Of its own volition his hand dipped below her waist, splaying over her rounded derrière. With a groan, Amaury hauled her against his growing erection and took charge.

Her lips tasted of vanilla blossoms, of innocence. He inhaled her scent, taking it in deep and letting it fill him. Waves of pleasure poured through his body, igniting the lust he kept barely checked within. Her taste was intoxicating, purely female, and indescribably sexy. Unwilling to hold back, he ravished the caverns of her mouth like an invading barbarian, wild and savage.

Instead of withdrawing from his assault, she flung her arms around his neck as if to ensure he wouldn’t stop. No chance of that happening, not as long as his cock throbbed with need and her tongue sent tiny shocks through his body every time she stroked against him. The woman knew how to drive a man insane with her kiss.

Her sweet taste was like ambrosia to him, like a long lost delight he had forgotten about. She reminded him of emotions long buried and stirred his flesh like no other woman had in four centuries.

Under his greedy hands, he captured the warmth and softness of a female overflowing with passion, a woman who could match his own needs. The sounds of pleasure coming from her were like bursts of little fireworks to him, stoking his desire even more. It made him want things he’d never dared acknowledge: closeness, affection, warmth.

Amaury caught her next moan and swallowed it down where it ricocheted in the cavities of his chest, bouncing off his lungs and against his cold heart. And for one instant, a spark ignited where his pounding heart lay almost frozen.

The next second, his heart beat faster than it ever had before. A moment later he heard a sound behind him.

Danger!

Out of reflex, he released her instantly and swiveled. Behind him was only darkness. Nobody else was on the roof but the two of them.

The moment he turned back to her, she’d already moved away from him and sprinted toward the edge of the building. A second later she was gone. He heard the loud thump and followed the sound. As he reached the edge, he looked down. Beneath him was the alley he so often took on his way home, and there, at the end of it was the woman, running away from him.

“Wait,” he called out to her. “Who are you?”

But she’d already rounded the corner and was out of sight. Amaury swallowed. He could still taste her on his tongue, still feel the ghost of her soft form pressed into his body. What the hell had just happened?

He shook his head. Generally he was the one doing the seducing. But this time, a woman had turned the tables on him. And he liked it. A lot. It was a shame she hadn’t gone any further. Why had she suddenly run when everything was going so well?

And why hadn’t he been able to sense her emotions, not a single one of them, when only minutes earlier his head had throbbed painfully?

The only reason he’d discovered her following him was because he’d heard her footsteps, but her mind had been completely and utterly silent. As if she had no emotions. Yet, her passionate kiss had said differently.

Maybe something was happening with him. Was it possible that the sessions with his shrink Drake had somehow helped? It could be a start, a sign his curse was waning.

As he turned and walked back toward the stairs, he stumbled over something, but caught himself instantly. He bent down and picked up the item. His breath caught, and his heart beat in his throat. The instant his fingers touched the wooden implement, he knew what it was. Its shape was known to him and any vampire and feared by all of them.

A wooden stake.

Four

Despite his relentless efforts for the remainder of the night, Amaury could not find a trace of the mystery woman by the time he was due to meet Carl. In fact, he’d spent so much time on the search he’d neglected his other assignments. The darn woman was screwing with his head, and he was getting increasingly testy about it.

That rotten little bitch had kissed him with full knowledge that he was a vampire. And why? So she could kill him. She had completely distracted him. With a kiss!

He of all people should be utterly immune to such distractions, given he was an expert concerning sex and all things ancillary to it. To play him like he was some randy idiot! The gall the woman had.

She was in for a severe spanking once he found her. And he would find her—eventually. And then the gloves would come off, and he would give her what she deserved. She would be in for a lethal dose of Amaury.

Nobody made a fool of Amaury LeSang—or at least, nobody got away with it. Least of all a human woman.

A honking horn alerted him to Carl who had pulled up with the car. Amaury opened the door to the black limousine and got into the passenger side.