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She glanced back at the"You don’t know those guys?"

He stopped beside her and, avoiding the golden rays of sunshine that poured through the fil his arht

He sht I won’t burst into flaht kill vaht Ireater tolerance to it because of our advanced DNA, but younger ones like me are still vulnerable"

"Oh"

He studied the faces of as uards as he could see from this perspective "I believe I’ve seen one or two of these men before, but have never spoken with them"

"And yet they would die for you"

He nodded "It isn’t a one-way street They knoe risk our lives every night, hunting and destroying vao when Richart, Lisette, and I, along with the other i not vampires, but humans ould have killed or tortured every man you see out there" He drew back from the"Couldn’t you sleep?"

She shook her head "I always have trouble sleeping in a new place"

"And the past few hours have been difficult"

"Yes Sotrouble processing it all My s Like how Sean and I are going to explain the crater in the living room floor and the bullet holes Sheldon said riddled every wall to our landlord"

"Don’t worry about that We’ll take care of it We’re very good at cleaning up our messes" He touched her shoulder, the silky uided her toward the sofa "What you need right now is so so you can relax" She sat down at his urging, the V-neck of her shirt giving hie "And what I need is so to take ered the neckline "They really aren’t roaned and sank onto his haunches to exae flat-screen TV "Don’t put that ie in my head"

Krysta stared at his broad, muscled back and narroaist, bare and totally drool-worthy, as was his chest when he faced her "Tit for tat I lost my ability to concentrate as soon as I turned and saw you wearing nothing but those sweatpants"

Surely, he had heard her heart’s crazy antics

He laughed

She liked his laugh Smooth and deep

He chose a DVD and slipped it into the player Rising, he grabbed the remote and joined her on the sofa

And he didn’t leave any space between theainst hers as he draped his arinto his side "I’ht now" She smiled at the television Monk?

He nodded "It’s sic love, though His wife is dead"

"Don’tat the screen

"I don’t know Your brother seehtened "Yes, he does I didn’t see that cohed "I’lanced down at her "I didn’t see you co either"

Manic butterflies invaded her stolow returned to his eyes as he followed the htened with the hed She had been sure he was going to kiss her

"I thought I would be pushing my luck if I did," heher thoughts again

"I also thought you h Their sides were glued together and his ar with her hair

His lips twitched as he glanced at her froht you needed so the opposite, so this was an

"You didn’t say why you were up," she mentioned "Couldn’t you sleep?"

"No TooI’s"

"Ah"

A mo over a thought"

"What thought?"

"That, had I not arrived when I did last night, you likely would have died"

"At Duke?"

"Yes"

She didn’t refute it He was right Even had the , she couldn’t have defeated that many vampires on her own

"Doesn’t it bother you?" he asked