Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

their noses were almost touching, and he came forward just a little in order to brush her lips with a soft kiss.
    The touch of his lips on hers had quite the opposite affect than what he had hoped for. She was definitely not in the mood to be coddled. She pushed against his chest with both hands, hard enough to send an ordinary man flying backwards, Kevin was sure. As it was, her attempts were fruitless. He didn’t budge an inch. Annoyed and angry, she briefly entertained the idea of slapping the mess out of this man, but a quick second glance at the pain in his eyes brought her up short. Besides, it made very little sense provoking a vampire who was a hundred times stronger than you! Still, he had some questions to answer, and she was determined to get her answers.
    As she disentangled herself from his embrace, Erica immediately launched into her questions. “How long were you planning to keep me in the dark that you are a vampire?” She gave him a hard glare as she settled herself across the bed from him. She decided that one way or another, he was going to come clean with her.
    “Why didn’t you tell me that Shawn is a vampire?” Kevin responded with a smirk on his face. Oh, he could play this game with her. Although he knew he owed her an explanation far more than she ever owed one to him, he simply couldn’t help himself. For some reason his beast had turned into an imp, rather enjoying seeing their mate irritated. She was just so darn cute when she was angry! Kevin hated himself when she was sad, and his beast was in no better shape. But this side, this side of her, he could live with. He saw the fire in her, and he liked what he saw. He didn’t want a woman that he could manipulate. He wanted a woman who wasn’t afraid to stand up and speak her mind, even if it was to him! His beast seemed to be jumping for joy at seeing the fire coming from her also. Yes, his beast didn’t want someone that could be walked all over. It wanted someone that stood up for what they believed in.
    Erica stared at Kevin, her irritation level rising quickly. Really, was he going to answer a question with another question? Did he honestly think she was going to allow him to get away with that? Or was he just stalling? No, another glance confirmed he seemed to be enjoying himself. “I asked you first,” she bit out testily. There was no way he was getting off the hook that easy! It obviously had slipped his mind that she had four years of dealing with a vampire! If he was trying to play head games with her, he’d better try harder!
    Kevin sat back and let out a sigh. “I didn’t want to scare you. Most people immediately think of bloodsucking demons when you mention vampires,” he replied with a light shrug of his shoulders.
    “Yeah, well, I’ve had my share of that, thank you very much. You’ve obviously known for some time that Shawn was a vampire, so not telling you was no big surprise. But you…”
    “I was protecting you!” Kevin snapped in frustration. “Do you have any idea what he would have done to you if he had been able to get to you?”
    “Yes,” she replied quietly, and Kevin watched as every bit of fire was snuffed out of her. “I have a pretty good idea.”
    Kevin felt horrible. He stretched out his hand and lightly stroked her cheek, bringing her chin up as he did so in order to see her eyes. “Now answer my question,” Kevin demanded softly.
    Erica sighed deeply. All game playing was over. It was time to get to the bottom of things. “Because I thought you would think I was crazy. I couldn’t take the chance of telling you and have you throw me in the nearest mental institution! I just had nowhere else to go, Kevin, no one else to trust. I hated putting you and your family at risk. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
    Kevin stared at her intently as he thought about her answer. So, she tried hiding the truth from him because she was afraid he would think she was crazy. Looking at things from a mortal’s point of view, he could kind of see her point. After all, vampires were not supposed to exist. As for her being crazy, he could easily run down a list of things to describe her. She was beautiful, intelligent, witty, graceful, sweet, and sexy as hell. But crazy would never have been on his list.
    He continued to study her for a moment before he responded. “Do you realize how lucky you are to be surrounded by vampires? Do you realize what would have happened today if this was a human