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A little too late for that

Suddenly the air collapsed She fell to her knees and cried out as rough asphalt bit into her skin She rose up and plucked grit out of the palain she looked up

Silence followed

An awful, deafening silence

She dropped into a protective crouch again, hunching as near to her Nova as she could get So bad, really bad, was about to happen

She heard a fluttering, which got louder in increht for her Not an object, ato fall hard

She turned away from the sudden crunch of metal as Kerrick landed on the hood of her car At nearly the sa sounded onto the asphalt in front of the vehicle

The airwaves stopped pulsing

Silence followed No breeze, no voices, nothing Even the chill had disappeared

She rose up to look at his locked in place

Surely he was dead

Tears stung her eyes

She blinked several tirip At least see if he’s still alive

She rounded the front of the car and looked down at him He wore his black leather kilt with a harness belted around his waist and covering his chest, shoulders, and back His arms were muscled and corded just as she remembered He’d held her in his arms like she’d been a feather

He lay in a depression in theoff the side of the car at an aard angle Part of his long thick wavy black hair fanned over his face; the other part was held back by some kind of leather clasp She wanted to push the strands off his cheek to look at hi so far Her heart constricted She really didn’t like the idea at all that Kerrick ht be dead

Oh, God Please don’t let it be true

So rattled on the asphalt behind her She turned around His sword vibrated against the asphalt

She bent down to pick it up

"Don’t touch the sword"

She gasped as she rose, turning to stare at Kerrick Through the thick strands she caught sight of a glistening eye then he blinked at her

"Don’t touch it," he said, more quietly this time His deep voice drove into her chest, wrapped a couple of tiht "You’ll die"

"Kerrick?" she asked, wanting to make certain she had not mistaken his identity

"So you remember me"

"Yes"

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes"

The eye closed Coh her head, then his body went li moment This really was Kerrick, her warrior-vampire from the medical coiven her a warning about the sword, spoken tender words over her mind, then dropped dead on the hood of her car?

She settled two fingers on his neck

Thank God His pulse beat steady and strong She pushed the hair away from his face How had he survived such a terrible fall? She placed her hand on his cheek

"You are so beautiful," she whispered A new ache settled deep in her chest

Come to me

Could he really speak to her while unconscious?

I’h

She felt dizzy, her legs weak beneath her How had they both ended up in the sa on destiny, but given the evidence in front of her she could almost believe

She stepped forward and couldn’t resist pushing his upper lip back And there they were, lengthened incisors She touched the left one at the tip but apparently pressed too hard Blood pooled instantly and dripped against his lips

He er yet didn’t awaken The feel of his er, desire sank low My God, even unconscious this man-vampire-warrior had the power to undo her

He was as she remembered him, unutterably handsome, even , his lips full and sensual She felt drawn to him like sun to the desert The smell of him struck her nostrils and buckled her knees

She leaned close and drew in a deep breath His fah leathery musk The combination caused her internal muscles to clench and shivers to fly down her neck and back She wanted to touch him … everywhere