Free Dead and Dateless by Kimberly Raye Page B

electronics to make the average human male orgasm on the spot. A big-screen television sat next to it.
    To my left was the kitchen area, complete with stainless steel appliances and an island stove. To my right, the bedroom. A massive king-size bed dominated the corner. A deep, sapphire blue comforter covered the mattress. A half dozen black and blue–clad pillows had been stacked near the headboard. It looked comfy and infinitely masculine like the rest of the loft. My stomach hollowed out and my mouth went dry.
    I forced myself to swallow and shifted my attention back to Ty. His gaze drilled into me and a knowing light gleamed in his neon blue gaze. “Nice place.”
    “It serves a purpose.”
    “Professional decorator or did you do it yourself?”
    He gave me an odd look. “Most of it was already here. I brought in the bedroom furniture and the sound equipment a few weeks ago.”
    “You can’t have too much sound equipment.” Did I mention that my capacity for intelligent conversation is severely limited when surrounded by so much testosterone? I’m not sure if that’s a born vamp weakness (like sunlight and stakes) or my own personal glitch. “So, um, who is he? This guy with the department? Friend? Relative?”
    He gave me another odd look. I didn’t blame him. Come on. Relative? Ty was, like, over one hundred years old and a made vampire on top of that. Meaning, his relatives were more than likely six feet under. And made vamps weren’t known for forging deep, meaningful relationships. They plundered the earth and fed. End of story. At least according to my folks.
    His dark eyebrows drew together. “You didn’t hit your head during the arrest, did you?” Something strangely close to concern glimmered in his gaze and warmth curled in my tummy. Before I could reply (with so much warmth, I was a little tongue-tied), he shook his head. “What am I saying?”
    That maybe, just maybe he cared if I hit my head? That the thought made him positively crazy because he had intense feelings for me?
    Holy crap. This was it. The moment of reckoning. We’d kissed and flirted and I’d known all along that there was more to it. Sure, the situation was hopeless, but it was still a situation. We were Romeo and Juliet (with fangs, of course) all over again. I’d felt it. But he’d never said anything to confirm my feelings and prove that it wasn’t just my overactive imagination and desperately deprived hormones.
    But now, in the face of such danger, he couldn’t contain his true feelings a moment longer. Like, I know most vampires felt only hunger, greed, lust, inflated self-worth, and did I say hunger? But I wasn’t thinking about that right now. I was lost in a moment of happy and I wasn’t going to kill the mood with reality.
    My ears perked and my heart paused, and Ty opened his mouth.

“I want you.”
    “I need you.”
    “I can’t exist without you.”
    The possibilities echoed through my mind and I smiled.
    “I keep forgetting you’re a vampire.” His voice was deep and incredulous and not at all passionate.
    My smile widened. Okay, so it wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind, but it sent a rush of happy through me anyway.
    “You are,” he said. “I mean, you do have fangs.” He stared. “I think. So no concussion, right?”
    I nodded. Just a nasty, life-threatening incision that I wasn’t about to mention. Because if I actually told him, he would probably want to see it and I wasn’t subjecting myself to that . It was one thing to see concern glimmering in his eyes and quite another to have him inspecting my chest.
    Romeo and Juliet, I reminded myself. Aka doomed.
    “So what about the guy?” I asked again.
    “He’s a high-ranking official in the homicide unit. I’ve helped him close a few unsolved cases and he owes me a favor. He’s going to give me the details on this situation so we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with.” He stopped looking at me, thankfully, and reached for a