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"I’m a Sentinel I can take care of myself" As firm as his voice was, it was softened by the warmth in his extraordinary eyes

"I won’t stay here if you won’t let e"

"You’re blackswith his jaw "I can detain you"

"And thenoff the face of the earth and you’ll have even s in a twist It was partly your idea to keep him in the loop Besides, I know you want to catch the ones responsible, and every day that passes, the trail grows colder I don’t know if you have the saot or not, but if not, we both know I can find thee, everyday artery to the in return"

"Oh?" She was instantly on alert The glimmer in his eyes was tootriuht into his hands

"Your reason for hunting--the so--I want to knoho it is"

"I was talking about a generalized ‘soelse, then"

"What?"

"This--"

He was kissing her before she could blink, having moved so fast it felt like she’d missed entire frames in a film reel

She was shocked into stillness He sealed his entleness was unexpected, considering the tightness hich he cupped her face in his hands His tongue slid along her bottom lip, then slipped inside The silken caress in her mouth made her shiver, then moan Adrian kissed with the leisure of alove, which was a luxury she’d never had ti human for a few stolenAnd this was only a kiss What the hell would he be like in bed?

Her toes curled Her hands caught his waistband, hanging on for the ride Behind her closed eyelids she absorbed the taste and scent of him, the feel of him so close She felt as if he’d found a way inside her She are of nothing else Just the feeling of hi smoke

Lindsay wrenched aith a curse "Were you just inside my head?"

"I needed to know if your past was a liability" Adrian licked his lips as if savoring the flavor of her

The pris to her insides, but she was too furious to be swayed by it "So you violated s I didn’t want to talk about?"

"Yes"

"Fuck you" Lindsay would’ve loved to walk away in a huff, but she was stuck by their location She wondered if he’d planned that all along

"I knoho you want," he said, "and I assure you, you’re going to needto needher to identify her acco hoas possible to feel violated and hopeful at the same time He’d seen the attack in her mind, seen that Aht black leather outfit "You didn’t recognize the two guys with her?"

"There are thousands of vamp males with spiky, crayon-hued hair like that Even body size and ethnic features aren’t rief as yours is" His wings flapped restlessly, as if her re the attack, you stopped seeing and started focusing on feeling That’s what resonates most in you--how it felt to watch yourfor your turn"

Which never came There hadn’t been a scratch on her when she broke away screae they’d inflicted had been entirelydrained of life Hearing the lurid taunts Feeling the pressure of claws against her flesh as she was being held down

"But you know the wo at all that could help her find the vaed her life

"Oh yes Vashti is unmistakable She’s second-in-command of the vampires"

"Second-in-co the show? And that’s not enough to wipe theh to wipe her out, and her accoriht The Fallen are the only vampires who aren’t photosensitive They can bestow te their blood, but either way, one--or more--of the Fallen is ulti that, it’s a wonder you survived They should have killed you, too, to protect their identity"

"I wasn’t enough of a threat, I guess Stupid move on their part" She blew out her breath in a rush As pissed off as she was at Adrian for picking her brain without her permission, she also wanted to kiss hi the mystery of that day She now had the "who"; she just needed the "why" Then she could kill the fuckers and close that chapter of her life "So, now that we’ve gotten the extortion portion of this discussion out of the way, I’ll be going with you"

"You will follow orders iesture of an X over her chest "Cross er "We need to head back"

Her body hu exhilaration She suspected that if he ever fleith her over longer distances, she just ot off on the vibrations of a Harley-Davidson Adrenaline had always made her hot Adrenaline coaze took hi over him from the top of his dark head down to his bare feetwhich weren’t quite touching the coarse ground

She was so screwed

CHAPTER 9