“Nothing is more important to me than your life.” His voice was fading away as if he was in motion somewhere.
Francesca did not seek to sustain the connection between them. She wanted to concentrate entirely on the reporter. She needed to know everything he knew about the society he was a part of, a society that had hunted and murdered humans and Carpathians alike, naming them vampires. She smiled at him. “It’s Woods, isn’t it? Barry Woods? You said you were a reporter. I’m so sorry about the other evening. I was in such a hurry, late for so many appointments, I can’t recall exactly what we talked about. I promise to give you my full attention now. Would you care to go somewhere and have a cup of tea or something?”
“Tone it down, Francesca. He is very susceptible to you and that in itself can be dangerous.” This time there was a distinct growl in Gabriel’s voice.
She tilted her chin, although she knew he couldn’t see her. “Go away, I can handle this problem all by myself. You have bigger fish to fry.” She sounded faintly haughty, snippy, warning him to back off.
Barry Woods was gaping at her, astounded that she was actively seeking him out. She leaned close, enveloping him in her mysterious scent. “You will never attempt to see Skyler Rose again.” The command was one of the strongest she had ever issued.
She could read his acceptance of her authority, but all the same, Francesca guided the reporter to the seclusion of one of the empty rooms with every intention of ensuring obedience by taking his blood.
“You will not!” The command was sharp and authoritative. Gabriel was not playing now. The threat was very real. “I will see to it this buffoon does no harm to our girl, but you will not do this thing.”
Exasperated, Francesca decided against arguing with Gabriel’s tyrannical ways. At once she felt Gabriel relax, felt his amusement, and she shook her head over the silly idiosyncrasies of men. “Did you have some questions you wanted to ask me?” she queried softly, looking directly into Barry Woods’s eyes. “Or did you have information that you thought was very important to tell me?”
He could feel himself falling forward, deeper, deeper still until he was so mesmerized he wanted to stay there for eternity. He cleared his throat, unable, unwilling to break away from the beauty of her eyes. “I have friends who heard things about you. They’re dangerous men. We hunt vampires. Real vampires, not the make-believe things in the movies. No one believes the creatures exist but us. We’ve been collecting proof over the years. We just need to get one, a body, something tangible to make the world take us seriously. Right now they think we’re fanatics, nuts to be laughed at, but we’re scientists and we’re trying to save the world.”
Francesca wrapped him in waves of warmth, swamping him with approval, with the idea that she believed in him and what he was doing. He broke out in a sweat, but his gaze remained captured by hers. He wanted to do whatever she wanted of him, whatever it took to make her happy. He wanted her to believe in him. She tipped her head to one side so that her hair fell in a seductive sheet of silk across her shoulder and tumbled past her waist. “Why would anyone think such a thing of me? I have lived in this community for some time and have been involved in many things. I think my life is rather an open book. It is not so difficult to find those who know me.”
Woods leaned forward, needing to hear the purity of her voice, or maybe he wanted to touch her hair. He really wasn’t certain which was more important at that moment. “I think I can dig up indisputable proof that you’re no vampire.” There was a trace of humor in his voice. The idea of her being in the ranks of the undead was totally ludicrous. He could convince his fellows they were wrong about her and she would be crossed off their list.