High Stakes (Vegas Vampires #1)(27)
Author: Erin McCarthy

But then he drew in a ragged breath of his own, even as his hands reached for her, and she caught a glimpse of some really long-ass canines.Fangs.

Fudge, he had fangs. Those hadn’t been there before. Alexis blurted, "Night!" then moved back, and slammed the door shut in his face.

She just wasn’t ready to take their relationship to the biting level yet.

Chapter Ten

"I just got confirmation from our contact, Mr. Donatelli . It’s done."

Roberto didn’t bother to open his eyes as he soaked in a Jacuzzi tub in his suite at the Venetian. It amused him to stay in a hotel that emulated his homeland in plush, inaccurate opulence. And when he spoke Italian to the women here, they always giggled.

"Thank you, Smith," he told his right-hand man. "That’s good to hear. How long do you think until we’ll get the official news?"

"Twenty minutes, tops."

"Perfect." Roberto allowed himself a smile, the hot waterJuicing over his chest as he shifted a little. Step one, completed.Excellent.Time for step two.

Corbin felt guilty for leaving the girl on the roof, but surely she would be smart enough simply to take the stairs down one floor to the elevator bank.

He had found he could not stay there with her one moment longer. Something about her childlike enthusiasm, her guileless expressions, and her cheerful encouragement had set off a swell of emotions surprising in their intensity.Anger, annoyance, attraction had all risen in him, choking him into confusion.

Banished he was, and banished he would stay, and that silly girl would only distract him with her ridiculous Auntie Brittany talk.

Leaning against the wall, Corbin shifted his feet. The window ledge one floor down was not particularly comfortable, being only a dozen centimeters in width. He was certain a bird of some sort had roosted there recently, as suspicious-looking spots lingered near his elbow. He grimaced. The world was such a dirty place.

But from this position, he could listen for the girl, to make sure she found the stairwell. She did not look like the panicking sort, but then again, she didn’t seem beset with survival instincts either. Look at how she had stayed with him so calmly, without fear, spouting all that nonsense about helping him.

"Bah," he said out loud, because it made him feel better.

A hundred years ago Corbin could not have imagined he would wind up in the desert surrounded by blazing electronic lights, clinging to a decorative faux window. This was his punishment for breaking the rules of his kind, and it was no less than he deserved-

His keen hearing picked up the sound of Brittany moving around on the roof. She had only called out for him the one time,then had resorted to muttering about the rudeness of men in general, him in particular.

It had been ill-mannered to abandon her like that. But she had spoken about orgasms as if he were her maid, and contemplated kissing his forehead as if he were a boy in short pants. There were boundaries, and she had overstepped them.

"Alex? It’s Brit."

Corbin frowned. Who was she talking to?

"I know it’s late, but I thought you’d call me after your little soiree with Ethan. I want all the dets , and I’m not waiting until tomorrow, so spill."

Corbin didn’t know who Alex was, or what dets were, but he was curious how Brittany was carrying on a one-sided conversation with someone on the roof of the casino.

He jumped up the side of the building, grabbed the edge, and hovered where he could see her, just the top of his head clearing the roof. Brittany was chatting on her cell phone.

That should have occurred to him, but sometimes his brain still worked in a nineteenth-century fashion.

"You suck!" she said into her tiny pink phone. Brittany was lying on her back on the asphalt, staring up at the sky as she talked.

Her body was long, lean, her br**sts obvious in a tight, molded T-shirt, her hips shapely. A ribbon of flesh showed above her waistband, and her thick, black hair hung down away from her face, a raven waterfall over her shoulders.

onewas a beautiful woman, and full of life, laughter. Even now she giggled, rolled on her side a little, and smiled for whomever she was talking to. The smell of her blood was enticing, rich, and her pulse beat strong and sure. There was vampire in her, on her, yet she seemed to know nothing about it.

This woman was why he had done what he did. For those like her, who flowed with humanlife.

For the ache inside him when he watched her.

It occurred to him Brittany would be perfect for his experiment.

"Would you care to tell me just what the f**k you’re thinking?"

Ethan winced as Seamus railed at him. They were in Ethan’s office, a large sumptuous room with thick faux suede easy chairs. He was settled comfortably in one, a glass of Diabetic ’87 in one hand to give him a sugar boost.

Seamus was pacing back and forth in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, still wearing a tux from the dinner party, though his tie was dangling loose. They had been friends for a long time, he had actually been the one to turn Seamus, and he was sorry he had angered him.

But he didn’t regret his actions. Not really. Not when he felt excited and reinvigorated for the first time in fifty years.

"I don’t think this is the disaster you seem to think it is, Seamus. Brittany was not interested in me."

"You weren’t even trying with her! And the sister doesn’t work as a substitute, Ethan. She doesn’t have vampire blood. That is the sole reason for you to be involved with a woman right now."

Ethan could think of a lot better reasons to be involved with a woman. "So Alexis isn’t an Impure. Does it really matter? She is a mortal. I look good simply by having her next to me."

Seamus didn’t look appeased. He waved his Sidekick at Ethan.

"The polls say they want you to be a reasonable, nonviolent president, that’s true. But the Impures are restless and want to know you stand for them.That you care about their concerns. Making it with a mortal doesn’t fix that very large problem. It’s you, the old school, versus Donatelli , the new order. The Impure population is growing, as more and more are discovered and turned, and if they decide not to vote for you, the presidency is gone."

"I understand that." And he cared. He did. "But I cannot seduce a woman because it is a good political maneuver. I can’t make myself use a woman that way."

"You have a new woman every decade or so. Why isthis such a hardship to play court to a beautiful woman? She’s sweet, thoughtful, a little naive, but charming. How hard can it be?"

Ethan frowned, tilting his glass to stare at the blood as it rolled across the inside of the flute. "But I wanted those women. I was attracted to them. I am not attracted to Brittany , and that makes me uncomfortable. I can’t fake thatinterest, I can’t sleep with a woman when I am being dishonest in my feelings for her."