“Wicked Ways” in When He Was Bad
Book Description | Book Excerpt | Book Reviews
Release Date: May 27, 2008
Publisher: Kensington Brava
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
Length: Novella
ISBN: 9780758227263
Description
Blurb told from the POV of Cain Lawson, the hero of Wicked Ways…
I’m too dangerous for her. I know it, but I can’t get my sexy new neighbor out of my head. When I hear her scream one night, the absolute last thing I expect to see is Miranda Shaw–star of my hottest fantasies–being attacked by a vampire. Now the undead jerk is after her, and I’m the only thing standing between the beautiful lady and a killer who just won’t stop. Well, too bad for him, because that vamp has just made the worst mistake of his afterlife–he’s tangled with a shifter. And Miranda, well, she’s so busy watching out for him that she won’t see me closing in on her–not until it’s too late–and I’m about to show her just how wild I can get…
Excerpt
“You don’t have to thank me.” A deep rumble of sound, almost like a growl.
The man had the deepest, roughest voice she’d ever heard. One that made her toes curl and her thighs quiver.
Down, girl.
Her hormones were going crazy and her mind was turning into mush. Had to be the excitement of the night.
“I did what any man would have done.”
She shook her head at that. “Uh, no.” Miranda could still see the men locked in brutal combat. “I don’t know many guys who would have kicked down a door to save me.”
He caught her hand. Brought her fingers to his lips and pressed a kiss to the knuckles. “Then you don’t know the right kind of men.”
Oh, damn. Now her knees were shaking. And was he staring at her with hunger in those golden eyes?
He kissed her hand again, and for a second, she felt the warm brush of his tongue against her fingers. Miranda tensed. “I-I should be going to bed.” Alone. Because while her hormones might be jumping on the adrenaline party, she wasn’t about to go falling into bed with her neighbor. Even if he had quite probably saved her life.
And even if he was sexy as all hell.
And even if just the sight of him did have her whole body tightening with arousal.
She pulled her hand away from Cain’s warm grasp. Stepped toward the guest bedroom he’d shown her earlier.
“If that’s what you want…” The words were soft.
For an instant, she imagined him. Following her into that dark room and stripping.
Miranda swallowed, felt the faint sting along her throat. “Thank you, Cain. Really.” Her fingers wrapped around the door frame.
He gave a faint nod.
Miranda turned away from him, stepped over the threshold.
“Just got one quick question for you, baby,” he murmured, and the floor squeaked beneath his feet.
Glancing back over her shoulder, she waited.
His dark brows pulled down low over his eyes. “Why the hell were you out with a vampire?”
* * *
She was coming to him.
He’d tossed and turned for hours thinking of her, caught in a world of fantasies and feverish dreams and she was coming to him.
His eyes opened. He could see her perfectly even in the darkness of the room. She stood silhouetted in the doorway, clad in one of his oversized white tee shirts. Her legs were bare.
That would make things infinitely easier.
“Cain…” A whisper, the sound hesitant and…afraid?
He sat up slowly, drawing in more of her scent with a deep breath.
“I have to…” A step closer. “I have to know…” More slow movements across the floor.
The bedsheets were around his hips. Hiding his arousal, for the moment.
Cain reached over, flipped on the bedside light. For her benefit, not his.
She blinked, hesitated a moment at the flood of light. Then she inched toward him, stopping at the side of the bed. Her wide eyes gazed down at him. “When you first came into my house, you–you looked different.”
Hell. He’d known this would come, sooner or later. Cain had just been hoping for much, much later because when she learned the full truth about him, his fantasies would die a quick death.
An animal. Women like her don’t go for animals. The vampire had been right about that one.
“I didn’t imagine it, did I?” Not as much hesitation now, more determination. “Your eyes–they glowed. Your teeth were sharper.” She reached for his hand, fumbled a bit, then caught his fingers. “And you–you had claws.”
The shock had worn off. While he’d been lusting, she’d obviously been in there replaying the whole night and coming to the conclusion that he–
She released his hand. “You’re not a human, are you, Cain Lawson?”
No sense in lying. He stared up at her, and let the beast glow from his eyes. “No, baby, I’m not.”
