Wanted: Undead or Alive

Her blush deepened. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and looked away.

Amazing. She didn’t know what to do with a compliment. And even more amazing—he’d found a guaranteed way to shut her up. It was sad, though, if she’d grown up never receiving any kind words. He knew she’d run away from home because her dad had tried to force her into an unwanted marriage. Maybe the dad had a long history of being an overbearing jerk.

He slipped on a shoulder holster. “You know what I really like about your underground rebellion? The way you’re sticking it to your dad.”

She flinched. “I . . . he . . . this has nothing to do with him. And I still think we should take the car.”

Man, did she change the subject in a hurry. Some major denial going on. He strongly suspected dear old dad was the source of her problems. Which meant, he thought with a wry smile, that he and Brynley had something in common after all.

And she wasn’t the spoiled princess he had thought. She’d risked everything to help the Lost Boys, and she’d given up her cushy life when she ran away from home.

Damn. The more he got to know her, the more he liked her. And admired her. Don’t think about it. Stick to business.

He checked his automatic pistol to make sure it was loaded, then slipped it into the shoulder holster. “The hospital is in Buffalo. It could take over an hour to drive there, and we can teleport there in just a second.”

“It’s a twenty-four-hour emergency room,” she argued. “There’ll be people there. We can’t just pop in and scare everybody.”

“Don’t worry about that.” He slipped a large sheepskin jacket on to conceal his weapon. “I can erase people’s memories if I need to.”

She made a face at him. “You seem awfully eager to use your vampire mind control.”

“You seem awfully sensitive about it.”

“I’m just saying you’d better not try it on me. Mess with me and I’ll mess with you while you’re in your death-sleep. I could do something terrible like . . . donate one of your kidneys.”

He grinned. “Don’t worry. I have no desire to invade your brain.” Her body, yes, but not her brain. “Some places are just too scary to visit.”

She scoffed. “That’s right. I’m so complicated you’d get lost and never find your way out.”

That was the problem. He wouldn’t want to find his way out.

He checked the information he’d written about the emergency room. “I’m going to call now and teleport. Are you coming with me?”

She hesitated. “I can’t let any werewolves see me.”

“I understand.” He extended a hand toward her. “I can protect you.”

She took a small step in his direction. “Can you avoid using my name in public? My dad’s a powerful landowner, so even mortals could recognize my name. And if the news gets back to him—”

“I got it.” He slipped his hand around her waist and urged her closer. “We have to keep you secret.”

She placed her hands on his chest. “I don’t mean to sound paranoid about it. I just don’t want to be forced to marry against my will.”

“I’d never let that happen.”

She glanced up at him. “You don’t know how ruthless my father can be.”

He gripped her tightly around the waist. “You don’t know how determined I can be.”

Her eyes widened, and her heartbeat accelerated. “Why are you willing to protect me?”

Because no matter how much she fussed and snarled, it was music to his ears. When he breathed in her scent, he was in heaven. And when he gazed into her sky-blue eyes, an eternity wasn’t long enough.

But he couldn’t tell her that, so he shrugged. “I don’t like people to be unhappy.”

She snorted. “You don’t even consider me ‘people.’ You call me Snout-Face.”

He smiled and tapped the end of her nose. “But it’s such a beautiful snout.”

Her mouth fell open, drawing his gaze there. Soft, luscious lips, ripe for kissing and sweet to taste. He pulled her close, and his groin hardened as her lips turned a rosy pink.

She inhaled sharply. “What the—?”

He stiffened with the sudden realization that the whole cabin was now tinted pink. And that could mean only one thing. His eyes had turned red.

“Excuse me.” He looked away, squeezing his eyes shut. Shit. He’d gotten hot from just touching her nose?

“Are you all right? You look like you’re in pain.”

He gritted his teeth. “It’s nothing. Just a vampire thing. It’ll pass.” Although it was difficult to ignore her sweet body pressed up against his.

“Excuse me a minute.” He zoomed at vampire speed into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. Shit. He hadn’t made it through one night without his eyes betraying him. His attraction to her was stronger than he’d thought.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. What he needed was self-control. He pictured a snowy blizzard in his mind, then a pack of growling wolves. Bared teeth. Snapping jaws. They hated him. They wanted to rip him to shreds. And Brynley was leader of the pack.

He opened his eyes. His image didn’t show up in the bathroom mirror, but the room was no longer pink, so his vision must have returned to normal.

He dashed back to the table and grabbed his cell phone. “Let’s get going.” He dialed the number of the emergency room and wrapped an arm around Brynley without looking at her.

When a woman answered, he teleported, taking Brynley with him.

Nothing? Ha! Brynley glanced quickly around the emergency room’s waiting area. It was empty, except for the mortal receptionist. No werewolves in sight. She was safe. Safe enough to freak out over what had just happened. If it was nothing, why had Phineas run off so fast to the bathroom?

A vampire thing? That was a huge understatement. She knew good and well what red glowing eyes meant. Vanda had explained it to her and the angel, Marielle. A vampire’s eyes turned red when he wanted sex.

And that meant Phineas was attracted to her! Her heart lurched up her throat. Why hadn’t she realized this before? Well, how could she when the rascal was always tormenting her and calling her Snout-Face? That was not the way to win a woman’s affections.

Her heart plummeted. The conclusion was obvious. Phineas was rude because he didn’t want to win her affections. That was why he’d shot off to the bathroom like the hounds from hell were after him. He didn’t want to get involved with a werewolf.

Well. She squared her shoulders. She didn’t want to get involved with a vampire, so there. They were even.

And alone.

It was a bloody shame. While all the Lycan males would want her for her werewolf status, Phineas rejected her for it.

Her heart sank even further. His red glowing eyes were probably nothing more than an indication that he was susceptible to the Three-Step rule. It was a theory she’d come up with years ago that at any given time, a man’s thoughts were only three steps away from sex. She should have known it would apply to Phineas. He was about the sexiest man she’d ever met. He was probably attracted to every woman he met, and his eyes were constantly turning red.

After all, he called himself the Love Doctor. And he was the Blardonnay Guy, too. Every woman who watched DVN wanted him. She had a sudden urge to slap his handsome face. And then kiss it to make it better. She groaned inwardly. The man had no right being so sexy. It had to be that damned vampire allure.

She glanced at him. He’d been quiet since they arrived, but she figured his brain was busy zapping the receptionist with vampire mind control. He approached the receptionist’s desk, staring intently at the woman sitting there. The nurse had gasped when they’d teleported into the waiting room, but now she was simply gazing at Phineas with a blank look.

He smiled at her. “I believe you had a patient here a few days ago with bite marks on his neck?”