He chuckled. “Why not?”
She offered that look, the one that saiddon’t play dumb, which only made him laugh again.
“You’ve got fangs,” she noted. “Your eyes are silver, and they glow. I’m almost positive you gave that woman a brain aneurism back at the bar.”
“Vampire,” he corrected. “The female was a vampire.”
She huffed a laugh. “That’sthe part you want to correct me on?”
“The rest is accurate.”
“Your buddy said you’re an angel.”
Eclipse held her stare, nodded.
Her gaze dropped to the glass. “I know this has to be a dream. What I don’t understand is why I haven’t woken up yet.”
Walking around the bar, Eclipse came to stand behind her. He turned the stool so that she was facing him, removing the glass from her hand and setting it on the wooden counter.
“This is not a dream,” he told her, keeping his voice gentle. “You’re not asleep, and yes, those were vampires, I am an angel, my eyes do glow, and I killed that male in the alley without hesitation.”
“Why?”
He frowned, studied her face. “Because he was going to hurt you.”
She swallowed hard but maintained eye contact. “So you did it to protect me?”
Eclipse noticed the soft rasp to her voice. “I’d do anything to protect you, Orianna. Anything at all.”
That admission seemed to shock and confuse her.
“Why me?”
Well, hell. That was harder to answer than telling her vampires existed. He wasn’t sure she would understand that her soul was destined for his, that they’d been aligned long ago, back before she was even born.
Rather than having to go into detail, he offered a small smile. “Why not you?”
Her eyes bounced over his face as though looking for the truth.
Eclipse realized he was waiting for her to fall apart, to freak out, panic. Orianna had done none of those things, accepting everything at face value. It wasn’t a normal reaction for a human.
But right now, none of that mattered. Not the fact he’d killed for her, not the past couple of hours. The only thing he cared about was that she was here with him, safe.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, Orianna.”
“Understatement of the century.”
He smiled, grateful she could still tease him.
Because he wanted to touch her, he cupped her face, brushing his thumb over the smooth, warm skin of her cheek. His gaze dropped to her soft pink lips.
“You’re going to kiss me, aren’t you?”
He grinned. “I’m thinking about it.”
In fact, he’d thought of little else since he first laid eyes on her tonight.
“What are you waiting for?”
