She felt his face press down to her head. Was that his lips against her temple?
His words came against her ear. “I’m going to fly around to make sure they can’t follow our scents back to Shadow Falls.”
She didn’t answer. Didn’t think he expected her to.
A minute later, maybe two, or hell, maybe five minutes—she lost track of time—he landed. Her heart thumped in her chest, or was that his heart she felt? He held her off the ground and close. She opened her eyes and saw they were by a lake. No, not just any lake, but the lake at Shadow Falls.
He lifted his face in the air as if to see if they’d been followed. Only then did he look at her. His bright green eyes smiled. He looked happy with himself. He should be. Where the hell did he learn to fly like that?
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded, having to swallow before she could speak. “Put me down.”
He slowly lowered her, but before his hand left the curves of her waist, he drew her against him. His mouth met hers. Soft. Moist.
This time, he tasted different. Even better.
He tasted like danger. He tasted like something she’d never tasted before.
He tasted … forbidden.
Oh, hell! He was forbidden. Giving herself a swift and firm mental kick in the ass, she yanked away from him. Slapped both her palms on his chest and shoved him down. He landed on his ass.
“Stop that.”
“You started it,” he said, and smiled.
Smiled. How dare he smile when…? She growled. “I only did it so they would think…”
“That we were about to get naked.”
“So they wouldn’t think…”
Plant one on that Chase guy. She heard Miranda’s voice.
“I only did it because…” Maybe because that freaking witch put it in my mind. Had she put a curse on her? No, she wouldn’t have done that, but it didn’t matter, just planting the idea had caused havoc. Bad havoc. She didn’t want to like Chase’s kisses. Didn’t want to want … That was it, she was killing Miranda.
She swung around and took off. Chase followed her. His footsteps filled the night.
“Hey, we need to talk.”
“No,” she snapped, and followed the lake. But she was so confused she wasn’t even sure which way it was to her cabin.
“Don’t run away,” he accused.
“I’m not running,” she seethed. “I’m walking.”
“Della?” Chase called out.
Walking away from you. She looked down at her feet to confirm it was true, and before she looked back up, she’d walked right into a solid chest. Damn him and his speed! Without thinking, blind with fury, she put her hands on his chest. She gave one big shove and knocked him on his ass again.
Then she heard it. Heard Chase’s footsteps behind her. But if he was behind her … Whose ass was it she’d just bruised?
“Why the hell did you do that?” Burnett asked, getting to his feet, scowling at her with bright angry eyes.
Unable to talk, she just stared.
Then she swore the camp leader lifted his face to sniff the air. Friggin’ frack! He probably smelled pheromones. And yes, she was probably putting out a few.
Damn it to hell and back, but she wanted to deny that she enjoyed the kiss. Wanted to claim it was just … the danger, the situation.
She couldn’t deny it.
She’d enjoyed it.
“What the hell is wrong?” Burnett asked again.
“Nothing.… I didn’t realize it was you.”
“How could you not know?”
“Because…” She heard Chase step beside her. I was just kissed senseless. Because my senses are on hiatus. Taking a deep sobering breath, she shoved the kiss to the bottom of her mental problem tank and yanked up her big-girl panties to think about the case. “Because I’m pissed. Why did you pull us out?”
“As soon as the gang leader left your table, he called someone and told them to summon the whole gang there. They had plans to overtake you.”
“How do you know this?” Chase asked, now standing so close she felt his hip next to hers.
“He had agents there,” Della answered, staring at Burnett, not willing to look at Chase. Not yet. She needed just a few more seconds to put the kiss from her mind. Unfortunately, the damn memory buried its claws and hung on, refusing to be pushed aside. The way he’d felt. The way he’d smelt. The way his lips had …
“What?” Chase asked. “And neither of you felt I needed to know that?”
“I didn’t know. I only knew when I saw them there,” Della said, offering him a quick glance. Her gaze went to his mouth, still wet. She looked away.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Chase asked Burnett.
The camp leader didn’t react to Chase’s attitude. He answered calmly. “I never send new agents out alone if there’s a chance it could be dangerous.”
“I could have handled it,” Chase said.
Della hated to agree with Chase, but after seeing how fast he could fly, and after seeing him handle the creep last night, she wasn’t sure it was an exaggeration. Was there anything he couldn’t handle? Fighting? Flying? Kissing?
“Maybe,” Burnett said. “But it was a chance I wasn’t willing to take. What matters is we got him. The fresh turn, a Billy Jennings, showed up seconds after you two left. The gang leader asked him about his rendezvous with Della.” Burnett looked at her. “When he left with only a couple of other vampires, my agents followed, and I just got word that they were able to detain him. They’re taking him to…”
Della stopped listening. They got him! Relief fell over her like a soft rain. We got him, Lorraine. Della wasn’t sure why she felt like the girl could hear her thoughts—hell, she really hoped she couldn’t—but she said it anyway. We caught the creep who did that to you.
“I’ll need you two to come confirm it was his trace you got that night.”
Shit! A slow burn of panic started to build in her gut. If her sense of smell was still on sabbatical, how was she going to know for sure if it was him? But if she told Burnett she’d accepted this mission without having all her senses in full operating order, he’d have her head on a chopping block.
If not her head, for sure her career.
Burnett opened a door and motioned for Della and Chase to walk inside a small room. Painted a dull gray, the room felt gloomy. Sad. One wall was made of glass, where you could see in another room. An empty room.