“The only quail I care about are baked and served on a bed of rice.”
“What are you trying to protect?” There was a deliberate pause. “Or is it who?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Is it a lover? A sibling? A child?” His soft chuckle grazed her cheek as the sharp leap of her pulse gave her away. “Ah, that’s it. Your child?”
Laylah bunched her hands into fists of frustration. He was getting too close. She had to distract the bastard.
“I thought vampires were known for their courage,” she deliberately taunted, willing to risk a battle she couldn’t win if it would keep her secrets. “Are you such a coward you have to hide in the shadows?”
The chill thickened, the danger a tangible force in the air. Then, the shadows directly before her stirred, and the vampire slowly became visible.
Laylah reeled, feeling as if she’d just been punched in the gut.
All vampires were beautiful. And sexy. Wickedly, indecently sexy. But this one …
Reminding herself to breathe, Laylah allowed her gaze to skim over the elegant features that revealed his Polynesian ancestors, lingering on the slanted eyes that were a brilliant shade of honey and the inky black hair that had been shaved on the sides, leaving the top to form a mohawk that fell past his broad shoulders.
Her gaze lowered, that vicious awareness twisting her gut at the sight of his half na**d body barely covered by a pair of khaki shorts.
Damn the annoying leech.
Had he deliberately left his body on full, wondrous display? After all, he had to know it would make her fingers twitch with the desire to investigate the smooth muscles of his chest. Or wait… maybe she would go down the flat plane of his stomach …
Lost in her helpless response to his sensual beauty, she was jerked back to the danger of her situation as the demon stepped far too close, his fingers casually stroking along the curve of her neck.
“Have you never been told the dangers of provoking a vampire?” he murmured.
A chill inched down her spine, but she forced herself to meet his hypnotic gaze.
“Do you intend to drain me?”
His lips twitched. “Tell me about the child.”
“No.”
“It’s yours?” He paused, his fingers drifting to the pulse that hammered at the base of her throat, an intense concentration etched on his beautiful face. “No. Not yours. You are as pure as an angel.”
Genuine fear speared through her heart. Damn the interfering leech.
“Leave me alone,” she breathed.
The honey eyes darkened with a dangerous hunger. Laylah wasn’t sure if it was for blood or sex.
Probably both.
“A beautiful angel,” he husked, his arms wrapping around her to yank her hard against the strength of his body. “And I have waited too long to have a taste.”
Unable to halt her panic any longer, Laylah’s unpredictable powers lashed out, the electrical charge that filled the air enough to make the vampire leap back in wary surprise.
“I said, leave me alone,” she hissed, wrapping her arms around her waist.
A dark brow arched. “Well, well. You like to play rough?”
“I don’t like to play at all,” she snapped. “What do you want from me?”
“My first intent was to capture you so you could be brought before the Commission.”