Free Dracula's Secret by Linda Mercury Page B

sharpened when he saw the people out cold.
    Those eyes made her clench her thighs. Arousal took her clit in its hard embrace.
    â€œYes?” he answered.
    Lucifer’s claws, the man’s voice rubbed up and down her skin like a supple tongue, rising gooseflesh under her breasts.
    â€œYou do heal fast,” she murmured approvingly. The possibilities of a fast-healing lover had her licking a fang behind her lips.
    â€œSeminary’s good for something.” He held out his hand. “Lance Soleil, Tualatin Mountain Homeless Shelter.”
    His arm stayed in the air as she studied his face. She had a bad track record in love. Could he survive her? Could she survive losing him?
    He didn’t waver or look disconcerted at her reluctance. Lance just waited, poised on the balls of his feet for whatever happened next. His body told her he’d take her down as comfortably as shake her hand.
    What the hell. Even unlife was too short for everything she wanted.
    â€œValerie Tate.” She stepped within his brilliant aura and clasped his hand with hers.
    His constantly moving glow kindled a long-dormant flame in her icy chest. It caressed her endlessly, exciting her even more than his smell. His calloused, firm hand wrapped her in warmth, enthralling her. To be a vampire meant to be cold and, despite the mythology, outside of society’s good graces. Warmth, once found, was not easily given up.
    â€œMy apologies.” She withdrew her wayward hand and put it in her pocket, away from trouble. “May I escort you home?”
    Lance’s eyebrows went up, but his face remained calm. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled on a pair of gloves. “Why?”
    Liquid heat slid down her breastbone to her center. Red leather creaked and flexed around long, clever-looking fingers. She shuddered at the thought of those digits in delicate places.
    This could be the worst idea of her existence.
    It could also be the best.

Chapter 15
    Her shudder opened a floodgate of heat to his penis. Testing her reactions, he smoothed the glove over his hand one more time, stroking slowly, teasingly. She wetted the bow of her top lip with her tongue, the tips of her fangs showing.
    Her gaze lifted to his face. Lance let the corner of his mouth lift when she touched the side of her breast. She teased him back as she slid her hand down her waist and finished at her hip.
    Satisfaction at her responsiveness poured into his veins and made his crotch twitch and swell. Danger excited him. How many respectable women had he dated before discovering it? Ironic how those poor ladies had thought a former military chaplain would be a safe, undemanding lover. He put his hand in his pocket, drawing attention to his arousal.
    Her nostrils flared and she flushed.
    With the extra color, her bearing transformed from rigid control to sensuality. He wanted to see her lying on his bed, her face relaxed, her tight body limp from overwhelming pleasure.
    Their gazes met. He could tell she read his intentions when she sucked in a breath.
    He had to have her. More than that, he needed her. Her darkness calmed the exhausting force that drove him.
    Lance ambled forward, his gaze locked on her lips. He clasped her hand, caressing his thumb over the thin skin of her wrist. Her eyes stayed on him as he wrapped his other hand around her neck and, pulling her to him, touched his lips to hers. Her mouth surprised him. Such a starkly beautiful woman shouldn’t be so soft and plush.
    For a few wild seconds, she stared into his eyes, seeming to assess his sincerity.
    Then, slowly, deliberately, she closed her eyelids. Her hands wrapped around his back and held on as she opened her mouth and let him in.
    He kissed her again and again, learning her mouth. Vampires didn’t taste of old blood or decay. Valerie, at least, tasted resinous and earthy, like rosemary. Like sex outdoors on a blanket under young redwood trees.
    Their lips separated just far