on." "Number three is I will achieve something meaningful with my life." "That is important. That's why I fight the Malcontents." He stood when she tugged on his white T

-shirt. He pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. She eyed his bare chest. The patch of black, curly hair, the strong pecs, the six-pack abs. His red

velvet pants were tied at his hips by a white drawstring. She took the end of the white cord in her fingers and gently pulled. "And the fourth affirmation?" She glanced up at his face. "It's always been the hardest one for me to believe." And the hardest to

confess. Her eyes stung with tears. "I am worthy to be loved." "Lass." He smoothed back her hair. "I have never met anyone more worthy of love than you." "Ian." She touched his face. "That's what I think about you." He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She kissed him back with all the passion that had

grown inside her for days. He slanted his mouth over hers and invaded her with his tongue. Her knees grew weak. There was such hunger in his kiss. It made her feel desperate. Feverish.

She raked her hands down his smooth, bare back. "I want you." "Ye have me." He wadded her green elfin tunic in his fists and pulled it up and over her head. Her long-sleeved red T-shirt soon followed. Before she could lower her arms, he had her bra unclasped.

"You're very quick."

"Aye." He flung her bra aside. "Like you, I intend to accomplish my goals." He cupped one of her breasts. Her nipples hardened under the gaze of his red, glowing eyes. She squeezed her thighs together.

"What is your goal?" "To make ye moan." He rubbed his thumb over a tight nipple, and she did moan. "To make ye

shudder and scream." He leaned over to take her nipple into his mouth. He suckled, teased her with his tongue, then gently tugged. She shuddered and leaned back in his arms.

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"I want to feast on you." He gave his attention to her other breast.

Through a haze of sensual pleasure, she recalled that word feast. He was tormenting her nipple with his tongue. Were his fangs next? "You want to bite me?" He lifted his head and gave her a look of admonishment. "I'm no' doing this for food." "But you said feast." His mouth quirked. "I was referring to oral sex. Do ye have any objection to letting me kiss and

suck on you?" She gulped. "No, that would be fine." He slid his fingers underneath the waistband of her red tights and slowly tugged them down. "And

ye'll no' be shy about getting all juicy when ye come on my face?" "No," she squeaked. He smiled as his hands curved over her bare rump, dragging her tights down further. "Naughty

lass, ye're no' wearing undies."

"I learned that from you." She smoothed her hands over his biceps, then over his shoulders and onto his chest. "You're the most beautiful man." He snorted. With her tights rolled halfway down her thighs, he grabbed her at the waist and set her

on the table. Then he grasped her tights and finished dragging them down her legs. "I've been wanting to touch yer legs for days." He lifted them and rested her ankles on his

shoulders. "So long and golden, kissed by the sun." He slid his hands down to her thighs and turned his head to kiss her calf. Toni squirmed on her bare rump, becoming more and more aware of the slow, throbbing need

between her legs. He moved forward, coming closer to her core, kissing the inside of her knee, her

thigh. The red glow of his eyes in the dark sent a thrill through her. God, she wanted him. "Please." She fell back onto the table. She hooked her feet around the back of his neck to pull him closer.

He stroked his fingers across her belly, and she trembled. "By all the saints, I can smell yer scent.

It's so sweet. I canna resist tasting you." His words struck a primeval need inside her, making her even more wet. And ready. She opened her thighs to him.

His eyes burned red. He dragged his fingers into her curls, then leaned forward. "I want to see yer

face when I touch you for the first time." She focused on his red eyes, then gasped when his fingers slid between her legs. She shuddered as he stroked her gently, easing his way between her sensitive folds. She saw a flash of white teeth as he smiled.

"Ye're so verra wet." He inserted a finger inside her. "And verra warm." "Yes." She pushed against him.

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"Och, puir lass." He waggled his finger inside her. "Ye're in sore need of attention." With his other hand, he tweaked her clitoris. She squeaked. He pressed against her, and she pushed back.

She dug her fingernails into the table. "Please, hurry." He removed his finger. "We'll take it slow next time." He sat in a chair and rolled it up to the table. Meanwhile, he cupped her bottom and pulled her up to his face.

"This, sweetheart, is what I mean by a feast." He pounced on her, dragging his tongue over her

engorged skin, probing, tasting, licking. Toni squirmed, and he held her steady. She panted, closing her eyes as all sensation centered on her hot skin and his glorious mouth. He tickled her clitoris, then sucked on it gently. She cried out. Her legs tensed. His tongue flitted.

She screamed. A heart-stopping, delicious shudder crashed over her, then swelled up to crash over her again and again. "Och, Toni." He stood and pulled at the drawstring on his red velvet pants. "I'm dying for you." He stopped suddenly, tilting his head and frowning. "What is it?" She struggled to sit up. Her body was a melted heap of frazzled nerve endings. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "The alarm has gone off."

Chapter Twenty

Ian cursed again as he threw on his Santa coat. With vampire speed, he buttoned it up and yanked

on his boots. What bloody awful timing. He would have been tempted to let Connor or Angus deal with this, but the alarm had been triggered by an emergency psychic call for help from Phineas. Ian had taught the young Vamp how to fence. He had to be there for Phineas, no matter how much he wanted Toni. And God, he wanted her.

She was leaning over to pull on her red tights. Her long blonde hair fell forward, partially hiding her flushed face. She straightened, flipping her hair back as she wiggled the tights over her hips. By all the saints, he'd never realized that putting clothes on could be so sexy.

"Bloody hell," he whispered. "Is it bad?" She snatched her bra off the floor. "Aye. It's downright painful. I'm rock hard and about to explode." He belted on his sword. She paused with her bra half on. "I was referring to the attack." He glanced at the window overlooking the parking lot. It was still snowing, so visibility was bad.

"I can hear them outside. Phineas must have been making the rounds." He put on his beard, wig, and hat. "Stay here. I'll be back as soon as possible." "But I should help. It's my job." She pulled on her red T-shirt.

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"Stay here," he repeated. "There are plenty of Vamps to take care of the matter."

"You don't think I'm strong enough to fight a Malcontent, do you?"

"Honestly, I'd rather no' find out." He teleported to the parking lot and saw the tracks in the snow where other Vamps had crossed the pavement to the woods. He heard the clash of swords in the distance. Drawing his own sword, he zoomed toward the noise.

As he entered the woods, the snowfall became lighter as snowflakes were caught by the canopy overhead. He spotted a dozen red Santa suits in a clearing. They were standing still, so each had a slight dusting of snow on his hat and shoulders. Most of the Santas had formed a loop around a pair engaged in a duel. Phineas and a Malcontent, dressed in black. They circled each other slowly.

Two more Santas had a second Malcontent pinned against a tree with their swords poised to strike his heart.

Ian joined the circle of Santas. "What happened?" he whispered to the man on his right.

"Phineas was making his rounds in the woods here," the Santa answered, and Ian recognized Robby MacKay's voice. "Two Malcontents jumped him, and he called for help. We sounded the alarm and came running."

Swords rang out as the Malcontent lunged at Phineas. He parried the attack and forced the Malcontent to retreat.

"We captured that one." Robby nodded toward the second Malcontent pinned against the tree. "The other one challenged Phineas to a duel, and he accepted."

Ian watched the duel carefully, gauging each one's skill. They appeared evenly matched, though he detected more desperation from the Russian.

"Let's go, Stanislav!" the captured Malcontent yelled. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

"The second I see your body start to teleport, I'll stab you through the heart," one of his captors warned. Ian recognized his French accent. Jean-Luc Echarpe.

"The devil take it," the second captor grumbled. It was Angus. "Let's just skewer the bastard and get it over with."

"I'm unarmed!" the captive shouted.

"Ye were armed two minutes ago before ye threw yer sword down," Angus argued. "Look, Yuri. Aye, no need to look surprised. I know who ye are. 'Tis a simple matter of being time-efficient. If we doona kill ye now, ye'll just come back, and we'll have to do it later. So I say we slaughter you now. 'Twill save us all a lot of time."

Jean-Luc chuckled. "You expect him to agree with you?"

"If you're as good and noble as you claim to be," Yuri said, "then you'll never kill an unarmed man."

"Och, I hate it when they say that," Angus growled.

Jean-Luc pressed the point of his sword against Yuri's throat. "Don't be a coward, Yuri. Pick up your weapon, and we'll settle this like men."

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"Now ye've scared him," Angus said. "I think he's wet his pants." "I did not!" Yuri protested. "Stanislav, I'll leave without you." Stanislav was busy with Phineas. Both men eased slowly to their right, their legs bent, their

swords ready.

"Stan the man, you're going down," Phineas spoke softly. "Why are you doing this? I always thought you were pretty decent. You were the only Russian I could stand to talk to." "You double-crossed me, you bastard." Stanislav slipped in the snow and quickly righted himself.

"You tricked me into telling you where Katya was."

"She was a bitch, Stan. Haven't you realized yet that you're on the wrong side? You're one of the bad guys." "Traitor!" Stanislav lunged forward, swinging his sword wildly. Phineas blocked each move, and Stanislav fell back, breathing heavily. Phineas circled him. "You're not going to live through this, Stan." "Let's go!" Yuri yelled. "I can't!" Stanislav wiped sweat from his brow. "Jedrek will kill me if I don't kill Phineas." "You're up shit creek." Phineas advanced, and with an expert thrust, he sent Stan's sword flying

from his hand. Stanislav backed away. Phineas grazed the tip of his sword on Stanislav's chest. "The way I see it, you have three options.

You can be killed by me, killed by Jedrek, or you can join our side."

"Now wait a minute." Angus strode toward them. "I seriously doubt we could ever trust this bastard." Stanislav vanished. Ian turned just in time to see Yuri teleport away, too. "Merde," Jean-Luc muttered. Angus sighed. "Ah well." He patted Phineas on the back. "Ye did well, lad." Phineas sheathed his sword. "I should've killed him when I had the chance. I just..." "Dinna want to?" Angus asked. "That's what makes you one of us, lad. We kill when we have to,

but we doona relish it." "But he'll just come back," Phineas said. Angus rested an arm around his shoulder. "There are always bad vampires in want of killing. I've

lived over five hundred years, and that has never changed. One thing that time has taught me is

there's no need to be in a hurry to kill." "Aye, that's true." Connor spoke from the circle. "Ye kill one, and two more show up the next night."

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"It's freezing out here," Roman observed. "Let's get back to the party." The Santas walked back to the parking lot. Ian sheathed his sword. Robby leaned toward him and whispered, "Ye'd better wash her scent off before Connor or Angus

get a whiff of you." He strode off to join the other Santas.

Ian winced. He waited till all the Santas had entered Romatech, then he zoomed down to the silver room. With vampire speed, he showered and redressed. He sprinted to the stairs. When he heard a dinging sound behind him, he glanced back. The

elevator doors opened, and Toni stepped out.

"Toni." He strode toward her. So much for her doing as he asked and staying in the conference room. She spun around. "Ian. What are you doing down here? I thought you'd be with Phineas." "I was, but...what are you doing down here?" She lowered her voice. "I was in the foyer, finding out what happened outside, when Emma

MacKay whispered to me that I should retire for the evening. She's one of the big bosses, so I didn't want to argue, but I got the impression that she knew what we'd been doing..." "Vamps have a verra good sense of smell. I received a similar warning." She stepped closer. "They can smell that we...you know?" "I know verra well. Unfortunately, a few others have noticed, too." "Good grief," she muttered. "Can't we get a little privacy around here?"