"You are right, this is hardly the setting for a romantic tryst," he muttered. "Nor is it the time to be distracted."
She sucked in a deep breath, the motion pressing her small, firm br**sts tightly against his chest.
Hell's bells.
"How did you find me?" she demanded.
"I told you that I had the grounds guarded."
Her brows lifted. "I was followed?"
"Yes." Viper deliberately turned to regard me tall, silent vampire that stood in the distant shadows. Not surprisingly Shay stiffened with wary unease.
Santiago was an impressive sight with his leather pants and black T-shirt designed to reveal his thick muscles. His face was narrow with high cheekbones and his eyes the deep brown of his Spanish ancestors.
It took only a glance to know precisely what he was.
A trained warrior who would kill to protect those of his clan.
Shay swallowed heavily. "He's a vampire, he couldn't possibly have been patrolling when I left."
"This isn't the Stone Age, pet," Viper drawled. "The grounds are guarded by a very high-tech system that includes motion sensors, silent alarms, and a series of cameras that are constantly monitored. Santiago was deep underground when he spotted you leaving."
"Why didn't he send someone to try and stop me?"
"I told him not to."
Her gaze snapped back to regard him with open suspicion. "Why?"
"I knew I could easily track you."
"You wanted to spy on me."
"I will admit to some curiosity, but more than that I wanted to prove to you that you are a foot to try and escape."
Her expression abruptly hardened. "I know I can't escape. You don't need a guard. You have only to use the amulet and I will be forced to return."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is?"
His hands shifted to cup her face, his eyes narrowed. "There is a powerful force that has tried to capture you more than once. Until we discover what it is you will not be allowed to travel on your own."
He was prepared for her anger. Slave or not she was not the sort of demon to mildly accept any sort of restrictions. Even those meant to keep her safe.
Astonishingly, however, he could read nothing but a flare of concern in her beautiful eyes.
"You believe I'm still in danger?"
"Don't you?"
She chewed on her bottom lip before at last heaving a sigh. "Okay, point made. I was an idiot to take off on my own. You can let me up now."
Pleased that she seemed capable of allowing logic to overrule her fiercely independent nature, Viper slowly smiled.
"It seems a pity." His hands brushed down to the tempting curve of her throat. "I've thought about having you in this position for a long time. Of course, my fantasies didn't include either of us in clothes, or a hovering gargoyle."
"I told you to—"