Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,32

would be a bit like crying in front of him.

Nevertheless, he took off his long leather jacket and held it open for me.

"What are you doing?"

"You're cold."

"So?"

"So put on my jacket."

My mind must have gone numb in the cold because I let Fane to slip the jacket on me without further protest. I anticipated Fane's warmth enfolding me, but the coat was as cold as a corpse.

"Brrr!" I snapped. "I might actually feel colder in this jacket."

Fane's ego showed no sign of injury. "You'll warm up. At least you look better."

My ego was another matter. "What do you mean I look better?"

"I mean that slip of a skirt. You look like some prissy airhead. The coat makes you look cool, like Trinity in The Matrix."

My cheeks heated. "You know what? You can have your damn jacket back."

I yanked my arms out of the sleeves and thrust the coat in a wad against Fane's chest.

He didn't say a word as he shook out the jacket and put it back on. While he was doing that, I untied the knot in my blouse and smoothed the top over my exposed midriff, buttoning it at the bottom. I hugged my arms around my chest.

Fane lit a cigarette. The first puff of smoke drifted by like a breath in the cold air. "Why are you so angry?"

I could ignore him or even act the airhead and play dumb, but Fane was the first person to bother asking.

I dropped my arms. "What do you care?"

"I'm curious."

I leaned against the Plexiglas and sighed. "I had my whole life ahead of me. I was going to get out of here and start my own life. I'm only eighteen, and I'll never get to do any of that now."

Fane arched a brow. "You talk as though you were dead."

"I might as well be." My nose started running. I sniffed and rubbed my bridge.

"So what's the hitch? How come your life's come to a sudden and conclusive end?"

I opened and closed my mouth, unsure how to answer. "Medical bills," I blurted. "I can't leave the state to go to college because of all my medical bills."

"A lot of kids don't get a chance to go to college at all."

"You don't get it! All I've ever wanted is to get out of here."

"So go. Take a road trip, pick fruit in Australia, backpack across Europe, volunteer in Africa, join the circus...whatever."

I stomped my foot. "You're not helping!"

Fane grinned. "You see? It's not the end of the world."

I walked out of the enclosure and looked over the schedule posted against the bus sign. "God, transportation sucks in this city. You're lucky if a bus comes along every hour."

"I could take you home right now."

"Thanks, but the bus feels safer."

"Want a smoke?"

I looked at the cigarette in Fane's outstretched hand and laughed. "No! God, what are you? The dark prince of temptation?"

I could feel my heart pitter against my chest when Fane smiled at me next. "I like that. It's clever. You're a very interesting girl."

"Well, it's good to know I'm not a complete airhead."

"I don't think you're an airhead at all. You just look like one."

"Thanks!" I yelled.

I glanced at Fane's lips as he took another drag on his cigarette. I rarely got a chance to look at him up close. From here I could trace the outline of his abs through the opening in his jacket. His eyes were a rich, dreamy brown and fully focused when he looked at me.

Fane lowered the cigarette and pointed it at me. "I do like your legs."

Despite the cold, my cheeks heated and were quite possibly the only warm part on my entire body. The cold had officially gone to my brain.

"These pasty things?"

"Pale. Ivory. Silk." Each word was like a caress. "Your skin is a thing of beauty."

I trembled, and it had nothing to do with the cold.

The tip of Fane's cigarette turned to ash as he held it by his side. Before it broke off, Fane flicked the cigarette into the street without looking. He reached inside his pocket and popped something inside his mouth. I heard him suck and swallow. He repeated the sound.

Fane was not Scott. He'd eat me alive.

A bus appeared in the distance. Maybe it was mine. God, I hoped it was. I'd get on even if it wasn't.

I passed Fane without meeting his eye and pulled my wallet from the front pocket of my backpack. I slung the pack over my shoulder and only looked at