page22 (1/2)

She nodded “Lord Charles resents the fact he’s been stalled as Region Master here, but the Council is snize a vampire that doesn’t need a more powerful position They feel like he’s contained here He and Ian became fast friends, because Ian is also ambitious and of course, Lord Charles is the ion I suspect Ian feels, when Lord Charles finally gets his coveted post back in Europe, that he ht recommend him to take over in his stead Unlike Charles, Ian has no problee fish in a small pond”

“So you think it’s Ian who sent the attack against you? I don’t understand Isn’t he the overlord? Why would you be a threat to him?”

“My mother was the overlord,” she reiterated “Ian was her consort A few o, my mother died She chose to meet the sun And no, I don’t want to talk about that,” she added, shifting her glance back out into the night “Vampire Council rules dictate that when a vampire dies, his or her property and position pass first to the oldest child, if there is one, reinforcing the i a born vao to whoever is willing to fight for it, and that of course would be Ian, who likely has his backside comfortably entrenched there”

“And there are no repercussions for hi to kill you?”

“Not exactly” She gave up on the coh the e of the ti with different styles, woven in ribbons she knew Dev would like

Let me do that

Surprised, she looked toward hi it, he’d spoken in her hts

While she could haveon a rock, so it made more sense for her to rise and settle between his knees with easy grace, though he gave her a hand to lower herself As she leaned against his leg, curling her fingers around his knee, she gave a snort

“You just couldn’t help that ie, could you?”

“Well, love, when a woo to certain things, no help for it”

“Hmmm” She returned his comb to him “Prove your usefulness, then, and I’ll overlook it”

“Here I was thinking I’d already done that,” he said

“That was then, this is now” She shrugged, but s to work it with the comb

“Where was I?”

“No one’s going to drag this Ian off for trying to cop you on the back roads”

“No, because it wasn’t entirely motivated by a desire to see me dead If it had ended up that way, he would have been fine with it

I don’tth and sexual attraction”

“Hold up” Tilting her head back, he gazed down at her, those green eyes reer you as to kill you?”

“When it comes to women, most men feel that way” Her lips curved “You’ve already had both thoughts And that’s in the short time since I’ve been able to read your ers against those fir herself to reain, waiting for him to start

Instead, he slid his hand along her jaw, coain, only to ainst her back, a different heat froers along her cheek,her nose, her jaw, close to where their lips were joined She got lost in it, a swirl of taste and scent

She’d thought it frustrating at first, having sohts, but in a sense, it was restful, too As if that stillness wrapped itself around her so she could let go, float in his mind, such that when he raised his head, she found herself in a si seemed to matter but this very moment