Night Kissed (Chosen Vampire Slayer #1) - Mila Young Page 0,16

if someone had whispered my exact position in her ear. Her outstretched hand dropped to her side, the door forgotten. She turned slowly.

Our eyes remained locked. A blazing heat tore through my body as I watched this woman advance on me. The shape of her silhouette awoke something feral that had lain dormant inside for decades. All I could think about was how much I wanted her, how determined I was to have her.

It seemed like she was about to make things easy.

Chapter 6

Veronica

No matter how many times it happened, there was always a rush, a surge of adrenaline that pushed through my veins the moment I laid eyes on a vampire. Maybe it was my inner ability at sensing death, or just the knowledge that those creeps never made anything easy. This one had tried to catch me unaware as he stared from the shadows. But I’d gotten pretty good at spotting their eyes, even from a distance.

Sometimes the vamps did their little disappearing act once they had been picked out. It was the world’s most annoying party trick, the way they seemed to be able to melt back into the darkness. This time, I knew immediately that things would be different. He stood almost in the middle of the street with his shoulders back and his head held high, dressed in black pants, boots, and a long matching coat that did nothing to conceal the width of his shoulders and chest. As I approached, the air grew thick with silent tension.

The vampire did not back down. Actually, he seemed to rise up taller the closer I got, standing at six-foot-six at least. His burning, gold-ringed, silver eyes, never left my face, and I studied him, hating to admit that this blood-sucker was extremely easy on the eyes. That old saying, tall, dark and handsome was wasted on him. He was ridiculously gorgeous in a rugged, going to tear your heart out, kind of way. Well, of course, vampires were ruthless killers. Yet, he had me pause long enough to admire him, the way he stood proudly, which I rarely did. I could hear the blood pounding in my ears, which meant he heard it too. We stared at each other, both of us defiant, unwilling to give any ground.

“You’re new here.” He spoke softly, but the chill in his low, silky voice would’ve carried a hundred miles. “That’s interesting.”

“Or maybe you haven’t been paying attention,” I replied, never taking my eyes off him.

He glanced over my body, and I found myself fighting against the ripple of a freezing shiver. What was it about his expression that needled its way so effortlessly under my skin? He looked at me like I was trash in the gutter he might choose to pick through. Like I was already dead.

But then his lips curled over into a smile. Half amusement, half annoyance, and totally infuriating. The short laugh that followed only made things worse. “Not likely, little one. There are very few who know this city as well as I do. And I’m sure I haven’t seen that face before.”

I could say the same to you. The words came within a breath of jumping out of my mouth before common sense took over. No name surfaced in my mind, but whoever stood in front of me was no run-of-the-mill grunt.

“Well,” I said out loud, “are you going to introduce yourself, or should we stand here and savor the awkwardness?” For good measure, I folded my arms and shifted my weight to my back foot. He didn’t seem like the typical vampire, and seeing I just arrived town, I needed to quickly work out who was who in the hierarchy of vampires. “It’s up to you. I can go either way.”

Once again, he appraised me. I could see the gears turning in his head, underneath waves of thick hair so dark it blended into the night. “I wouldn’t normally allow someone like you to speak to me with such disrespect.” The icy edge underneath each word compelled me to believe him. “But I’ll forgive your ignorance—this time.” The smirk returned to his lips. “I am the clanmaster of the Alaskan territory. My name is Orion.” He paused. “You would do well to remember it.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Most of the vamps I had met could not have pulled off a line like that without looking like corny idiots. This guy, however… He could’ve made the phone book sound like