“Don’t worry, female. You’re too small to fuck and not my kind.” He stepped closer, his bigger body crowding her and rubbing against her side as he maneuvered through the door she partially blocked. “I’d break you.”

Heat flooded her face and she was muted by a mixture of anger, outrage, and shock. He got past her inside the house and moved away. She turned her head, watching him wrap her towel around his hips as he entered the kitchen.

She frantically looked for something to grab, the curtains on the window the closest thing she could find. The rod snapped loose when she ripped it down and the curtain barely covered the front of her as she turned.

“You asshole!”

He ignored her.

“How dare you!” She recovered fast and moved to the left, pressing her bare ass against the wall. Anyone in the woods would be able to see the back of her otherwise. There weren’t any neighbors but that was beside the point.

“Go in the bedroom and find clothes.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

He opened the fridge and bent a little. “Don’t then. Walk around naked. I still won’t fuck you.”

Glen forgot how to breathe while her temper raged. She shook a little from it and her shoulder brushed up against a frame hanging on the wall. She turned her head, seeing it was a photo of some bearded guy in fishing gear, holding what appeared to be a two-foot-long trout or some other kind of trophy catch.

He had a lot of nerve to say that to her. He probably thought he was a super-stud, and being kidnapped by her crazy Vampire relative to become some kind of supernatural breeder had just amplified his monster ego.

She reached up and lifted the picture off the wall. It was in a five-by-seven frame. She pitched it at the jackass.

Her aim was off and it slammed into the cabinet about two feet to his left, missing him. Glass shattered and the frame dropped to the floor.

Veso straightened and looked in her direction. His eyes were wide and she knew she’d surprised him.

“I’m sorry I missed. I was aiming for you thick skull. I do not want to have sex with you. How many times do I have to say that? Get over yourself!”

He took a step closer and his lips parted, fangs showing. He growled. “You came after me in a towel.”

“I thought you left me here to die! I freaked out a little and then I was upset about the phone. You broke it and you lied to me. Excuse the hell out of me for not waiting to get dressed first to confront you.”

He advanced a few feet and growled again. “Don’t throw things at me.”

“Don’t be such an asshole and maybe I won’t.”

His eyes narrowed, the color of them changed. They went from golden brown to almost all yellow. His hands fisted at his sides and his upper lip curled. “Don’t insult me, human.”

She was over her limit of dealing with crazy freak shows after all she’d been through. “I am human, and guess what? I’m glad. You should see yourself right now. Your eyes are all weird and you have those messed-up teeth. What’s next? Are you going to beat on me? Rip off my head? What a big bad jerk you are. I didn’t ask for any of this! I didn’t want to be kidnapped by some gang of sickos who drink blood and I sure as hell didn’t sign up to be locked inside a room with you. You think you’re attractive to me? Ha! I don’t do dogs.”

He tilted his head a little, glaring at her. He didn’t growl again. She figured that was a plus. He also didn’t come any closer. His hands remained fisted at his sides though and his body looked tense. She could see most of it since he was only wearing her towel around his waist. It looked a lot smaller on him than it had on her.

Long seconds ticked by and some of her anger faded. “I’m going to go get dressed now. We’re in this together until we’re not, so try to remember that I helped you escape. We did that working together. Remember? Please don’t lie to me again or insult me. It’s getting old when you accuse me of wanting to jump your bones. That was that creepy weirdo master’s idea, not mine. Plus, I’m a bit freaked out.” She held up her once cut finger. “It healed. The cut is gone. How is that even possible?”

He blinked but didn’t move or say anything. She eased away from the wall. She had to walk sideways to avoid flashing him her bare backside. The curtain covered her breasts down to her mid-thighs. She was afraid to look away from him as she kept scooting closer to the bedroom door.

“We’re both under a lot of stress,” she reminded him. “So just chill out. Sorry I called you a dog. I was mad. You have a tendency to do that to me. You’re very abrasive.”

He moved his head to keep tracking her. It scared her a little. She had no idea what he was thinking or if he was still pissed. His expression had blanked but those yellow eyes reminded her of a predator. The dog comment had been a little out of line but justified. Still, she wasn’t about to admit that aloud to him.

She made it to the bedroom door and relaxed a little. He blinked again and she backed into the room, reaching out to close the door between them. Her fingers brushed the wood and she pushed, hoping there was a lock on it.

Veso lunged, coming right at her. A table was in his way but he just shoved it aside.

A scream caught in her throat and she only had time to suck in air before two-hundred-and-whatever-he-was pounds slammed into her.

It threw her off her feet and backwards. She expected pain but she hit something soft instead. Her body bounced once on the mattress before she was pinned when Veso grabbed her wrists, jerking them above her head. He leashed them together between his finger and thumb. Their faces ended up being inches apart and she couldn’t look away from his sharp fangs.

“What are you doing? Get off me!”

His eyes glowed a brighter shade of yellow. They were eerie, yet entrancing. They really did remind her of a cat’s, only the shape was wrong. It was the inhuman quality of them.

Her heart was pounding and she felt fear. Would he hurt her? She didn’t think he would. Sure, he was a jerk, but he hadn’t left her inside that mine. He could have. He’d even taken her up that cliff. A cruel person would have just abandoned her on that ledge to face the coming night where those creepers could get her.

“You piss me off too,” he snarled.

“You lied to me and broke the phone. You treated me like a moron when you told me to shower. You just didn’t want me around when you made that phone call. I played along because a hot shower did sound good. I also didn’t want to argue with you again.”