Free Don't Blackmail the Vampire by Tiffany Allee Page B

still clutched him, but her face was serious, thoughtful. Her hazel eyes met his, and her lips parted.
    Fuck it. He had to taste her. See if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
    “No,” she said. Then she gave a tiny shake of her head, and she looked down, breaking the spell. “I’m good now.”
    “What?”
    “You don’t have to hold me so close.” Her words were firm, but her voice was shaky. Good to know he affected her, too.
    Disappointment ran through him, even as he told himself that he should be thankful. That kissing her would lead to complications he didn’t need. Careful not to disturb her balance, he put some distance between them and started skating again.
    “When was the last time you went skating?” she asked.
    Honesty or the easier white lie? Normally there wouldn’t even be a question in his mind, but he’d lied to her enough in only a couple of days. “I’ve never ice-skated before.”
    “Liar.”
    A grin tugged at his lips that she’d thought his honesty was a lie when he’d decided to be truthful. “Believe what you like.”
    She blinked. “You’re not lying, are you? You can skate this well the first time out? That’s super annoying.”
    “I know.”
    Her hands dug harder into his as she skated over an imperfection in the ice, and he fought the urge to pull her closer, to make this a real dance over the ice. He knew he could sweep her around with little effort. And with more than a small amount of work, hard shell surrounding her or no, perhaps he could sweep her off her feet.
    The weight of the idea hit him, and he halted their progress across the ice. With effort, he tugged his hands from hers and forced a smile. “Time to take off the training wheels.”
    Hazel eyes widened, revealing a bit of fear, before narrowing in acceptance of his challenge. She was going to make a go of it. Not that he’d doubted her; she didn’t back down from a challenge.
    He watched her for the first couple of minutes, unable to drag his gaze away from her less-than-graceful movements. Why was her unsure skating so endearing? He shook off the thought, and with Rachel’s movements still at the back of his awareness, he skated closer to Kristen.
    “Nice moves,” he called.
    Kristen tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave him a killer smile. “Thanks! Not doing so bad yourself.”
    Flirtatious comments and shallow compliments were passed back and forth. Kristen was charming and fun. But she didn’t resonate with him. Didn’t stand out as special or unique. She was just another nice girl.
    Since when had that made a difference? Not standing out too much was normally just fine for him. But he couldn’t seem to summon any interest in their flirting. It wasn’t that she was with a nasty fellow like Brent. It wasn’t even that she had stolen him from her best friend. He was simply bored.
    Brent skated up and muttered a joke about women and athleticism, to which Charles forced a laugh. Kristen rolled her eyes, obviously used to Brent’s attempts at humor, likely not seeing—or not acknowledging—the venom beneath.
    Rachel continued to skate away from them, going so slowly around the circle that he feared she’d eventually just stop and get stuck. She made it all the way around the skating rink once before she slipped and landed on her butt.
    Without thought, he left Brent in mid-sentence and skated to her, moving so quickly that he threw off shaves of ice when he came to a stop.
    “I’m fine,” she said grumpily before he could ask.
    “I see that.” With a quick tug, he pulled her up from the ground and she slid immediately against his chest. Her hands settled at his waist, and her breasts pressed close to him. With her face only inches from his, he could smell her spicy cinnamon scent. Her shampoo?
    Their eyes met and her breath caught, betraying her interest, even if he hadn’t heard the sudden kick her pulse gave.
    “Sure you’re okay?” he murmured. The hand he’d pulled her up with