick sort of relief, but…dead? And while she was protected in this house where Anna had been sleeping like a baby?
The thought was enough to give her the heebie-jeebies.
With a shiver she crossed her arms over her stomach and tried to look brave. Dammit. She was the one who was demanding to be a partner in this nasty business.
I am woman hear me roar, she chided herself, not oh-my-God I’m going to toss my cookies.
“Who is Levet?” she forced herself to demand.
Despite her best efforts there must have been something in her voice that warned Cezar she was strolling near the edge.
His concerned gaze skimmed over her faintly green face before he tugged her to his side and slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“He’s a gargoyle,” he grudgingly confessed.
“Ah.” She couldn’t halt the short, wild laugh. “Of course.”
Cezar’s thumb rubbed the taut line of her throat, his touch magically easing back the panic that had threatened to boil to the surface.
“Don’t worry,” he soothed. “He’s the runt of the litter and the only frightening thing about him is his warped sense of humor.”
Styx regarded Cezar’s movements with a narrowed gaze. Almost as if he was startled by the vampire’s protective intimacy. Which was laughable. Anna knew firsthand that Conde Cezar made a habit of exchanging his women on a nightly basis. She had been one of the exchangees.
With an odd smile the giant vampire gave a dip of his head. “I will leave you to prepare.”
“Good idea,” Cezar murmured, shutting the door in the face of his king and crowding her against the wall before she knew what was happening. “Should we hit the shower first?”
A shower? Naked skin. Warm water. Silky soap. Hot, steamy…
The image of the two of them entwined as water poured over them was so vivid, Anna was forced to close her eyes and suck in a deep breath.
“Absolutely not,” she muttered, already feeling hot and steamy as he deliberately leaned into her body, his head lowering so he could bury his face in her hair.
“Why?” He nipped at her earlobe. “You can wash my back and I’ll wash yours. We’re partners, remember?”
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as his hands stroked up her sides and then boldly cupped the heavy fullness of her br**sts.
Right. Now, they were partners. When he wanted to get up close and personal.
Well, she was going to…she was going to nip this in the…his thumbs teased the tips of her ni**les and Anna moaned.
What the hell was she going to do?
Something besides melt into a puddle at his feet, surely?
The thumbs did another gut-wrenching brushing motion and Anna knew she was about to drown in his potent passion.
Holy crap.
“The only shower you’re getting is going to be a cold one in your own room,” she managed to rasp.
He laughed, his fangs deliberately scraping against her neck. “Harsh.”
“Cezar, stop that.”
“Why?” His tongue replaced his fangs in his campaign to send her up in flames. “I can smell your desire.”
“You’re going to be smelling my fist if you don’t stop.”