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Solust a secret As far as Roman could tell, the lovely dentist in his lap had finally realized the futility of escaping his erection Each ti a little space between her head and his crotch, he rose to the challenge and filled the gap

He was a bit amazed himself He hadn&039;t experienced this much desire in ainst hiainst his zipper Her s as if nothing was going on But the blush on her cheeks and the occasional shudder that rippled down her warm body told him otherwise She was extremely aware of him And she kneanted her

Roman didn&039;t have to read her mind to know this He could read her body instead The distinction was new to hiher degree

"Ro "I hate to sound like a nagging kid, but are we there yet?"

He glanced out the"We&039;re at Central Park We&039;re almost there"

"Oh Uh, do you live alone?"

"No There are a number of people who live there And I have security teaht You&039;ll be safe"

"Why do you have so much security?"

He continued to look out the"To feel secure"

"From what?"

"You don&039;t want to know"

"Oh, that&039;s informative," she muttered

Roman couldn&039;t help but s to seduce him to ever show displeasure with hih he did hope her irritation wouldn&039;t lead to another knee in the groin Soed to exist for a total of five hundred and forty-four years without experiencing that particular forht for the heart

Though to be honest, Shanna was assaulting his heart The dried-up husk in his chest was beating to an ancient, primeval drum Possess and protect He wanted this woman And he wouldn&039;t allow his old enemy to have her or harm her

But it went much further than that He wanted to knohy he couldn&039;t control her She was a challenge that iven his current condition, he found her physically irresistible, too

"Here we are, sir" Laszlo slowed to a stop, double-parking next to one of Ro Shanna&039;s head a fraction, he slid out from under her She started to sit up "No Stay down until I h of frustration "Okay"

Roman climbed out and closed the door while Laszlo did the same He motioned for the chemist to follow him a few yards from the car "You did well, Laszlo Thank you"

"You&039;re welcoo back to the lab now?"

"Not yet First, I want to you to go inside and warn everyone that we have a uest We need to protect her, but at the same time, she must not discover e really are"

"May I ask e&039;re doing this, sir?"

Ron of the Russians "You&039;ve heard of the Russian coven master, Ivan Petrovsky?"

"Oh God" Laszlo clutched at one of the two re buttons on his lab coat "They say he&039;s vicious and ruthless"

"Yes And for some reason, he wants to kill the dentist But I need her, too So we have to keep her safe without Petrovsky figuring out that we&039;re the ones interfering with his plans"

"Oh dear" Laszlo twirled the button furiously "He would be so angry He he ht declare war on us"

"Exactly But there&039;s no reason for Shanna to know about that We&039;ll keep her as ignorant as possible"

"Thatin your house"

"I know, but we have to try And if she finds out too much, I&039;ll erase her memory" As CEO of ato remain invisible in the mortal world Mind control and memory wipes made the task much easier Unfortunately, he wasn&039;t sure he could erase Shanna&039;s memory

He climbed the front steps to his townhouse and punched in a security code on the keypad by the door "Explain things as quickly as possible"

"Yes, sir" Laszlo swung open the door and was greeted by a long dagger ai into Ro down the stairs

"Begging yer pardon, sir" Connor slid his Highland dirk back into the sheath hanging fro you at the front door"

"I&039;ilant" Rouest Laszlo will explain"

Laszlo nodded, his fingers fuain for a button on his lab coat Connor shut the door

Roman hurried down the steps to the Honda He yanked the back door open to find Shanna pointing her Beretta at hih of relief and dropped her gun back into her purse "You were gone so long I was beginning to think I&039;d been abandoned"

"You&039;re under my protection now I&039;ll keep you safe" He ser want to shoot n in any relationship"

Roh God&039;s blood, how long had it been since his last laugh? He couldn&039;t even re his sht a spark of life back into his godforsaken, endless existence

Still, he should fight this compulsion to be with her After all, he was a de her as lunch,craving her blood, not her company But he did want her co for the next words to come out herAnd his body aiting anxiously for the next accidental touch Hell, accidental wasn&039;t enough

"I probably shouldn&039;t trust you But for some reason, I do" She climbed out of the car, and instantly his entire body wakened to her proxi a hand to touch her cheek "You shouldn&039;t trust ht you said I was safe"

"There are different kinds of danger" He ski her jaw

She stepped back, but not before he felt a shiver run through her She turned toward his townhouse, shifting her purse to her shoulder "So, this is where you live? It&039;s very nice In fact, it&039;s quite lovely Great neighborhood"

"Thank you"

"Which floor are you on?" She rushed her words, apparently trying to pretend there was nothing going on, that the air between the with sexual awareness Maybe she didn&039;t feel it Maybe it was just him

"Which floor would you like?"

She glanced his way, then her gaze locked with his Her chin lifted slightly, herit She sounded breathless "What do you mean?"

He stepped toward her "They&039;re all mine"

She retreated a step "The entire townhouse?"

"Yes And I will provide you with a neardrobe"

"What? Wait" She broke froaze and squeezed between two cars to step onto the sidewalk "I&039; to be your kept woladly pay for room and board"

"Your clothes are in your hoo back there I will provide you with clothing"¡ªhe stepped onto the sidewalk beside her¡ª"unless you&039;d rather go without"

She gulped "A few clothes will be fine I&039;ll reimburse you for them"

"I don&039;t want your et anything else!"

"Not even a little gratitude for saving your life?"

"I alared at him "But you can expect all my thank-yous to be extended in a vertical position"

"In that case, let ht now"

"I suppose so" Her glare dissolved into a look of wary speculation

He h that only a fraction separated his chest from her breasts He placed a hand on the small of her back, just in case she tried to step back She didn&039;t try

He touched her cheek, so soft and warm She took a deep breath and closed her eyes He skiers down to her neck Her pulse throbbed, quickening its pace When she opened her eyes, there was trust in theainst his chest and brushed his lips across her temple into her soft hair He&039;d seen her shocked expression earlier when his eyes had turned red, so just to be safe, he wanted to avoid eye contact until her eyes were fir for their first kiss

He smoothed her hair back to expose her neck, then slid hispulse

With a sigh, she tilted her head back He inhaled her scent, Type A Positive It was coursing through every cell in her body He ran the tip of his tongue along the artery and felt her shudder in response He risked a look at her face Her eyes were closed She was ready He ht suddenly fell on theer," a Scots accent rolled the final r Connor had swung open the front door

Shanna jumped, then stared at the doorway

"What&039;s wrong?" Laszlo asked "Uh, ori&039;s voice piped in "I want to watch"

Shanna eased back, blushing

Rolared at the three , Connor"

"Aye, sir" Connor&039;s cohter than his red hair "We&039;re ready for you now"

Maybe it was good tiured his iven Shanna&039;s fear of the stuff, the kiss could have been a disaster He&039;d have to be more careful in the future

Future? What future could there be? He&039;d sworn never to involve hiured out who he really was, they invariably wanted to kill him And who could blame them? He was a demonic creature "Come" He took her by the elbow to escort her up the stairs

She didn&039;t budge She was frozen in place, staring at the door

"Shanna?"

She was staring at Connor "Ro a kilt"

"There are a dozen Highlanders in the house They&039;re " She proceeded up the stairs without hi his way

Daotten their embrace already?

"Welcome, ori h she appeared oblivious to their presence

S, she faced the Scotsman "My lady? I&039;ve never been called that before It sounds alood reason Connor&039;s Old World charm was really old Roman rushed up the stairs "He&039;s a bit behind the times"

"Well, I like it" She scanned the entry hall with its polishedstaircase "And I love this house Absolutely beautiful"

"Thank you" Roman locked the door and made introductions

Shanna turned her attention back to Connor "I love your kilt Which plaid is that?"

"&039;Tis the tartan of the clan Buchanan" He bowed slightly

"And the little tassels on your socks¡ªthey match your kilt That&039;s so cute"