Break Out - By Nina Croft Page 0,25
gaze on him, and he stretched again, liking the way she ate him up with her eyes. She’d been on board five days, and somehow she’d managed to avoid being alone with him in all that time, though she was happy enough to spend the evenings with him and the rest of the crew. He’d even managed to make her laugh a few times.
He kept the atmosphere during those games with the crew light, but beneath the banter, he was surprised to realize he was telling her about himself, revealing things he hadn’t thought about in years—if ever. He wanted her to know who he was. What he was. And he wanted to get to know her, too. She was relaxing, but she was still something of an enigma. And if he tried to get her alone, she’d vanish, or someone else would miraculously appear and demand her attention.
It was actually quite impressive.
She wanted him. He was sure of it. But she had amazing willpower. He would have pushed it, but he was interested to see how it would play out, and he would get her in the end. A deal was a deal.
“If you could stop thinking about sex, you might manage to work out a way for us to get into this stupid prison,” Tannis said from beside him.
He grinned and topped off her glass then held the silver flask up to Skylar. She shook her head, but changed her mind and nodded. Interesting, another thing she’d avoided since their encounter. Maybe she was willing to loosen up a little.
She sipped the drink, barely even grimaced. “It’s impossible, isn’t it?”
“Nothing’s impossible,” Tannis replied. “It’s just difficult. There’s a way. We just haven’t found it yet.”
Skylar rose to her feet and paced, running her hand through her short hair. Finally, she thumped into her chair, filled her glass, and sat back. Tannis reached across to pour herself more but found the flask empty. She stood up. “Got anymore of this stuff?”
“In my cabin. Do you want me to go?”
“No, you look far too comfortable. I won’t be long.” Her gaze darted between the two of them. “Be good.”
Rico turned to Skylar as the door slid shut behind Tannis. “Alone at last.” Skylar didn’t respond. Instead, she gazed into space. After a minute, she looked at him, studying him closely.
“So what exactly are you?” she asked.
The question took him by surprise. Not many people wanted to know the details. Either that, or they never quite got up the nerve to ask. But the one thing Skylar did not lack was nerve.
“That’s a broad question.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I’ll tell you what—I’ll answer a question of yours, and afterwards, you answer one of mine.”
She shrugged. “Why not? Me first. So—what are you?”
“You know what I am.”
“You’re a—” she paused, obviously still having problems with the word, “—vampire.” She thought for a moment. “Were you ever human?”
He nodded. “My turn. How old are you?”
She hesitated, which was interesting. “Thirty-two. How old are you?”
He had to calculate his answer; it had been many years since he’d given it any thought. “One-thousand, five-hundred and ninety-six.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow, that’s old.”
“I was born in 1452 back on Earth. There, that was a bonus answer. My question now. Why are you avoiding me?”
Her brows drew together at the question. “I don’t like losing control.”
Rico was sure her answer was part of the truth, but not all of it. He shrugged; he would uncover her secrets in the end. “Your turn.”
“How often do you need to drink? I mean are you hungry right now?”
“No, I’m not hungry. I can go a long time between feeding. That doesn’t mean to say I wouldn’t drink if it was offered.”
She bit her lip. “And do you kill your victims?”
He smiled, his lips drawing back to give her a flash of fangs. “Sometimes.”
. . .
The answer took Skylar by surprise. She’d been expecting him to evade the question.
“Well, that’s honest,” she murmured. She couldn’t get over how old he was—far older than any of the Collective.
He rose gracefully to his feet, then crossed the room toward her, and every one of her senses went on high alert.
By careful planning, and a lot of help from Al and the rest of the crew, she’d managed to avoid being alone with him over the past few days. Perhaps she should make an excuse and get out of here now. But a reckless excitement was stirring inside her. She’d lived