“Dude,” Baylin started, and Saiden could practically picture the judgmental face his brother was making right then. “You want me togo behind your mate’s back and kill her dream? That’s not a great start to a relationship, you know that right? It’s been a while for you, but females still tend to frown on deception.”
Saiden rubbed his face, exhaustion starting to weigh on him. “I’m well aware, and it kills me to ask this of you, but she’s refusing to halt the movie.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, though. I’m guessing you haven’t turned her yet since none of the fam is with you to help, but you’d think she’d be on board with protecting our kind since she’ll be in just as much danger here soon.”
Saiden sighed. “Yeah, that’s the other problem I have.”
“Oh? Don’t tell me it gets worse?” Baylin asked, taking a slurp of his drink.
“She doesn’t want to become a vampire.”
Saiden really hoped his brother had a good protection plan on his computer because if the wet, sputtering laughter was any indication, he was going to need it.
Chapter eighteen
Cora
“Five more minutes,” Cora muttered when Jinx prodded her in the back. She nestled deeper into the covers that were wrapped tightly around her, cocooning her in a soft warmth. The gentle poke hit her lower back again, and she groaned. Didn’t Jinx know how rarely she slept? What reason could she possibly have for waking her up?
Cora cracked one eye open, and the second immediately followed suit as her brain registered that she was not, in fact, in her own bedroom.
Everything came rushing back in, and she groaned again. She didn’t know how he did it, but the sonofabitch had gotten her to fall asleep. It couldn’t have been drugs; she didn’t eat or drink anything yesterday beyond a power bar from her own purse. What magical voodoo did he do to knock her out?
Despite her best attempts, she really couldn’t maintain her anger with him, though. Judging by the bright light streaming in through the faded hotel curtains, she’d slept through the night. She hadn’t done that in well over a year.
She debated closing her eyes in an attempt to slide back intosleep—because if her body was willing then why fight it?—when she felt the subtle poke again. It was at that moment she realized she was not alone in the bed. And more specifically, her bedmate was snuggled up tight against her back with his strong arms wrapped around her midsection.
Cora shifted ever so slightly to confirm her fear then leapt out of the bed screaming. Scrambling away at nearly vampiric speeds, she crashed into the desk chair.
“Fucking hell,” she cursed as the chair flew backward, taking her with it. She was mere inches from slamming into the floor when she was scooped up into Saiden’s arms and deposited softly back on the bed.
Where she stayed for about two seconds before leaping to her feet and glaring at him.
“What the hell was that?” she barked, pointing at the bed as if there was any doubt what she was referring to.
He didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. He ran a hand through his hair, the long strands on the left side looking adorably messy from sleep, and gave her a lopsided grin so at odds with the harsh lines of his face.
“What the hell was what?” he asked with an innocence that had to be feigned. Not even an ancient vampire could be that naïve.
“You, on the bed with me, and… you know,” she sputtered as her brain went on vacation and took her ability to form coherent thoughts with it.
“I’m afraid I’m still confused. I asked you to sleep, and you did. I told you I wouldn’t bite you, and you aren’t missing one single drop of blood in your perfect veins. I even kept my clothes on.” He glanced down at his boxers. “Mostly. But you couldn’t expect me to sleep in jeans. That’s just cruel. I did keep my shirt on which seemed to be yourbiggest concern last night.”
She gaped at him, her jaw hanging wide open. “Your shirt? That’s what you think I’m concerned about? Your fucking shirt?”
He cocked his head, analyzing her like a strange new specimen. “What else would you be upset about?”
“That!” she screeched, pointing at his rather impressive morning erection that was barely contained by his underwear. Hell, if he moved the wrong way, the tip would pop out, and she’d never be able to look him in the eyes again.
He glanced down at himself, then let out an exaggerated sigh, but she couldn’t tell if it was real or not. He picked his jeans up off the floor and gave her a wry smile. “I know, I know, it seems rather underwhelming, but you don’t need to tease me about it. I haven’t fed in a couple days, so I’m a bit lacking on blood for it to reach its normal size.”
She didn’t think her mouth could hang open any wider and yet… He considered that underwhelming? Less than usual? What the hell was normal for him, a freaking anaconda in his damn pants?
Focus, Cora,she chided herself. The more she thought about his manhood, the more she was able to visualize it and… Shit. She wasn’t focusing at all. In fact, she was considering once more the benefits of throwing all her self-imposed rules out the window and giving in to what would most likely be a life-altering experience. She had limited time to be wild, so why not be crazy and indulge just once? Surely her no sex rule didn’t apply when the guy looked like a Greek god.
She was half a heartbeat away from succumbing when she remembered that she was the one in charge, not the demanding little kitty in her panties that practically purred as it begged to be stroked by Saiden.
Shaking her head, she fixed her fiercest glare on him, which in comparison to his standard expression was about as intimidating as amouse glaring down a tiger.
