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Jaradually filling his lungs and coaxing him away from the heavenly arms that held him in his dream When he was half-awake, at just about the point where he&039;d decided he&039;d rather not wake up, he realized those arelica&039;s And those were her lips, and her softin his ry that he couldn&039;t control his mind while he slept He wouldn&039;t dream of her that way if he had a choice in theto wake to the harsh realization that she would never whisper the things to him in the realm of reality, that she did in the dreaainst the cool stone wall And he&039;d fallen asleep with Angelica close beside him But as he wrestled himself more fully awake and turned to look at her, just to assure himself she wasn&039;t truly as beautiful as his dreah he knew full well she was-he didn&039;t find her there
She was gone A tiny trill of alar the sleep haze from his eyes
"Good, you&039;re awake," Roland said "We need to get an early start if we&039;re going to catch up to the in White Plains" The others were up as well, Rhiannon brushing her long hair Ta sleepily in Eric&039;s arms
"Not we," Ja up straighter, but he cut her off
"No, Ta your lives for me anyreater now They&039;ll be furious that we escaped, and aze kept darting toward the cave&039;s entrance, but no sign of Angelica appeared there
"Worried about her?" Rhiannon asked
Jameson snapped his head around, met her mischievous black eyes "Where is she?"
"She went out to scout the area Said she wanted to be sure it was safe for us to ee"
"She shouldn&039;t be out there alone," Jameson said, and he started toward the entrance
"Just what is going on between the two of you?" Ta there was considerably more between them than there was
"Don&039;t start, Taelica andbut a baby," she countered
"Oh, there&039;sher brows "There&039;s passion The air practically crackles with it when they&039;re close And the way they look at each other" She sirl, Jameson"
"Rhiannon," Roland warned, but she only sht back to Ja it stated aloud like that made him feel more miserable than ever "Of course I don&039;t love her," he snapped He&039;d be a damned fool if he did, wouldn&039;t he? Since he knew perfectly well she felt nothing for hi for the woht his head around Angelica&039;s eyes met his, but she quickly looked away There was no doubt in his mind she&039;d heard what he&039;d said And for soaze Ridiculous
"I don&039;t see any DPIin the trees," she said softly A little too softly, in fact "I think it&039;s safe to venture out"
"Next time wait for me," Ja with rebellion "That&039;s right I&039;ive ht Foolish of s, wasn&039;t it?"
"That&039;s not what I elica!" But she&039;d turned and hurried out of the cave again, leaving hiry
"Well done," Rhiannon said, clapping hied free of her touch and hurried out of the cave, stepping gratefully into the bracing coolness of the night A chill autu a shiver The ht, obliterated by dark clouds that filled the entire sky And the wind hs He didn&039;t see her at first And then he spotted her, standing with her back to the cave, staring off into the forest Her hair danced in the wind, long satiny fingers waving, crooking As if to draw an unwary traveler close As if to draw hi his spine, he went to join her there, knowing full well he was letting himself fall victim to her silent allure But then, that hat he&039;d been doing all along, wasn&039;t it? Hell, he&039;d never been a man who found it easy to ad very close But she didn&039;t acknowledge his presence Didn&039;t even look at him It was a revelation, to knoohly A new experience for him
"I didn&039;tout alone could be dangerous I was concerned for your safety That&039;s all" And as he spoke he stepped up beside her Still not touching her, though everything in hilance, but quickly returned to her contemplation of the forest "Well I appreciate your concern, Vampire, but it&039;s unwarranted Youquite adept at taking care of myself"
"I have noticed," he said He scanned the surrounding trees, hoping to see what she found so interesting
Seeing nothing unusual, he concluded she simply didn&039;t want to look at him
"I must have seemed like a pathetic wretch of a va "I&039;ve no idea why it took ain But I assure you, Jameson, when I was ht you eak"
She turned to hi him fully for the first time "But I&039;m still your prisoner Tell me, Vampire, do you really think it is still hter and take her ahere you&039;ll never find her?"
Her eyes were a pale lilac color in the centers, deepening to dark purple at the edges, glittering everywhere "I don&039;t know," he said, unable to look away "Is it?" She blew air through clenched teeth, an exasperated sound, and turned away "If it was, then ould I have come back for you? I could have left you there to die, and had hter all to myself when I found her"
"If you found her," he said "As you pointed out, you&039;ll have a far greater chance of getting her back with my help"
"And you believe that&039;s the only reason I ca nor denying it
"What else would you have ainst a sticky pine, folded his arms across his chest, and eyed her She didn&039;t care for him Detested hiusted her It hurt far elica, but I can&039;t believe you risked your pretty neck just for the chance to have ant," he told her "It runs both ways You know that" He reached out, stroked the slender coluers Maybehe just needed to make sure Glutton for punishment, wasn&039;t he? She slapped his hand away, but not before he&039;d felt the gentle shudder that worked through her Yes, she still wanted him And yes, she was still repulsed by it He had his answer
"Co, lovebirds," Rhiannon called with barely concealed laughter in her voice Jameson felt certain she&039;d witnessed that little slap And it angered hi" He leaned in close to Angelica, and even before he spoke he knew that wounded pride was a dangerous thing "It doesn&039;t el? We both know you crave it"
"Reain and I&039;ll tear the fingers fro words, she turned to join the others as they hiked through the forest
No DPI forces surrounded the abandoned house where they&039;d left the car So once again they all piled inside and started south Their destination was DPI headquarters in White Plains They knew that here the bastards would have taken Aet the child back
And once she was out of harm&039;s way, he&039;d return there To make the world a safe place for her
They&039;d only traveled a bit h, when they spotted a DPI van, and then several other cars with the fa the roadside, practically lining the tiny village of Petersville Men in suits were knocking on doors, talking to people
"What the hell is this?" Jameson whispered, as he slowed to a crawl, and drove carefully along the town&039;s main street
"Either they&039;ve decided to sell cos a house-to-house search"
"For us?" Angelica asked, eyes widening
"No" Rhiannon&039;s comment drew all eyes, except for Ja between the road and the men who had apparently invaded the town "We&039;ve never e in a mortal household," Rhiannon went on "What earthly reason would they have to think we&039;d start now?" Jaelica drew a treuard wasn&039;t lying when he said she&039;d disappeared," Roland offered
"But that&039;s impossible Who would take her? And why, for God&039;s sake?" Angelica&039;s voice rose an octave, and Jameson knew panic when he heard it "What kind of person would steal a baby fro a tire? What kind of sick, twisted person would-&039;"
"Angel" Jameson put his hand over hers, closed his around it, felt it treer and frustration with the woman when he saw her upset "Don&039;t think the worst We don&039;t even know that&039;s what this is They , Ja on here in short order," Eric said So Ja hielica&039;s hand Before they got to the edge of town, though, he could see the roadblock set up farther along the road A battered pickup truck ahead of him was stopped and then searched, its driver questioned
Jameson looked around for another way out of town, but saw none Stopping in thea U-turn would likely get theentle pressure, and when he looked at Angelica, she was nodding toward an oversize, e of town It stood atop a s up to it, and seeelica said "It looks e here"
"And what if it&039;s not empty?" Why was it, he wondered, that he felt co she said?
"Look, those scaffolds on the far side And the roof It&039;s only partly shingled"
"She&039;s right," Eric put in "The place is still under construction Pull in, Jameson, we don&039;t have reement, Jameson turned the car into the driveway, drove all the way to the house and then cut the engine They sat silently at the cabin&039;s feet, an elevated redwood deck stretching out above them
"It&039;s a beautiful house," Tamara said
"It&039;s nearly all s," Rhiannon returned "Foolish o inside" Angelica sent a worried glance at the cars still blocking the road just south of town "It will look suspicious if we just sit here"
"If we go all at once, and they see us" Ja with her yet again
"It&039;s dark, Jameson," Rhiannon pointed out "The moon is covered by clouds They can barely see their own noses, let alone count heads fro beside one of the rear doors she opened it and got out Roland and Taer side in the front, extending a hand to Angelica Always the gentleot out as well They trooped around the deck to the broad steps, h sliding glass doors They&039;d been locked, but mortals had yet to develop a lock that could keep a vampire out
Inside they were lea and a sofa, love seat and chairs that resembled fat brown teddy bears
"This place is fabulous," Ta see is finished? What I wouldn&039;t give for a hot bath about now" Ja" Tamara lifted her head, and eyebrows at the sao on, Ja the road"
"You know damned well you can," he told her "You just take to the woods, and skirt around them
Borrow another vehicle south of town and continue from there" Roland tilted his head to one side Eric crooked a brow "What about you?"