at his soul, burning away beneath her hands, kept her in his embrace. Not only that it existed, but she could sense how much she eased that pain. Her hesitation was long enough that he draped an arm around her, pulling her tightly to him, never breaking the kiss. He knocked the legs out of her resolve in a single moment.
When he finally broke away from her, she was breathless. Her eyes had shut, and she kept them like that for a long moment before looking up at him. There was a mild, tender look on his hard features. Hardly the gloating she had expected.
“I never figured myself a weak individual,” she murmured. “Yet here I am.”
He crooked an eyebrow down at her. “Weak, how?”
“I should despise you. I should rail against all that you have done. I should condemn you for the murders you have committed. I should seek to destroy you, as the others wish me to. But…”
“But?”
She shook her head and gently pushed out of his arms. He let her go and did not do anything to stop her as she walked away from him to move back to the table. She was in need of wine. Picking up the glass, she finished the third of it that remained in one go and poured herself another from the bottle that sat on the table. She heard him chuckle, and she smiled despite herself.
“Perhaps it is my gift. My empathic disease.” She sighed and took a sip from the glass. “I can hear what echoes in your soul, and I am drawn to it. When I am near you, I cannot escape.”
“I know.”
“Stop this madness, Vlad. Stop the death and destruction.”
“No. Not until the hunters have been punished.”
She shut her eyes and hung her head. Then she had an idea. “If the mass death is not what you seek to accomplish, then let the living leave the city. Call a temporary cease of aggression. Give them a day to evacuate. Many foolish souls will stay, enough for you to adequately make your point and to feed your hungry creatures.”
“Clever.” The word was spoken close to her, and she turned to look up at him. He appeared at her side, and his hand was tracing through her hair. “Very clever indeed.” He grinned. “So quickly you learn.”
“If you wish me to judge you fairly, then…be fair.” She turned to face him, placing her glass down on the table. “Give me something to weigh on the scales across from the tragedy you are clearly able to wreak upon the world around you.”
“Am I not enough?” His voice was a playful purr as he leaned down to kiss her again.
She pulled away so she could speak, teasing him. “That remains to be seen.”
He grazed his lips her cheek then wandered to her ear. “Very well. You shall have your ceasefire, clever negotiator.”
“Your friend reminded me with whom I was dealing—a warlord.”
“Hmm…dangerous words. There is little more that I have come to desire than the joy of conquest.” His breath was tepid, but warmer than it had been but moments before. She ran her hand to his neck, finding his pulse thumping beneath her touch.
There were only three things that brought a vampire’s heart to tempo. Lust for flesh, for violence, or for blood. She would hope he was not in the mood for the second of those, but the other two were likely equally matched. Her heart lodged in her throat.
She should deny him. She should push him away. She should refuse his touch. If she did, she knew he would back away. He was many things, but he was not a brute. He would not pin her down and force her. He sought to make her want him. That was his prize upon the battlefield, and he was an ancient and practiced captain.
“In the morning, the sun will rise for one day and one day only. The living will be told to leave this place. If they remain, they are fair quarry. I shall give you this, my darling Maxine Parker. But what shall you give me in return?”
Heat rushed to her face so fast that she wondered if she had burst into flame. “I…”
“Do you not desire me?” He slipped his hand to the back of hers and pressed her touch firmer into his warming skin. “Is this such a loathsome price to pay?”
She did want him. Oh, she very much did. “That is not the issue. You have