She had a subtle accent. Like all of them did. Maybe Russian?
He held his hands out, palms up, to show he didn't have a weapon. "I'm a cop."
Yeah, okay, so that was no longer exactly true, but he wanted to reassure her.
She gathered the skirt of her dress up, as if she were going to take off.
Hell, he shouldn't have used the C-word. If she was the moll of one of them, then she was even more likely to bolt if she thought he was the law.
"I'm not here in an official capacity," he said. "No gun, no badge."
Abruptly, she dropped the gown, and her shoulders straightened as if she were drafting her courage into service. She came forward a little, moving fluidly, gracefully. Butch kept his mouth shut and tried to look smaller than he actually was, less threatening.
"He doesn't normally let your kind be around," she said.
Yeah, he could imagine cops didn't hang out too often in this house. "I'm waiting for... a friend."
Her head tilted to the side. As she got closer, her beauty nearly blinded him. Her facial structure was the stuff of fashion magazines, her body the kind of long, lovely sweep he imagined trotted down runways. And that perfume she wore. It got into his nose, into his brain. She smelled so good his eyes watered.
She was unreal, he thought. So pure. So clean.
He felt like he should brush his teeth and shave before saying one more word to her.
What the hell was she doing hanging out with those lowlifes?
Butch's heart cramped with the idea of how useful she'd be to them. Dear God. On the sex market, you could get thousands and thousands and thousands for just an hour with a woman like this one.
No wonder the house was so well tricked out.
Marissa was leery of the human, especially considering his size. She'd heard so many stories about them. How they hated the vampire race. How they hunted her species.
But this one seemed to be taking great pains not to frighten her. He didn't move; he barely breathed. All he did was stare at her.
Which was unnerving, and not only because she wasn't used to being looked at. His hazel eyes gleamed out of his harsh face, missing nothing, taking in all of her.
He was smart, this one. Smart and... sad.
"What's your name?" he asked quietly.
She liked his voice. Deep and low. Rough around the edges, as if he were perpetually a little hoarse.
She was getting very close to him now, just feet away, so she stopped.
"Marissa. I am called Marissa."
"Butch." He touched his broad chest. "Er... Brian. O'Neal. People call me Butch, though."
He stuck his hand out. Then retracted it, rubbed it vigorously on his pant leg, and offered it again.
She lost her nerve. Touching him was too much, and she took a step back.
He dropped his hand slowly, not looking at all surprised that she'd rejected him.
And still, he stared.
"What are you looking at?" She brought her hands up to the bodice of the gown, covering herself.
A flush ran up his neck and into his cheeks. "Sorry. You're probably sick of men gawking at you."
Marissa shook her head. "No males look at me."
"I find that very hard to believe."
It was true. They were all terrified of what Wrath might do.
God, if those others had only known how little she'd been wanted.
"Because..." The human's voice trailed off. "Man, you are so... totally... beautiful."
And then he cleared his throat, like he wished he could take the words back.
She tilted her head, considering him. There was something she couldn't decipher in his tone. An achy pitch.
He dug his hand into his thick, dark hair. "And I'm going to shut up now. Before I make you feel even more uncomfortable."
His eyes stayed on her face.
They were really nice eyes, she thought. So warm. And they held a lonely yearning as he looked at her. As if he couldn't have something he wanted.
She knew all about that.
The human laughed, a burst of sound that came from deep inside his chest. "And how 'bout I try not to stare? That'd be good." He crammed his hands in the pockets of his pants and focused on the floor. "Look at me. Not staring. Not staring at all. Hey, this is a nice rug. You ever notice it before?"
Marissa smiled in a small way and took a step closer to him. "I think I like the