“Were you just looking at my fangs?”

“No!”

He laughed, a low, knowing chuckle that made her heart take off at a gallop. “Liar.”

The rest of the trip to Tulio’s was filled with silence as Natalie began cataloguing the questions she had for the odd man who had taken the girl’s body without a murmur of protest from her vampire.

There’s more.

More bodies? More to tell? There had to be more to tell, because he hadn’t told them anything. She was assuming Tulio was not the murderer for several reasons. One, Baojia had seemed at ease with him, and he would probably know if Tulio was in league with Ivan. Two, the giant man—vampire—had picked up the dead girl with exquisite gentleness, not like someone who could kill and leave the body out by the trash. Three, Natalie had a gut reaction to the man, and it didn’t say dangerous.

Of course, she’d trusted Baojia when she met him at the bar, and he’d turned out to be a liar, so maybe her gut wasn’t as accurate as she thought. Or… maybe George was closer to Baojia than she was ready to admit.

She glanced at him in the moonlight. He was so determined to keep her safe. Maybe she was just an assignment to him. cmenan>

Or… maybe her first impression of him in the bar wasn’t all that far off.
I never lied.

She didn’t know what to believe anymore.

“Where does this guy live?” She hadn’t seen a light for miles.

“Away.”

“From what?”

“Everything.” He smiled. “He’s a bit of a hermit.”

“A bit?”

Just when she thought she’d never see a sign of civilization again, Natalie spotted the shadow of an old truck and a barn leaning near some old sheep pens. The boards were broken-down and the barn was breaking apart, but the truck, though old, appeared in good condition. And when the car’s headlights landed on it, she realized the barn was in better condition than she’d thought.

“Is this where he lives?”

Baojia smiled. “Sort of.” He stopped the car and before she could open her door, he was there, opening it for her and helping her out. Then he nudged her against the car and stepped closer, leaning down as if he were going to tell her a secret. But he didn’t say anything; instead, she felt his breath blow cool on her neck and the skin of his jaw brushed against hers.

“Hey.” She tried shoving him back, but he didn’t move. “What are you—”

“Shhh,” he whispered. “Quietly. Tulio thinks you are mine. This is good and will protect you. But you don’t smell like me, which he will notice unless I mark you.”

She couldn’t speak; the unmistakably erotic images the feel of his skin on hers brought to mind choked out rational thought. “But—”

“I’m not going to bite you.” Baojia’s voice was a low growl. He had never sounded less human. She shivered when his lips brushed her neck. His fingers teased the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck. “I am only going to mark you.”

She let out the breath she’d been holding and managed to speak. “If you lift your leg on me, I’m gonna kick you in the balls.”

He laughed again; she could feel his lips smile against her skin. He pulled back for a second and his face was illuminated by the dim moonlight. Eyes dark and focused on her neck. Fangs long and gleaming. She could see the edge of his tongue when he flicked it against the tip of one tooth, but he only bent down to her neck on the other side, stroking his cheek along hers like…

A cat, she thought with a sudden smile. He was brushing his skin along hers like a cat looking for a friendly pat. Without thinking, she lifted her hand and stroked along the back of his neck, feeling the thick black hair under her fingers as his body shuddered, then stilled.

Before she could blink, he pulled back; his jaw clamped shut and his nostrils flared.

Okay. Not a cat.

He let out a slow, even breath and said, “Careful.”

“Right.” Her voice was high and she could feel herself blushing again.

“Stop that.”

“What? Blushing?”

“Yes. The scent on your skin becomes more enticing.”

“The more you talk about it, the worse it’s going to get. I don’t exactly have control over it. Trust me, I wish I did.”

He muttered something else she couldn’t hear, then tugged her away from the car and toward the barn. “Let’s go see Tulio. You’ll be fine. Last time I checked, he had his own woman.”

She rolled her eyes. cledeg on me “How very caveman of him.”

He only laughed. “You have no idea.”

CHAPTER NINE

Baojia tried to ignore Natalie’s scent as they approached Tulio’s strange house. The blush made her cheeks heat and her blood-scent stronger. He couldn’t help wondering just how much of her body that blush would cover if properly encouraged. He was betting a lot. Perhaps that was something else the clever little human would like to help him investigate.

He took a deep breath and focused on the reason they had come to the hermit’s home.

“Tulio likes to be left alone, but in his own way, he considers this whole area his territory.” He grasped Natalie’s hand a little tighter and walked toward the low rise of hills behind the barn. “Not that he would ever challenge Ernesto—he has no interest in business or politics—but he doesn’t like strange people or vampires wandering around.”