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Chapter One

What would the woman, Batya, taste like?

The question had many layers and burned like fire in Quinlan’s vampire mind

He leaned against a brick building and stared up at a wide plate glasson the other side of the street His pursuit of Batya Cole had taken him away from Grochaire Realm way too often, as well as his duties as e of a million realm souls and took his job seriously

Yet, here he was because he couldn’t seem to help himself Batya’s blood called to him, like no woman he’d ever known

His instincts warned him away from the ex-patriot who lived a bohemian artist’s life in the small US town of Lebanon, Tennessee But she’d been on his radar for weeks now and he wanted her in his bed

Nothing more

And literally nothing less

Once he set his sights on a goal, very little could move him

He could picture her lying on her back, hands gripping the wrought-iron head-board of her bed, the mass of her wavy-blond hair spread out on her pillows

He’d been through her gallery, her free clinic, her bedroo on her A couple of times in the process, he’d wondered at his obsession, only to realize the nature of his pursuit didn’t matter, only that he conquered his prey

He wanted to sink his fingers into her hair, lean close and sh to her once, trapping her in a corner of her gallery, to catch a fragrance that smelled wonderfully rich, like an exotic tropical flower He didn’t have a naue on her to find out every nuance of her deepest flavor

He’d been seducing her for the past hour with just his telepathy and of course hisvibration, a serious realm-ability he’d developed over the past seven-hundred-plus-years of his life He released another set of waves

How does that feel, Cha?

He heard her h the

Stop calling me that

His telepathy with Batya rang clear as a bell, one ether He’d be able to whisper her nah her ic

Hisvibration, the one that eht up and through the second story bedroomHe loved his s most other vampires couldn’t He could stand across the street and touch Batya loith just a thought and a vibrating streas

He added a jolt and heard her cry out He extended his hearing so he could savor every whimper

You should leave, Quinlan Stop tor me

Another jolt and again, she cried out He liked punishing her with pleasure That’s for telling me to leave For the fun of it, he added another intense stream

She sighed, purred, andher, like he did last tiet closer He wanted to watch this ti him And this time, he’d let her see what he had to offer

I want in, Batya Now You’ve kept h He increased the force of the vibration and she groaned heavily

This is a bad idea, Quinlan She panted while she pathed to him You know it is

I don’t care We’ll be good together