Sara Humphreys - Vampire Trouble

“Something happened between you and Shane. Come on, spill it. Listen, aside from the fact that the guy has been spending every free minute over the past few months buzzing around you at the bar, he chased you out of the club last night like the horny bastard you’ve turned him into.”

“Truth,” Trixie said with a wink. “He’s got it bad for you and everybody knows it. C’mon. What happened?”

Staring into the loving faces of her sisters, Maya felt her eyes fill with tears because the silence in her mind was deafening. Closing her eyes, she reached out to them again in one desperate attempt: Can you hear me now?

Isn’t that a line from a cell phone commercial?

Maya’s eyes flew open when Shane’s amused voice slipped into her mind with unsettling ease. Her sisters looked at each other and then at Maya, but before they could ask what was happening, someone knocked on the door.

“I thought it would be wise to escort you to the club.” Shane’s distinctive baritone boomed from the hallway. “I suggest you hurry up. You wouldn’t want to be late for your first day on the job, now would you?”

Maya’s jaw set and her eyes narrowed, but Trixie and Sadie looked thoroughly amused. Maya tugged the door open and prepared to give Shane a tongue-lashing, but every coherent thought was driven from her mind when she set eyes on him. He wasn’t wearing the usual sentry uniform of head-to-toe leather, and based on the catcall whistle from Trixie, it was a definite improvement.

Clad in a pair of perfectly fitting jeans, brown cowboy boots, a Ralph Lauren button-down, and a brown leather bomber jacket, he looked every inch the sexy male specimen that he was. His thick, wavy hair curled over the collar and the top two buttons of his shirt were open, revealing a dusting of chest hair. Maya swallowed and fought the sudden, sharp pang of desire the flared through her.

The man was absolutely beautiful. Vampire. Warrior. Whatever. Shane Quesada was all man.

“Well,” Sadie said through a poorly veiled smile, “at least now we know Maya will stay out of trouble.”

“Ha,” Trixie snorted. “Don’t bet on it.”

Maya hadn’t said more than two words to Shane from the moment he arrived at the door of her apartment. He tried to touch her mind again, but she slammed it shut, refusing to allow him entry. She probably hoped that would piss him off, but on the contrary, her refusal to talk to him turned him on. He enjoyed a challenge because after so many years of merely existing, Shane felt like he was finally living. Maya was a fighter, and if he could show her how to harness that power, she would be able to stop fighting herself.

From the look on her face when he’d arrived, his decision to change his attire was a good one. He could have gone to the club in his usual sentry uniform, but based on past experience, he knew that wouldn’t have been a good move. If he showed up in battle gear, the wolves might perceive it as an aggressive act by the Presidium and the czars, but dressed like any other clubgoer, he’d be able to convince them more easily that he was only there for the entertainment.

The one item he kept with him from his sentry garb was the semiautomatic pistol filled with silver bullets that was tucked safely inside his jacket. On most nights, it was packed with the ultraviolet ammunition designed by Xavier, the Presidium’s resident inventor and weapons master. That ammo could turn a vamp to dust but would prove ineffective on the wolves. Not that he was looking to start a fight and break the truce, but it was prudent to be prepared.

When they rounded the next corner, the blinking purple-and-red neon sign for The Dollhouse came into view as two yellow cabs whizzed past. Like all strip clubs, there were no windows, and a large, bulky fellow named TJ stood outside the door checking IDs and taking the cover charge from eager men. TJ was a vampire, one of Rat’s coven members, and though the big brute wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he was a good fighter. If Rat was the brains behind his operation, then TJ was definitely the brawn.

“Wait.” Maya stopped before they crossed the street and grabbed Shane by the arm. When his eyes locked with hers, she quickly removed her hand. “We need to talk before we go inside.”

Shane tilted his head and smirked. “Agreed.”

“I know Olivia has hired you to be my babysitter, and she probably told you to say you were my bodyguard, but I’m not stupid. I know you’re here to keep an eye on me more than the werewolves who may or may not show up.”

“No one said you were stupid.” He lifted one shoulder. “Stubborn, yes. Stupid, no.”

“Fine.” Her blue eyes flashed at him while she adjusted her black wrap, which was being whipped around by the cold November wind. “Just keep your distance, okay? Wolves or not, I’d prefer not to get fired on my first day because my four-hundred-year-old babysitter is an overbearing nudge.”

“A nudge?” Shane’s brows flew up. “I don’t believe anyone has ever called me that before.”

“Maybe not to your face.” Maya batted her eyes and smiled sweetly. “Come on.”

Cars and taxis whisked by them, and he watched Maya as she waited for an opening in the busy downtown traffic. Her platinum blond hair whipped around her in the wind along with the ends of her wrap, and in this moment, she reminded him of a wild horse. Being spirited and unpredictable was sexy as hell, and it could also be a dangerous combination.

“You have nothing else to say to me?” he asked quietly from where he stood behind her on the sidewalk. Shane’s hands curled at his sides while he resisted the urge to brush her hair off her shoulders. “No comment about what happened in the dreamscape?”

Maya stilled but didn’t turn around. In a last-ditch effort, Shane reached out to touch her mind with his.

I was there, Maya. It was real.

He waited for what seemed like an eternity for her to respond, and when she finally turned around, the look of sadness on her face made his crusty old heart ache.

“I know you were.” She adjusted her wrap and hugged her arms around herself as though she was bracing against the cold. “I—I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful, Shane. I appreciate what you did for me, but I’m not prepared to deal with anything else right now—other than starting my first day of work.”

Unable to stop himself, Shane pushed a strand of long, blond hair off Maya’s forehead and trailed his finger along the curve of her cheek. She shivered beneath his touch but didn’t resist it. Bathed in the light of the city street lamps, her blue eyes shimmered to the almost lavender color he so adored. Shane ran his thumb over her plump bottom lip and whispered, “You can’t avoid me forever.”

“Sure I can.” Maya stepped back and glanced toward the street. “I’m immortal. I’ve got nothing but time.”

Shane watched Maya give him a sassy smile before she ran across the street to the doors of the club. When she disappeared inside, he touched her mind with his. You and me both, youngling.

Sitting at a small table in the back of the club and pretending to nurse a beer, Shane had a clear view of Maya and the front door. So far, the wolf pack was a no-show, and since it was already midnight, Shane doubted they would be making an appearance tonight. The flickering lights from the stage were about the only source of illumination in the small space. The stage was at the center of the place, surrounded by round tables that all were filled.

Shane could tell by the scents in the room that a few vamps were mixed in with the humans among the customers and the dancers. To his relief, Maya was working behind the bar and not whirling around a stripper pole half-naked. Although the outfit Rat made her wear could hardly be described as clothing. It was more like a couple scraps of red leather held together by laces up the sides, which made it all too clear that Maya wasn’t wearing either a bra or underwear.