A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)(28)

My heart stopped and my fingers tightened their grip on my glass. I was unable to take my eyes off him. He leaned forward, bringing his face so close to mine, there were only a couple of inches left between us. His warm breath tickled my face, and my pulse suddenly took off, thundering through my limbs.

“Your technique and agility might’ve gotten you a little victory the other day,” he said, his stare unyielding and his voice low. “But I can easily take you down now, because I know what your weak spot is.”

Several seconds passed in silence as I carefully measured my words, unable to do much else while sitting so close to him.

“And what, pray tell, is my weak spot?” I croaked, no longer recognizing my voice.

His gaze stayed locked on my eyes as he inched forward until his lips nearly touched mine. Alarm bells rang through me. Fire spread through my veins, and my heart wrestled against my ribcage.

“Me,” he whispered, and pushed his lips out, barely grazing over mine. I pulled my head back, and my consciousness brought everything to a halt. As melting as his voice could be, his overconfidence had decided to rear its ugly head.

“Say what, now?” I managed to ask, ice blooming in my voice.

“I see the way you look at me,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching and his bedroom eyes casually undressing me. “All I have to do is touch you the right way and you’ll lose your senses. It’s a weakness I’m eager to explore. I’ll have you on your back within seconds. And I will be more than happy to keep you down there and show you exactly what I’m made of.”

His head jerked to the side under the impact of my backhand. My body had reacted of its own accord. My dignity had flared up—he’d managed to hit a nerve. I shot to my feet, my desire to kiss him turning into a craving to kick him hard. Leave it to Heron to let his mouth get ahead of his brain and use his arrogance on me.

He stared at me, eyes wide with shock. He touched his jaw. I’d hit him hard, and the skin was slightly red at the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know whether this kind of tactic works with other women,” I hissed, my fists balled at my sides. “But it will not work with me, Heron. You want to fight me again? Sure, I’ll take you on any time, and dance circles around you before I humiliate you again. But don’t hit on me. Don’t try to seduce me in order to gain some kind of advantage on the battlefield. It will blow up in your face, and you’ll be the one left sobbing on the ground.”

He blinked several times, most likely processing my words. I trembled with anger, and he finally noticed. His eyes glimmered, his pupils dilated. He straightened his back and stood up. He towered over me, and I took a step back, craning my neck to look at him.

“So… this is going to sound really funny,” he muttered, his voice pitched slightly higher than usual. “But I was under the impression that you were attracted to me, and I thought it would be cool to play that out and see what happened.”

I chuckled mockingly, quickly hiding behind my stone fa?ade and crossing my arms over my chest. The move caught his attention, his gaze lowering and lingering on my cleavage. He cleared his throat, and I awkwardly put my arms back to my sides, mentally slapping myself for not thinking that one through. My throat burned under his stare, but I couldn’t let him win this one. I couldn’t let him win anything going forward.

“You were wrong, Heron,” I replied dryly. “I don’t know where you got that idea, but you need to get it out of your head. Besides, your approach to women leaves much to be desired. You would never be able to get close to me. I don’t do one-night-stands to begin with, and certainly not with overgrown boys such as yourself.”

I hit him hard with that one. I noticed a flash of pain in his expression, and he took a deep breath and lowered his head, no longer able to look me in the eyes.

“I’m sorry, Avril,” he said. “I clearly misunderstood, and I thought it would be a nice tactic to throw you off your game before a rematch. You are right. I’m mostly used to fleeting affairs and never really connect with the opposite sex. And thank you for teaching me a valuable lesson tonight, as I now know not to freakin’ mess with a Shadian female again. I sincerely apologize, and I hope you will be able to forgive me.”

A good minute went by as I quietly watched him avoiding my gaze. He’d gone from a cocky womanizer to a seemingly insecure boy so fast, he was nearly unrecognizable. I understood then that his ego had kept him high up for years. I knew he’d spent years in Azazel’s dungeons, starved and mistreated and thoroughly abused, and that he’d had a bit of a hard time being reintroduced into a peaceful Eritopian society.

Females practically threw themselves at him because he was gorgeous and witty as hell, but also because he exuded strength and resilience. I figured he’d found comfort in these affairs after the torture he’d experienced at the hands of Azazel’s Destroyers—his way of coping, perhaps. I also knew, for a fact, that he was a good Mara, a devoted brother, and a damn good GASP agent.

“Listen.” I sighed, and he finally looked at me. “We clearly don’t know each other well enough yet. How about we focus on being good teammates instead, so I don’t have to slap you at every other wedding?”

He chuckled lightly, a bitter smile appearing on his face, and nodded.

“I think that would be much better,” he replied. “I talk a lot of crap. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take any of it seriously going forward. It’s just my nature. Bad jokes and great moves—that’s me.”