Demon Moon

urge to look at her, fearing she’d stop.
    “Hugh taught me to lower my shields today. I’ll drop them if you—”
    Colin slapped both palms flat against the table. The teacup and spoon rattled together.
    If the few other patrons startled at the sound, he didn’t know. He only heard her soft, throaty laughter. When it faded, she whispered, “Will you have control?”
    A fine tremor shook his fingers. He nodded.
    “Look at me,” she said. “I want to see what it does to you.”
    Could she not see what her voice did to him? She must know. How extraordinary that she didn’t recognize her body’s sexual response much of the time, but could deliberately work him into aching hardness with a kiss…or a few words spoken across a room.
    “Hurry. Nani and Geetha come.” As if to emphasize her urgency, the phone rang.
    He turned his head and stifled his groan of pure visual pleasure.
    She’d twisted a little farther in her chair; the edges of her white shirt had pulled back. The soft blue cotton she wore beneath clung to her small breasts, outlined her nipples. His tongue dried, felt thick and heavy in his mouth. The low neckline left her collarbones and throat bare. He forced his gaze up over the expanse of smooth skin, past her soft lips. They glistened as if she’d licked them.
    He would drink from them, too.
    She was looking sidelong in annoyance at the phone. Then she raised her gaze to his.
    He couldn’t stop the low, harsh growl that escaped him as the scent filled the room, overpowering every physical odor. There was no possibility that she heard it, but her lashes lowered as if in her own pleasure, and she watched him through that heavy-lidded gaze.
    She lifted the phone to her ear, never looking away from him. “Auntie’s.”
    Bloody hell, even that was torture. Say something more, Savi. Ask a question .
    “Okay. How hot would you like that?” Her mouth curved slightly.
    He drew in a deep breath, filled himself with the essence of her. Not just the sweet scent; her arousal added a new, irresistible note, cinnamon and spice. Had he said he’d have control? It was quickly becoming a lie. His hands fisted on the table.
    Her brows drew together, and concern layered a different flavor. Too much? She mouthed the words, then said into the receiver, “No, we close in half an hour. You should have time.”
    Half an hour. He’d have her against the wall before then. His jaw clenched in denial, but he nodded.
    It eased to a light fragrance, no stronger than the breeze from an orchard on a sunny day. Then she broke her hold over him, glancing away to speak with Auntie.
    Colin closed his eyes and simply breathed for several minutes. So easy to bask in this.
    Until another psychic scent intruded. His lip curled in irritation, and he looked through the window in time to see the black Navigator drive past the restaurant, two vampires inside. Bloody nuisances.
    Uneasiness slid through him. He’d told Savi he wouldn’t lead them here, and he was certain he’d evaded them. His car was parked two blocks away, off the street. Nor could they have seen Savi in his car and guessed their destination—Savi’s exit from the warehouse had been blocked from their view, and the Bentley’s tinted windows would have prevented their seeing inside. Colin knew her psychic shields hadn’t fallen, revealing her identity; and his own psychic blocks were too strong to reveal his location.
    Particularly to such young, inexperienced vampires as those he sensed within the vehicle.
    He held on to their minds as they drove on, slipped quietly into the emotions of the weaker one. Not much within him above the level of his shields; hardly more than a sheep. Just a sense of duty, combined with disillusionment and anger. An ill-tempered sheep.
    And, despite the vehicle, completely different from the two vampires he’d sensed earlier.
    He shouldn’t have used the symbols to shield the Bentley so quickly after kissing Savi. He’d known the vampires waited outside the warehouse but had only given them a cursory scan. Still, they’d had a maturity neither of these possessed.
    The Navigator passed again, and Colin gave a hard mental push—it would alert them to his presence, but also serve as a warning.
    Surprise flared from their scents, then a careful probe from the weaker one. Bloody stupid of him. Without experience to guide it, reaching out like that opened one’s own shields. Colin seized hold of it, tasted.
    And found a dark,