The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance

the cocoa and the bath had helped. I felt better - good enough that I risked something I’d never done before.
    I’d always been cautious around Daniel: kept my distance, carefully avoided looking him in the eye and never, ever, coming close enough to touch. It had become a game between us. We’d tease, play up the sexual tension, but we never stepped over the line. He’d moved slowly, allowing the friendship to develop. It had occurred to me more than once that he wanted -needed — that more than sex, more than blood.
    I rose slowly and stepped out of the tub. I watched with satisfaction as his eyes followed the water that trailed down every curve of my body. His eyes darkened until they were almost black, and a bulge began to show beneath the tight denim of his jeans.
    “Hunters are always alone.”
    “Always?” I put a teasing note in my voice and stepped up to him. Only a fraction of an inch separated us. Such a tiny distance. I could smell the hint of soap on his skin, feel actual heat radiating from his body.
    “Karen . . .”
    “Shush.” I reached up and placed a finger against his lips. “We’ve known each other for months. If you were going to bite me, you would’ve done it by now.”
    “You don’t know that.” His whisper was as rough as the stubble that decorated his cheeks.
    “Yes, I do.”
    He held his body stiff, motionless. He didn’t move forwards, but he didn’t resist as I moved my hand against his chest for balance and went up on tiptoe to kiss him.
    It started as a gentle touch of the lips, my body barely brushing his. It didn’t stay that way. He had me in his arms so suddenly it was startling, his hands sliding down my body until they reached my thighs. He grabbed me then, lifting me from the ground, pulling me tight against him, so that the rough denim ground against the most intimate parts of me as his tongue plunged into my mouth.
    I whimpered, my hands tearing at the cloth of his shirt. I wanted, needed, to feel the warmth of his skin; needed to touch him, to have him touch me.
    He groaned, pulling back from the kiss, but not putting me down or letting me go. Burying his face in my throat he spoke in a whisper that was hoarse with need. “We can’t do this.”
    “Yes, we can.”
    I felt him gathering himself together, preparing to pull back. I couldn’t stand it. Pride went out the window in the face of pure need. “Daniel, please.”
    “You don’t understand.” He lifted his face and for the first time ever, I looked him straight in the eye.
    “I don’t care. I want you. Want this.” I ground my body against his hardness.
    He blinked, and I was caught in the magic of his gaze, a swirl of gold and copper, bronze and the rich brown of dark chocolate. I heard myself gasp, felt myself being carried into the living room.
    He took his time, licking the water from every part of me, using teeth and tongue to tease as his hands explored. His shirt was gone. I writhed against him, shouting myself hoarse.
    When we were done, he collapsed beside me, both of us sated and spent, the weight of his body pinning me to the futon mattress.
    “When we can move, you need to put on the charm I made you. It’ll make you harder to find and more difficult for Alexander to connect us. It’ll let me know if you’re in trouble.”
    “Harder to find?” I shifted my weight, rolling towards him, the fingers of my right hand tracing delicately over his sleekly muscled chest and six-pack abs.
    “Alexander will be looking for you. He’s going to want to kill you, as slowly and painfully as he can. I’m not going to let him.”
    “Can you stop him?”
    “I have to.”
Two
    I rolled over and slapped my hand in the general direction of the alarm clock, hoping to hit the snooze button. The movement sent a wave of pain shooting through my shoulder and down my arm. The pain was a far more effective wake-up call than the buzzing of the clock. I gasped, my eyes going wide.
    It took a second for my mind to click into gear, to remember last night. It hadn’t been a dream. I had the bruises, and the charm necklace, to prove it. But Daniel was gone, and I had things to do before I went into work this evening.
    I was sore and stiff, both from my injuries and from my amazing night with Daniel, so I set the shower massage on high, and turned the temperature up as hot as I could stand. By the time I had spent a few minutes under the spray, I was able to raise my arms above my head. Not without