She glanced his way. A vampire’s aura—that almost visible atmosphere that pulsed around and inside them—was similar to a dominant werewolf’s charisma. Both lured people to them, but the vampires did it for blood while werewolves did it for an individual’s loyalty.
“Relax,” Nora said.
“I am relaxed.”
“That’s up for debate, but that’s not what I meant. Your hold on your aura. Let it go.”
His gaze shifted from the road to her. “Why?”
“I’m curious.”
“Curious to see if you can resist me?”
“You think way too much of yourself,” she said.
“Do I?”
“If I slept with you again, you would be the one screaming my name. You’d crave me after the full moon. You’d beg for my blood.”
“You are right. I am much too arrogant.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Was that another attempt at humor?”
“If you would like me to release my aura,” he said, ignoring her question, “you should pull over.”
“Really?” she asked, skepticism dripping from her voice.
He said nothing. Just stared.
She shook her head but pulled to the side of the highway and put the Tesla into park. “Okay. Go for it, vampire.”
He drew in a breath, then released it.
If she’d still been driving, she would have swerved off the road, his pull was that powerful. It was like the whole world had folded itself into his soul and pulsed there with the heat of the planet’s core. He was sin and magic intertwined. He smelled different, like honey and gold, and had she not been a dominant werewolf with a firm grip on who and what she was, she might have knelt at his feet. Even her wolf, who usually snapped and growled when in the presence of vampires, took notice and went still.
Jared muted his aura again, and it felt like all the colors of creation had leached out of the universe. It took a moment to refocus, to see Jared as just a man again.
No, not a man. A vampire who could make kings bow before him.
And he was younger than his master. Not as powerful. Her father wasn’t happy with the status quo between vampire and wolf, but hell, if they did go to war, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure the pack would win.
Nora breathed deep, inhaling him into her lungs as she pulled back onto the road. “You don’t have to mute yourself. I can handle you.”
His dark gaze remained on her. She felt it like a gentle touch, a brush of fingers across her skin.
“Take the next exit,” he said.
8
I can handle you.
Nora’s words echoed in Jared’s mind. They unbalanced him, and he did not know why. She spoke them quietly but with a confidence that seemed woven into her essence.
I can handle you. Perhaps it was a warning, a notice that she was on guard, that she did not trust him and thought his talk of a wager was part of the plot he was devising against her pack.
I can handle you. Could he handle her? She threatened to break open a part of him he had extinguished decades ago. He almost enjoyed being with her, almost looked forward to what she would say and do next. It had been a long time since he had anticipated anything. Existing was easier if he did not look to the future.
“Turn left here,” he instructed.
