Free DH 05 Kiss Of The Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Wulf and the way he’d felt in her arms.
    Kat fel in behind her and remained completely silent, giving her the space she needed. It was what she loved most about her bodyguard.
    Sometimes it seemed as if Kat were psychical y linked to her.
    “I need some Starbucks,” Cassandra said to Kat over her shoulder. “What about you?”
    “Always game for java. Give me ground-up beans or give me death.” As she walked down the street toward the coffee shop, Cassandra started thinking more and more about the Dark-Hunters.
    Since she had discounted them before as myths her mother had used to frighten her, she’d never real y researched them while she’d studied ancient Greece. Ever since she was a child, she’d spent her spare time looking into her mother’s history, and ancient legends.
    She couldn’t recal ever finding a mention in her readings about the Dark-Hunters, which only confirmed in her mind that her mother was relaying stories of bogeymen and not real people.
    But maybe she’d overlooked—
    “Hey, Cassandra!”
    She looked up from her musings to see one of the guys from school waving at her as she drew near Starbucks. He was a couple of inches shorter than her and was cute in a very Boy Scout kind of way. His short black hair was curly and he had friendly blue eyes.
    Something about him reminded her of Opie Taylor from The Andy Griffith Show and she half-expected him to cal her “ma’am.”
    “Chris Eriksson,” Kat whispered under her breath as he came over.
    “Thanks,” Cassandra said in an equal y low tone, grateful Kat’s name recal was much better than her own.
    She could always remember faces, but names often eluded her.
    He stopped before them.
    “Hi, Chris,” she said, smiling at him. He was real y nice and always tried to help anyone who needed it.
    “What brings you here?”
    He looked instantly uncomfortable. “I… uh… I was picking up something for someone.” Kat exchanged an interested look with her. “Sounds kind of dubious. I hope it’s not il egal.” He blushed profusely. “No, not il egal. Just kind of personal.” For some reason, Cassandra liked the sound of it being il egal better. She waited a minute or two while he looked rather awkward.
    Chris was an undergraduate student in her Old English class. They hadn’t real y spoken to each other much except to compare notes whenever she’d had trouble translating something. Chris was the professor’s pet and maintained a perfect score on al the tests.
    Everyone in the class wanted to hang him for blowing the curve.
    “Did you do the assignment for class this afternoon?” he asked final y.
    She nodded.
    “It was great, wasn’t it? Real y exciting stuff.” By his face, she could tel he truly meant that.
    “Like having my teeth dril ed without Novocain,” she said, intending it to be funny and playful.
    He didn’t take it that way.
    His features fel . “I’m sorry. I’m being a geek again.” He pul ed nervously at his ear and dropped his gaze to the ground. “I better go. I have some other things I need to do.” As he started away from her, she cal ed out to him, “Hey, Chris?” He stopped and looked back at her.
    “Overprotected Child Syndrome?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You’re an overprotected child too, aren’t you?”
    He scratched the back of his neck. “How’d you know?”
    “Trust me, you have the classic symptoms. I used to have them too, but after years of intensive therapy, I learned to hide them and can almost function normal y now.” He laughed at that. “Got the name of that therapist handy?” She smiled. “Sure.” Cassandra inclined her head toward the coffee shop. “You got time to join us for a cup of coffee?”
    He looked as if she had just handed him the keys to FortKnox. “Yeah, thanks.” She and Kat led the way into Starbucks with Chris right behind them like a happy puppy whose owner had just come home.
    After they had their drinks, they sat down in the back, away from the windows