Dancing with the Devil - 1 by Keri Arthur

Author:Keri Arthur
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: ImaJinn Books
Published: 2011-04-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

The heavy rumbling of traffic woke her some time later. Nikki shifted slightly, and silk rustled against her skin, bunching near her thigh. A faint scent clung to the material, warm, musty and recognizable. She smiled, wondering how she'd come to be wearing Michael's shirt.

Opening her eyes, she studied the room. The sun peeped brightly behind the curtained window to her left, casting pinpoints of lights across the pale blue walls. Paint peeled from the smoke-stained ceiling above her, and from the small brown dresser next to the bed. It wasn't her room, or her dresser. Her heart skipped several beats. Where was she?

A hand rested lightly on hers, enclosing her fingers in warmth. Michael. She closed her eyes briefly and wished he'd take her in his arms, tell her that it had all been a nightmare, that everything would be all right.

But he didn't move, and maybe that was just as well.

"What time is it?” she asked softly.

"Four in the afternoon."

The weariness in his voice tore at her heart. She turned around, but even such a small movement caused pain to run down her legs. She bit her lip, fighting the sudden sting of tears.

"Gently, Nikki. Your hip and left leg were badly grazed by the car."

He sat in a chair next to the bed, bare feet propped on the mattress. He looked casual, yet there was nothing remotely casual in the way he studied her. In the dark depths of his eyes, she could see all her secrets, all her fears. All that had happened.

She swallowed uneasily, and looked away. “I guess I'm lucky it's only grazed. How did you find me?"

"Followed your thoughts."

If her thoughts were so open to him, why didn't he tell her if Jasper's mind-bending techniques had succeeded or not? “How long was I gone?"

"Three nights."

It had seemed an eternity longer. She shivered and rubbed her wrist. Though the two puncture wounds in her skin had healed, her flesh still burned. “Where are we?"

"My hotel room. It's safer than the hospital, where Jasper could come and go as he pleased."

Plus Jasper didn't know where Michael was—but would it really matter now? He could touch her thoughts any time he desired and find out where they were. There wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop him.

"How are you feeling this morning?” Michael's voice was calm as he shifted his feet and rose, but something in the way he moved spoke of violence.

She watched him pour water into a glass. His midnight colored hair was unkempt and in need of a wash, his face etched by deep lines of tiredness. His clothes were disheveled and creased, as if he hadn't slept in days.

She wanted to reach out and caress the tautness from his shoulders, kiss the tension from his lips. Instead, she clenched her fists against the blanket. Was she insane? She wanted to touch a vampire in ways she'd never wanted to touch a man before...

"Michael, why didn't you tell me?” she whispered, ignoring the glass of water he held out to her.

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