All Others (Vampire Assassin League Book 27) Read Online Free Page A

In the middle of the night? Depending on venue, the probabilities were still in the acceptable range, maybe 55 to 60%.
    But, chances of having a super-stunning black woman wearing a form-fitting evening gown interrupt a productive paranormal research session? In the cellar of a vacant, decrepit haunted mansion? At three a.m. in the morning?
    Well.
    Chances of that were slim to none.
    So. He was the luckiest guy on the planet or he was having a psychotic episode, which – for some reason – didn’t sound all that implausible at the moment.
    She stopped about a foot away from him. Cam was tall. A fraction under six-foot-four. Her head reached his mouth level as she looked him over. She had straight dark hair. It was greenish-tinted, as was everything else in his vision. It fell over her shoulders, framing a gorgeous face. Perfect brows. Mesmeric eyes. Lots of lashes. One heck of a set of lips. He’d never seen a woman this stunning.
    Ever.
    “I do so love a tall man,” she informed him.
    “Uh.”
    Cameron’s answer was more a grunt as the brain freeze effect apparently reached his mouth and speaking abilities.
    Shit
.
    “And one with a bit of age to him,” she continued.
    Age?
    Cam straightened subconsciously. His head barely missed a ceiling beam.
What the hell?
He was thirty-nine. He rock-climbed and did organized sports events to keep in shape. He’d won some of them. He had trophies to prove it. He could keep up with any twenty-year-old. Thirty-nine was young in academic circles. It was young anywhere. She started walking around him. He could hear a swishing sound from the satin of her dress. Sense the oddity of her inspection. Smell a hint of something floral. Violet, maybe? It was mixed with a slight musky tone. And he felt what might be her finger tracing a line across his back. At the first touch, a pulse of something radiated through the area, looking like a lavender-shaded wash of color sweeping through the cellar.
    And then it was gone. If he’d blinked, he’d have missed it. He hadn’t blinked. He didn’t even twitch. The freeze thing had apparently reached his entire frame.
    She came back into view. Her eyes were wide. Her mouth open. She looked stunned, amplifying her unworldly beauty. And then she gave him a smile. With those lips? Oh.
Holy hell.
His heart surged and then dropped with an almost painful thud. His breath was another casualty of this. He’d been holding it. The air came out in a rush. He had a hard time pulling in another one.
    “Oh. My. What’s your name, hon?” she asked.
    Her voice was low. Husky. Almost purred. Extremely pleasant to hear.
    “Cameron Preston.”
    Shivers flew along his limbs at his answer. This was really weird. He wasn’t a social butterfly. He didn’t do chit-chat. Offer details. He wasn’t fond of people, especially unknown ones. He didn’t have a circle of friends. He didn’t even have
a
friend. Nor did he want one. And yet now, with a complete stranger, this happened?
    “How old are you?” she asked next.
    “Thirty-nine.”
    “Hmm. Fit. Mature. Nice. Very...very nice.”
    She stepped closer. Looked right up at him. Even greenish-tinted through the goggles, her eyes were a font of allure. A well of mystery. Dark. Unfathomable. They dragged his gaze into contact. Warmth sparked within his chest and then spread outward, caressing his heart. It stopped his breath. He wondered if it was in response to locking gazes with her. Or how her voice had lowered. Or what had sounded like words of praise. He blinked and somehow eased a breath in. And then back out.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “Research.”
    Another instant answer came from his mouth. As if she controlled his will. That should have been spooky. It wasn’t. The shiver that ran along his spine wasn’t remotely chilled or scared. It was enjoyable. But then her eyes narrowed. His heart did a strange stutter step before it resumed beating. Only this time the pace was a bit faster. It had a