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She’d been having vivid dreams lately, but last night’s nightmare felt more like dropping acid in Ann Rice’s imagination with the moth guy from Silence of the Lambs. She shivered and tossed her bag in the car, hugging the wheel like a shield.
“Stupid butterflies.”
The good thing about driving this early was the lack of traffic. Street Road existed in a perpetual state of gridlock. The vacant roads only added to the eerie residue of her nightmare.
She slowed at the light just before the jug handle to Route One. Music. She needed music.
Reaching for the stereo, she stilled. Her head angled toward the window, a strange sense that she wasn’t completely alone seeped in.
Her breath caught as her gaze landed on a dark figure. A man. All alone, face hidden under the shadow of a hat, yet she sensed him staring at her. She suddenly wished it was rush hour.
Her fingers nudged the lock button on the door and his head cocked to the side. Bizarre eyes, so blue they seemed to glow in the fading shadows of dawn.
His size registered and her insides trembled. Thick muscle roped down his arms and though he appeared calm, all she could think was stranger danger. One drop of psycho and that guy could snap her like a twig. So why wasn’t she blowing this red light?
He studied her as if recognizing her. His shadowed figure triggered no feelings of familiarity, yet a chilling sense of déjà vu knifed through her, and not necessarily good déjà vu.
She didn’t want to see his face, so her focus jumped to the light. Still red. Damn it.
He took a step toward the car and she sucked in a sharp breath, gunning it into the intersection. Her heart exploded in her chest as another car shot out of nowhere and almost clipped her bumper, but she made it across the intersection unharmed. She sped onto the ramp and veered onto the highway toward home.
When she glanced in the rearview mirror, the man was gone.
Chapter Nine
Adam’s breath caught as the little car sped through the intersection, his heart rate spiking as another vehicle nearly ran her off the road. His fangs punctured his gums as his instincts battled, part of him wanting to follow her and another part urging him to chase down the driver that almost crashed into her.
The sweet scent of honeysuckle lingered in the air, accompanied by something ... other. A growl rumbled in his chest as he recognized the other scent as something decidedly masculine.
Why had he not grabbed her when he had the chance? His memory scrambled to recall her face, but a curtain of hair had distracted him and then she was gone. To where? If he moved fast he could follow her scent.
The taillights disappeared as she jetted onto the highway. Adam’s heart sputtered in his chest, as she was suddenly gone. He sprang into motion, his nature taking over as desperation clogged his arteries and urgency thrummed through his veins.
The black night faded into gray as the purple shades of first light illuminated the horizon. He raced the dawn, knowing in less than an hour the sun would drive him to shelter.
His body pulsed with need as he bounded through the woods, leaping into the trees. His claws scraped into the bark of evergreens as he climbed higher, searching for his fleeing mate. Above the canopy, clinging to the flimsy branches of the trees, he glimpsed her car. She drove too fast. And if he didn’t move, he was going to lose her.
He let go and leapt to the ground. Pine needles clung to his clothes as he landed on the soft earth in a crouch. His knees bunched and he lunged into a sprint, traveling as fast as her vehicle, but several miles behind.
His senses were on high alert, his nose led him more than his eyes. His muscles screamed as he gave chase, his strength depleting rapidly as the approaching sunlight pierced the trees.
He clung to her trail, refusing to lose her. She should not drive so recklessly. Humans were fragile. Hunger, unlike anything he’d ever experienced, tore through him, elongating his fangs as a rumbled growl vibrated his chest. His pupils dilated and his vision shifted, competing with the brightening sky.
Pushed to the extent of his ability, he ran as fast as his feet could carry him. As the road split, he flung his body into the trees, catching branches and climbing to the highest point.
Gone. She was gone.
Stark regret choked him and then... honeysuckle. Shutting his eyes, he breathed deep, catching that familiar, feminine scent now imprinted on his soul.
His salvation was now heading north. He glanced at the horizon, his skin starting to tingle—a sign of overexposure. His body would surely punish him later if he stayed out much longer. But he couldn’t let her go.
