Authors: Katie Reus
attitude.
She was very thankful her coat covered
up her reaction. “I’ll wear my hair any
damn way I please.” Instead of coming out
harsh, her words were breathy even to her
own ears.
He reached out and fingered a loose
tendril that had escaped the long braid
plaited down her back. Her eyelids grew
heavy for a moment as she remembered
what it had been like when he’d run his
fingers through her hair, gripped her head
in that dominating way as he’d claimed
her mouth. She fought to breathe as they
stood there, practically frozen.
Instead of responding, he just stared at
her for a long moment, then turned and
headed to his vehicle. A motorcycle of all
things. Even though she wanted to watch
him climb onto it—to straddle it with
those muscular legs she’d had so many
fantasies about since their one night
together—she forced herself to slide into
the front seat of her car and not look back.
Only then did she allow herself to
breathe. Her heart raced and her palms
slipped against the steering wheel as she
drove out of the parking lot.
What the hell had she gotten herself
into? In the past, a few men had tried to
use her to get in the good graces of her
pack or they’d wanted to use her against
them. It had become second nature for her
to weed out liars. While her gut told her
Kiernan simply wanted her for herself, she
couldn’t help but question her decision to
go on a date with a man who owned a big
chunk of Miami—and was therefore
competition to her pack’s real estate
dealings. Someone who by all accounts
her family couldn’t stand, a man who was
a freaking vampire.
* * *
doing as he steered down the driveway
toward Amelia and Nevada Rodriguez’s
home. Apparently he had a death wish.
Anything to spend time with Melina
Rodriguez. He couldn’t keep the woman
off his mind. No matter how hard he tried.
At his father’s request he’d moved to
Miami six months ago and been forced to
face the unforgettable woman who’d left
his bed in the middle of the night almost a
year ago. He hadn’t known who she was
at the time. His family had a file on her
pack but the picture of her hadn’t been
updated since she was fourteen, almost
eleven years before.
That night had been so damn
unexpected. He’d driven down from his
home a few hours north of the city for
business. Afterward he’d gone out for
drinks with a friend. Then he’d seen her
dancing and had been mesmerized. He’d
known she was a shifter, but it hadn’t
mattered. Need had punched through him
like a body blow.
Never in his life had he been attracted
to one of her kind before sweet, curvy
Melina. He’d been unable to stop himself
from approaching her, talking to her,
dancing with her. . . . They’d barely spent
an hour together at that club before
heading back to the hotel. She’d gotten
under his skin. She was sinfully curvy
with long dark hair and green eyes he’d
stared into as she’d moved over him,
riding him with such intensity he could
still envision every second of that night.
Then she’d disappeared on him.
But he’d tracked her down even before
his father’s request that he come to Miami.
When he’d found out exactly
who
she was, it had been like a sucker punch to the face,
only a thousand times worse.
The Rodriguez pack was strong, large
in numbers, and not known for their
mercy. Fortunately neither was he or his
coven. Even after months of not seeing
her, he hadn’t been prepared for the
almost violent impact of talking to her
again, inhaling her scent, touching her soft
skin.
But he was a vamp, and she was a
shifter—the only shifter he’d ever bedded.
Before her, he’d never had anything to do
with her kind. He’d never
wanted
to.
If someone had told him half a year ago
that he’d soon be pining after a sexy,
sensual shifter from the Rodriguez pack,
he’d have laughed in their face before
kicking their teeth in.
After parking his car—he’d hated
leaving his bike at home, but hadn’t
wanted to piss off Melina before their
date even started—he strode toward the
front door of the palatial two-story home.
The Rodriguez pack had done very well
for themselves, as was evident by the
string of homes they owned in the
exclusive Star Island neighborhood of
Miami Beach.
The ornate door opened before he even
had a chance to ring the bell. Wearing a
skintight green dress that accentuated
every single one of her sleek curves,
Melina stood staring at him with an
incredulous expression—as if she was
certain he’d lost his mind.
He glanced at his watch then back at
her. “I’m not late.” He was right on time.
“I know, I just can’t believe you had the
balls to show up here,” she murmured, her
cheeks turning a delicious shade of pink as
she grabbed a long coat from the rack by
the door.
He glanced past her, surprised her
father or one of her brothers hadn’t
threatened to cut off his balls—or his
head. “I thought you said your family
would be here.”
She swallowed hard and her cheeks
tinged even darker. “Um, I lied. Most of
my pack is a couple doors down for a
meeting. My mom knows I’m going out
with you—well, not
you
, but she knows I
have a date. And my brothers would
probably string you up for even
looking
at me.”
“They could try,” he said softly, slightly
amused she didn’t realize the extent of his
power.
She rolled her eyes, as if the thought of
him taking on her brothers was ludicrous.
He snorted. Let her think what she wanted.
After a particular age vampires developed
certain gifts and at two hundred years old
he’d honed his ability to control fire to
perfection. He’d never use it to kill
anyone in her family—though before
meeting her he wouldn’t have hesitated—
but if someone came at him he’d sure as
hell defend himself.
The drive to the restaurant was torture.
Kiernan had to fight to keep his eyes on
the road. When she crossed her legs—
toned, tanned legs she’d once wrapped
around his waist and shoulders—her dress
rode up dangerously high, revealing
bronzed skin he wanted to cover with his
hands and mouth. He cleared his throat as
he tried to rid his mind of his fucking
fantasies. Too bad it didn’t work.
“So what brought you to Miami? I
thought you lived in New York.” Her
voice broke into his thoughts with a husky
quality that made every one of his senses
stand up and take notice.
“Business.” Partially true. His family
had sent him down here to check on some
of the properties they owned, but he’d
been planning to make a trip since he’d
discovered Melina’s true identity.
“That’s not vague or anything. What
kind of business?” She shifted slightly
against the seat, and he forced his gaze to
stay on the road in front of him.
“Did you wear that dress to drive me
insane?” he growled.
“What?” She looked down at herself,
then at him. The way her cheeks flushed
again made his cock jump against the
zipper of his pants.
Despite her smart-ass mouth—which he
found refreshing—there was an innocent
quality to her that surprised the hell out of
him. “That dress makes me want to do bad
things to you.”
There was a long pause in which her
sweet honeysuckle scent grew, twisting
around him. Finally she spoke, her voice
low. “What kinds of things?” That sexy
voice held a breathless curiosity.
Despite the night they’d shared together,
they hadn’t done any of the more erotic
things he’d eventually planned. If he
answered truthfully she was likely to jump
out of the car at the next stop. Or hell,
while he was still driving. Instead of
traveling down that path, he reeled in his
thoughts and libido—sort of—and
switched directions. “Do you like
dancing?”
She seemed thrown by the abrupt
change of topic, but that sweet scent
slightly dimmed. Which was good and
bad. The more he could smell her arousal,
the more his brain short-circuited. “I love
it.”
“Good.” Considering she’d been
dancing the night they’d met, he had a
pretty good idea what kind of place she’d
prefer. He’d picked a low-key restaurant
right on the water with authentic Cuban
food and dancing. He didn’t think she’d
appreciate anything pretentious. And he
hated that shit.
“That’s it? Good? You’re not going to
continue your earlier conversation?”
Was she trying to kill him? “Not right
now.”
She sighed and the scent that came off
her was a mixture of relief and
disappointment. “So how old are you,
anyway?”
“Two hundred.”
“Oh.” A quick glance showed her
eyebrows raised.
“Is that good or bad?” he asked wryly.
“Neither. I’ve just never met a vamp
that old. Well, I had never actually met a
vampire, not really, not until that
night. . . .”
Now that was a surprise, though he
knew the night she was talking about. The
night he’d met her in a bar, gone back to
her hotel room, and had sex so many times
he’d been completely drained. Which was
the only reason he hadn’t heard her sneak
out in the early morning hours. “How is
that possible?”
Her shoulders lifted casually. “There
aren’t many vamps living in Miami, and
I’ve never had reason to interact with the
ones who do. I grew up very . . .
sheltered.”
Something about the way she said that
made him look at her. “Why does that
sound more like smothered?”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “I’m
the baby of the pack and my brothers are
way older than me.”
He couldn’t bite back the bark of
laughter. He didn’t have any sisters but he
had female cousins and understood
perfectly. “I don’t blame them. So you
were smothered growing up, huh?”
She shrugged. “I’m twenty-five and all
my brothers are over a hundred. What do
you think?”
Kiernan nodded but didn’t respond. The
last thing he wanted was to talk or think
about her brothers. He knew the only
reason she’d agreed to go out with him
tonight was because she’d thought she’d
scare him off. Since it hadn’t worked, he
had a feeling tonight might be his only
chance with her, and he wasn’t going to
fuck it up.
“They’ve always tried to monitor
everything about my life; where I went to
college, who I dated—”
He didn’t realize he’d let out a low
growl until Melina stopped talking.
She gave him a sharp look. “Did you
just seriously growl at me? I thought only
shifters did that.”
Kiernan shrugged, not willing to
apologize. The thought of her with other
males made all his territorial instincts
come clawing to the surface. He didn’t
care that he had no claim on her. Well, not
yet. That was about to change very soon.
Chapter 2
Melina glanced in the bathroom mirror as
she dried her hands. She loved the
restaurant Kiernan had picked but she’d
needed a little breather. The man made her
lose her train of thought. Well, that wasn’t
true. Her thoughts were solely focused on
seeing him naked again and having lots of
sex, but when she was away from him she
could actually think about other things.
Like what the heck had she been thinking
by coming out with him.
Mentally preparing herself, she paused
when the same woman who’d been subtly
watching her from the bar area of the
restaurant entered the room. She knew
what the redhead was, but she wasn’t
afraid. Even though Melina was young and
not as strong as she would one day
become—if she lived that long—she
could defend herself if necessary. But
something told her this vampire wasn’t
going to attack her in a relatively public
place. There might not be anyone else
inside the bathroom now but there was
always the chance of someone walking in.
“He’s just using you, you know.” The
redhead spoke as the machine drying
Melina’s hands cut off.
Turning to face her, Melina lifted an
eyebrow. “Is that right?”
The woman’s perfect, bow-shaped lips
curved into a cruel smile. “Your father—
yes, I know who you are—just bought him