Christian spun to face her again, the clear warning on his face enough to cut her off. Either he was being an ass and refusing to discuss it, or he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Jaclyn. She decided to play along for now, but he was going to have to tone down the alpha male crap if they were going to get along. Which apparently we are, she thought resignedly.
He grinned as if he knew what she was thinking. “Jaclyn tells me you know a good dojo,” he said, taking her hand. “Let’s go get coffee. We can talk about it.”
Natalie blinked at the sudden change of subject. A second blink and they were out of the conference room and on their way down the back hallway with Christian on one side, and Marc on the other.
“Let me carry that for you,” Marc said, sliding the laptop from beneath her arm. She didn’t even remember picking it up. Or maybe she’d never set it down. Natalie went to grab it back from Marc, but Christian touched her arm with a grin.
“My lieutenant is perfectly trustworthy.”
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, blushing hotly. “I’m becoming paranoid.”
“Paranoia is a survival instinct. You should listen to it.”
“But not in this case,” she noted dryly.
Christian chuckled. “No.”
They didn’t go for the main staircase, but hurried down the back stairs instead. Marc took the last several steps quickly, pausing to check the window in the door before opening it slowly and looking around. He nodded to Christian, and the three of them hustled out to a big, black BMW sedan as Marc beeped the locks open.
Christian slid into the back with Natalie, while Marc slid behind the wheel. He passed the laptop over the seat to Christian, then turned the key and accelerated smoothly out from behind the big house.
The guards barely glanced at them when they passed through the gate, far more concerned with who was coming in, rather than going out. And before long, they were speeding back toward the city.
“Where are we going?” Marc asked, meeting Christian’s gaze in the mirror.
“The house,” Christian said, raising an eyebrow in her direction, when she shot him a questioning look. “You wanted coffee. We have excellent coffee. And something you won’t find elsewhere. Complete privacy.”
Natalie swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Privacy? With Christian? She could imagine all sorts of ways that wasn’t a good idea. “You have a house?” she asked weakly.
“We have to stay somewhere, and as you saw for yourself, it’s not exactly safe for us on the estate.”
She nodded. “Okay. But just for coffee. My car is—”
“We’ll get you back to your car,” Christian said, settling back in his seat. “Now tell me why Jaclyn says you know a good dojo.”
“ARE YOU LISTENING at all?” Natalie asked irritably. They’d been on the road a little while, heading for the house he and Marc called home. Natalie had been telling him about the dojo she frequented, and her eyes were now flashing with an anger that made Christian smile. He much preferred her anger to the fear that had been clouding her face earlier, and the tears had nearly undone him, no matter that she tried to hide them.
He had a weakness for women, a need to protect them. Though he’d learned the hard lesson that not all women were worthy of protection. Especially not in the world of vampires.
It was his father’s fault, Christian considered. His father had taught him to always look after his mother and sisters. Christian had understood the admonishment when it came to his mother; she was his mother, after all. But his sisters had been older than he was by several years, and had seemed to devote most of their energy to tormenting him. That fact had brought him to the reluctant conclusion that he was supposed to protect all women, regardless of their disposition.
But his feelings for Natalie went beyond that. When she’d walked into the room tonight, every cell in his body had been screaming at him to go to her, that she was his to protect. He’d acted without thought—the need to touch her had overwhelmed everything else in that moment.
He’d never had a reaction like that to any woman before, and wasn’t sure what it meant. Did he want Natalie in his bed? Hell, yes. Hearing her sexy voice cry his name as she shattered around his cock would be reason enough. But did she have the potential to be more to him? He frowned, not knowing the answer to that question. Or maybe not liking the answer that kept trying to push its way past his doubts.
“Are you really interested in this?”
His attention snapped to Natalie’s narrowed gaze. He was interested, but he hadn’t been listening. He wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Of course,” he lied smoothly. “What can you tell me about the dojo master?” Whoops. Her eyes narrowed even further. Had she already told him about that?
“Other than the fact that he’s my best friend?” she said pointedly.
“Of course. Friendship is all well and good, but where did he get his training?”
“Maybe you should meet him instead. Him having a penis and all, you’ll probably listen better.”
Marc’s bark of laughter told Christian everything he needed to know about what he’d missed.