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woman, both human, stepped outside. They had their arms around each
other, barely letting go for him to order the door closed, kissing and locked
together. Their clothes looked as if they’d been through a storm.
    O’Clare curled his hand around her waist and stopped her.
The heat of his touch spread across her middle.
    The couple disentangled enough to stumble to the elevator.
The man nodded at O’Clare. “Duncan.”
    The Vampire nodded back. “George.”
    They stepped into the compartment and went right back to
kissing.
    Tanasha cleared her throat and couldn’t stop herself from
meeting his gaze. The silver tint showed her that anger still bubbled beneath
the seemingly uncaring surface.
    Guilt flooded her but she tried to shake it off. It wasn’t
her fault that Naemas and Vampires didn’t think much of each other. The
animosity had been established centuries ago. He shouldn’t be offended when it
came out to bite him on his delectable behind. She attempted to step away from
his hand, but he followed her into the now empty elevator. She wasn’t going to
pet his ego because he was put out. It wasn’t as if Vampires didn’t have the
same issues with Naemas.
    “I will contact the Guard and let them know we’re coming,”
she said.
    O’Clare—no, Duncan—only nodded, the fire in his eyes now of
a different kind as he followed the line of her back. Tanasha swore she felt
his eyes on her rear. To say her body heat rose was an understatement.
    She contacted her local Guard with her internal comp and
informed them that she was adding a Vampire to her guest list. Even over the
distance the surprise and distaste of the officer was obvious. Well, they could
go laser themselves. They hadn’t listened to her. The Guard had no reason to
deny her request and gave Duncan the necessary access.
    She struggled to remain coherent while talking to the Guard.
Duncan stood too close to her in the small space of the elevator. His delicious
smell of rich chocolate with a hint of pepper surrounded her, sank inside her.
The brand of his hand on her hip seemed to melt through her layers of clothing
until the fire heated the area between her legs. Her heartbeat felt like a jet-copter
on steroids and the butterflies in her stomach were salsa dancing.
    As soon as the doors opened she stepped away from him, glad
to be in more open space again. But that didn’t stop him from sticking close to
her like a tail to a comet. Why the Jade couldn’t he keep a couple of steps
between them?
    Luckily, one of the many comp-driven taxi transports was
just outside the door. It was one of the smaller ones, seating only four, two
across each bench. Tanasha slid inside, expecting Duncan to do the civilized
thing and take the seat across from her. But what did he do? He came in after
her, ending up with his side pressed tightly against her. As she’d taken the
outside seat, Tanasha had nowhere to move to.
    Her nipples hardened further, poking through her top. She
wanted to cross her arms and hide the traitors, but that would draw his eyes
for sure. Instead she programmed Marius’ coordinates and turned her upper body
as if looking out of her window, giving him more of her back.
    She swallowed. Doubts and fears, excitement and anticipation
all jumbled through her. For some reason she’d never imagined herself as a
target. She’d never thought past O’Clare taking the case and finding Sydney.
    She was no longer alone in her battle to discover what was
going on. The relief of that alone made her feel light enough to float. But now
she depended on a Vampire and her own acting skills to not only rescue Sydney
but also keep herself safe.
    Talk about jumping without looking.
     
    Duncan still felt the sting from her words earlier. He knew
Naemas looked down on Vampires, but it had been a kick in the balls when she
told him only one of his kind would sink so low and take her case. Talk about
tarring every Vampire with the same brush. Duncan needed to