Fangs But No Fangs. Kathy Love
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at his arm rather than his face.
“No.”
“I’m almost done.”
Thank God. He breathed in again, and her luscious scent assailed him, stronger and more tempting than before.
Were his vampy powers coming back? He’d truly believed he had them under control, practically ineffectual. But his acute sense of smell was working fine. Although the scent he smelled wasn’t the rusty, salty scent of blood. The heat and spices were just her.
But what caught him more off guard than her scent was his reaction to it. He was aroused. And he’d never been aroused by a mortal unless it was caused by the hunger.
He ran his tongue over his canines. They were normal. The rock-hard erection in his trousers was not. He always had simultaneous erections. Fangs, cock. Fangs, cock. That was just how it worked. So what the hell was going on?
“There,” she said, shifting away from him. “All clean.”
He immediately stepped back, hoping distance would calm him. This was just too strange.
Chapter 2
Jolee frowned. Her neighbor was a strange guy. Not that she was surprised. She’d noticed him before. After all, it was pretty darn hard to ignore a hunky model type with designer clothes and a car that cost ten times her yearly income, and that was if she was lucky, living across from her in a run-down trailer park. There was definitely a story there. She’d even invented one or two of her own.
But until tonight, she’d never considered talking to him for two very good reasons. One, he had to be trouble. Again, guys like this one did not live in Shady Fork Mobile Estates, unless they were in deep doo-doo. And number two, she was too smart and too busy to get involved with trouble. Even on a non-romantic basis. She’d had enough of that in her life, thank you very much.
But tonight had really added a new twist to her two-point plan. He’d rescued her. She could have protected herself from Vance if she’d had to. Although it had been really nice not to have to. To have someone stick up for her.
She simply hadn’t expected help. She knew full well that people often ignored others in trouble. Like she’d planned to ignore her neighbor. But he hadn’t ignored her.
Of course, she had been screaming on her front lawn at three in the morning. But then, no one else had come to her aid. And this guy had even gotten hurt protecting her. If he wasn’t already sexy as hell that would have definitely added to his appeal. It was rather nice to have a hero around.
“I don’t think you are mortally wounded,” she said. When his brows drew together in confusion, she pointed to his arm. “Your arm. It bled a lot, but the cut was actually quite small.”
“Oh.” He glanced down at his bloodstained sleeve as if just remembering the wound. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
He nodded as if he didn’t have any idea what else to say, which apparently he didn’t. He started toward the door.
“Can I get you something to eat?” she blurted out, then winced. It was three in the morning. What were the chances he was hungry? Not that she had much to offer him if he was hungry. The invitation was just the first thing that popped into her mind. The truth was she didn’t want him to leave. He was the only company she’d had since she moved here, aside from her knife-wielding brother, and she was lonely. She didn’t even realize how much until now.
He hesitated, then instead of answering her question, he asked one of his own. “Was that kid—Vance? Are you together in some way?”
Jolee blinked and then laughed, although there was not much humor in the sound. There wasn’t much that was funny about her family in general.
“No. Definitely not. He’s my brother.”
He seemed to consider that for a moment, then he nodded. To her surprise, he walked toward her, a leisurely, almost predatory quality to his movements. His unusual, pale blue eyes locked on her.
Her heart pounded violently in her chest as his hand came out and caught a strand of her hair, which had escaped from its ponytail.
“Your hair. I’ve never seen this color before.”
From the corners of her eyes, Jolee watched him rub the curling lock, testing the texture. Her heart threatened to hop right out of her chest as she imagined those long, masculine fingers touching parts of her body that actually had nerve endings.
“The color is a little unusual, I guess,” she said. Not as unusual as his eyes, which were such a pale blue they appeared almost white. She pulled in a calming breath, forcing herself to look away from his beautiful face.
“That’s why you’re named Cherry,” he said, almost like a revelation to himself.
She frowned for a moment, not following the conversation, probably due to the lack of oxygen getting to her brain. Or maybe too much oxygen, given that her heart was in overdrive. Then she recalled her brother using the dreaded nickname when he’d been yelling for her. “That’s one reason, among others.”
He frowned, puzzled.
“It’s not my real name,” she added quickly, as she’d rather not go into the fact that her brothers had mainly called her Cherry to mock her morality and the fact that she actually didn’t want to sleep around like her other siblings. They had found her virginity a great source of amusement.
“My name is Jolee. Jolee Dugan.”
He stared at her for a moment, his gaze going from her eyes to linger on her lips. Jolee’s breath caught in her throat as he slowly leaned closer. He was going to kiss her, she realized.
Her heart revved again. A thrill tingled over her skin; her own gaze dropped to his mouth. His top lip bowed in the center and the bottom one was fuller, pale pink, soft-looking and yet infinitely masculine. His head descended.
Then, as if he’d been burnt, he stepped back from her. He shook his head slightly as if to clear his thoughts.
“I should go.”
She frowned, confused by his sudden and strange behaviors. “Are you all right?”
He studied her with those almost eerie eyes, then nodded. He started for the door. Even with his odd reactions, Jolee didn’t want him to leave. Maybe she was more shaken by the incident with Vance than she thought. Or maybe she simply was lonely. Living alone, running a bar essentially by herself, it had been a lonesome time. She wanted to feel like she was connecting with someone.
“You know, you haven’t told me your name.”
He stopped again, casting a look over his shoulder. He frowned as if the idea of telling his name to her was a foreign concept.
“So, your name?” she prodded. “You do have one, don’t you? I can’t very well call the neighborhood hero, ‘Hey you,’ now can I?”
He turned back to her, and he actually looked a little uncomfortable. But then, as if the awkwardness hadn’t ever been there, his jaw tensed and his eyes grew frosty like chips of pale blue ice. He lifted his chin, and she fully understood the phrase “looking down your nose.” She didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone look so arrogant.
“You know, as much as I love breaking up family squabbles, I do have things I have to do.”
“Oh,” she said, stunned by his cool tone, wondering what she’d said to offend him. She did suppose it was a little annoying to have to break up a fight at this time of night, and he had gotten cut in the process. But he didn’t have to be quite so haughty about the whole thing. She didn’t say that, however. She didn’t want to appear ungrateful. She appreciated his help. He had been a hero, and she knew those were too few and far between.
“Well, thank you,” she said, following him to the door. She reached for the handle just as he did. Their fingers touched, his on top of