Free Heart of the Incubus by Rosalie Lario

terrorize an innocent woman? He was going to find out.
    “Thank you.”
    He turned to leave.
    “Wait.” When he paused, she twirled a lock of hair between her fingers and gave him an inviting smile. “I thought you might want to take a look at my latest study. I’m recreating the—”
    “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m afraid I’m in a bit of a rush.”
    “Oh.” Her face fell. “Another time, maybe.”
    Cresso fought back his guilt at her crestfallen expression. Perhaps he should have told her in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he just left. He took the lift to the fifth floor and paused in front of the window looking into Genevieve’s lab. She was standing at her counter, mixing chemicals into several beakers. Her nose wrinkled in concentration when she paused to jot down some notes on her pad. Damn, he loved it when she looked like that.
    When the muscles in his face contracted into a smile, he didn’t fight it. After he’d fallen back asleep last night, he’d ended up dreamscaping with Genevieve again. But that time she hadn’t fought him, or hell, even spoken. She’d merely pulled him to her and given him a passionate kiss that fired off all his nerve endings. Just thinking about it now, and about the other things they’d done in their dreams, made him grow hard. His stomach rumbled at the thought of feeding on her essence. The woman would be like a wildfire, burning hot and bright for him.
    After last night, he now knew one thing. Genevieve might profess to dislike him, but there was no mistaking her attraction. She wanted him, even though she didn’t like it.
    He could work with that.
    If only he could confess that ever since the holiday party, he’d been going through the motions. That he’d fallen in love with her. That he’d gladly give up all other women forever if he could have her instead. But he knew to not even bother. She would never believe him.
    He’d have to find a way to show her instead.
    And then what? You’re still not good enough for her. Never will be , that tiny voice inside his head told him. It was true. He’d killed before, however unwittingly. He was still a byproduct of his genes—a death-dealer.
    Genevieve was pure, fresh, while he…was not.
    Maybe he’d be better off just leaving her the hell alone, especially considering his pressing need to feed. Trying to romance Genevieve while feeding off other women would only prove to her that he was exactly like her ex-fiancé.
    If only he had another option, but he didn’t. He needed sex to live.
    “Dr. Taylor, just the man I was looking for.”
    The sound of Dr. Andrews’s voice startled him out of his quiet reflection. He crossed his shaky hands in front of him, trying to mask his all-too-obvious hard-on as he faced the tall, gaunt doctor who somewhat resembled a scarecrow. “Morning, Dr. Andrews.”
    “I need to speak with you about a few matters.” Dr. Andrews motioned down the hall. “Why don’t we step into your office?”
    Cresso frowned and glanced back into Genevieve’s lab. “Could this possibly wait? I’m working on a pressing matter.”
    Dr. Andrews gave him a sympathetic shake of the head. “I’m afraid not, but I’ll take up as little of your time as possible.”
    Shit. It would do no good to protest. The man wasn’t head scientist for nothing. He could be very insistent when he wanted to. At least Cresso could use this opportunity to probe Dr. Andrews. Cresso doubted he was the stalker, but it would be wise to examine all possibilities.
    Cresso took a resigned breath. “Lead the way.”
    …
     
    By some miracle, Genevieve managed to lose herself in her research. When she heard the knock on her door, she assumed it was Cresso. “Come in.”
    The door opened and footsteps sounded along the floor.
    “I think I’m really close with this batch,” she said when the figure stopped right beside her.
    “That’s excellent news.”
    The