Willow released a low whistle. “I bet you’ve seen alotin your lifetime.”
“I have. And how old are you?”
“I turned twenty-four January twenty-second.”
“I bet you’ve seen a lot in your lifetime.”
She smiled at his teasing manner and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I have. What’s your last name?”
“Keogh. And I know you’re a Byrne.”
“One of many,” she said with a laugh.
The sound of her laugh caused him to suck in a breath. It was lyrical and beautiful and carefree in a way he’dneverbeen. It was the laugh of someone who loved and enjoyed life.
“What about boyfriends?” he found himself asking. “I bet the boys chased you all over.”
Her eyes twinkled when they met his again. “I’m not easy to catch.”
“So, no boyfriends?”
“Is there a point to having a relationship with someone if you know they’re not your mate?”
“There are plenty of vamps who seek out comfort from a long-term partner to ease their loneliness or start a family. My parents did.”
“True, but no boyfriends for me. Some flings, but no one I wanted to see again.”
The jealousy twisting like a knife in his chest was so unexpected he didn’t know how to handle it. He’d give anything to be one of those men who got to touch her, hold her,tasteher.
“And they were all human,” she said. “I stayed away from vamps.”
That meant she’d never known what it was like to be with a vampire, someone who could match her stamina and strength. Someone who could enjoy her for hours. When he found himself growing aroused, he shut down the image of her lying naked on a bed, sprawled out before him as he tasted every inch of her.
“Why stay away from vamps?” he asked.
“Humans were simpler,” she said. “And they can do the same thing.”
“Not quite,” he murmured and elaborated when she gave him a questioning look. “A vampire could match your stamina a lot more than a human.”
Willow couldn’t stop her gaze from running over him. She barely managed to stop herself from licking her lips as she pondered exactly how much staminahehad. She started to scold herself about not sleeping with her boss but stopped. A little harmless fantasizing never hurt anyone.
She told herself this, but she knew she was lying. It wasn’t harmless. She wanted him, and she was playing with fire by letting it continue, but she couldn’t shut her mind down now that it had traveled this very enticing path.
“And what about you?” she asked. “Any girlfriends?”
“None.”
“You’ve never wanted a relationship?”
He was never capable of having a relationship that didn’t revolve around blood and sex. However, he didn’t know how to explain that without traveling a road that would have her looking at him with disgust instead of with her beautiful smile.
“My life has always revolved around the Alliance.” It may not be the whole truth, but it was the truth.
“So a string of flings?” she asked.
“I guess you could say that. Is that what you would call your relationships, a string of flings?”
“If you consider four a string, then I guess so.”
