“Perfect! You just need one little tweak.” Sable reached out to unwind Sunny’s braid. The long waves tumbled down her back. Oh, what she wouldn’t give for a trim. But, even if she shaved her head, the thick azure mass would grow back in a matter of hours. “All right, you’ve got this. You’re irresistible and all that crap.”
Another snort. “Here goes nothing.”
Sable raced off in one direction, heading for the lobby, and Sunny raised her chin, squared her shoulders, and straightened her spine. Perspiration wet her palms as she stepped from the shadows. Like all of her kind, she walked silently, her footsteps inaudible.
“—like a computer,” a guy at the table just ahead was saying. He had a familiar voice. “I’m serious. She can break a code with only a glance. Any code. It’s shocking to witness. She’s—dude, she’s right there!” The speaker pointed at her and waved. “Sunny! Sunny Lane. Hi. I’m Harry. Harry Shorts. Can I buy you a drink?”
Multiple gazes slid her way, including William’s. His gaze hit her like a crowbar to the solar plexus. She lost her breath, her heart knocking against her ribs. Her legs shook, and she stutter-stepped, then froze, only halfway to his table.
Sage! Finding a target sexy was one thing. Being aroused by a target was another thing entirely and completely unacceptable. He must exude some kind of lust dust.
Seconds passed, but he didn’t look away, as if he were…dare she hope…entranced? He even angled his body toward hers to better peruse her from head to toe. Another hit to the solar plexus. This time, her blood heated, every cell an ember.
Then, he returned his focus to his companions, dismissing Sunny.
She ran her tongue over her teeth. When her heart calmed and her blood cooled, the synapses in her brain began firing again, and she realized there’d been no flicker of recognition in his expression, no surprise or satisfaction. Maybe, as she’d suspected from the start, he didn’t know who she was or what she planned. Or maybe he was playing hard to get, just to lure her closer.
Only one way to find out…
Determined, she glided forward once again and considered her options. Highlight the tender, tranquil side of her nature, or the killer as bloodthirsty as a harpy, as strong as a vampire, and as magical as a witch?
Finally, she reached her destination, and oh, wow. He wielded magic, too. Her eyes widened. He wielded a lot of magic. Ancient, dark, and powerful. The air around him vibrated with it, making her skin tingle.
The women ignored her, too wrapped up in William to notice or care. William, though, was not so wrapped up in them. He stiffened ever so slightly. She fought a smile. His awareness of her hadn’t dulled in the slightest, he was just doing everything possible to hide it.
Too bad, so sad. Deep breath in, out. Mistake! His scent… She closed her eyes and savored, her mouth-watering. He smelled like angel food cake laced with crack.
Calm. Steady. No need to act like an uncouth wolf-shifter.
“—my best thinking naked,” he was saying to Jaybird and Cash. “You?”
Let’s do this. “Hi. Hello. Hey,” Sunny said, rapping her knuckles against the table. Ugh! Blowing this already.
Languid but self-assured, William canted his head in her direction. He made a real event of it too, as if premiering a blockbuster movie. Why bother going to so much trou—ohhh. That’s why. Up close and personal, his eyes weren’t just bejeweled; they were a real showstopper, sparkling with arousal, glinting with a sheen of icy rage, and glittering with steely determination.
Electrical currents zapped her nerve endings. Ignore the pleasure. Forge ahead. She pasted on her best “come hither” smile and waved.
A wave? Seriously? Get it together, Sun. Remember what he and his family did to you and yours.
As she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, he looked her over sloooowly, starting at the bottom and working his way up—singeing her from the bottom up. He reached the apex of her thighs and her chest tightened. Shivers rocked her.
No, no. I will not react. He will not affect me.
His gaze continued moving up, still singeing her…
When he reached her pasted-on smile, he projected amusement. But, but…why?
Voice husky and low, he asked, “How may I service you, pet?”
Pet? Pet! Her hands curled into fists. “In ways you never imagined, handsome,” she replied, careful to moderate her tone. She glanced at Jaybird, then Cash. They had to go. Letting her savage, violent side glaze her eyes, she snapped, “Get lost.”
“You fall off the face of the earth for years,” Jaybird groused, “then come back meaner than ever? That’s just great!” With a huff, she stood and flounced off. Cash and the third female followed.
Here’s hoping Willy-boy is just as easy to manipulate. “Hello.” Ugh. Not this again. “I’m Sunday Lane. Sunny to my friends. My turn-ons include kindness and responsibility. I look twenty-five, but I’m older. Promise!” Nearly eight thousand years old.
A flash of intrigue, there and gone. “I’m William…King. Lovers call me the Panty Melter. Everyone else calls me the Ever Randy. My turn-ons are living and breathing. I’m older than twenty-five, as well.”
Mmm. His voice had grown huskier, like audible sex. If women were “sex kittens,” this man was a “sex panther.” Meow.
A wave of desire crashed into her sea of hatred. To combat the arousal, she reminded herself of his crimes. Long ago, Lucifer and his horde of demons rode into her village. They raped, pillaged, and utterly slaughtered her people. Men, women, and children. Their screams… Sometimes, when she closed her eyes, she still heard their screams.
Her family, brutally murdered.
Her few friends, torn to shreds.
The only home she’d ever known, razed.
In only a handful of hours, the entire scope of her life changed.
There’d been six survivors, Sunny included. No one remembered seeing William, only Lucifer, but Willy must have
