left to me, I’m afraid we’d be limited to ramen noodles, grilled cheese and cold cut sandwiches. I do make a mean stew, though. Old family recipe.” His mother was a fabulous cook. She’d been gone almost five centuries now. He still missed his family deeply. Xavier had killed them before Dev realized the depth of Xavier’s madness. Dev had failed them and it haunted him every single day.
He couldn’t think about that at the moment. He needed to concentrate on Kate. He refocused in time to hear her say the tail end of something.
“…sometime.”
“Sorry, what was that?” She grinned at him, showing her perfectly straight, white teeth. Jesus, she was magnificent.
“I said, I’d like it if you made it for me sometime.” When he looked a little confused, she added, “The stew?”
His eyes flamed. His cock was bursting in his pants. She wanted him to make her a meal. She had no idea what that meant to him. A vampire cooking for his Moira had significant meaning. He couldn’t wait. “Sorry, love. I guess I have a hard time concentrating on anything when I’m around you.” He got lost in her bewitching eyes.
“And of course, I’d love to cook for you. I’m looking forward to it. Very much.” He meant it. He couldn’t wait to feed her from his fork, lapping up any stray liquid that clung to her lips. His balls were getting bluer by the second.
“Me too,” she replied.
C hapter 18
Kate
Me too? What in the Sam Hill was she doing? Like she was going to see him after this all blew over? Who just took over her mouth? Clingy Kate, that’s who. Just being near him had clearly scrambled her brains, like the eggs sitting on her plate. She was aroused and completely on edge. She’d never been like this with a man in her entire twenty-seven years. She should have taken care of this constant ache in the shower earlier. Or taken a bath instead.
Her eyes roamed around the opulent room. The table they were sitting at probably cost more than she made in a year. And he had a chef?
“So what exactly is it you do for the police department, Dev.”
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs and folded his arms across his lap. He looked so damn regal. Almost like a king.
“I guess you could say I’m a consultant of sorts. I handle… special cases.”
“Special cases?” That sounded intriguing.
“Yes,” he replied flatly.
“What type of special cases?”
“Unique ones that no one else can solve.”
“Oh.” She looked around the room in confusion. “So, I don’t mean to be rude, but you must charge a hell of a lot for your services to be able to afford all of this.”
Laughing, he said, “I have several very successful nightclubs and restaurants that are my primary source of income. Consulting with the MPD is simply a…side responsibility.”
“Do you have any more leads on finding Sarah?”
“I’m afraid not, no.”
“Do you know how long I’ll have to stay here until I’m safe to go home?”
A pensive look crossed his face. “No.”
“Oh.” She looked back down at her cold eggs, not sure how to feel about that answer. She was scared for her safety, of course, but the longer she spent in Dev’s presence, the harder it became to separate fantasy from reality. And the reality of the situation is that if they did sleep together, when they slept together, this could be nothing more than a fling. Nothing more than casual. And she was surprised at the hurt that caused her heart.
They’d spent the last several days talking a lot about her, but every time she asked a question about him, he hedged, answering on the surface, but never going too deep, especially when she asked about his parents. All he would say was that they’d been gone for a long time and that he missed them greatly. He quickly moved off the subject, so she didn’t push. She could tell it was painful for him.
He had lost a sibling as well, so it was only him now. That made her sad for some reason. He was
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