Free Microsoft Word - The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance.doc by lesley Page B

smile,”
    he told me. “Do I want to know what you’re thinking?”
    “You said you were planning to disappear from Jeffrey’s
    life.”
    He blinked at what must have seemed like a non sequitur.
    “Yes,” he answered cautiously.

    71

    “Would you be willing to do your disappearing within the
    next two weeks?”

    He cocked his head at me, brow furrowed in puzzlement.
    “May I ask why?”
    “My agreement with Jeffrey was that you would disappear,  never to be seen again. And that your body would never be  found. I didn’t actually  say I would kill you.”
    Blackburn threw back his head and laughed. “So you claim
    to have ‘taken care’ of me, and you’ll take Jeffrey’s money?”
    “I get my money, Jeffrey gets his revenge and neither one of
    us has to die. What more could you ask for?”
    He was no longer leaning against the wall. Now, he was stalking across the foyer towards me in his full predatory glory.  The door no longer seemed even remotely tempting.
    “Oh, I can think of a few more things to ask for,” he  murmured as  he took up his former position, crowding into my  personal space.
    “What makes you think I’d give them to you?” I asked.  “You were a total asshole last night, and you’ve been an  insufferable bully so far tonight.”
    His crooked grin made my libido dance a jug. “Oh, and you would have been the soul of courtesy and hospitality if you’d found an unfamiliar vampire on your doorstep? And then discovered she meant to kill you?”
    I had to grant him that. I still don’t get why you let me go
    last night.”

    72

    He shrugged.  “I found you entertaining. And I knew you’d
    be back.”

    Arrogant bastard! “It would have served you right if I’d
    staked you as soon as you opened the door,” I grumbled.
    He pressed up close against me, letting me feel his own, er, stake. I guess death threats were a turn-on for him. “If you find me so terribly unappealing, you could always leave,” he said. “I won’t try to stop you, and I’ll even disappear for you so you can collect on your contract.”
    I glanced pointedly at his ring, though I made no attempt to
    move away. “Aren’t you in mourning?”
    A shadow of grief crossed his face. “When I lost Elizabeth,  I lost a dear friend. But not a lover. If we were to explore our mutual attraction, I would not feel it disloyal to her memory.”
    I was running out of reasons to turn him down. And truthfully, there were many advantages to having a vampire lover. Especially one as smoking hot  –  and relatively decent (if such a term could be applied to any vampire)  –  as Ross  Blackburn.
    “OK,” I said. “I’ll take you for a test drive.”
    He smirked at me in a way that would have infuriated me if he weren’t so damn sexy. I grabbed double fistfuls of his hair and pulled his head down to mine. And believe me, that smirk died a quick and glorious death.

    73

    The Righteous
    Jenna  Maclaine

    Castle Tars, I reland, 1 675

    T   he  warrior stood with his hands braced on the huge oak table, his brow creased in concentration as he studied the map laid out before him. The flickering flames of the firelight played over the thick muscles of his  chest and cast his face into shadows, As she watched, he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. How she longed to reach out and brush his hair back, to feel the soft strands that changed from black to brown to coppery blond between her fingers. He looked so  very young tonight and yet centuries had passed since he’d been born into this world. Physically, he appeared as though he’d seen no more than 25 years, but his age showed in the hardness of his eyes and the sharpness of his tongue.

    “Morrigan, if you must be here the least you can do is not
    skulk about in the shadows,” he snapped.
    The goddess sighed and stepped into the room. “Good
    evening my love.”
    He raised his dark angry eyes to hers, “I am not your love.”

    74

    She felt a