Free Blood Wild: Paranormal MMF Menage Romance (Wolves on the Prowl Book 3) by Michele Bardsley Page A

nodded.
    “Why aren’t you in New Orleans?” she asked. “Usually the hunters descend there right now because the pickings are so good.”
    He stared at her, his lips pressed together. Out on the beach, his suit and those shiny black shoes seemed out of place. Adrianna wanted to rip off those staid clothes and see what yummy surprise was hidden under them. He was a boxer man, she was sure.
    “Come on.” She left her high heels and walked barefoot toward the ocean. Gentle waves kissed the shore. Their foamed edges looked like lace edging on black chiffon.
    Adrianna sat down, uncaring about how her flirty gold dress might fare against the beach grit, and stretched out her legs. Once again, the breeze toyed with the strands of her hair. It was an unremarkable shade of brown, a rather un-sexy color for a vampire.
    Cav sat next to her, his gaze on the undulating dark water.
    “When I was human, I lived on a small farm in France with my family,” said Adrianna. “That was nearly two hundred and fifty years ago.”
    “You don’t look a day over eighteen.”
    “Ah. So you know how old I was when I was changed.” Adrianna wondered how much more he knew about her. “It gets easy to justify murder when your main source of food is people. I was only forty-seven in vampire years when I decided to never hunt humans again.”
    “You almost sound sincere.”
    Adrianna glanced at him and saw him staring at her hungrily. What are you thinking, mon amour? Too bad his psychic shield was so good. “We cannot live without blood,” she said. “But we can live without the hunt. When you can look a human in the eyes and see his terror, hear him beg for his life, and still rip out his throat, then you are a monster.”
    “Your queen says that vampires are the lions of the human world. Lions don’t worry about the feelings of zebras when they kill them.”
    “She is not my queen,” said Adrianna. “Animals live by their instincts. They do what they have been genetically programmed to do. Vampires don’t have that excuse.” Adrianna drew up her legs and wiggled her toes into the sand. “Many vampires live successfully, without hunting or killing, in the world of humans.”
    “Like you?”
    “Of course.”
    She felt the heat of his gaze, but she waited a long moment before turning to meet it. The lust flickering in those dazzling green eyes caused her pussy to clench. Oh, you are so yummy . She licked her lips, held his stare for another heartbeat, and then turned away.
    “What are you waiting for?” he demanded raggedly. “I know you want to sink your fangs into my neck.” His breathing was uneven. Her ears picked up the increased beat of his heart. She might not be able to read his thoughts, but she could practically feel his fear, his excitement.
    “I’ve already had dinner, thanks. The blood bank served a terrific AB entrée with a lovely O for dessert.”
    “Great. I get the one vampire who still has a soul.” He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. He re-directed his gaze toward the ocean. “I found you in Chicago last month.”
    The bombshell was dropped casually, with the intention of rattling her.
    “You were the one tracking me?” she asked pleasantly. Outwardly she showed no signs of distress, but inwardly, she cursed her complacency. Because she rarely fed directly from humans and never killed them, she was almost always off the radar of hunters. How had this one found her? And why?
    His mind was blank, as immovable as a mountain. If she wanted answers, she would have to ask direct questions. Damn it.
    Ignoring his verbal bait, Adrianna allowed herself the luxury of thinking, of waiting. She had accumulated enough wealth to do anything she pleased. She often visited Chicago because she enjoyed the city so much. Apparently, she was not as random about her movements as she’d thought. She’d sensed someone watching her, following her, but never managed to figure out his identity. Now, she knew