Misha leaned against the wall and quirked an eyebrow. “It didn’t appear that way a moment ago.”
My hands dropped to my sides in frustration. “I know, and I’m sorry. But I can’t stay here if this is what you’ll expect of me. You promised you’d keep your hands to yourself.”
Misha pushed himself off the wall and, in a blink, faced me. “I promised to make you the perfect weapon, one that could help us defeat the Tribe.” He licked his lips and focused on mine. “I also promised not to do more than you would allow between us.”
“There is no us, Misha. I can’t allow our relationship to go further.”
Misha flashed me another wicked grin before he gave me his usual line. “We’ll see.”
He offered me his arm. I knew then he was backing off, so I let him lead me out of the dojang. “Come. Our reservations are for seven.”
Snow crunched beneath my sneakers. Normally the slate walkway to the main house was kept meticulously clean, but a light dusting of snow had blanketed the stone during our time in the scrimmage. The clouds cleared and the trees parted, revealing the sparkle of a thousand stars in the beautiful Tahoe sky.
We moved quickly, passing through the main garden. Come late spring, Misha’s caretaker would painstakingly tend to the flowers and the stone waterfalls that emptied into a beautiful carp-filled lagoon. For now, the garden was mostly quiet, only the faint trickle of running water whispering from the melting ice.
The night was lovely, but carried a “your boobies are going to snap off” kind of cold. My inner golden tigress usually kept me warm yet even she couldn’t compete with the chill in the air, especially in my skimpy workout clothes.
Misha slipped an arm around my shoulders when I shuddered. Whoever said vampires were ice-cold had it all wrong. Misha was the supernatural equivalent of the Snuggie. “I better snag my coat from the guesthouse.”
Misha tightened his hold, preventing me from veering toward my quarters. “Your coat awaits you in my limo.” His hands rubbed against my toned arms. “It would please me if you ate more than your fill this evening. You have grown too thin.”
Which was the reason he’d consented to taking me to the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in South Tahoe. “My weight remains the same, Misha. It’s just shifted a little.”
“Your tone is too defined. You’ve lost too much body fat and your br**sts are considerably smaller.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What the hell are you doing looking at my br**sts?” I grimaced when Misha chuckled. “Never mind.”
Misha was right. My muscles were more pronounced than when I’d merely exercised for fun. But then, sculpting my body to fight for the newly formed Alliance was now my career. I shuddered again, this time not from the cold. I’d never relished destroying anything or anyone . . . until I discovered the monsters that feasted on innocents and basked in cruelty.
The Tribe had emerged without warning, pimp-slapping the supernatural world and demanding we fall at its proverbial and claw-hoofed feet. Led by demon lords, they recruited ostracized weres, witches, and vampires—freaks like me, who never quite belonged anywhere.
I could have called the Tribe a group of crazies and wouldn’t have been completely off the mark. The problem was, they were an effective group of wack-jobs seeking to give the demons a new world to overtake and loads of unsuspecting females to impregnate.
“What is it?” Misha asked.
My hatred for the Tribe had momentarily distracted me. I pushed away my anger and refocused on my favorite vampire. “Misha, I don’t want you to punish Edith and Agnes for biting me.”
The corners of Misha’s lips curved. He knew very well my thoughts hadn’t been on the good Catholics. Still, he didn’t push me. “Celia, they bit you after I specifically forbade it. I do not tolerate disobedience.”
I shrugged. “They just got carried away. I was pretty rough on them.”
“Why do you defend them?”
“They’re my friends.”
Misha blinked back at me as if I’d pulled a rabbit out of my yoga pants. I laughed. No one could lie to a were or a vamp. I had a strong sense of smell, but even I couldn’t sniff a lie the way they could. “I just don’t want anyone hurt because of me.”
“That I can believe, but, my darling, they have left me no choice but to punish them.”