She licked her dry lips, realizing she had touched a nerve that was best left alone. What she knew about vampires might fit into a thimble, but it seemed an overall good policy not to provoke one. Not when they were standing alone on a dark street.
“I’m a lawyer who battles the world’s most powerful corporations on a daily basis,” she admitted. “I have an endless list of enemies.”
“Any who want you dead?”
“No, of course not. That’s ridiculous.”
“You’ve lived over two centuries,” he pointed out. “You were bound to piss off a few people.”
Anna grimaced as she thought of the endless years she had lived in near solitude, taking menial jobs to survive, and constantly moving from one town to another to avoid notice.
“Until the past few years I’ve lived very quietly. It’s not easy to explain why I don’t age while everyone else around me grows old.”
The coldness faded from the black eyes. “Yes, I’m somewhat familiar with the problem.”
Oh, right. He would be. Anna briefly wondered just how old Cezar was. A few hundred years? A few thousand?
She shoved away the thought. It made her head spin. After all these years immortality still seemed like a strange, absurd dream.
“At last I decided I was tired of hiding,” she continued. “If I’m going to live forever I should at least do something to make the world a better place.”
The wicked amusement returned to the dark eyes. “By fighting corporations?”
“And what do you do?” she charged.
He flicked his gaze down her slender body, lingering on the plunge of her neckline. “I protect beautiful women from the things that go bump in the night.”
Anna swallowed a small groan as she could tangibly feel the heat of that sinful gaze. Cezar had always been able to seduce with a mere glance. “I’ve told you that I don’t need you to protect me.”
“Well that’s too bad, because that happens to be my current job.”
“Job?” She frowned at his odd choice of words. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He reached out to tap the end of her nose. “Precisely what I said.”
She smacked his hand away. She didn’t believe for a moment that he was some sort of Good Samaritan who went about protecting women. Hell, he was the thing that went bump in the night.
“Then consider yourself fired.”
His smile was mocking. “You don’t have the power to fire me. My orders come from those much more powerful than you. At least for the moment.” He stilled, his head tilting back as if testing the air. Then without warning he had wrapped her in his arms and pressed them both into the shadows of the nearest doorway. Anna opened her mouth to protest only to have his hand clamp over her lips. “Ssh,” he whispered close to her ear. “Someone is coming.”
Belatedly Anna could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Turning her head, she was startled to see Sybil Taylor making her way down the street, pausing at each building to peer into the windows as if she was looking for something.
Or someone.
Anna caught her breath even as Cezar whispered words in a language she didn’t understand and the shadows deepened around them. In an instant they were wrapped in complete darkness.
Nice trick. It was no wonder vampires managed to remain below the radar of most people.
Cezar’s attention remained firmly trained on the woman approaching them.
“Now that is intriguing,” he murmured.
She pried his fingers from her mouth. “What?”
“Why would the fairy be searching for you?”
“How do you know that she’s searching for me?” His arm tightened around her waist, sending a zing of pleasure through her body. She was trying hard to ignore the fact that her back was pressed firmly to his hard, perfect body. And that his sandalwood scent was making her head spin and her palms sweat. At the impatient squeeze of his arm, she realized she wasn’t succeeding. She sighed and forced herself to concentrate on more important matters. Such as why she would even question the fact she was the one Sybil was searching for. It was too much a coincidence that the elegant woman would arrive in Chicago the exact day and attend the exact party for her not to be somehow involved in this current disaster. “Okay, stupid question.”
“I think we should have a talk with Sybil Taylor,” he murmured. “But not tonight.”
It was her turn for impatience. She had always suspected there was something downright slimy about the beautiful brunette. Even before she learned Sybil was a fairy. (A fairy, for God’s sake, what was up with that?) This was her opportunity to discover just what the bitch was up to.
“Why wait?” she demanded.
“For one thing I would like our conversation to be a little more private than standing on Michigan Avenue,” he said, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke. “And for another, she’s on her guard at the moment. If we wait and corner her, she’ll be much more willing to confess her secrets.”
“She won’t be confessing any secrets if she manages to disappear,” she pointed out as Sybil crossed the wide street and vanished from view.
“Impossible.”
She tilted her head away from those disturbing lips that brushed against her ear. God, her hormones were nearly screaming with the need to turn in his arms and do something about the fierce ache that had clutched her body.
It was dangerous. Stupid. And undeniable.
She hadn’t felt this potent need for one hundred and ninety-five years. Now her body wanted what it wanted. And it wanted it this minute.
Anna sucked in a deep breath, willing her heart to slow its frantic pace. “How can you be so certain you will be able to find her again?”
“No one, not even a demon, can hide from a vampire on the hunt,” he arrogantly assured her, his hand stroking the line of her throat. “No one.”
She turned her head to meet the dark, glittering gaze. “Is that a threat?”
“Consider it a friendly warning.”
“Perhaps you should have your memory checked.”
His lips twitched. “And why is that?”
“Because after one hundred and ninety-five years I’m the one who found you, not the other way around.”
His smile widened. Of course. Even if Anna was too stubborn to admit it out loud, they both knew that he had deliberately lured her to Chicago.
“If it makes you feel better to think so.”
She pulled away and began marching down the street. She’d had enough for one night. Enough of vampires and fairies and near-death experiences.
“Goodbye, Conde Cezar.”
She’d barely taken a step when he blocked her path, his expression ruthless in the shadows.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Back to my hotel room.”
“Don’t be a fool. Even assuming that it’s not completely destroyed, Sybil will keep a watch on the hotel the entire night.”
“Fine.” She turned on her heel and began marching in the opposite direction. “Then I’ll go to another hotel.”
Once again she had barely taken a step and he was blocking her path, moving so swiftly she nearly rammed into him.
He crossed his arms over his chest, regarding her with lifted brows.
“And what hotel will take you in with no money, no luggage, and no shoes?”
The fact that he was right only made her want to punch him in the nose. “Look, buster, I’m tired of vampires and fairies and God knows what else that is no doubt lurking in the shadows. I just want to go to sleep and forget I was ever stupid enough to come to Chicago, let alone believe you could give me the answers I want.”
He regarded her pale face for a long, silent moment. “What if I promise to make sure that you get those answers you seek?”
She narrowed her gaze. “You know more than you’re saying, don’t you?”
He laughed softly. “It would take the next millennium to share everything I know, querida.”
“Ugh.”
His smile faded as he slowly held out a slender hand. “Will you trust me?”
“Never.”
Something that might have been disappointment flashed through the dark eyes, but his hand never wavered.
“Will you at least allow me to take you somewhere safe for the night?”
Anna lowered her gaze to study the tips of her bare toes, grinding her teeth as she was forced to accept she had nowhere to go. Not unless she wanted to sleep in the streets.
Talk about a rock and a hard place.
“I don’t seem to have much choice,” she muttered, grudgingly placing her hand in his.
With a small chuckle, Cezar pulled her forward, bending his head to brush a soft kiss on her lips.
“Anna Randal, you haven’t had a choice since the first night I caught sight of you.”
With a soft hiss, Cezar forced himself to lift his head. Dios. The scent of this woman was invading him, setting his soul on fire. He ached with the need to taste her blood on his tongue, feel her warm and supple body writhing in pleasure beneath his own.
