Free Immortal by V.K. Forrest

thinking the same thing. Fin knew what kind of man would do something like this, and the thought of such a creature in his own town again made him sick to his stomach. He knew this man; every man and woman in the sept knew him because they had vowed to God to rid the earth of his kind. Colin’s murder wasn’t the result of a drunken bar fight or an argument over a girl. Fin knew from experience that only one kind of human killed another human and left him posed. A man who would kill again. And again. And would continue to kill until someone stopped him. But that only applied to humans, didn’t it? Could a vampire be a serial killer?
    “Shouldn’t you be in bed, Officer?”
    The female voice startled Fin so badly that he whipped around, rising off the bench.
    It was Elena. He’d never even heard her approach.
    He glanced up the boardwalk and down. It was devoid of human or spirit, and eerily quiet. Where the hell had she come from? How had he been so engrossed in his thoughts that he’d allowed a human to approach without being aware of her? It wasn’t like him and it was dangerous.
    It took him a second to find his voice, but she didn’t seem to notice. She sat down on the bench. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt with CLARE POINT BEACH printed across it in bold graphics. And she was barefoot. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t heard her. But he should have sensed her approach even if he didn’t hear it.
    “What…you shouldn’t be out here this time of night. Alone,” he said, sitting down again.
    “I couldn’t sleep.” She drew her knees up and rested her feet on the wooden slats of the bench. “I didn’t want to wake anyone in the house with my prowling.”
    She sat close enough that her sleeve brushed his bare arm. He could feel the heat of her body in the cool night air. Suddenly he felt chilled and was drawn to her. “I know you know what happened here last night. You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
    “I’m not afraid,” she said softly, her voice reflecting some tragedy that made her bold or stupid, though which he wasn’t sure.
    “It’s not about being afraid, it’s about being smart.”
    “You’re here. What makes you safe?”
    The fact that I’m not human , he thought. He didn’t say it, of course.
    “Because you’re the law?” Her voice was teasing now. “Or are you—how do you Americans say—packing heat?” She slipped her arm around his waist and felt for a weapon. In the process, she moved closer, pressing her body against his.
    He turned to her to answer and found himself looking into wide, deep, dark eyes. Her full lips were pursed, moist, and begging to be kissed.
    Fin knew he shouldn’t, but the pull was as strong as that of the moon on the earth’s tides. Suddenly he was desperate for her warmth. Literally and figuratively.
    Just one kiss , he told himself as he leaned toward her. To satisfy his curiosity.
    As his lips met hers, she sighed, her breath mingling with his. Her lips were soft and pliable, the scent of her perfume utterly intoxicating.
    Fin couldn’t stop at one. His first kiss tested the waters. On the second, he waded in. She tasted as good as she smelled and his fingertips found her slender neck as he deepened the kiss.
    This time she moaned, first rising on her knees on the bench, then climbing into his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and curled her body around his. He kissed the side of her mouth, trying to catch his breath. His lips, of their own accord, slid downward, over her jawline to the slender length of her neck.
    He felt the prickle of gooseflesh rise on sweet-scented skin and she stretched like a cat, baring more. Her pulse beat against his lips, throbbing with life and that which gave him life.
    Fin was breathing hard. Harder than he should have been after a couple of relatively innocent kisses. He was rock solid beneath his gym shorts and straining against the fabric. She couldn’t have not known, not the way her