Blake's Pursuit (Scanguards Vampires, #11)(41)

She watched him disappear in the bathroom, admiring his muscular physique. Few men looked great both in clothes and out of them. Blake was one of them.

Still in a state of bliss, she peeled herself away from the wall and slowly crossed the room, when her gaze fell onto the nightstand. There, on the middle shelf, lay a book. She smiled to herself. It was a Morgan West bounty hunter novel, one of her books. If only Blake knew that she was the author who’d penned the novel he was currently reading. Perhaps she should tell him. They would both get a chuckle out of it.

“Water is getting warmer,” Blake called from the bathroom.

She turned and continued walking, but with her next step, her foot landed on something sharp, and she involuntarily cried out, “Ouch!”

She lifted her foot and saw what she’d stepped on. She froze, then slowly bent down. Was this what she thought it was? No, it couldn’t be. But there was no doubt. A pink H scribbled on the small shiny item fairly stared her in the face.

“Are you coming, Lilo?”

She collected the item that lay next to Blake’s pants. Had it fallen out of his pocket when she’d tossed them on the floor while undressing him? Lilo rose, turning toward the bathroom, where Blake now appeared in the doorframe.

“What is this?” She held up the USB stick, the same one she’d given to Officer Donnelly. “Why do you have this? What’s going on?”

Blake stared at the memory stick in her hand, his eyes wide. “I’m sorry. I was gonna tell you.”

“Tell me what?” In her own ears, her voice suddenly sounded shrill. He’d lied to her.

“The truth.”





22


Blake had grabbed his clothes and gone downstairs to let Lilo get dressed in private.

Now he was pacing in front of the fireplace in the living room, guilt blasting through him. He’d screwed up. Major. Why on earth had he not told her everything the moment Ryder had left with the hybrids? He knew exactly why: because his dick had done the thinking for him.

“Fuck!” He slammed his fist against the mantle.

By sleeping with Lilo he’d made things a hundred times worse. Not only would she feel betrayed, but he was also sure now that he couldn’t let her go. He’d never felt such ecstasy in his life as when he’d come inside her and felt her interior muscles clamp around him as if she’d wanted to imprison him. But the chances of ever holding her in his arms again had just dropped to zero.

The hurt look she’d tossed him before he’d left the bedroom had said as much.

Coming clean now, laying himself bare before her, was his only chance at redemption in her eyes. But even if he could make her understand why he’d had to keep secrets from her, there was no way of knowing how she would react to finding out that he was the very creature she found so disgusting.

His ears perked up when he heard footsteps on the stairs. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself. This was the moment of truth, and so much depended on how he handled the next few minutes.

When he heard her at the open archway, he turned slowly. She stood there between the hallway and living room, fully dressed, her cheeks still flushed, her hair unruly.

He motioned to the couch. “Why don’t you take a seat?”

“I’d rather stand.”

“Believe me, you’ll want to sit for this. What I’m going to tell you isn’t easy to swallow.”

She lashed a glare at him. “Why? Because it’s another lie?”

He flinched. “I deserved that. But what I’m going to tell you now is the truth.” He sighed. “I wanted to tell you earlier. That’s why I sent Ryder and the boys away, but things…” He cleared his throat. “…things happened. And I’m not proud of how I behaved.”

He ran his eyes over her.

“But I’m only a man. And it’s hard to resist something that you want so damn much.”

She ignored his comment and walked to the sofa, sinking into one corner of it. He remained standing near the fireplace, sensing that she didn’t want him to come any closer.

“Lilo, I want you to understand something. It wasn’t my intention to take advantage of you, but I never had a chance resisting you. You’re brave and smart. And so damn beautiful.”

She didn’t buy it. Instead, she pressed her lips together.

“You might not believe everything I’ve got to say. But there’s one thing that you have to believe: I will never hurt you. I will protect you with my life, if it comes to that.”

She made an abrupt movement with her hand, cutting him off. “Get to the point.” She tossed the USB stick on the coffee table. “I gave this to the police. How did you get it?”

He nodded, trying to find the right way to start. Maybe the easy things first. “What I told you about myself is true. I’m a bodyguard for Scanguards. But what I didn’t mention is that Scanguards has a consulting contract with the police department. They rely on us to solve cases they can’t.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He motioned to the stick. “The video that’s on there. It’s real. Vampires exist, and I’ve been aware of it for a long time. As is the police chief and a few select police officers who act as our liaisons.”