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"You won’t let go of me We almost burned up in a fire Lexi is out there alone and now Zach is, too So this way, but apparently it’s too horrible to even speak of Please tell me you did not just tell me not to worry"

He was in trouble He could hear it in her tone--the anger, the fear What bothered him wasn’t that she was afraid so much as the fact that he really didn’t want her to be afraid He should have been able to distance hih to keep her safe without all this emotional involvement If he couldn’t keep a clear head, she’d be a lot ht have lured the otten them all They were like cockroaches There were alwaysa deep breath, "I know all of this is bizarre to you, but I need you to trust me"

Helen looked at hi-lost half uncle "Trust you? You’ve got to be kidding"

"No I’ on here and there’s no tio, trustup her free hand "We’re done here I’ the police"

Helen headed toward the kitchen and he trailed behind, keeping his grip solid She could call the National Guard for all he cared It wasn’t going to change anything He wasn’t letting her go "It would be better if you didn’t try to get them involved," he told her

"Better for you, hts and took a step toward the phone, but Drake just stood his ground She got to the end of the tether he’d o She stu expected him to continue to follow her

"Ouch!" She rubbed her shoulder

Her pain was the last straw He wasn’t going to let it happen again Drake collected her body and pressed it up against the kitchen wall so she had no choice but to pay attention They had soood a time as any

Chapter 3

Helen couldn’t breathe Not because Drake’s body was so tight against hers that she couldn’t pull in a breath, but because he was so tight against hers she could feel his heat sinking into her through their clothing, along with soe wriggling strea her head spin and her eyes drift shut

It felt good and that scared the hell out of her

Trust enius, but she knew better than to fall for that one The only probleh her , her body wasn’t Whatever it was he was doing to her was shorting out her syste this close to hiave her shivers and she just wanted to sink into him until she was in over her head Way over

This couldn’t be good for her Whoever he was, he wasn’t nor to watch her die, for heaven’s sake How could she be falling for this kind of seduction?

Helen forced her eyes open and instantly wished she hadn’t He was staring down at herher As soon as she saw the thought cross his face, she was doing a little thinking in that direction as well Okay,him sounded lovely

Above them, a clock ticked off the seconds and he didn’t move Didn’t so much as flinch He just stared at hershe was going to say or do--but for the life of her, she couldn’t reer The only thing that seemed to hold any iet hiive her enough space to go up on her tiptoes and reach histhe first h to suit her

His eye twitched; then his jaw tightened and his warain "We are not going to do this," he said, though he sounded like he was trying to convince hi disappointed and out of breath

"No, you’re not," said a low, cultured voice Someone new "At least not until we knowsucks, Logan," said Drake His body shifted away fro Helen space to draw in a deep breath It didn’t help Her head was still spinning and she was still thinking about how Drake’s ainst hers She hadn’t been kissed in a long ti for her tastes, and he had a nice mouth Firm and ith just the tiniest hint of softness

"Drake, would you care to introduce me to your friend?" asked the newhis eyes off her, "but I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?"

"From what I’m told, no You don’t"

Drake backed up a half step, but didn’t go any farther His thu her as if he had the right to do so And she didn’t want him to stop She didn’t even care that they had an audience, which should have been its own giant warning bell

She heard the ed to pull herself away froorgeous Drop-dead, perfueous He was taller than Drake by a couple of inches, only thinner, alood His facial features were so perfect, so syically altered No one was that pretty without a lot of help He had thick black hair that fell just over the open collar of his shirt A silky wave draped artfully across his forehead, barely shielding one silvery blue eye His skin was pale and flawless,him look inhuman in his perfection

Helen wished she was half that pretty

"Well, hell," muttered Drake "Do you do that to all the human wo off their clothes by now She’s beginning to hurtor a giant scar or so"

"Yeah," said the ht to work on that"

Helen had to blink a couple of ti and felt her face ith embarrassment There was nowhere to look that wasn’t filled with either man pretty orat the kitchen floor

"Helen, this is Logan," said Drake "He’s here to help"