Daring Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 2) by Mallory Crowe Page A

Nicolas’s feelings for Anna proved stronger than his hatred for Aleksander. They were able to work together to discover one of the most trusted guards was part of this rebellion. Nicolas and Aleksander were able to stop the assassination attempt, but there was one casualty.”
    “I’m assuming the one human in this story, Anna? She’s the one you turned?” said Gena.
    “I was the first to find her.”
    “Why did you turn her?” asked Gena.
    Marcus shrugged. “There were a lot of contributing factors. She was already dying, so there was no harm in trying to save her. Nicolas was a powerful vampire for centuries. Now that he and Aleksander have come to an...” he paused to think of a good word, “ understanding , Nicolas will once again be very powerful. It’s always good to have powerful friends.”
    Gena gave him an incredulous look. “It had nothing to do with saving her life?”
    “I don’t want you to have any false impressions of me, Gena. I’m no saint. The reason my people are so quick to believe I’m a member of this rebellion is because I have something of a reputation for being a heartless bastard.”
    “If you have to tell me you’re heartless, it makes it less believable,” she pointed out.
    “Maybe,” he agreed. “But no less true. Seeing as how you have known me for a whole five hours, what makes you so quick to defend my past deeds that I haven’t told you about yet?”
    Gena didn’t know what to say to that. She knew very little about him and she was already defending him against himself. “I guess it’s just in my nature.”
    “And that’s what makes us different.”
    Silence hung in the air between them. What could she even say to that?
    Marcus broke the silence. “You’ve had a long night. Some sleep would be good for you.”
    Gena nodded in agreement. “Does the couch fold out to a bed?”
    “It’s a bit more complicated than that, I’m afraid,” said Marcus.
    “How complicated can a sofa really be?”
    Marcus laughed. “You’re a funny girl,” he said in response to her sarcasm. Gena frowned. What she said hadn’t been that funny. “One of the advantages of my people is enhanced senses. Our sense of smell is far superior to yours.”
    Gena didn’t like where this was heading. “What exactly does sense of smell have to do with where I sleep?”
    “If those oh so pleasant men you met at Fang end up working with me, as I’m trying to get them to, there’s a good chance they will see this apartment at some point. With you staying here, your scent will be all over the apartment, which is exactly what we want. We want them to believe we’re together, as it appeared earlier tonight. The tricky part is that it will be suspicious if your scent is only in the lower level.”
    Gena rolled her eyes. “Hell no. The upper level is your bedroom, and I’m not sharing a bed with you!” Gena didn’t care how sexy Marcus could be. She wasn’t the kind of woman to immediately fall in bed with a man.
    Marcus shot her that snarky smile she was becoming so familiar with. “Don’t worry,” he assured her. “My scent has already been firmly established through the entire place. I can sleep down here.”
    Gena looked him over. “You promise you won’t bother me at all? Not even for the bathroom?”
    “There’s a second bathroom down here,” he said. “The shower isn’t as nice, so I let you use the master.”
    “I don’t trust you,” said Gena, softly.
    “Well, that just makes you smart.” Marcus stood up and held a hand out to her. “Let me take you to bed.”

CHAPTER TEN
     
     
    Gena burst awake in terror. Her breath came in short pants and a thin layer of sweat covered her entire body. She concentrated on catching her breath as her shaky hands pushed the sweat dampened hair out of her face. Lady was rearranging herself on the bed next to her when the voice came out of the darkness.
    “What’s going on?” asked Marcus.
    The sound of his voice out of the