brimming with more secrets than I was able to ferret out of him.
I never truly knew what he was thinking, a reality I found deeply unsettling.
“Then what would you guess he was doing there?” she pressed. “Just happened to be in the neighborhood?”
“Hold on a moment.” I stared at her sternly. “Before I consent to any more of this interrogation, I was told there was a bargain to be made.” My gaze raked over her immaculate form. I licked my lips. “What do you have to say about that?”
Veronica’s eyes bored into mine, full of intensity and yearning. “I am prepared to make a fair trade.” Her lips lingered on the word “fair.”
I reached out, stroking the side of her clothed thigh with my palm. Her jeans felt like a second skin under my touch. She was so warm and alive. My hunger rose like the tide. I could no longer help myself. My fingers tightened around the back of her leg, just below her right buttock. Veronica gave a tiny gasp.
“Stop me if this isn’t what you want,” I told her bluntly.
She didn’t.
Chapter 23
Veronica
It would probably have killed Orion to know that the first thing I thought of when he touched me was Seth, but I couldn’t control raw thought association. Nor could I help making the comparison—Orion’s smooth, deep-running power versus the force and excitement of the demon. When Orion drew me close as he sat in the chair, there was none of the wild heat that constantly emanated off of Seth’s person. But still, an electric thrill shot up my spine.
I didn’t even think about stopping him. His right hand moved to grip my ass, the other arm snaking its way around my waist. In one swift motion, Orion pulled me down into his lap. We were inches apart, our faces almost touching. My hands came to rest on his chest.
“You don’t have a heartbeat,” I observed, like the smartest person in the world. Never would have thought a vampire had the ability to get me flustered, but there we were. I made a plan to do what was needed to get insider information, but deep in my mind I was also secretly excited about exploring the unusual attraction I held for my enemy. I slayed vampires, not slept with them. Yet, I prepared to make an exception for the sake of gaining intelligence. I almost laughed at myself at how transparent I’d become. He’d been on my mind since first crossing paths with him and left me lusting over him, so this was me getting him out of my system once and for all, I kept telling myself.
“Does that bother you?” He caressed my cheek with the back of one cool hand.
“Not as much as it should,” I admitted.
His hand flipped to cup my face, and then our lips met. They were cold to the touch. He kissed me slowly at first, but then the gates of passion crashed wide open. I moaned as he slipped his tongue into my mouth. My legs wrapped around him, straddling him, pressed tightly to him.
“I should have guessed you’d be so eager to get in bed with your adversaries,” Orion murmured. The points of his teeth grazed my neck just enough that I felt them on my skin. “How far are you willing to go?”
“Don’t push your luck,” I warned.
He grinned and pulled my top over my head. I shook my hair out of my face and went for his buttons, my fingers clumsy with excitement. I ran my palms over his strong planes of muscles… everything about this vampire was deliriously gorgeous. The way he stared at me made me feel confident, stunning, and sexy as hell. I met his gaze, and there was something I didn’t expect behind his those spectacular eyes. Tenderness. I thought his main reason for accepting would come down to pure lust. I’d seen the way he studied me before, but I didn’t anticipate something this soft in the clanmaster’s gaze.
If someone had told me I’d be getting it on with both a demon and a vampire within a week, I wouldn’t have believed them for a second. And yet, he was taking my bra off, running his long tongue along the curve of my breast.
I trembled with desire in response, breathing heavily, my panties soaking wet.
I couldn’t believe how badly I wanted him. When he lifted me deftly into his arms and carried me to the bed, I let him. I even