“You mean India?”
“It is certainly an intriguing country,” Gideon agreed. “There is also the Orient, Russia and the West Indies.”
An unmistakable longing rippled over her countenance before she gave a grimace. “I am not certain I am so daring as to travel so far alone.”
Gideon experienced a stab of regret that he could not show this woman the world. How he would enjoy watching her eyes widen with wonder at the beauty of China and the wild, untamed lands of the Americas.
“A beautiful woman need never be alone unless she chooses to be,” he instead forced himself to point out. “Besides which, you do not strike me as a woman afraid to dare anything. You are very bold.”
She gave a low chuckle. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”
His own lips curved at her teasing. “I suppose there are gentlemen who would consider you to be too much a challenge. I, however, am not one of them.”
A sudden glow of satisfaction warmed her eyes. “Ah, so you admit that you find me enticing.”
The passions within him flared with a shimmering heat at her provocative words. Enticing? He found her captivating, seductive and utterly irresistible. Had it not been for Tristan he would already have given in to his dark urgings and made her emphatically his own.
Still, he could not ignore the dangers of allowing himself to be distracted by lust. To lose himself in the pleasures of the flesh might satisfy him, but it would also divert him from the reason he had traveled to London.
Until he had the vampire returned to the Veil, or dead, he would have to hold his desire in check.
“Perhaps I do find you reasonably enticing, but then, London is filled with delectable ladies. I am in the fortunate position of being exquisitely selective.”
Predictably, a lovely flush stained her cheeks. “Is that so? Well, I ...”
Her words abruptly trailed away, and instantly on alert, Gideon flowed to his feet. At the same moment his hand reached beneath his jacket to grasp the dagger beneath.
“What is it?” he demanded as his sensitive gaze scanned the empty field for sign of any danger.
“Nothing.” Oddly she raised her hands to press them to her cheeks in embarrassment. “It is absurd.”
He turned to regard her with a frown. She was certainly not a woman to jump at shadows.
“Tell me.”
“I ... you will think I am mad.”
His frown deepened with concern. “I would never think such a thing. What is bothering you?”
She gnawed her bottom lip, a sure sign she was uneasy, before giving an unconscious shake of her head.
“It is just that lately I have begun to notice ... things much more intensely.”
“Things?” he prodded.
She straightened, her hands clenching in her lap. “It is difficult to explain,” she muttered. “I can smell the wildflowers, but it is more than that. I can smell each flower as if it were being waved beneath my nose. And just now I sensed there was a fox in those bushes before it even scurried toward the trees.”
Gideon slowly removed his hand from the dagger, his gaze narrowed with shock. Was it possible that the Medallion was somehow affecting Simone? To his knowledge a mortal had never been in contact with the artifact. Could it be that the power had brought her a small portion of the talents given only to vampires?
It would certainly explain her heightened senses and the ability to detect the spirit of life.
“Have you noticed any other odd changes?”
If anything she appeared more embarrassed as she shifted uneasily beneath his piercing gaze.
“Nothing beyond the feeling that I am being constantly watched.” Her lips abruptly twisted. “Do not bother to tell me that I am losing my wits. I am well aware I must sound like a madwoman.”
He carefully considered his response. Without being able to reveal the truth, he must somehow convince her that she was not merely imagining the changes within her. Nor the hope that such changes might very well protect her from danger.