Dead Sexy. Amanda Ashley

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СКАЧАТЬ I?”

      A sudden chill tiptoed down her spine. “Can you?”

      “No one tells me where to go or what to do,” he said with bold arrogance. “Least of all a human girl.”

      “I’m not a girl,” she said with asperity. “I’m a woman.”

      A faint smile tugged at his lips. “Go home, little girl, before the big bad wolf gobbles you up.”

      He didn’t have to tell her twice. She was all too aware of his heated gaze on her back as he followed her to the edge of the park. He stopped where the sidewalk began.

      After punching in the code to unlock the car, Regan slid behind the wheel and quickly closed the door. Resisting the urge to look back and see if the master of the city was still watching her, she punched in the ignition code and headed for home as if Satan himself was after her.

      And perhaps he was.

      Regan thought about the vampire Santiago all the way home and again later, while she soaked in a hot bubble bath. He had offered to walk her to her car. She had a terrible feeling that he would have been able to do it, too, if she had agreed. But how could that be? Vampires weren’t supposed to be able to pass through the invisible force field. But what if he could? And if he could, did that mean others of the Undead were also able to leave the park? Had mankind been living under a false sense of security for the last five years?

      The thought made her go cold all over.

      Stepping out of the tub, she wrapped up in a large fluffy towel and went into the bedroom. After drying off, she slipped into her nightgown and a warm fleece robe, then went into the kitchen. She punched hot chocolate with a splash of extra chocolate into the computer, hoping it would help her to relax. Meeting Joaquin Santiago had unsettled her far more than she cared to admit.

      Though Santiago didn’t look a day over thirty, it was said that he was the oldest vampire in the city, perhaps the oldest vampire in the country. He was undoubtedly the most dangerous—and certainly the most handsome, with his long black hair, dark, penetrating eyes, and muscular physique.

      With a shake of her head, Regan thrust him from her mind. Curling up on the sofa, she switched on the Satellite Screen, flipping through the online guide in search of a late movie she hadn’t already seen a hundred times.

      For the next two hours, she managed to avoid thinking about Joaquin Santiago. But later, while she was lying in bed, he invaded her thoughts yet again, walking through the corridors of her mind, an ache that wouldn’t go away.

      Chapter 2

      Joaquin Santiago prowled the dark, deserted streets of the city. He was supposed to be concentrating on finding the creature that had killed yet another mortal in his territory, but his thoughts kept straying toward the woman. Miss Regan Delaney. Even now, her scent lingered in his nostrils, the warm sweet scent of woman, the flowery fragrance of her cologne, the deeper, more compelling scent of her life’s blood. Rarely had he met a woman who stirred more than his hunger, but Miss Delaney, with her sea-green eyes and honey-gold hair, ah, she aroused both his hunger and his desire. It was a dangerous and potent combination. The fact that she had worked with the police department added a hint of danger to the mix.

      But he had no time for a woman, not even the very delectable Miss Delaney, not when there was a killer on the prowl, a killer who had dared violate the city that Santiago called home. The humans suspected a vampire of the murder in the park, but Santiago knew better. There were perhaps a handful of the Undead who had the power to mask their scent and their presence from him, but only one, other than himself, could breech the barrier that surrounded the Park. It was that fact that troubled him most of all, that aberration that convinced him he wasn’t looking for a vampire at all, but for a creature he had hunted for hundreds of years. Was it mere coincidence that had brought Vasile here, to this place, at this time?

      Santiago was about to turn back toward the Park when Miss Delaney’s delightful scent surrounded him, a fragrance that was more than the mere blending of soap and toothpaste and cologne. It was the unique scent of her skin and hair, the female essence of the woman herself.

      Pausing in the shadows, he glanced up at the apartment building to his left. He opened his senses, sifting through the myriad smells, old and new, that assailed his nostrils, until he found the one he wanted. Yes, she was there, on the fourth floor. The soft, steady sound of her breathing told him she was asleep.

      A thought took him to her bedside. She had worn her hair pulled back in a tail earlier that night. Now it was spread across her pillow like a splash of pale gold paint. Her eyelashes made dark crescents on her suntanned cheeks. A faint sigh whispered past her lips, and then she smiled. Curious to know what she was dreaming about, he crept into her mind—and felt a smile of pure masculine pleasure spread over his own face. She was dreaming of him…

      Hand in hand, they walked barefoot along a stretch of shimmering, sun-warmed sand, talking and laughing like ordinary mortals, pausing a moment to watch a couple of kids building a castle in the sand. It amused him that she imagined the two of them together in the daytime. In reality, the sun would have destroyed him in an instant, but this was only a dream, and he watched through her eyes as they ran into the frothy surf. When the water was knee-deep, she stopped to splash him and he splashed her back, reveling in the near-forgotten touch of the sun on his face, the sound of her laughter.

      And then he took control of the dream. The other people disappeared, leaving only the two of them on the beach. Her hand was soft and warm in his as they walked along. He inhaled the scent of sand and seaweed, heard the breakers wash upon the shore, the screech of gulls overhead. He gazed out at the ocean. A pair of dolphins rose out of the water, somersaulting before they disappeared beneath the sunlit waves. He felt the heat of the summer sun on his face, a warmth he had not felt in centuries. He drew the woman into his arms and she murmured his name, her voice laced with uncertainty and desire. He rained kisses along the length of her neck. Her scent enveloped him, her nearness aroused him. He held her tighter as the predator sleeping within him stirred to life. She shivered as his fangs brushed the tender skin of her throat…

      Regan woke with a cry, ending the dream and driving him from her mind.

      Santiago vanished from sight as Regan jackknifed into a sitting position. She reached for the light on the bedside table, her wide-eyed gaze darting around the room while her fingers made a thorough investigation of the skin along both sides of her neck. He sensed her relief when she detected no bites, no telltale marks.

      Blowing out a sigh of relief, she fell back on the pillows.

      His mind brushed against hers as she convinced herself it had only been a dream.

      And then she sat up again, her eyes narrowing as she looked around the room a second time.

      Veiled from her sight, Santiago stood at the foot of her bed. Though she couldn’t see him, he knew she was aware of his presence. Never before had any human, man or woman, detected his presence against his will. Who was this woman, he wondered, that she had the power to do what others did not?

      Lost in thought, he drifted out of her room to the sidewalk below. It had proved to be a most interesting night. A killer he had stalked for centuries was here, in the city, and he had met a beautiful and most unusual woman. Yes, he mused, a most interesting night, indeed.

      Leaving the more affluent part of the city behind, he strolled through an area known as the Byways. It was here, in the dark underbelly of the city, СКАЧАТЬ