Dangerous Games Page 0,43

where is this 'somewhere more intimate'?"

His smile was slow and sexy, and my ever-ready hormones did their usual little shuffle. "My place. It's actually only a block away."

"Ah, well." I paused, pretending to consider it. "I have no idea whether this 'coffee' will be worth the race through the rain."

"Then perhaps you would like a teaser taste?" He pulled back on my hand as he said it, gently forcing me to lean across the table.

"Love to," I murmured, a heartbeat before his lips met mine. Our kiss was slow and tender, an explorative type of kiss shared by strangers who intended to soon be a whole lot more. Neither of us were breathing very steadily by the time we'd finished.

"So," he said, his breath warm against my lips, "do I pass the test?"

I licked my lips, drawing his taste, his breath, into my mouth. "I think you could."

"Then we'll leave immediately." He released me and motioned to the waiter for the bill. Once we'd paid, he helped me into my coat then guided me out, his hand resting in the middle of my back. Warmth pooled where his fingers rested, even through the thickness of the coat.

It still rained outside, but the pelting force of earlier had at least eased to a fine drizzle. The night was still bitter, but between the amount of alcohol I'd consumed and Jin's heated presence, I certainly wasn't feeling it.

But we'd barely walked half a block when a familiar chill made me realize we were not alone.

Vampires stalked us.

Great. Just great. How was I supposed to deal with them without giving the game away to Jin?

I stopped and took off a shoe, shaking it lightly as I tried to pinpoint the location of the vamps. They were across the street, keeping the shadows wrapped around them as they hurried to get ahead of us. Their hunger mingled with their scent, stealing like a thief across the night, filling my nostrils and sending chills scampering across my skin. Their smell was of the freshly dead. Baby vamps, not mature ones.

So, were they the same ones who'd left the mauled body Rhoan had been sent to investigate, or two completely different ones? And who was making all these vamps and then setting them free?

For no real reason, Gautier's image flashed through my thoughts. It actually made a sick sort of sense for him to be doing this. He knew the Directorate was short staffed. He knew it'd stretch us to the limit and therefore cut down our ability to hunt him.

Jin swung around, his gaze searching the night before coming back to mine. "What's wrong?"

"Stone in my - "

I didn't get the chance to finish, because the two vampires shook off the shadows and attacked. Jin made a sound low in his throat, then pushed me out of the way. I staggered backward for several steps, then caught my balance and ducked under the fist of one of the vamps. He chuckled softly, an amused sound that grated against my nerves. As the vamp came at me a second time, I kicked off my other shoe, caught it midair, then whirled around and smacked the wooden heel of the stiletto across his chin. Flames trailed where the wood touched flesh, and the smell of burned skin caressed the air. He frowned and glanced down at the shoes I held in surprise.

Obviously, he didn't realize the heels were wood, and I didn't give him the time to work it out. I kicked him, with all the force I could muster, in the goolies. Air left his lungs in a whoosh of sound that was all agony, and as he hunched forward, I swung a fist, hitting his chin hard and knocking him out cold.

I whirled around to help Jin, only to stop in shock. The other baby vamp lay at his feet, moaning in agony, his legs and arms bent at odd angles. Jin was barely even breathing fast, but as I watched he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, as if the scent of the baby vamp's pain was somehow fueling his body.

Which was a very weird thing to think. But chills scampered across my body anyway - if only because no lone human should have been able to defeat a vampire. Not even a baby one.

So, did that mean Jin was something other than human? And if so, why were my senses still reading him as human? Or was it merely a case of him