She’s turning onto Haven Drive from Grand Street, Braeden said telepathically.
You see her? If my brother knew where she was, I would send him my entire collection of the whiskey Liam had concocted for me. All right, not all of it…Liam owned a bar and brewery. He was brilliant, and his brand was in high demand. For my birthday last year, he’d created a new recipe that was mine alone and made me several cases. It was the best thing I’d ever tasted. Until now…I had no doubt Narkissa would far surpass it.
With the punch she delivered—kudos to your consort, by the way—I figured you’d be a few minutes, so I followed her. Been running after her car from several feet away so she doesn’t spot the blur in her rearview mirror.
I owe you.
Not to worry, big brother. I’ll collect.
Rolling my eyes again, I teleported to the next intersection she would come to on Haven. My timing wasn’t the best, though, because she was only a few feet away. When Narkissa saw me, she screamed and swerved. I didn’t want her to get caught on a patch of ice hidden under all the snow, so I put my hand on the hood and stopped the Audi in its tracks.
3
Narkissa
I shook my head, unable to make sense of what had just happened. My brain couldn’t wrap around everything I had seen and heard over the past thirty or so minutes. I couldn’t help but wonder if Minerva had spiked the eggnog I’d drunk while we opened gifts before dinner. Or if the housekeeper had mixed up the chamomile tea with a hallucinogenic by mistake. Being drugged was the only reasonable explanation that I could come up with for the wild things that had happened.
“I don’t care what I saw. Vampires aren’t real,” I muttered to myself as I jammed my index finger against the button to undo my seat belt. Only it didn’t release, no matter how many times I pressed the darn thing. My heart already felt as though it was about to pound through my chest—which was no surprise since the hot, crazy guy I was running from had just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road and somehow stopped my freaking car with one hand! My pulse skyrocketed further when the driver’s side door of my car swung open, and Jareth crouched in the opening.
My reaction had nothing to do with my unexpected attraction to the ridiculously handsome man. Or at least that was what I told myself. There was no way in heck I was willing to admit that the thudding over my heart was because Jareth was the first guy I’d ever physically responded to. Sure, he was beyond gorgeous with his dark hair, bright blue eyes, and tall, muscular body. And he looked debonair in his black dress slacks and wool coat, especially while fighting. But he also had to be out of his mind if he believed all that crap he’d told me about vampires and the women who were destined to spend the rest of their very long lives with them. After all these years of wondering if something was wrong with me, I’d been betrayed by my own body.
“Are you okay?” Jareth asked as he leaned inside to fiddle with the buckle on my seat belt. His woodsy scent filled my nostrils, and I tried to jerk away from him. I was wedged between his hard body and the driver’s seat of my Audi, so I didn’t get far. “Don’t move, sweetheart. I need to check if you’re hurt first.”
“I guess it’s only fair for you to make sure I’m okay since any injuries I may have would be all your fault,” I grumbled. “How in the heck did you stop my car? I mean, I wasn’t going that fast because of the snow, and I hit the brakes as soon as I saw you. But you still shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
He jerked his thumb toward his broad chest with a sexy grin. “Vampire, remember?”
I pressed the back of my head against the seat’s headrest and squeezed my eyes shut. “Did you seriously chase me down by some miracle I don’t understand just to try to sell me on the garbage you were spewing back at the convenience store?”
“The only miracle around here is you.” His shoulder brushed against my nipples as he worked to free me from the seat belt, making them pebble. It was the barest of touches but still sent a zing of sensation directly to my core. “And every single thing I told you was true. You’ll never get any lies from me.”
“Uh-huh. Sure, I won’t,” I drawled, pushing against his chest when the buckle finally released.
He backed up, and I heaved a deep sigh of relief. I wouldn’t have been able to move him on my own, judging by the wall of muscle my palms had encountered. If he’d stayed close, I might’ve done something ridiculous like drag him all the way into the car with me so I could attack him...and not in the fending off a scary guy kind of way. Even with the space limitations in my Audi, I would’ve been all over him until I finally learned what the big deal was about kissing. And sex. Plus, orgasms if I was super lucky.