to allow Tenzin to exit the booth.
She was wearing the low heels Arthur had insisted on. Cat heels. No, kitten heels. She’d refused to wear the ridiculous icepick shoes he’d tried to shove her into, even though she was impressed by their lethal possibilities.
Ben wasted no time grabbing her hand and hustling her out the door that led from the vampire lounge to the cacophony of the dance floor.
She pushed the sound away as Ben spun her around and fixed his hands on her waist.
Though he kept his expression even, his voice cut her. “What the hell are you doing here?”
You sweet golden boy. “You asked me to stop following you.”
“And this is your idea of not following me?”
“I’m not following.” A human bumped into her and she allowed her body to press into Ben’s. He didn’t push her away. “I’m anticipating.”
He froze, but it was only for the space of a human heartbeat. “So Radu thinks you’re working this job with me?”
“You didn’t think you could work this job alone, did you?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.”
“Okay, you could,” she said. “But it will be more fun with me. The Corsican mob owes me a few favors.”
His smile was tight.
“That smile is not fooling anyone watching us,” she said. “They can all see you are very angry.”
“I can’t imagine why.” He spun them around so his back was to the windows of the vampire lounge and the front of her body was plastered to his.
Bite him.
She wanted to. She really wanted to.
“Pay attention.” His voice was low and commanding. “We’re not doing this. You’re going to leave Bucharest, and I’ll find some excuse for Radu.”
Ben probably didn’t realize he was doing it, but his amnis was running over hers, twisting and pulsing with the music. An involuntary shiver ran down her back. “Stop lecturing me. It’s quite adorable that you think you can order me around. Especially when your amnis is telling me something entirely different than your mouth.”
A lick of his energy hit her right between her thighs. Tenzin didn’t try to stop the audible sigh of pleasure that that escaped her lips.
“Stop it,” he growled.
“I’m not doing a thing.” Her mouth felt swollen. “That is all you, Benjamin.”
Damn her, damn her, damn her!
He knew it was him—he knew it was his amnis—but he couldn’t seem to control it. His fangs ached in his mouth. The minute he’d seen her, felt her energy up close, Ben’s instincts had taken control. He wanted to push her against a wall and ravage her. He wanted to bend her neck to the side and sink his fangs into her vein.
He wanted to throw her across the room. He wanted to hit something.
“Careful.” Her small hands slid up his arms. “Be calm.”
He bit back a snarl. “It’s quite adorable,” he said, his voice hard, “that you think you can order me around.”
“I would not try. My attempts have never been very successful.”
“So why are you here?”
“Because Radu is a pain in the ass, but what you are walking into may be more than either one of us anticipated.”
“How well do you know him?”
“I know him.”
Ben swallowed hard and pushed past his craving for her. Think, think, think. “So why is he acting like you just met?”
“I don’t know. Just like I don’t know why Kezia was following you in Kashgar.”
“Were you seriously following me the whole time?” A muscle in his jaw twitched.
“No. You lost me in Cambodia, and I consider that an accomplishment. I could not find you until you got back to Xining.”
He slid his hand down her back, stroking the small of her back. He told himself it was to keep up appearances since they were definitely being watched.
It wasn’t. He couldn’t help himself. He wanted to put his hands everywhere.
She looked up at him, all stormy grey eyes and luscious red lips. He hated her and he wanted her so badly.
“I’m really not trying to push it, Ben. I’ve been giving you space.”
A hard laugh burst out of him. “Your definition of space is unique.”
“I know you’re angry—”
He stared at the pulsing crowd of dancers over her shoulder. “Angry doesn’t begin to describe what I feel about you.”
Her hand slid up his neck and into the hair at his nape. She gripped it and forced his eyes to hers. “If you expect me to apologize for you being alive, you’re going to be disappointed.”
Ben kept his eyes locked on hers. “Why didn’t you kill Johari?”
She blinked. “You