This lair, heavily warded against intruders, had been built over a hundred years ago, when vampire hunters roamed the land, ready to take the head and heart of anyone they suspected might belong to the supernatural community. Many innocent people had been killed in those turbulent days. He could only hope his wards were strong enough to repel vindictive witches.

Gideon rubbed a hand across his jaw. Maybe what he needed was a witch of his own. But for now, he had some unfinished business with the sexy werewolf waiting in his bed.

Kay woke smiling, reluctant to abandon the dream she’d been having. Stretching her arms over her head, she glanced at the man sleeping beside her. Gideon had made slow, sweet love to her last night and she knew, without a doubt, that she would never be satisfied with any other man. He had been gentle and tender the first time, infinitely patient as she explored his body from head to foot, and all the interesting places in between. She had been surprised to learn he was ticklish on the bottom of his feet. It seemed incongruous, somehow, for a vampire to be ticklish. And then he had turned the tables on her, his hands and lips touching and tasting every inch of her, arousing her until she thought she would die if he didn’t take her. There were no words to describe the sensations that had engulfed her. Ever considerate of her needs, he had made sure that her pleasure came before his own.

He had held her in his arms while her flesh cooled and her breathing returned to normal, and then he had made love to her again. He had been bolder this time, more inventive. And as their bodies melded together, she had felt his fangs at her throat. Her momentary panic had quickly faded as the pleasure of their joining had intensified a hundredfold. It had been a most incredible experience. She had imagined them as one being the first time he made love to her, but it paled in comparison to the second time. She had experienced everything he felt, everything he thought, unable to tell where her body ended and his began.

With a sigh, she sat up, her hand lightly stroking his cheek. How was she going to marry Victor after this? No matter how wonderful a lover her future husband might be, he would never be able to measure up to Gideon. Of course, Gideon had hundreds of years of experience behind him … and how had he gotten all that experience? The thought gave her pause. No doubt by making love to hundreds of women. She told herself it didn’t matter. What was past was past. She knew she hadn’t been his first, nor would she be his last.

The thought brought a rush of tears to her eyes and she blinked them back. She had never intended to fall head over heels for Gideon. Her only thought had been to defy her father. If she couldn’t choose her own husband, she could at least decide for herself who her first lover would be. Too late, she realized she had been caught in her own trap. What had started as a casual fling had quickly become something far more serious, at least on her part.

Slipping out of bed, she went into the bathroom. The door was painted the same pale blue as the walls and had no handle, making it practically invisible. If Gideon hadn’t pointed it out to her between bouts of lovemaking last night, she never would have known it was there. A touch opened it. Crossing the threshold, she closed the door behind her and turned on the shower. When the water was hot, she stepped inside and let the tears flow.

Gideon woke with the setting of the sun, his first thought for Kay. Sitting up, he opened his senses, relaxing only when he determined that she was nearby.

Grabbing his pants, he pulled them on, then padded barefooted into the living room. He found Kay curled up on the sofa, clutching a pillow to her chest. She looked cute as hell in one of his T-shirts and a pair of faded black sweatpants. He realized two things immediately—she had been crying, and she was hungry.

She looked up as he moved toward the sofa.

“What is it?” he asked, kneeling in front of her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, sniffling.

He lifted a skeptical brow. “Nothing?”

“All right,” she conceded. “Everything.”

“Want to talk about it?”

She drew a deep, shuddering breath, then shook her head.

“Is this about last night?” It wouldn’t be the first time a virgin woke up with regrets, he thought ruefully. But it would be the first time he had been involved.

“No.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s about the rest of my life.”

“Come on, sweetheart, you’re young and beautiful. It can’t be all that bad.”

“Can’t it?” Her brows rushed together in an angry frown. “I have to go back home soon. I have to marry a man I can’t stand and spend the rest of my life with him. Assuming that a vindictive witch doesn’t hunt me down and kill me first.”

Gideon clenched his hands at his sides, his jealousy springing to life as the word marry echoed in his mind. He had known going in that Kay was—how had she put it—“engaged to be engaged”? So why was he letting it bother him now? He knew why, and it had everything to do with what had happened between them last night.

“You’re hungry,” he said curtly. “I’ll go get you something to eat.”

Before she could respond, he was gone.

Gideon stalked the hills and valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains until his anger subsided. When he was again in control of his temper, he returned to his lair in New York to pick up a few of his things.

His nose wrinkled with distaste when he caught Verah’s scent. Damn the meddlesome witch. What spell had she used to track them, and how could he prevent her from using it again?

In the bedroom, he changed into a long-sleeved black T-shirt, jeans, and boots, pulled on a black leather jacket, slipped his wallet into his back pocket. It took only minutes to gather up his own things, several more to gather up the wardrobe he had bought Kay.

He grinned as he shoved everything into a large cardboard box. No matter how many times he bought her new clothes, she always seemed to end up in his sweats.

After closing the lid, he willed himself to his lair in Gatlinburg. He dropped the box off in the bedroom and left the house again without Kay being any the wiser.

And then he went hunting. The pickings weren’t as easy here as in New York. Wandering down Parkway, he passed the Hollywood Star Cars Museum, home of more than forty cars that had been featured in movies and TV, including the Batmobile, the car driven by Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder, and the 1981 DeLorean driven by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future.

He found his prey farther down the street in front of Ripley’s Museum: a middle-aged man and a woman, both a little tipsy.

He mesmerized them both, took what he needed from the woman, and sent the two of them on their way.

After leaving the museum, he went to a fast-food joint and ordered two double cheeseburgers, a large order of fries, and a double thick chocolate malt. He made another stop at a drugstore where he bought a handful of candy bars before returning to his underground lair.

Kay was sitting on the sofa where he had left her, her expression morose. She perked up as soon as she caught the scent of food.

“Dinner and dessert,” he said as he dropped the sack containing the burgers and fries in her lap, then set the malt and the bag with the candy bars on the end table.

Murmuring “Thank you,” she tore into the sack.

Gideon watched in amazement as the first double cheeseburger disappeared in four bites. “You know,” he remarked with a grin, “I’ve seen piranhas eat slower and leave more behind. I’m surprised you didn’t gobble up the wrappings, too.”

Kay stuck her tongue out at him as she inhaled a handful of fries, then unwrapped the second cheeseburger. She ate this one slower, savored the fries, sipped the malt, then sat back looking sated and content as she unwrapped a Midnight Milky Way. “My favorite,” she murmured.

Gideon shook his head. From the look on her face, you’d think she was having great sex instead of eating a candy bar.

Kay blew out a sigh as she dropped the wrapper into the sack with her other trash.

“There’s five more in the bag,” Gideon remarked wryly.

“Maybe later. What’s that look for?”

“I was wondering if I could put that same blissful expression on your face.”

“Hmm. Maybe if you were covered in chocolate,” she said, stifling a grin.

“Light or dark?”

“Oh, definitely dark.” She rummaged in the bag, pulled out another Milky Way, and held it up. “We could melt a few of these and find out.”

“I can’t wait that long,” he said with a growl. “I’m about three seconds from taking you to bed, unless you tell me no.”

Refusing never crossed her mind.

Reading the answer in her eyes, Gideon swept her into his arms and carried her to bed. Stretching out beside her, he wondered what enchantment she had worked on him. In all his years as a vampire, he had never taken anyone—mortal or vampire—to any of his lairs, never confided what he was to any of the women he had seduced. He didn’t stop to think what that might mean. Right now, all he wanted was Kay writhing beneath him.

He undressed her slowly, savoring each inch of honey-gold skin exposed to his gaze. She had the body of a goddess, firm, smooth, warm. He nuzzled her breasts, stroked her thighs, ran his tongue along the curve of her throat. Sweet, so sweet. His yearning kicked up a notch when she began to undress him.

She explored his body boldly, her beautiful golden brown eyes glowing with passion, her hands like living flames as they moved seductively over him, igniting his desire still more. She clung to him, restless hands measuring the width of his shoulders, admiring the way his muscles flexed at her touch. Her fingers tangled in his hair, slid over his chest and down his belly.

He pulled her body against his, his mouth claiming hers, his tongue dipping inside to mate with hers.

Tucking her beneath him, he kissed and caressed her, arousing her until she trembled with need, her voice sobbing his name, begging him to take her.

With a low growl, he buried himself deep within her, felt her body convulse as he carried her over the edge into paradise.