Free Sex in a Coffin (Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist) by Lynda Hilburn

knee twitched. I’d always had a fear of small spaces, and something about this situation gave me that same closed-in panicky feeling. He had done nothing obvious to make me afraid, but my entire body felt as if it was waiting for some other shoe to drop. He radiated danger. Almost raw power.
    “Would it be terribly inconvenient for us to meet now, since I am here?”
    That voice. Maybe he was a hypnotist and he knew how to use it to put people under. It was so soothing, I could stand there and listen to it all night.
    I felt myself sliding down that slippery slope again and rallied. I needed to get this guy out of my office before I made a complete fool of myself.
     If I’d known I was going to have a mental breakdown today, I’d have penciled it into my appointment book.
    “I was just leaving. It would be much better if we could schedule another time –”
    He reclaimed the step he’d given up and stated, as if the outcome was already a foregone conclusion, “I would appreciate very much the opportunity to speak with you about Midnight. I am concerned about her.”
    Through the cotton candy that had taken up residence in my brain, the voice in my head screamed NO! but my mouth said, “I guess I could give you a few minutes. Please come inside.”
    Please come inside? Hey, wait a minute – that isn’t what I meant to say. Where’d that come from?
    I backed away from the door, drawing it open so he could enter, leaving it ajar so he wouldn’t be encouraged to make himself too comfortable.
    I was about to invite him to sit down when I noticed he’d already seated himself in the chair I normally used. I realized he had no way of knowing that was “my” chair, but it still annoyed me.
    “Would you mind filling out a little paperwork for me?” Force of habit had me handing him a packet of papers on a clipboard.
    He took it. “My pleasure.”
    I sat across from him and studied him while he wrote. His hands were artistic-looking, with recently manicured nails trimmed close. He had very pale skin with a lovely translucent sheen to it, which gave him an ageless quality. It wasn’t often that I encountered someone with skin lighter than mine. His bone structure brought to mind the word chiseled . Perfect features. Almost too perfect.
    Midnight was right: his eyes were extraordinary. They were indeed aqua and beautifully shaped with long, dark eyelashes. I was surprised that his eyebrows and eyelashes were dark because his hair was so light, but the combination was very appealing.
    His thick, lovely hair flowed down over his shoulders to mid-chest. It looked soft and silky and very touchable. And his mouth... Studying his soft, full, generous lips caused a visceral reaction in me. I imagined the feel of them against mine.
    What the hell? Take a breath, Kismet. You’re in your office. This is a professional situation. Have you lost your mind? What you’re imagining is beyond inappropriate. Stop daydreaming about what you want to do to those lips and pay attention.
    As I raised my gaze from his mouth to his eyes, I found him watching me with an amused expression, apparently finished with the paperwork. Embarrassment warmed my face as I reached for the clipboard. For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off him long enough to even glance at the forms he’d filled out.
    Why am I acting so weird?
    I took a slow breath and struggled to regain control of myself. “What concerns you about Midnight?”
    “Before we speak of that, would you mind if I ask you a question?”
    “Well, you can ask. I can’t promise I’ll answer.”
    “Do you believe in vampires?”
    “What?” Surprise radiated up my spine and I stiffened in my chair. The buzzing in my ears got louder and I was suddenly very thirsty.
    He toyed with a beautiful antique medallion on a chain around his neck. “Do you believe what Midnight has been telling you?”
    Okay. Maybe he has a suggestion about how to help Midnight move beyond her vampire