"No."
"Then let's go." She started out the door.
He didn't budge.
Clenching his teeth, he looked down the hallway again and said something in a language she didn't know.
"What's the problem?" Amanda asked. "It's dawn, and no one's out there. Let's leave."
He took a deep, aggravated breath. "The problem isn't the people. The problem is the sun."
"And the problem with that is... ?"
He hesitated for a few heartbeats, then opened his mouth and ran his tongue over his long, pointed canine teeth.
Mr. "Do Me" Gorgeous Man is a vampire!
"Oh no, no, no." Amanda's entire body shook from terror and it took every piece of self-control she possessed not to launch into a screaming fit. "Are you going to suck my blood?"
He arched a sardonic brow. "Do I look like a lawyer to you?"
She ignored his sarcasm. "Are you going to kill me?"
His face completely unamused, Hunter sighed irritably. "If I intended to kill you, don't you think you'd already be dead?"
He stepped closer to her and offered her a wry, evil grin she knew was meant to intimidate her. And boy howdy did it work.
He lifted his free hand up to stroke the skin of her neck where her jugular was. The feather-light touch sent chills over her. "Come to think of it, I could just suck you dry, then gnaw your hand off with my fangs and be free."
Her eyes widened in terror.
"But lucky you, I have no intention of doing that, either."
"Don't be sarcastic, okay?" she breathed, her heart still pounding because she wasn't sure if he was joking with her or if he really would turn all grisly on her and start feeding off her blood. "I can't cope with it. Imagine if you were in my shoes. I just went to let Tabitha's dog out so he wouldn't mess on her bed. I went from that to being knocked on the head, and chained to a vampire. Excuse me if I'm a little freaky at the moment."
To her amazement, he dropped his hand and backed off. "You're right. I imagine you're not used to having people attack you for no apparent reason."
By his tone, she could tell he, on the other hand, was rather experienced at finding himself in the middle of such situations.
He offered her a tight-lipped smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "If it makes you feel better, I don't feed on humans."
For some reason, it did make her feel better to hear him say that. Not that she believed it. But still, it was a little reassuring. "So, you're like Angel?"
He rolled his eyes at her. "You watch way too much television," he muttered. Then louder, he said, "Angel has a soul. I don't."
"Now you're back to being scary again."
The look on his face reiterated his earlier words: Baby, you ain't seen scary yet.
He glanced back out the door. "All right. We're going to have to run for it before the sun rises any higher."
Hunter gave her a penetrating stare. "The main problem is that I don't know where that hallway leads. In the event it leads out into the open and I die a particularly agonizing death where I spontaneously combust into flames, I need a favor from you."
"A favor?" she asked in disbelief. The man had one serious set of cojones on him. He bullied her, threatened her, then dared to ask a favor?
"Sure, why not?" she asked.
He took the ring off his right hand and gave it to her. "I need you to take that and find a tree."