Whispers at Moonrise

she said.
    He looked a bit confused. “Okay. Then what are you?”
    She smiled through her tears. “I’m a chameleon. Which means I have a little of everything in me.” She recalled what her grandfather had told her about not telling anyone. But Lucas wasn’t just anyone.
    “Even werewolf?” he asked.
    She nodded. “I just don’t yet know how to control the shifts from one thing to another.” She sighed. “Does that make me even more of a freak?”
    “It makes you freaking amazing,” he said. “Even when you’re a vampire.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss tasted of innocence. And odd as it was, she suddenly remembered him kissing her like this before, but way before. Like before she’d ever come to Shadow Falls. She touched his cheek, and when he pulled back, she asked, “Did you ever … climb into my window when you lived beside me?”
    He looked guilty, but not much. “Just once. I swear, you left the window open. And I didn’t … I just—”
    “Kissed me?” she asked. The idea didn’t make her angry; it made her feel cherished.
    “You were … my first kiss,” he said.
    She grinned, and then his mouth lowered to hers again. She barely felt the warmth from his lips when he pulled back. “But I’m still pissed at you for throwing that net on me.” He exhaled. “Not that I can stay mad at you.”
    He kissed her again. Only this kiss wasn’t so innocent. Not that she complained. He tasted like passion, like raw, sweet passion. His weight came against her in all the right places and she felt differences in what made him male and her female. His vibration, his humming seduction, entered her every place his hard body now touched hers.
    She met his kiss with desperation, wanting to feel it, wanting to savor how he made her feel. His hand resting at her waist, warm against her naked skin, slipped farther under her shirt, and his palm cupped her breast. She moaned with the sweetness of his touch and ached for more.
    His kiss moved from her lips to her neck. The feel of his warm kisses made her feel liquid inside. Need, want, desire, she felt it all.
    When his hand moved to her back to unhook her bra, she rose up to make it easier. When his hand came back around to her bare breast, she trembled with the pleasure.
    He slipped the tank top over her head, discarding the bra at the same time, and his eyes shifted downward to what he’d uncovered. She’d thought she’d feel embarrassed. But it wasn’t embarrassment stirring inside her. She felt …
    “You’re so beautiful,” he said hoarsely.
    That was it. That’s how he made her feel. Beautiful. Cherished.
    He inhaled sharply. “We probably shouldn’t—”
    She pressed a finger to his lips. “I want this.” She moved her hand behind his neck, threaded her fingers in his thick black hair, and brought his mouth back to hers. And in seconds, they were both lost in each other.

 
    Chapter Twenty-four
    The kiss went from hot to smoldering in a vampire’s heartbeat. She wasn’t even aware that he’d removed his shirt until she felt the wonder of his bare chest against her breasts. She shivered with pleasure. His kisses moved down to her neck and then lower. The sensation had her arching her back and saying his name.
    And then his phone rang.
    His growl, deep and low, came against her bare shoulder. He raised his head. His eyes were bright, the blue irises hot with desire. “I hate … hate modern technology.”
    She grinned.
    He rolled over to his back and reached into his pocket for his phone. As he studied the little screen, a frown chased away the passion from his expression.
    “It’s Burnett.” He closed his eyes, then opened them. “I should … take it.” He looked at her with an apology in his eyes.
    “I know,” she said, and then, suddenly aware of her lack of clothes, she crossed her arms.
    His gaze lowered briefly to her covered chest. He reached for her bra and shirt beside him and handed them to her.
    She clutched them to her front to cover herself. Their gazes met again. There was a sense of rightness at stopping things before they went any further. And while she accepted that letting it go this far had been risky, she knew she’d savor the memory.
    “I don’t regret it,” she said.
    “Good.” He looked so darn sexy without a shirt, but wearing a kiss-me grin. “Because I don’t, either.”
    “Thank you,” she said.
    “For what?” He frowned at the ringing