scream. But he was done lying to her, and she might as well get the full reveal.
Retracting his upper lip, he willed his fangs to elongate, feeling them tingle as they extended below his front teeth.
The fact that she got pale was right out of Bram Stoker land. But he wasn’t a soulless defiler of virgins, and she wasn’t a Victorian damsel in distress. As unreal as this was to her, as much of a shock as it clearly was, the reality didn’t bear much resemblance at all to what humans had made up, and he prayed she’d be open-minded enough to give him a chance to explain.
“I’m sorry,” he said roughly.
He figured he’d best lead with that Old Reliable. There was, after all, so much to apologize for: The fact that she was here at all, for one. And then that she had seen Nate’s transition.
Oh, and there was still the erase job he was going to have to do to her.
Let’s not forget that door prize, he thought.
Under the rubric of in-for-a-penny, in-for-a-pound, he said, “We evolved parallel to humans. We don’t prey on your kind for blood. We can’t bite you and turn you. We aren’t half bat and the swooping cape thing doesn’t happen, either. We just want to live our lives in peace, and the only way to do that is through secrecy. It’s not that mysterious.”
As bitterness crept into his tone, he stopped there. Him getting all defensive was not going to help things.
“Look, I’ll take you back at nightfall,” he told her. “And you’re right, you won’t remember any part of this. From time to time, you might have a strange dream, but it will never be enough to matter much.”
She blinked. Then rubbed her face like she was trying to get things straight. As she seemed to formulate her thoughts, he had no choice but to wait for the avalanche of shit to fall on his head—
“First of all,” she announced, “I’m not going anywhere until I know Nate is safely through whatever happened to him and I have a chance to assess that wound from an immunology standpoint. If that takes a day or a week, I don’t care. And secondly, how is it possible that you’ve kept all of this a secret—” She stopped. “Mind control. You’ve used that mind control a lot.”
“It makes things easier.”
“Obviously.”
After a moment, her expression changed. Then her eyes traveled from the top of his head, down over his chest … his lower torso … his legs.
And that was when it happened.
That was when … her scent changed.
Instantly, his body flared to life in response, the sexual impulse thickening his blood, swelling his muscles.
Swelling other places, too.
“Yes,” he said in a low growl. “We do that in the same way humans do. And yes … I want you.”
Her eyes flared again, but it was not out of fear. Far from it.
Shit, he thought. She wanted him, too.
Or … maybe he shouldn’t go that far. Maybe she was just curious. Either way, he was desperate enough for her that he didn’t care.
“Talk to me, Sarah.”
He kept his voice way down. He was already in deep shit with the powers that be for so many reasons, past and present. The last thing he should be adding to this situation with her was anything erotic, but if she wanted a demonstration on how a vampire made love?
He would be her guinea pig. And then some.
Murhder turned his body to her, and did nothing to hide the erection that was straining at his hips. “Tell me what you want from me. Whatever it is, I’ll give it to you.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I don’t know … what I’m doing right now.”
“Yes, you do. I can scent it. You know exactly what you’re doing.”
She shook her head. “Maybe this is all a dream.”
“It’s not.” Then he added tightly, “It will be someday, but it is not tonight.”
Abruptly, she looked at him.
No, that wasn’t quite right. She was looking at his mouth.
Knowing damn well he was playing with fire, he extended his tongue and ran it over his lower lip.
“I’ll make it good for you,” he said softly. “I’ll make it so good for you that you won’t regret it.”
Her hand lifted to her own mouth. And as she brushed her finger over what he wanted to kiss first, she jumped as if the contact surprised her.