Because when she was near it wasn’t his warrior’s instinct that was driving him, but an instinct far more primitive.
Why not admit it?
He had gone far beyond his duty to track down a stray Jinn mongrel. Not even Styx would have blamed him if he’d chosen to return to his lair and report that the female had managed to slip away while he was battling for his life.
As Charon he was expected to hunt down those rare vampires who drank blood tainted with drugs or alcohol. Few creatures knew that a vampire could become addicted, or that it would eventually drive them to madness.
And it was up to him to keep it that way, not to chase after Laylah like a hound in heat.
So why had he?
His gaze lowered to her slender body barely covered by the shorts that snugly cupped her perfect booty and the muscle shirt that did nothing to disguise the soft mound of her br**sts.
The mere thought of having her pressed beneath him, her lips crushed beneath his kiss, and those slender legs wrapped around his waist …
His gut twisted with a ravaging need he hadn’t felt in centuries.
Shit.
He didn’t know why this particular woman stirred his darkest passions, or how she managed to bewitch him to the point of reckless stupidity.
All he truly knew was that he’d let his c*ck do the thinking instead of his brain and it had led him straight to disaster.
Angered more with himself than the woman who had slowed, as if they were nearing their destination, Tane moved to her side, his fingers clutching his dagger as if it could stem his rising dread.
“And how do you get out?”
Laylah halted, turning to meet his wary gaze with a lift of her brows.
“Obviously, the same way I got in.”
“We barely survived the entry,” he gritted. “Are you certain the exit won’t be worse?”
“We barely survived because I had an unwelcomed passenger,” she tartly reminded him. “A passenger I don’t intend to have on my way out.”
He stilled, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “You can’t abandon me here.”
“Why not?” she challenged, her chin tilted to a defiant angle. As if she weren’t facing down one of the most lethal demons in the entire world. “I certainly didn’t invite you to come along for the trip. You can find your own way home.”
“That’s not amusing.”
The chin went up another inch. “It wasn’t meant to be.” He reached to grasp that stubborn chin, ignoring the gargoyle sleeping in her arms. “I would be trapped.”
“So what?” The dark eyes smoldered with a direct challenge. “You intend to have me executed. Why the hell shouldn’t I leave you here to rot?”
His brooding gaze swept over her fragile features and the weariness she couldn’t entirely disguise. He wasn’t about to confess that he’d followed her for far more personal reasons than turning her over to the Oracles.
She had enough weapons to wield against him.
Dangerous, potent weapons, he grimly conceded, a fiery awareness sizzling through his body.
“The Commission has commanded that Jinn mongrels be brought to them,” he said with a shrug. “There’s nothing to say that they won’t decide you’re not a danger and release you.”
“Yeah right.” Her sharp laugh was oddly muffled by the surrounding fog. “I suppose you also have some Bernie Madoff stock you want me to buy?”
His brows drew together. “What?”
“I’m not stupid,” she clarified. “As soon as they get their nasty hands on me I’ll be sacrificed for the greater good.”