MaryAnn’s frown slowly disappeared. She leaned closer still. “It isn’t going to work, you know. I know what you’re doing. Of course the idea of vampires is frightening to me. I had no idea such things existed outside of movies and books, but I’ve had two days to think about that thing. He felt evil. I’m not scared of you, but you’re deliberately trying to frighten me. You want to drive me away from you. I threaten you in some way, don’t I? Why are you so afraid of me?”
Destiny pulled back as if MaryAnn had slapped her. She forced air through her lungs, forced the roaring in her head to a semblance of quiet. “I can’t breathe in here. How do you breathe inside a place like this? I have to get out of here.”
“Destiny, don’t. I don’t want you to remove my memories, and I don’t want you to try to drive me away from you. I just want to be your friend. Is that really such a difficult thing? Do you have so many friends that you can’t use another?”
“I can’t breathe,” Destiny repeated.
It was a measure of her discomfort that she didn’t realize someone was approaching their table. He moved in silence, a stalking predator, and was upon them before she had a chance to scent him. Nicolae laid his hand on her shoulder, his fingers curling almost possessively around the nape of her neck. Yes, you can, little one. I am here; just inhale and the air is there. If not, I will breathe for both of us. I will be your air. The words whispered in her mind. Soft. Sensuous. Robbing her of her ability to speak.
Nicolae lifted his gaze from Destiny to the woman sitting across from her. His eyes were flat and cold as his gaze rested on MaryAnn. “What are you doing to her? I warn you, she is under my protection, and if you have done anything to hurt her, you will answer to me.”
Chapter Four
Fear clawed at the pit of Destiny’s stomach. Her first instinct was to turn and fight, but the pressure of his fingers at the nape of her neck was a clear warning, preventing her from moving. Without taking his censorious gaze from MaryAnn, Nicolae bent very close to Destiny, until his breath was warm against her ear and his lips skimmed her earlobe, a mere wisp of contact that set her heart pounding and sent heat rushing through her veins. “You cannot call attention to our kind in this place, Destiny. It is the last thing you want.”
His hair brushed her skin like raw silk, and she felt a shiver all the way to her toes. His masculine scent enveloped her. Beckoned. Tempted. His arm, so casually draped over her shoulder, was hard with muscle and sinew, felt hot through her thin blouse. Destiny was so aware of Nicolae as a man, she couldn’t think properly. Her world narrowed until it encompassed only the two of them. A strange roaring throbbed in her ears. Her body seemed heavy yet alive, every nerve ending shrieking at her, though whether in alarm or need, she wasn’t certain. She didn’t care.
Destiny had spent most of her life alone. Never touching another person unless she was feeding, rarely speaking to anyone. Yet now, here in this place, she was surrounded by people, overwhelmed by the smell of blood, the beating of hearts. Music pounded out a primitive rhythm. She was suffocated by perfume. Alcohol. The noise was deafening, the scents overpowering. This was too much. All of it. She never should have allowed the door to her past to crack open for even a moment. And here was Nicolae. Coming to her when she was lost in the midst of hell. She wasn’t prepared for her strange physical reaction to him.
“Why in the world would you think I’m doing something to hurt Destiny?” Mary Ann looked more shocked than intimidated. “I would never do such a thing. Destiny is upset and rightly so, but not at me. Are you a friend of hers?”
Destiny let her breath out slowly, forced herself to attempt to relax beneath those strong massaging fingers. MaryAnn’s voice snapped her back to the reality of here and now. Pretend. She was a mistress of illusion when she had to be. The pad of his thumb lingered over the pulse beating so frantically in her throat, slid back and forth in a gentle, soothing caress. Nicolae could feel her body trembling—how could he not? He could hear her heart pounding loud and hard, and that telltale pulse told him much more than she wanted him to know. But she couldn’t stop trembling. She, who was always so controlled, could not control her own pulse beneath his marauding thumb.