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“Derek . . .” She breathed his name, pouring all her yearning into it.
“I know.” He could smell the musk on her skin, hear the uptick in the beat of her heart, the scent of her blood as it flowed hot and sweet beneath her skin.
A rush of desire swamped his senses as his arms tightened around her. With a low growl, he lowered his head to her neck.
“Hey, what’s going on here?”
A flash of light penetrated the darkness. Derek wheeled around, his eyes blazing red, his lips pulled back to reveal his fangs.
A cop stared back at him. “What the hell?”
Sheree hollered, “Derek, don’t!” as he sprang forward, his hands closing around the police officer’s neck. “Derek!”
He froze, his whole being focused on the mortal quivering in his grasp. Every instinct urged him to attack. The man was a threat and needed to be eliminated.
“Derek?”
He stiffened at the gentle touch of her hand on his back. “Get away from me!”
“Derek, you don’t want to do this,” she said quietly. “He hasn’t done anything. Please, turn him loose so we can go home.”
He growled again.
“If you hurt him, you know you’ll regret it later. This isn’t who you are.”
He took a deep, shuddering breath, then trapped the officer’s gaze with his own. “You will not remember this,” he said, his voice low, hypnotic. “You will not remember me.”
“I will not remember,” the officer said.
After sending the man on his way, Derek wrapped Sheree in his arms and willed the two of them back to the castle.
They materialized in the great hall.
After releasing Sheree, Derek went to stand in front of the hearth, his hands braced on the mantel.
Now that the danger was past, Sheree felt suddenly weak. Trembling as with a chill, she made her way to the sofa. Sitting, she scrubbed her hands up and down her arms.
“I wanted to kill him,” Derek said, his voice thick with self-reproach.
“But you didn’t.”
He turned to look at her. “If you hadn’t been there, I would have ripped out his heart and eaten it.”
It took every ounce of self-control she possessed to keep her horror at his words from showing in her eyes.
But he knew what she was thinking.
He always knew.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Transylvania!” Pearl exclaimed. “As in Romania? Home of vampire hunters and werewolves?”
“For goodness’ sake, lower your voice.” Edna glanced around the crowded nightclub, nostrils flaring as she searched the room for vampires.
Pearl shook her head. “Why on earth do you want to go haring off to Romania all of a sudden?”
“Because that’s where Derek is.”
“Why would he be there, dear?”
“I can’t read his mind,” Edna said. “But the reason is obvious. He’s gone to wait for the full moon. So we need to go, too. After all, we can’t very well watch him shift from here.”
Pearl frowned thoughtfully. It made perfect sense, of course, in a twisted, vampire-obsessed sort of way. “I suppose Mara is with him.”
“I should think so. Did you ever write that formula down?”
“No. It’s still in my head. Why?”
“An idea about the formula’s been percolating in my mind the last few days.”
“I don’t know why, dear. The stuff didn’t work.”
“I know, but with a bit of recalculating, and the addition of a few new ingredients, I think it might be effective.”
Pearl regarded her friend curiously for a moment, then exclaimed, “You don’t think Mara’s going to come to us for help, do you?”
“Why not? She’s got nowhere else to turn,” Edna said confidently. “What do you think the weather is like in Transylvania this time of year?”
“How the heck should I know? I’ve never been there.”
“We really are living dangerously these days, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are, dear.” Grinning, Pearl lifted her glass. “And it’s about damn time!”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sheree was surprised to wake the next evening and find Derek sleeping beside her. After bringing her home the night before, he had left her in the great hall. She had no idea where he had gone, or why, though she suspected he had just needed some time alone.
Mara had come home shortly after Derek left. “What happened?” she asked, her nostrils flaring. “Where’s Derek?”
“I don’t know.” As briefly as possible, Sheree had told his mother what had happened in the alley.
“That man owes you his life,” Mara remarked. Her gaze moved swiftly over Sheree. “You’re unhurt?”
“Of course.”
Mara snorted softly. “Derek loves you. I have no doubt of that. But you should be prepared to protect yourself at all times. He is still a predator, and in his current condition, there’s no telling what he might do. I know you brought a wooden stake with you. You should keep it handy.”
Now, lying in bed beside Derek, Mara’s warning came back to her. And yet, looking at Derek while he slept, she found it hard to imagine that he would ever harm her, or anyone else. In sleep, his face was relaxed, all the worry lines gone.
Did Mara know Derek was in her bed? Silly question. Of course she did. Sheree felt a flush warm her cheeks. It was one thing to share a bed with him in her own house; quite another under his mother’s roof.
When had he come to her? And why? Sheree recalled his remark about her nearness soothing him, though she didn’t understand how her mere presence could suppress either his hunger or his anxiety.
Sheree turned onto her side, studying him as she had the day before. His breathing was slow and shallow. It was a marvel that such an amazing and complex creature loved her. Almost, she could wish to be a vampire just so she could think herself to another country, or dissolve into sparkling mist, or run faster than the human eye could follow.
“I can arrange it, if you like.”
“No, thank you.”
He opened his eyes, his expression somber. “I should be thanking you.”
“Why?”
“You know why. I would have killed that man if you hadn’t been there.”
“If I hadn’t been there, you wouldn’t have been in that alley in the first place, and the man’s life would never have been in any danger.”
“I’m still in your debt. How can I repay you?”
