“How do you know that’s what they did?”

“I had my suspicions when they fled and all of the vampire blood was gone. And it was confirmed later when I found one of them. He was a vampire then. And I killed him. First Wolpers, then Arenberg, then Schmidt, then Brandt.”

“And Müller?”

“He’s still out there. He’s the one who sent Brandt’s son after me, I’m sure. He wants me dead. He knows I’m hunting him. And he knows I won’t stop.”

Portia’s hand came up to caress his cheek. “I hope he dies a horrible death.”

Zane put his finger to her lips to stop her from speaking. “Shh. I don’t want you to be infected by my hatred. This is my business.”

“You’ve been through so much. I want to support you.”

He sighed. “Oh, baby girl, you shouldn’t get entangled in this.”

“Too late,” she whispered and brushed her lips against his.

Her tempting scent washed away the memories of his past and reminded him why they’d come to his cabin. “God, you feel good,” he mumbled as he drew her closer.

“Can we make love again?”

“As often as you want to.” And even that wouldn’t be often enough. But at least for a few hours or maybe even a few days, he could forget that he had a past, and how uncertain his future was, and live only in the moment.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Daylight came and went, their time in bed only interrupted by short trips to let the dog out and feed him.

Portia rolled to her side and noticed that she was alone in bed. Zane’s scent still lingered. She must have fallen asleep sometime around sunset. Her eyes fell onto the clock on the bedside table. It was just past nine o’clock.

Stretching her pleasantly aching muscles, she slid out of bed and snatched one of Zane’s t-shirts from his closet. Dressed in only the shirt that reached almost to mid-thigh, she wandered into the living room.

Zane sat at a small desk with his back to her, dressed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. On tip toes, she snuck up, but her silent approach was announced by the happy barking of the dog.

“Z!” she admonished. “You’re spoiling everything.”

Zane turned to her, revealing the computer screen that had been hidden by his body. “What were you trying to do? Wrestle me to the ground to have your way with me?”

Portia bent to pet the puppy as it excitedly moved around her legs. “Would I have to fight you for it?”

She stepped within Zane’s reach, and his arms instantly came around her waist, drawing her closer.

“I’d wrestle with you any day.” He buried his face in her stomach, audibly inhaling her scent.

Portia’s gaze fell onto the monitor where an email program was open. “What are you doing up?”

“I was checking messages.” He motioned his head toward the computer. “Can’t switch on my cell phone; otherwise my colleagues can trace me, and there’s no landline in the cabin. But I have a program that logs into my cell messages and transcribes them.”

“It sends them to your email?” she asked. “That’s useful. But can’t your colleagues trace from where you accessed your messages?”

“Chances are very low. Everything is encrypted and routed over several servers.” He pulled her onto his lap, his lips seeking her neck and nuzzling there. “But I needed to know what’s going on back in San Francisco.”

“Anything to worry about?”

He shook his head. “My colleagues are livid. Nothing new otherwise.”

Portia’s eyes honed in on a sentence of the message currently displayed on the screen and read it. “Quinn has a lead on the assassin? And you’re telling me there's no news?”

Zane didn’t even move his head and continued nibbling on her skin. “Quinn is lying. He’s got nothing. It’s a trap.”

“How can you be so sure?” She read more of the message where Quinn talked about a cell phone chip and several phone numbers that were programmed into it.

“He’s trying to trick me into coming back, and he’s using the one thing I want most to do it.”

“But what if he’s telling the truth?”

Zane lifted his head and looked at her. “Quinn was the one who ratted me out to my boss. He’s the one who told them about us. That’s why they pulled me off the assignment. Trust me, he’s trying to play me right now.”

“Oh, but he seemed such a nice guy.”