The Real Werewives Of Vampire County Part 3

"What rumors?" she growled.

"That you're the Queen of b.i.t.c.hes."

"True." No point in trying to deny that. Not that she wanted to. "What else?"

The dark gaze skimmed over her face. "That you're exquisite."

"Also true."

"That you were blessed with four pure-blooded daughters. An amazing gift to our people."

She lowered her gaze. Although the word of Ca.s.sie's talent of prophecy, as well as her recent disappearance, weren't state secrets, they hadn't yet become common knowledge.

The fewer people who knew, the better.

"Yes."

"And that you're a survivor," he continued, ignoring her sudden wariness. "Which was why you were smart enough to seek help when you needed it."

She lifted her head with a wry smile. "Slick."

"Skilled," he corrected, frustration still simmering in his magnificent eyes. "And unfortunately late to the party. Take me back to the beginning." His brows drew together as she hesitated. "Sophia?"

She ground her teeth. Dammit. He was a wolf on the hunt.

He wasn't going to let this go.

"I'm not really sure," she muttered.

"Something spooked you or you wouldn't have felt the need for a bodyguard."

"It's all been so ... childish."

His hands loosened their grip so he could run his fingers lightly up and down her arm, sending a series of pleasurable quakes through her body.

"Childish?"

She struggled to keep her mind on track. Not easy when her thoughts were being consumed with how quickly she could have him stripped of his clothes and pressed against the wall.

The things she could do to that fantastic body.

Mmmm.

His eyes dilated as the spice of her arousal filled the air, his body tensing with an answering hunger. With a low curse, she wrenched her mind back to the conversation.

Where were they?

Oh yeah, her murderous stalker.

She shrugged. "It started with spiteful notes left on my door."

"What did they say?"

"The usual. 'I hate you.' 'Go away, b.i.t.c.h.' 'Wh.o.r.e.' " Her lips curled in disgust. "Something a juvenile human would do."

"What else?"

"My tires slashed. A dead rat left in my swimming pool." Her gaze s.h.i.+fted past him to the bullet hole in the floor. A few more inches and she would have been skewered. "At least until today."

His frown deepened, his expression distracted. "Strange."

"Strange that someone tried to shoot me, or strange that they hadn't tried before?" she asked dryly.

"It usually doesn't escalate so swiftly."

She forced herself to hold his questioning gaze at his unnerving perception.

It wasn't bad enough his mere touch could make her wolf pant with need, he also had to be intelligent?

"You mean the attacks?"

"Exactly." His hands s.h.i.+fted so his thumbs were brus.h.i.+ng the sensitive line of her throat, pausing over the unsteady beat of her pulse. "It's a h.e.l.l of a leap from scribbling a nasty note to pulling a trigger. Most people never progress to that point. And those that do take longer than a few days to go from catty to psychotic."

"Hmmm." Her expression was noncommittal. "I see your point."

His eyes narrowed. "When did you receive your first threat?"

"A few days after I moved into my new house. Two weeks ago," she promptly answered. "I a.s.sumed it was a jealous neighbor."

"Nothing before then?"

"Lots." Her lips twisted wryly. "I am the Queen of b.i.t.c.hes, remember? But most of my enemies have the b.a.l.l.s to face me, not creep around like an angst-ridden adolescent."

He gave a slow nod. "Tell me about your neighbors."

"I've only met a handful." She hadn't been particularly concerned by the lack of a welcoming committee. "Most of them are mortal. Big yawn."

"But not all?"

"No. There's a vamp who has a lair directly behind my tennis courts."

His thumbs skimmed up and down her throat with an intimacy that should have made her wolf snarl in warning. A Were's neck was considered off-limits to all but their most trusted pack mates.

Instead she battled the urge to tilt back her head and offer her tender flesh to his teeth.

Christ, what was wrong with her?

"A vamp wouldn't waste their time with notes and tire slas.h.i.+ng," he said, his gaze following the path of his fingers, a glow deep in his eyes. "You p.i.s.s one off and they go directly for the throat. Literally."

"Kirsten's barely out of her foundling years," she informed him. "She's still at the mercy of her human emotions."

He seemed to dismiss the vamp, although Sophia didn't doubt he'd tucked the info in the back of his mind.

Nothing was allowed to escape this Were's notice.

Not the most comforting thought.

"Anyone else?"

"There's a nymph down the block." Sophia grimaced. "She's always polite in public, but I sense that she has no intention of becoming my BFF."

"She might be responsible for the drive-by hara.s.sments, but nymphs aren't usually bloodthirsty."

"You haven't seen how possessive she is of her current lover." Sophia shuddered. There had been a fanatical glint in the nymph's eyes when she'd introduced her boyfriend to Sophia, her hands clinging to him with an embarra.s.sing desperation. "It's creepy."

Luc lifted a dark brow. "Lover?"

"A cur." Curs were humans who'd been bitten instead of being born a pure-blooded Were. They were capable of s.h.i.+fting, but they couldn't control the s.h.i.+fts as a Were could, and they weren't immortal, although their lifespan was greatly increased. "Well, more or less."

"What does that mean?"

"He's been turned, I can smell it, but he's a pathetic excuse for a cur." The image of his short, pudgy body and pasty face turned Sophia's stomach. "He's an embarra.s.sment to curs everywhere. I've never encountered such a timid creature."

He stepped forward, pressing her body against the wall. "Not your type at all."

"You know nothing of my type."

Lowering his head, he allowed his lips to brush over the racing pulse at the base of her throat.

"I know I'm it."

h.e.l.l, they both knew he was it.

She was going up in flames from a mere touch.

What would happen if he actually kissed her?

Not about to stay around and find out, she shoved her hands against his chest.

"Ugh," she muttered, marching around him and down the stairs.

It was bad enough that she'd spent the day dodging bullets. She wasn't going to make it worse by becoming another victim to Luc's fatal charm.

She had no doubt there were enough of them littering the streets of Miami.

Luc finished his sweep of the office building and was pulling his black Mercedes SL550 Roadster past the uniformed guard who was opening the gates of Sophia's neighborhood when his cell phone beeped.

A glance at the flas.h.i.+ng ID and he grimaced, knowing he couldn't ignore the call.

Turning up the car stereo, he put the phone to his ear. There were too many demons with superior hearing to take chances.

"What's up?" he demanded, sighing at his caller's response. "Si. I'm headed back to her house now." His jaw tightened. "No, she doesn't suspect anything. Not yet. But she's too smart for me to fool for long." There was another burst of sharp words. "Yeah, I got it. I'll keep in touch."

Tossing his phone into the pa.s.senger seat, Luc parked his car at the end of the tree-lined street. Then, briefly considering the benefits of s.h.i.+fting, he gave a shake of his head and jogged toward Sophia's house.

He'd already called his wolf to search the office building. His human form couldn't begin to match his wolf senses, but while he was stronger than most Weres, he didn't want to waste unnecessary energy.

Not when he couldn't be certain he wouldn't need to protect Sophia.

Reaching the nearly half acre of parkland surrounding Sophia's house, he did a swift search of the grounds, including the pool house, before entering her home through the patio doors.

He'd checked through her living room, a guest bedroom, and the fully equipped gym before heading to the kitchen.

Not surprisingly, he found Sophia leaning against the marble counter, her arms folded across her chest. She would have sensed him the moment he entered her yard.

Halting in the center of the ceramic-tiled floor, Luc allowed his gaze to run over her slender body barely covered by a lacy red camisole and matching silk shorts.

He bit back a growl, his gaze lifting to the beautiful face framed by the pale golden hair.

The l.u.s.t he didn't mind. What male wouldn't be hot and bothered by the sight of a gorgeous, half-naked female?

But the sense of recognition from his wolf, as if she ... belonged to him, was unnerving.

Especially when the emerald eyes were glowing with a warning that was far from welcoming.

"Do your duties include breaking and entering?"

He deliberately glanced toward the door leading from the breakfast nook onto the patio. A dew fairy could break the flimsy-a.s.s lock.

"No, but they include an inspection of your alarm system."

She snorted. "I'm a pure-blooded Were. That's all the alarm system I need."

Scowling at her nonchalant tone, he turned back with a glare of frustration.

Dios.

Did she know how her seeming lack of concern was challenging his wolf to do whatever necessary to protect her?

"Obviously not if some lunatic has managed to wander around your place without getting caught," he growled.

"The lunatic always trespa.s.sed when I was at the club." She allowed her gaze to drift down to his heavy boots and back to his narrowed eyes. "At least until tonight."

"You need an alarm system."

She heaved a purely feminine sigh of exasperation at his stubborn expression.

"Did you find anything at the office building?"