Is it vampires you have something against or is it vampire women? What is your problem? I know what Raulf’s is and Yves’ is. What’s yours?” The strain of the last few days was getting to her and she was precariously close to erupting. Added to that, she hadn’t had her meal yet and the lure of the occasional sinner’s blood that they passed by was increasingly hard to resist. Conall’s blood was hard to resist too. Conall’s wasn’t a sinner; she could smell the purity of his blood but that vampire elixir promised a sinful experience. Equally alluring was the way he looked tonight. He’d also gone for casual chic in dark grey and a deep blue to match his gorgeous eyes. Anais appreciated a well-groomed man even though she wanted to rip the grey pants off his well-shaped butt and run her fingers along the buttons of his shirt until they popped off. Fuck – she was a mental slut – she’d wanted to do that to Raulf too just a few seconds ago even though they’d been arguing. Men and hormones were perplexing and driving her nuts - literally! She beat out that frustration by turning it towards him and poking a finger into him, strength unrestrained, relishing in his grimaces as she poked him, vampire-hard. She was perilously close to a few truths, so he offered the least threatening of them, better to cause himself discomfort than create a situation that threatened the witch species. “You’re my problem,” he stated quietly. Seeing her about to huff once more, he grasped her arm, drawing her closer, under the balcony that hung over the sidewalk. He lowered his head so that her face was adjacent to his and drank in the startled beauty. Dramatics would not endear him to the current situation. Dragging in air, he calmly continued, “I’m attracted to you and it isn’t a comfortable situation I find myself in when other men are ogling you. It makes me want to rip their throats out. A witch and a vampire in a compromising position…I find that the thought of it turns me on when it shouldn’t. There haven’t been relationships between our kinds for centuries and yet, I can’t deny this strange attraction I feel for you. I’m witch royalty and you’re a vampire princess by way of your connection to Yves. It’s not a comfortable position for a man to see something he wants so much and not be sure as to whether or not he can have it, knowing that his responsibilities to others means that he shouldn’t.” Anais stared at Conall, unsure of how to respond to his directness and obvious sincerity. She felt comfortable enough so close to him that she knew she had to move away now before they did find themselves in a compromising position on the streets of the Quarter. “Uh..uhmm…” she swallowed, her throat parched at the intoxicating smell of his blood, heightened by the sexual tension between them. “I’m afraid that that’s beyond my job description as liaison.” Turning away from Conall, she looked at the others and then at him, a bright smile pasted onto her face. She pulled from her internal reserves; the part of her enabled her to act a part with Yves. “There’s quite a few businesses owned by my kind,” she dared a look directly at Conall and was satisfied to see that the intensity moved quickly to bemusement, “and yours. I’m sure that you’d find it quite entertaining as part of your Quarter tour.” Amused, Sylvain glided up to them, “I have been nothing but entertained in your company.” With a naughty glint in his eye, he took her hand and bent down to place a kiss on it; an old-fashioned male acknowledgement of a lady’s charms. The look he got from Conall on his way down to Anais’s hand was exactly what he’d hoped for; murderous thoughts courtesy of barely contained lust and jealousy. The witch had it bad. “Alrighty then,” Anais wasn’t stupid. She’d caught that inter-play between the two witches. It was more the interaction between friends than guard and