Bond of Darkness by Diane Whiteside Page B

froze, gritting his teeth. "Steve." His voice was barely-recognizable.
    "Please, Ethan, now!" She clawed his shoulders, instinctively drawing blood.
    He snarled, baring his fangs, sending joy and lust swirling through her veins.
    His control snapped completely. He took her fast and deep, slamming into her with the implacable fury of a summer thunderstorm.
    He bit her, his fangs tapping deep into her jugular. Blood flowed, fiery, rich, intoxicating, kicking her passion into overdrive. And orgasm slammed into her, knocking her into a world of spinning stars and black worlds where Ethan was the only shred of reality. Familiar and priceless, yet not completely hers.
    He poured his come into her, filling her core with its heat. Higher she went, still higher, consciousness spilling into and over Ethan until there was nothing left of either of them except pleasure shared.
    A cell phone's all-too-realistic impersonation of The Who jolted Steve from her doze. She groped blindly, coming up with a handful of sheet falling away from Ethan's strong hip.
    "Templeton."
    She rolled to listen in on the conversation. He was rapidly pulling on his clothes, silhouetted against the light from the living room.
    He froze, his belt halfway through his jeans' loops. "How long ago? Do we know if there was anybody with him?"
    Her skin prickled at his tone and she sat up, pushing her hair off her face. Her gun was in the other room, dammit. But why would she want to go into battle beside him? He might be a reliable confidential informant but that didn't make him one of the good guys.
    "Yes, start searching immediately. I'll be there right away."
    He hung up, holstering the fragment of plastic and electronics with the absentminded efficiency of someone completely at home with multiple weapons strung from a belt. His eyes met hers, remote and shadowed from more than the room's darkness. "I'm sorry but work calls. I have to go."
    Steve nodded and came to her feet, wondering yet again about his world. She knew he wouldn't harm her. But he'd also helped her more than once in a criminal investigation, displaying an appalling familiarity with the completely illegal. He always brushed off any questions about his friends, business dealings, or how he'd gained such expertise.
    How many vampiros like him were there, anyway? And how trustworthy were they?
    "If there's anything a Ranger understands, it's duty. I'll just head back to my room and get some sleep." She wrapped a polite mask over her face, the same one she used when she didn't want to answer questions from the public, and smiled. Drat it, she'd fallen into his grasp far too easily, yet again. "It's been great seeing you again."
    He caught her chin in his hand, his eyes narrowing. "Don't say good-bye too fast, Steve. You'll be the one calling me for a date."
    She bristled. She might be newly divorced and alone in town, without even a relative handy to make introductions. But she sure as hell wasn't desperate enough to crawl. "Like hell!"
    His eyes narrowed. "Because I'm the best sex you've ever had, Steve—and the best partner on the job."
    An instant later, his mouth came down on hers, all hard, assured persuasion.
    Why was he doing this? Why was he acting almost as if he wanted to stake a claim on her? He'd always been the love 'em and leave 'em type before.
    Worse, why was she just standing here, even though her body was rejoicing in every contact with him, even the rub over his jeans' rough denim? She shouldn't do this, not if she wanted to have a future with anybody else.
    Her hands came up to his shoulders to push him away.
    He slanted his head, catching her mouth at just the right angle. His hand slipped over her shoulders, stroking the small of her back.
    Dammit, she'd never been able to resist his kiss.
    Helplessly, she sighed and yielded, enjoying the heated dance of their tongues, of shared breath, of exploring the tastes and textures of each other's mouths.
    And the arrogant prediction that