Winter's Touch (Immortal Touch Series) (17 page)

“Sorry.” She leaned precariously over the edge
and coaxed, “Come watch with me. I’ll be quiet. I won’t say a word, I promise.”

“Not a word?”

“Not one single word.” She wasn’t sure why she wanted him to join her, really. Maybe it was just that she was so tired of being alone. Of course, that had to be it. God, she must be getting really desperate for company if she was willing to put up with
his
snarky presence.

H
is eyes sparked with interest. “Well, I could hardly pass up an opportunity like this. I can’t wait to see how long it takes for you to crack.”

Making a face, she slid back into a
horizontal position and turned the volume up while he came around to make himself comfortable on the sofa. He was near enough that if she stretched her legs out she could have kicked him with her feet. It was a very tempting idea, at that. Too bad she was wearing soft cotton socks and not, say, spiked golf shoes perhaps.

“What are we watching?” he asked again.

She moved her legs to the side in order to give him a pointed look.

“Fine, you have my permission to speak. Just this once.”

“
The Hearse.
It’s retro night on IFC. It just came on so you haven’t really missed anything.”

“Horror, I
presume?”

She nodded.

“Interesting choice.”

She smiled demurely.

Once he was engrossed in the movie, Eva began to watch him furtively from behind the shield of her bended knees. She couldn’t help but marvel at how ludicrously
normal
he could sometimes appear. Like now, for instance. Casually relaxed on the sofa, eyes on the screen, looking like any other red-blooded young male. Any other male with flawless features and tight muscles and lips that just begged to be...

Oh, damn it all
!

She
couldn’t permit herself to have those kinds of thoughts. Not about him, of all people! But why, oh
why
did he have to exude such incredible magnetism? Was this all some sort of cosmic joke on her? To see how warped her rationale could become? Surely it couldn’t be normal to find oneself physically attracted to a bloodthirsty monster. What did that say about her? That she was just as sick as he was, obviously.

Without taking his eyes off the TV he calmly inquired, “
What are you looking at?”

Determined not to break her vow of silence, she merely shrugged.
Then attempted to hide her warm face behind her legs.

She almost yelped when he grabbed her by the ankles. “Either straighten your legs or sit up, Eva. I can’t concentrate with you wiggling around like that. You’re like a bloody hyperactive kid, you know that?”

Jabbing his thigh with a foot, she protested, “I was barely moving at all!”

“
That didn’t take long, did it?” His lips twitched.

“What? Oh
...well, you cheated!”

“You lasted longer than I expected. What was it, about four minutes?”

“I didn’t time it.” She buried her toes underneath his leg to warm them. Because it was chilly in the room, and for no other reason than that. No other reason at all. “We’ll start over. No more talking from here on out.”

“Mm-hm.” Obviously he had no faith in her ability to keep quiet. Smug bastard.

He turned his attention back to the movie, and she tried to as well.
Tried
to, but found it damn near impossible. It wasn’t that the movie wasn’t any good - she’d seen it before and found it delightfully creepy - but her hormones seemed intent on playing havoc with her sensibility tonight. The touch of his thigh against her toes was oddly electrifying.

Good grief, what was
wrong
with her?

Her warped mind kept envisioning him
climbing over her, like a lion stalking his prey, the same way he had the night he’d attacked her. But with a completely different motive this time. A more carnal one.

What would it be like, to feel his hard, naked body against hers?
To feel the softness of his silky blond hair tickling her skin? Would his lips taste as succulent as they looked? What if she were to lean over there right now and...

Stop it!

Horrified by her own train of thought, she jerked her legs away from him. A bit too hastily since he sent a strange look her way, but thankfully there was nothing said. Her accelerated heart rate began to slowly relax.

Was his mere
touch
doing that to her? Affecting her in some unnatural, mesmeric way? Or had she finally gone off the deep end? There was no way,
no way
she was stupid enough to crave sexual relations with someone who had no qualms whatsoever about killing her. After all, he was the source of her nightmares.

He couldn’t possibly be the source of her fantasies.

“Do you want me, Eva?”

Her heart nearly stopped
as her body froze. He wasn’t even looking at her, but his smooth voice purred like a jungle cat’s.

“What
...what did...you say?”

“
Do you want an Evian?” He did look over at her then, as he stood and headed for the kitchen.

“Oh. No.
” She coughed to clear the squeaky sound from her throat. “No, thanks.”

He returned with a bottle of water, settling himself beside her once again. She watched
from the corner of her eye as he unscrewed the lid and drank, then set the half-empty bottle on the end table beside him. His lips were wet, and he licked them absently.

Dear Lord.

If she had half a brain - which she obviously didn’t - she’d excuse herself and go hide upstairs right now rather than subject herself to whatever the hell was happening. Even though she was no longer touching him, the thoughts that had taken a decidedly naughty turn were reluctant to come back down to earth. Pandora’s box had been snatched wide open.

Just watch the movie. Don’t look at him. Don’t think. Don’t move.

Was he closer to her than he’d been before, or was it her imagination? No, it had to be her imagination. He was in exactly the same spot he’d been before he got up.

Wasn’t he?

In her ear, she felt his warm breath whisper, “
Touch me.
”

Startled, she spun her head around and stared
directly at him. He hadn’t moved. Still focused on the television screen, he was casually reclined with his legs stretched out before him, ankles crossed, hands behind his head.

Oh, she really was losing it.

“That fellow Tom has something to do with the hearse that’s following her, doesn’t he?” Julian guessed, seemingly impervious to her rattled distraction.

“Who? Oh, the guy she’s
...yeah...I’m not telling you the ending. You’ll have to wait and see.” She continued to keep a close eye on him until he began to notice her surreptitious glances.

“Something wrong?”

“Not a thing.” Feeling somewhat foolish, she made it a point to stop looking at him. He might get the wrong idea.

Fifteen minutes had passed and s
he had just begun to collect herself when she heard the almost imperceptible voice once again. “
I know what you want.
”

“
What!
”

Pulling his attention from the movie, he turned to give her a
questioning look. “Hm?”

“
What
did you just say to me?”

“I didn’t say anything.”
He seemed perfectly straightforward. Which meant she either needed to get her hearing checked, or the surround sound was playing tricks on her. It
was
an older movie. Maybe there were noises in the background that shouldn’t be there.

Sure, that’s all it was
...the surround sound picking up vague background noises. Of course. Why hadn’t she noticed that before?

But then h
is hand touched her thigh as he leaned close, and
that
she most certainly did
not
imagine.

“Give yourself to me.”

“Give...
what
to you?”

He looked annoyed.
“Eva, what is with you tonight? Are you having trouble hearing? I said, give the remote to me. I want to check the weather forecast. I’ll turn it right back.”

Okay,
that was it. Enough was enough. Grabbing the remote off the arm of the sofa, she tossed it to him unceremoniously. “Here. It’s all yours. I’m going to bed.”

“I thought you wanted to watch this?”

Stomping upstairs, she called down to him, “I’ve seen it before! Tom is a ghost...Jane blows up the hearse...
the end!
”

His soft laughter followed her all the way
into her room.

But maybe she imagined that, as well.

~*~*~

Now
that
was entertainment!

He’d never seen her so flustered.

The idea of toying with her had come to him only after he’d felt the sharp rise in her pulse rate. She couldn’t have been any more conspicuous, and the funny part was the little minx wasn’t even aware that he could tell. He could grasp the changes in her heart rate and breathing just from a casual touch. And from the feel of her, she was apparently beginning to view him in a whole new light.

Interesting.

Interesting, but inconsequential. Passion was just one more human emotion that was of no use to him, and therefore was defunct. In thirty years, he’d never even given it much thought. Sex had no place in his existence. No meaning. A vampire has no desire or compulsion to sire offspring, so the act itself was a pointless endeavor.

It certainly did provide fodder for
amusement, though! The bewildered look in those mossy eyes was priceless. She was likely to lie awake for hours tonight wondering how much of what she’d heard was real. Too bad she gave in so quickly. He wouldn’t have minded playing with her a while longer.

As a matter of fact, it seemed to him that maybe his enjoyment of this reached a little beyond the bounds of
simply teasing Eva. But to what extent, he couldn’t be sure.

Hm. Food for thought.

CHAPTER
TEN

Brightwood

Norm
ally Eva would spend Thanksgiving with her maternal family in Montana. Nana Bridget, Papa Joe, Aunt Ryanne, Uncle Andrew, twin cousins Chloe and Christine. Her grandparents’ house was inevitably chaotic and boisterous during the holidays, filled to the rafters with the exuberant warmth of loving relatives. Papa Joe would smoke his smelly cigars and repeat the same corny jokes he told every year, Aunt Ryanne would educate everyone on the caloric content of every dish on the table, and the twins would try to see just how far they could push their misbehavior until Uncle Andrew, fed up, would threaten to trade them to a traveling sideshow for a pair of chimpanzees.

This year she
expected to spend the holiday alone in a luxurious mausoleum in the middle of nowhere.

Lainie was gone
and Julian might as well be, since lately he spent most of his time sequestered from her, rejecting any invitation she extended to join her for strolls in the woods or even meals. He seemed to be avoiding her, for reasons she couldn’t discern. Perhaps her constant needling had finally gotten underneath his skin. Well, all the better.

Except that having only herself to talk to was getting really old.

The day before Thanksgiving, cabin fever overtook her completely. Fretful and frustrated, she pounded impatiently on his bedroom door.

He opened it, looking at her questioningly.

“If I don’t get out of this house right now, I’m going to go stir crazy!” she dramatically informed him. “And I
mean
it!”

Unexpectedly, he
smiled. “My poor little kitten is restless. Her cage is becoming too small. Well, I suppose she has earned a few privileges.” He studied her thoughtfully for a moment, then made his decision. “Go get ready and I’ll drive you into town.”

She could hardly believe her ears. “Are
...what...are you kidding me? Really?”

“Yes, really. As long as you promise to
conduct yourself appropriately.”

“I’ll be ready in
twenty minutes!” She sprinted towards her room at once, before he had the opportunity to change his mind. Having been restricted to one area since the beginning of October, her desire to rejoin the human race was overwhelming. A trip into civilization among living, breathing people was more than she could have hoped for.

The “town”, however, was much less.

“Is this all there is?” she asked, scrutinizing the area with disappointment. The village barely encompassed a full block. A general store, tavern, post office, one restaurant and a vacation rental office were the extent of it. There was nothing more. She’d expected to see bright city lights and traffic and people, lots and lots of people. While the view of Mount Hood was admittedly gorgeous, right now what she craved was the noisy bustle of crowds. Voices. Car horns.
Anything
to reassure her that she wasn’t completely isolated. That the rest of the world still existed and hadn’t disappeared into oblivion.