In the Witching Hour Read online

  “I rescued him from being beaten to a pulp by a gang of thugs,” he said. “If you want to know more you’ll have to ask Frazier about it, but I’m warning you, he rarely talks about it.”

  “That time he was nearly killed five years ago?” she began. “You saved him?”

  He nodded. Obviously Frazier had omitted a few pertinent details from the story. Namely that he’d been saved by a vampire.

  She studied him for a long moment. Then she reached to take a drink of tea and the sheet slipped a little lower, offering him a tantalizing glimpse of her breasts.

  Her indignant response was an act. He could tell by the heady scent of her pheromones that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. But she had no way of knowing what she was getting into, he realized. Her blood sang to him, tempting him with each beat of her heart.

  Adrian averted his gaze and stood up. He didn’t want her to think he was some lecher taking advantage of the situation, and he didn’t want to be tempted. It made him crave things he had no right to want. “Let me find you something to wear.”

  The last thing she should be doing was drinking Scotch in a strange man’s apartment, Kiana thought, especially a man who had all but admitted to illegal doings.

  She took another sip, letting the drink’s warmth spread out through her body, chasing the chill away. Maybe it wasn’t just the drink that warmed her, she thought. Here she was in the home of the enigmatic Adrian. She couldn’t help being intrigued. For months she’d wanted a closer glimpse of him.

  Adrian. In the months that she’d known of his existence, she’d given him many names. None of them had even been close. She wondered why he’d trusted her with his real one.

  Something was happening between them. She felt an attraction to him that she’d never experienced before. Her social worker boyfriend had been a safe and ultimately bland guy. In contrast, Adrian tempted her with life on the edge. She’d never considered herself a risk taker, but for some reason Frazier’s informant had her considering all kinds of things that bordered on the unethical.

  He knelt before a wicker set of drawers, rummaging around looking for something for her to wear. She studied the broad set of his shoulders. His wet clothes clung to every muscle in his back and the damp denim did nothing to hide his sculpted thighs and a backside any woman would swoon over. His blond hair had escaped the ponytail he’d worn it in earlier and now hung in damp tendrils down his back. He’d either kicked off his shoes or lost them she noted as he stood up and walked barefoot toward her carrying a worn t-shirt.

  “Here,” he said putting it down beside her on the bed. “This will be way too big, but it’ll cover you up at least.”

  Holding the sheets with one hand, she reached for it. “Your clothes are soaked.”

  “Yes,” he agreed looking down. Apparently neither the dampness nor the chill bothered him much. “I should probably get changed.”

  Snatching another pair of jeans from the wicker bureau, he wandered off in the direction of an alcove she guessed contained the bathroom. A second later, she heard water running. Kiana took advantage of his absence to slip the t-shirt over her head. It fell almost to her knees.

  Finishing her tea, she took the empty cup to the ancient-looking tub sink on the far side of the loft. She rinsed her cup and put it on the counter. Casting a glance behind her at the bathroom, she heard the water still running. Satisfied Adrian was safely occupied, she opened the cupboard above the sink and glanced inside. A stack of four plates and four matching mugs sat in a dusty heap inside. Beside them she found tin of tea and a jar of instant coffee. The only appliances on the counter were a kettle and a microwave. He didn’t seem to own a refrigerator. Kiana sighed. “Sure doesn’t eat in much.”

  Adrian emerged a moment later wearing only a pair of black jeans. Kiana sucked in her breath and resisted the urge to whistle. His chest rippled with muscle. Bare and smooth, his pale skin contrasted sharply with the black denim. An intriguing line of blond hair ran from his belly button, disappearing below the waist of his pants. He looked like a statue carved from alabaster. With those mesmerizing green eyes, he pinned her against the counter.

  I’m a detective, she thought, forcing her legs to carry her away from the counter, from the obvious snooping she’d been doing. I shouldn’t allow him to affect me this way. But whatever spell he’d worked on her, it was a potent one.

  “I put my cup in the sink,” she blurted aloud.

  He smiled. And for the first time she noticed he had unusually pointed eyeteeth. “I trust you didn’t find anything unusual in my kitchen, detective?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t think there would be,” she lied.

  “No?” he asked, seemingly amused. He stood terribly close to her, his body warm from the shower. Tantalizing images of the two of them entwined in his four-poster bed shot through her mind. She pictured his hard body pressed against her while she explored each one of those tempting muscles first hand.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, looking every bit like a wolf that might just eat her up. She shook her head. “Do you want to use the shower? It might warm you up.”

  Thoughts of them standing under the steaming spray, her hands tangled in his blond hair, his mouth on her breast seared her imagination. She gave another shake of her head, afraid if she opened her mouth, she’d say something she’d regret. “I’m fine,” she insisted when she found her voice.

  “Good,” he said moving closer still. “I was worried about you.”

  She had the feeling he meant a great deal more than that. She looked up into those emerald eyes as his mouth dipped toward her. “I’m okay, really,” she said, and watched his resolve crumble.

  His full lips brushed hers tentatively. Soft and moist they teased hers until she opened her mouth and returned his kiss. God, the man could kiss, she thought distantly.

  “I shouldn’t be doing this,” he murmured against her mouth. “Frazier will kill me.”

  “He just might,” she admitted.

  “It will be worth it,” he said. And kissed her more thoroughly.

  She returned his kiss with equal enthusiasm. I shouldn’t be here, she thought. I don’t know anything about this man. I need to check in with Frazier, tell him I’m okay. But her objections fled as his hands circled her ribcage and pulled her against him. Kiana felt every inch of him pressed against her—the hard planes of his chest, his muscular thighs and the evidence of his arousal that told her he wanted her every bit as she wanted him.

  Deepening the kiss, he rubbed her back with one hand, easing the kinks out of her chilled and abused muscles. She relaxed against him. He freed another hand and skimmed it up over her ribcage until he cupped her breast through the thin material of the t-shirt. He pulled his mouth away and bent his head to tease her nipple through the cloth.

  Never had she met a man with such a talented mouth, she thought as she gave into the delicious feelings he evoked and moaned aloud. He raised his head at the sound and smiled. There was heat in his gaze, enough to burn.

  Standing on tiptoe, she placed a tantalizing kiss of her own on his full lips. Beneath her mouth, she felt his lips quirk upwards in a smile. Something very sharp grazed her lip. She uttered a groan of protest, but then she was lost in the sensations he created.

  In an erotic dance, he walked her backward toward the huge bed that dominated the entire room. They fell into the scattered covers in a jumble of limbs. Completely ungraceful and yet erotic at the same time, Kiana thought. When she’d been with other men, she’d always tried to disrobe once the lights were off. She worried that men might find her short hair, her no-nonsense demeanor and her job unfeminine. Yet here she was with Adrian, her short hair in total disarray and looking like a drowned rat. And he didn’t seem to mind.

  In fact quite the opposite, he seemed intent on pleasing her completely as he gathered the hem of the t-shirt in one fist and slowly drew it up over her body. His mouth followed the path of the cloth, painting her thighs w
ith tiny kisses. Each peck ramped her desire up another notch, until when his lips met the sensitive spot between her thighs, she cried aloud.

  He lifted his head. Blond hair tousled, he stared down at her with those penetrating green eyes. His gaze held a question.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged, appalled at how hoarse and needy her voice sounded.

  Adrian smiled, that slow smile that only made the heat inside her come to the boiling point. His hair brushed her thighs as he lowered his head to torment her some more.

  In that moment all the tension and fear she’d kept inside all night burst. Waves of pleasure rolled over her and she screamed aloud. She heard his husky laughter beneath her own cries and opened her eyes to find him looming above her. His green eyes burned with longing.

  Kiana reached for the top button of his jeans. Her fingers trembled as she tried to undo it. Not from fear, but from pent up desire. She wanted him like she’d never wanted anyone else before.

  As if he couldn’t wait any longer, he drew away from her, unzipped his own jeans and kicked them away. Like a lion, he stalked her along the bed until his body covered hers. She felt his erection pressing against the juncture of her thighs. He was far bigger than she’d guessed. Lying down augmented the difference in their heights. She hesitated a moment, but he shifted his weight and entered her.

  She caught her breath at the sudden sensation of him so hard and thick inside her. But then he began to move slowly and gently. Her hands strayed to his tight buttocks, catching his rhythm and holding him in the place she wanted most.

  Raising her hips against him, she quickened their pace, impatient now, wanting more of the brand of pleasure only he could give her. He began to move faster as if her desire stoked his own.

  Pleasure mounted. She opened her eyes, wanting to watch him in the throes of his own desire. But instead of the heat she’d seen there, she saw only torment. His breath came in rapid bursts as if he strove to reach the pinnacle of his pleasure, and yet somehow held himself back. His jaw was ground tightly shut. He caught her glance and his expression became even more tortured. She raised her mouth, to kiss him, anything to calm the fury inside him, but he pulled his face away. Rearing back, he plunged deeper inside her.

  She cried out as her body clenched around him and then shattered into crest after crest of sheer ecstasy. He echoed her with a hoarse cry of his own.

  “Kiana,” she heard him whisper. And then all the tension seemed to go out of him at once and he collapsed on top of her.

  For several minutes they lay there, his body blanketing hers, content just to bask in the afterglow of their mutual pleasure. Then he rolled to the side, pulling her with him. Reaching for the blankets he cocooned them together.

  He stretched like a giant cat. Looking down at her, he offered her another one of his trademark slow smiles. His earlier tension had vanished. He opened his mouth to say something.

  The sudden blare of the telephone interrupted him.

  He glanced at the clock and winced. “Let the machine get it.”

  “But it might be—,” she started to say. The answering machine beeped, and then Frazier MacAdam’s voice crackled through the tiny speaker.

  “Damn!” Adrian said.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Adrian snatched the phone from its receiver, cutting off the answering machine.

  “Adrian!” Frazier hollered. “What the hell!”

  “It’s okay,” he said quickly. Kiana was already reaching for the phone. He held it out of her reach. “Everything’s okay.”

  “Okay!” The detective’s voice nearly exploded through the speaker in the handset. “I have reports that your boat sank off Hanlon’s Point.”

  “Something went wrong with the drop off. Our boat was rammed and it sank, but we escaped. We’re safe.”

  “I haven’t been able to reach Kiana.”

  “We lost the radio when the boat sank, but she’s all right, she’s—” He hesitated. “She’s here with me.”

  Frazier said, “What!”

  Standing on tiptoe, Kiana had nearly succeeded in wrenching the phone from him.

  “I’m coming over,” the detective hollered into the phone. The line went dead.

  Wrapping her hand around the phone cord, Kiana yanked the phone from his grasp. When she heard the dial tone, she hung it up in disgust. “Why didn’t you let me handle that?”

  Adrian shrugged. He probably should have. Maybe she would have known what to say to prevent the detective’s middle of the night visit. “He’s coming over.”

  “Oh no.” Kiana looked wildly around Adrian’s loft. “Tell me you have a washing machine.”

  He shook his head. For once his barren living quarters embarrassed him—but then he’d never intended to entertain female guests there. “I use the 24-hour Laundromat down the road.”

  “We don’t have time,” she said, reaching for Adrian’s shirt, now lying on the floor beneath his pants. “Frazier is coming over, and I’m—I’m naked!”

  “I’m sure I can find something else for you to wear.” Adrian picked up his pants and hurriedly put them on. He handed Kiana the t-shirt she’d been wearing and shoved the comforters on the bed back into order. Looking down into her face, her lips swollen from his kisses and her short hair in disarray, he couldn’t help kissing her again. “Don’t worry.”

  “Don’t worry?” Her voice inched up an octave. “Don’t you know what this looks like? The last thing I need is for my father to know that I slept with a—”

  “Snitch?” he supplied. His first instinct had been correct. He should have stayed as far away from Kiana Douglas as he could. If sleeping with Frazier’s informant had her dismayed, what would she think if she knew she’d slept with a vampire?

  A vampire who’d just barely resisted sinking his teeth into her neck.

  He sighed. She’d tempted him in a way no other woman had. For once someone had looked at him and seen only him instead of the monster within. He’d wanted that so badly. Yes, his conscience reminded him, he’d deceived her. She thought him merely a man with a dubious past. The ugly truth would send her running screaming.

  With a deep sigh, he rummaged in his drawers, finally coming up with a beat up pair of sweats, the ones he wore to that all night Laundromat when everything else in his closet was dirty and the laundry couldn’t wait another minute. At least they were clean. And now he had to clean up the rest of it and give Kiana back her life, a life uncomplicated by the likes of him.

  “Here,” he said, handing them to her. “Put these on and calm down.” He gave her a reassuring hug and cursed himself for touching her again. “We’ll tell Frazier the truth, minus the … more personal aspects. Act naturally and Frazier won’t suspect anything. And we’ll … we’ll talk later.”

  She nodded gratefully and pulled on the sweats. She had to roll up at least a foot of material to prevent tripping over them. With her hair mussed, his shirt hanging down to her knees and his rolled up sweats she looked adorable. He wanted to rip those clothes off her and do it all again, this time with a long drink of her blood—

  Someone hammered on the door.

  With what he hoped was a supportive glance at Kiana, he strode to the door and opened it. A red-faced Frazier burst over the threshold. The detective’s wiry hair stuck out at odd angles like he’d spent the night running his hands through it.

  “I have been going out of my mind worrying about you!”

  “We were just about to call you,” Adrian said as his friend marched past him.

  Stopping in the middle of the loft, Frazier turned to face him. “Do you have any idea what’s been going through my mind?”

  Adrian walked to the kitchenette and reached for one of the dusty glasses on the shelf. Holding up the bottle of Scotch, he motioned to the glass. Frazier nodded grimly. “Sit down, have a drink and we’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Everything’s fine,” Kiana cut in. “Well … except for the boat, which is at the bottom of
the lake along with my service revolver … that’s going to be a bit of a problem.”

  Frazier seemed to take notice of her for the first time. His gaze swept over her taking the obviously borrowed clothes and her disheveled condition. His glance shifted to Adrian and his face darkened. The vampire handed him the Scotch.

  “We had no way of getting in touch,” Adrian said trying to sound reasonable. It had been a long time he thought, suppressing a smirk, since he’d been caught in a compromising position with a woman. Or at least since he’d cared enough to be embarrassed about being caught, likely several hundred years. “Once the boat sank, the radio was lost. It all happened very fast.”

  He didn’t elaborate what exactly had happened fast. “Adrian’s place was closest,” Kiana added. “So we came here.”

  At the mention of the vampire’s given name, Frazier’s face darkened to maroon. He took a long pull on his drink. “When I heard, I suspected the worst.” He shot Kiana a probing glance. “I have no idea what I would have told your father.”

  Kiana returned the look with mock innocence. It was a passable performance, Adrian thought, one worthy of him. “You don’t have to tell my father anything,” she insisted. “I’m fine.”

  Quickly, she filled her partner in on what had happened on the boat. “Once he recognized Adrian it was all over,” Kiana finished.

  Frazier’s probing gaze centered on Adrian. He looked even more displeased than he had a moment ago. “Someone you know?”

  “Gaston,” he admitted. “Though I’m sure he’s using a new name by now.”

  “We need to get Adrian downtown and have him look through the books,” Kiana said. “If we can get out an APB on the guy, we have a chance of stopping him.”

  Adrian shot Frazier what he hoped was a glance that said they’d discuss his former acquaintance later.

  “Okay,” the detective said with a warning glance of his own in Adrian’s direction. “I’ll take Mr. Strachan downtown and have him I.D. the guy.”