Courted by the Vampire Read Online Free Page A

he frowned. That had not been his best work. “Come.”
    “So, your answer to the problem—finding your friend, not kissing me again—is to kidnap me?”
    He shrugged, and his lips twitched as he marched her down the long hallway so quickly she trotted in order to keep up with him. “It matters little to me how you label the situation.” He pushed open the outside door and dragged the woman behind him, his fingers easily encircling her wrist. “They will watch the airports so we will drive. I believe your car is this way.”
    “Who are they, and where’s your car? Didn’t you drive here?”
    He glanced behind him to catch her outraged expression then he flicked his gaze to the building. The goblin did not pursue them, only a plume of smoke as orange tongues of flames seeped from Hannah’s bedroom window. “I arrived by taxi.” He sent her a firm glance. “No more questions.”
    “How did you know which car is mine?” When he refused to answer the question, Hannah rooted around in her bag and procured a keychain then dangled it from her forefinger. “Fine, Mr. High and Mighty, you drive since you seem to know where we’re going.” She jiggled the key ring and then frowned when he didn’t take it. “Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts? My apartment’s trashed and destroyed. I can’t stay here. Are you going to be responsible for the damages? I’ll be sued for sure.”
    He stared at her, saw uncertainty reflected in her vivid green eyes. Unaccustomed need slammed into him as he looked her from head to toe. She was shapely. He remembered the healthy swell of her hips, the fit of her soft curves against his body. Edwin stifled a groan and willed his body not to respond. “I never have second thoughts.”
    The complex was quiet, not even a barking dog broke the stillness. When she touched a finger to her full lower lip, he scrambled to find something else to occupy his mind, glad when his gaze landed on her nondescript four-door compact. “I need to be able to navigate. You will drive.”
    She shrugged. “Suit yourself.” As she slipped behind the wheel, she slung her bag onto the floor of the backseat where it hit with a muffled thud against his. She frowned and squinted as if attempting to see through the shadows.
    Any moment now she would question him. He looked forward to it. “Come, Hannah. We must leave.” Glad for the small bit of action, Edwin dropped into the passenger seat and closed the door. As the engine purred to life, he buckled his seat belt. “You may proceed.”
    “Some kidnapper you are. I have to do all the work.” She navigated out of the parking lot and into the street.
    “I did not kidnap you.” Though reproach coated his voice, tiny threads of doubt snaked through his mind. He had barely skimmed the surface of why he needed her on this trip. If he told her the full truth now, he feared that knowledge would make her retreat further inside herself and in order for his plan to succeed, he needed her to embrace her powers. When she was ready, he would know. “You are simply a necessary part of this operation.”
    She huffed. “Where are we going?”
    “North.”
    “Are you sure? Won’t we need to traipse through the wilds of rural Europe, the greenery of Ireland or even lurk about a crumbling castle or two in order to find your errant friend? Isn’t that how the stories go?”
    He admired her tough attitude as well as her courage. Yes, his original decision to seek out the one mentioned in the prophecy was sound. Hannah would do well. “Our destination lies in the North. I will know it when we get close.” A tiny smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Do you have an atlas in your car?”
    Her forehead wrinkled with disbelief. “No, why should I? I don’t travel, especially since I’ve become the resident freak show.” Dark shadows marred the ivory skin beneath her eyes. “I’ll have to move again.”
    “You would not need to keep moving if you would