lame comeback.
He felt the cool rush of her power, but she made no move to pull away from his touch.
“What fun?” she inquired.
“You made the journey through the Veil as unpleasant as possible.”
There wasn’t the smallest hint of apology on her pale, lovely face.
“I am unaccustomed to having a passenger.”
He snorted, not fooled for a minute.
“And you didn’t enjoy watching me squirm?”
“I told you ...”
Deciding to be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, or whatever the hell the saying might be, Santiago tossed away the last of his common sense and leaned forward to halt her words through the simple process of kissing her.
“I know what you told me,” he whispered against her lips.
“Santiago.”
She pulled her head back, but not before Santiago tasted her fleeting response.
And was struck by lightning.
Perhaps not physical lightning that came from the sky. But it was just as potent and seared through him with far more damage than the traditional bolt.
Dios. She tasted of exotic woman and forbidden pleasure.
His brooding gaze lingered on her parted lips, a heady desire pulsing through his body as his fingers continued to caress the bare skin of her throat.
“I like my name on your lips,” he said, his voice harsh in the still air.
“Halt this at once,” she commanded.
“Halt what?” He moved closer. “Touching you?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Like you, I appreciate beauty.”
The dark eyes flared with an indefinable emotion. “Does that mean you consider me flawed?”
He chuckled, his fingers drifting to trace the line of her jaw.
“Clever women are always the most dangerous.” He dipped his head down to nuzzle the corner of her surprisingly sensuous mouth. “And the most exciting.”
“Enough of this nonsense.” With an ease that scraped against Santiago’s pride, she pushed him away, turning to resume her trek down the corridor. “I must speak with the Elders.”
With fluid speed he moved to block her path. “Do they know that we’re here?”
She halted, her expression smoothed to an unreadable mask.
A certain sign she had something to hide.
“They would have sensed my return,” she admitted. “Even now they are gathering in the Great Hall.”
Santiago went rigid as he was struck by a nasty suspicion. “You can sense them as well?”
She was silent so long he thought she might refuse to answer. Then at last she gave a dip of her head.
“Yes.”
“Are they all accounted for?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s simple,” he rasped. “Have all the Elders gathered?”
“Not yet.” She waved a dismissive hand. “But there could be any number of reasons for their absence.”
He stepped toward her, his barely leashed anger making the torches that were set in shallow alcoves flare in reaction.
“What reason?”
She stood firm, even as her hair stirred from his swirling powers.
“You are here as my guest, Santiago,” she warned, the words coated in frost. “Do not make me regret having allowed you to travel with me.”
“Why are you avoiding my question?”
“I do not discuss our clan business with outsiders.”
“Outsider?” he hissed.
“Yes.”
Why did he find that word so insulting?
He sure the hell didn’t want to be included in a clan of vampires who cared more for their precious desire to find a higher purpose than their own brothers.
“Have you forgotten that one of your clan might be a traitor ?” he snarled. “That makes it very much my business.”
Her lips tightened, but her composure remained intact as she moved to brush past him.
“I think it is best if you wait here for me.”
His hand shot out to grasp her upper arm, the sickening foreboding making him blind to the danger.
“Nefri.”
“Not now, Santiago.”
“What are you hiding from me?”
“I have told you.” She grudgingly turned to meet his hard gaze. “It is clan business.”
“It’s Gaius, isn’t it?” he charged, knowing that if he hadn’t been watching her so closely he would have missed the slight flicker of her lashes. “He’s the missing Elder.”
Naturally she refused to admit the truth.
Most vampires were talented in the art of deception and this was one seemed more skilled than most.
“Your bitterness toward your sire has made you incapable of thinking clearly.”
Santiago refused to be bluffed. “I’m thinking clearly enough to know that I’m right. Can you deny it?”
She averted her face, her profile revealing precisely nothing.
“Remain here.”
“So you can try and hide the truth?”
“Nothing will be hidden,” she attempted to assure him.
Did she really think he would just take her word for it?
He might not be an ancient, but he hadn’t been turned yesterday.
“If you don’t have anything to hide then there’s no reason I can’t come with you.”
“By all the gods.”