“You’re not going to play on your phone?” he asked casually, pulling onto I-5 North.
“I’m not really big into social media,” she said, hitting the button to recline the seat back a little and resting her hands behind her head. “Plus I figured you wouldn’t let me use it anymore. Afraid I’ll leak vamp secrets or something.”
She was right, he had been prepared to take the device from her. The internet was hell on their kind. So much so that Baylin spent nearly all his time on his computer tracking any potential rumors that might hit too close to home. On the flip side, modern tech had made hunting rogues considerably more efficient, so he couldn’t fault the humans too much for their technological addictions.
Still, he’d been expecting a fight from her.
He shook his head. This was better. They’d both keep quiet and make the drive in peace.
But if that was what he truly wanted, then why did the need to fill the silence weigh so heavily on him?
“So…” He cleared his throat and glanced over at her. With her eyes closed and her face relaxed, she looked even more beautiful. Like a sleeping angel. Her pulse told him she wasn’t sleeping, though. In fact, it was beating a bit faster than when he’d first met her. Was she still nervous about being around him?
“You know I’m not going to hurt you, right?” he asked, needing something to pull her from her faux reverie.
An inch at a time, her head rolled over so she could look at him. “Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”
“And you believe me?”
“I do.”
“Then why is your heart beating quick enough to rival a hummingbird’s?”
She sat up and gave him her full attention. “I don’t know, maybe because it’s almost pitch black outside, and you’re pushing a hundred miles per hour?”
This again. She really had no faith in his abilities.
“I would have thought you’d want to get this over with faster,” he remarked as he darted around a slow-moving truck.
“Yeah, but faster doesn’t mean dick if we die in a fiery crash. What’s that saying on the billboards? Slow down and arrive alive?” She bit her lip and sank back into her seat. “Or unalive in your case. You are dead, right?”
He resisted the urge to bang his head on the steering wheel, mostly because he didn’t think it would help with her increasing discomfort. He really had no desire to spend the next few hours answering a slew of questions about his kind when she wouldn’t even remember it twenty-four hours from now. Although, if it took her mind off his impeccable driving skills, then perhaps he could indulge her curiosity a little bit.
He just wouldn’t think too hard about why he cared so much about her comfort level.
“Here’s the deal,” he started. “I recognize that this is a lot for you,and you’ve probably got a million questions. If it’ll help you relax and accept that we are not going to crash at any point during this trip, then I’ll answer… Let’s say three. You get three questions. Choose wisely.”
He flicked the cruise control switch and settled back, preparing himself for what would no doubt be a painful conversation.
Chapter twelve
Cora
Three questions? That was it? She had a legit freaking vampire sitting next to her, and she only got three questions?
To be fair, she was genuinely surprised he was willing to answer anything at all. He seemed pretty certain she was going to get mind wiped. Little did he know her persuasion skills were legendary. How else had she convinced an entire crew of film students to work for free? Maybe it was her cherubic smile or her glowing red hair. Or, more likely, it was that they could sense her increasing fragility. Either way, people loved to say yes to her, and this Marquin would be no different.
In fact, Saiden had been the only one so far that seemed oddly immune to her charms. He’d fought her on just about everything. Annoying, but a nice change of pace. She hadn’t encountered such resistance since her father, but that was an entirely different set of circumstances.
Okay, three questions.
“How are you so sure that we won’t get in a crash?” she blurted out without thinking. It probably wasn’t the best use of one of her questions, but it was the most likely to have a shot at reducing hercurrent level of anxiety.
Saiden turned to face her fully, and her heart leapt into her throat. She wanted to tell herself that it was because he wasn’t looking at the road, but she couldn’t deny how the harsh red glow of taillights across his face really accentuated his strong features. She knew there was no chance in hell he’d agree to be in her movie, but damn… She would promise him just about anything to make it happen.
“It’s my Gift from Lilith,” Saiden answered calmly before turning back to the road.
Six seconds. He’d stared at her for six full seconds. Any other time six seconds would feel like nothing, but when you were doing a hundred on the freeway without looking, it was an eternity.
