Sylvia Day - A Touch of Crimson

“No one can be totally ready for that. And when my time comes, it comes. Everything happens for a reason.”

“Now I’m calling bullshit.”

“You have to take me with you,” she said in a voice that brooked no argument. Then she gave him “the look,” the one she’d given him in the airport to snare his interest. She wasn’t above using her feminine wiles to get her way.

He smiled. A full , seductive smile that rocked her back on her heels. “You can’t manage me, Lindsay. I’m more than happy to be the recipient of your persuasive skills, but not if you’ll be pissed off when it doesn’t get you what you want.”

That smile was kicking her ass. Crackling electricity raced across her skin, making the hair on her nape stand on end. “Adrian-”

“No.” The curve of his mouth straightened abruptly. “I won’t make a tactical error because of my craving for you. My mission-and, most of all, you -are too important to risk.”

The tightness that constricted her chest was fueled by respect. She had a sudden crazed desire to crawl all over him naked. “I have responsibilities, too, Adrian. I know those things are out there. I wish I didn’t. I wish I couldn’t feel them coming. But I can, and there’s an accountability that comes with that curse. But that’s all about what’s in it for me. For you, I can be useful and I can watch your back.”

“I’m a Sentinel. I can take care of myself.” As firm as his voice was, it was softened by the warmth in his extraordinary eyes.

“I won’t stay here if you won’t let me come. Childish, I know, but it’s all I’ve got as leverage.”

“You’re blackmailing an angel.”

She shrugged. “So sue me.”

His wings materialized, flexing along with his jaw. “I can detain you.”

“And then my father will create a big stink about me falling off the face of the earth and you’ll have even more trouble on your hands. Hey-don’t get your wings in a twist. It was partly your idea to keep him in the loop. Besides, I know you want to catch the ones responsible, and every day that passes, the trail grows colder. I don’t know if you have the same sixth sense I’ve got or not, but if not, we both know I can find them real quick. And they won’t see me coming. I’m just an average, everyday artery to them.”

“Blackmail works both ways, Lindsay. I want something in return.”

“Oh?” She was instantly on alert. The glimmer in his eyes was too… triumphant, almost as if she’d played right into his hands.

“Your reason for hunting-the someone you’re avenging-I want to know who it is.”

“I was talking about a generalized ‘someone,’ ” she prevaricated.

Adrian studied her for a long moment, then said, “Very well. I’ll take something else, then.”

“What?”

“This-”

He was kissing her before she could blink, having moved so fast it felt like she’d missed entire frames in a film reel.

She was shocked into stillness. He sealed his mouth over hers, his firm, sensual lips pressing softly. The gentleness was unexpected, considering the tightness with which he cupped her face in his hands. His tongue slid along her bottom lip, then slipped inside. The silken caress in her mouth made her shiver, then moan. Adrian kissed with the leisure of a man who took his time making love, which was a luxury she’d never had time for. Sex was for scratching an itch and for feeling human for a few stolen moments. It had never been this slow, deep melding. And this was only a kiss. What the hell would he be like in bed?

Her toes curled. Her hands caught his waistband, hanging on for the ride. Behind her closed eyelids she absorbed the taste and scent of him, the feel of him so close. She felt as if he’d found a way inside her. She was aware of nothing else. Just the feeling of him sifting through her like curling smoke…

Lindsay wrenched away with a curse. “Were you just inside my head ?”

“I needed to know if your past was a liability.” Adrian licked his lips as if savoring the flavor of her.

The primitive gesture did crazy things to her insides, but she was too furious to be swayed by it. “So you violated my privacy by digging in my brain to find the personal things I didn’t want to talk about?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck you.” Lindsay would’ve loved to walk away in a huff, but she was stuck by their location. She wondered if he’d planned that all along.

“I know who you want,” he said, “and I assure you, you’re going to need my help to snare her. You’re definitely going to need my help getting her to identify her accomplices.”

She stared at him, wondering how it was possible to feel violated and hopeful at the same time. He’d seen the attack in her mind, seen that Amazon-sized bitch with the flame red hair and skintight black leather outfit. “You didn’t recognize the two guys with her?”

“There are thousands of vamp males with spiky, crayon-hued hair like that. Even body size and ethnic features aren’t much help when the memory is as fractured by terror and grief as yours is.” His wings flapped restlessly, as if her remembered pain affected him. “At some point during the attack, you stopped seeing and started focusing on feeling. That’s what resonates most in you-how it felt to watch your mother bled dry, how it felt waiting for your turn.”

Which never came. There hadn’t been a scratch on her when she broke away screaming for help. The damage they’d inflicted had been entirely mental and emotional. Watching her mother being drained of life. Hearing the lurid taunts. Feeling the pressure of claws against her flesh as she was being held down…

“But you know the woman?” she pressed, needing a clue. Anything at all that could help her find the vampires responsible for the event that had forever changed her life.

“Oh yes. Vashti is unmistakable. She’s second-in-command of the vampires.”

“Second-in-command… Vampires like that are running the show? And that’s not enough to wipe them all out?”

“It’s enough to wipe her out, and her accomplices.” Adrian’s mouth thinned into a grim line. “You and your mother were ambushed in broad daylight. The Fallen are the only vampires who aren’t photosensitive. They can bestow temporary immunity to minions by sharing their blood, but either way, one-or more-of the Fallen is ultimately responsible for the attack. Considering that, it’s a wonder you survived. They should have killed you, too, to protect their identity.”

“I wasn’t enough of a threat, I guess. Stupid move on their part.” She blew out her breath in a rush. As pissed off as she was at Adrian for picking her brain without her permission, she also wanted to kiss him senseless. He was now the key to unlocking the mystery of that day. She now had the “who”; she just needed the “why.” Then she could kill the fuckers and close that chapter of her life. “So, now that we’ve gotten the extortion portion of this discussion out of the way, I’ll be going with you.”

“You will follow orders implicitly.”

“Yes. I promise.” Lindsay made a gesture of an X over her chest. “Cross my heart.”

Adrian beckoned her with a crook of his finger. “We need to head back.”

Her body hummed with excitement and growing exhilaration. She suspected that if he ever flew with her over longer distances, she just might orgasm midflight. Like a biker bunny who got off on the vibrations of a Harley-Davidson. Adrenaline had always made her hot. Adrenaline combined with Adrian was an inferno. Her gaze took him in, sliding over him from the top of his dark head down to his bare feet… which weren’t quite touching the coarse ground.