A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(16)

“I hope you’re right. For all of our sakes.” A benevolent Cristoff might be far easier to escape. She rose.

Arturo followed. “I will never let him hurt you again, cara mia.” His fingers curled around her upper arm, and he stepped closer. “No one will hurt you again. I vow it.”

“You can’t make that promise. And I don’t need you to. I can take care of myself.”

He dipped his head, his nose brushing her hair. “Nevertheless.” His head dipped farther, his lips tasting the side of her neck, sending shivers dancing through her blood. Her mind urged her to put distance between them, but her body remembered all too well the delight she’d known at his hands and resisted. His scent of almonds and moonlight invaded her senses and her body came alive at his touch. Her pulse raced. It would be all too easy to give in, to let him lead her upstairs and drown her worries in passion and pleasure.

Instead, she pulled away.

“Don’t, Vampire. We’re not going to be lovers again. We’re not going to be anything.”

“Now it is you who lie, tesoro. If only to yourself.” He watched her with disappointment. “You respond to my touch as few ever have. And I to yours. Your merest kiss turns my skin warm. You cannot deny this.”

“It doesn’t matter. If you want me to save your world, then that’s how it’s going to be.”

His mouth tightened, but the only emotion she saw in his eyes was regret. “So be it. Join your brother and eat, cara. I have things to discuss with Micah.”

As she led the way to the dining room, she was all too aware of him at her back, too physically aware of him on every level. There was something about him that drew her like a moth to flame. It would be all too easy to give in to the pleasure she knew he could give her, indescribable pleasure that had haunted her dreams since the last time she was in his arms.

But the closer she let him get, the more likely she was to trust him again. And that was something she refused to do.





Chapter Five

Quinn found Zack at the dining-room table devouring homemade rolls as fast as he could butter them up and shove them into his mouth. The room was lovely in an old-fashioned fussy kind of way, the walls papered dark red, a gold-and-crystal chandelier hanging above an antique, ornately carved table. Gilt-framed paintings lined the walls, some exact duplicates of originals that would go for millions at auction in the real world . . . if the originals didn’t already hang in museums.

“Your brother looks better,” Arturo commented behind her.

Quinn nodded. “It’s amazing. He really did need to come back here.”

“I have told you the truth, have I not?” Arturo’s cool fingers stroked the side of her neck.

She stepped away from him. “Lucky guess.”

“Educated guess.”

“Regardless, thank God it worked.”

As Quinn reached for the chair at a right angle to her brother’s, Arturo pulled it out for her. She met his even gaze. Whatever else he was, she’d always known him to be a gentleman and a charmer.

With a nod, she took the seat he offered as Micah strode in from the kitchen, a bottle of Corona in his hand. “You need limes, Ax.”

“I’ll have Ernesta run up to the Safeway,” he replied dryly. “A word?”

As the two vampires left the dining room, Quinn reached for one of the rolls from the heaping basket. “You’re hungry.”

Zack nodded, waiting to reply until his mouth wasn’t entirely full. “Starved.” His gaze met hers. “I really felt like I was dying, Quinn.”

“And you don’t now?”

“No. Dying from lack of food, maybe.”

Ernesta bustled into the room with two plates piled high with large slabs of piping-hot lasagna, returning moments later with heaping bowls of salad. It was far more food than Quinn needed. Fortunately, if Zack didn’t slow down, he’d wind up finishing off his portion and hers, too. For a moment, she just watched him, feeling her eyes burn with relief. She’d told herself all along that he’d be fine, that the magic would be renewed in time to save him. But she’d been lying. She’d been gut-ripping terrified that her beloved brother was going to die. And while Vamp City was probably the most dangerous place in existence for a human, there was no denying it was where he needed to be right now.

As Quinn dug her fingers into a warm, soft roll and spread a dollop of what appeared to be freshly churned butter on one side, she eyed her brother thoughtfully.

“What is it?” Zack asked, catching her gaze.

She hesitated to bring up the questions that had been weighing on her since his revelation earlier, but decided if he could eat like a four-hundred-pound weight lifter, he could answer some questions, even tough ones.

“Tell me about Lily, Zack. Was she . . . okay?” In many ways, she didn’t want to know the answer to that. It was hard enough watching the torture of strangers, but hearing about the suffering of a young woman she’d already begun to think of as her future sister-in-law was going to hurt.

But Zack just gave her his customary shrug. “She looked tired.”

Tired. “That’s all?”

“And sad.”

Okay. “But not bruised? Or hurt?”

His brows lowered, then lifted as understanding widened his eyes. “God, no.”