“I doubt it. And anyway, shortly there would have been no first class tickets left either.” He pours out some of the viscous liquid into a cut crystal glass and swallows the contents.
My revulsion at what he’s drinking is tempered by what he’s said.
“How do you know?” I narrow my eyes.
“Ah, you are as quick as I thought you would be.” He gives me a flash of very white, very sharp fangs.
“You think I’m an idiot. You’ve made that very clear.” I tear my gaze away from his handsome face and look out the window, well aware some vamps excel at mesmerization.
Dominik chuckles to himself, a rich, sexy sound I should not be even thinking about.
“So, how do you know?” I repeat eventually because his silence is irking me.
“I bought them all.”
This is not the answer I was expecting. My head nearly falls off I turn it so fast back to him.
“You boughtallthe first class tickets on all the Budapest-London flights?”
“I bought all the tickets on all the flights.” Dominik inspects his overly sharp fingernails.
I stare at him, well aware my jaw is hanging down.How much has he spent to stop me leaving?
“Then you can damn well give me one!” I explode.
“But why would you want to leave when you’ve not achieved what you came here for?” He levels his dark gaze at me.
“I came for my friend’s wedding, nothing more.”
“And yet I find you in the midst of my nest with a stake at my heart.” He cocks his head on one side, and the way his gaze rakes over me makes me feel practically naked. “Or was that just foreplay?”
What did he just say? Is this vampire kingflirtingwith me?
“You are the last creature on this earth I would ever play with,” I spit out.
Dominik puts his hand over his heart, or the place his heart should be, and attempts to look mortally wounded.
“I am told I am the life and soul of any party,” he says in his deliciously smooth Hungarian accent.
“Hardly thelife,” I respond.
“Ouch, Lucy. You know how to hurt a vampire.” He says, clutching over-dramatically at his chest.
“Apparently not.” I return to looking out the window. “What are you going to do with me? Because I can always get the train. I doubt you can buy every ticket on every train to everywhere in Europe?”
“It would be difficult certainly.” Dominik’s eyes are not leaving mine. “But not impossible.” He gives me his fanged grin again. “I would like the descendant of the great Van Helsing to spend some time as my guest,” he says grandly. “Perhaps find some common ground. Maybe stop the killing?”
“If you wanted that, you’d have picked a different Van Helsing,” I say, keeping the fear out of my voice the best I can. “And I wonder what Ferenc would have to say about all of this.”
“Ferenc knows to keep his snout of my business, as I keep my fangs out of his,” Dominik says with a slight elevation of his voice. “If you think his mate can influence him, you are wrong.”
“I’m the Van Helsing who failed to stake the Budapest vampire king. I’m hardly a great hostage.”
“Guest, not hostage,” Dominik says with a wicked twinkle in his eye. “There’s a difference.”
“Not from where I’m sitting.” I glare at him. “Unless you want to give me that plane ticket…any plane ticket?”
He laughs, a sound sharper than his earlier chuckle.
