Thirst [All-American Vampires 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Bree Younger

sorry. That’s all she remembers.”
    “That’s okay. It just…Cassidy’s had some engraving on it. But I’m sure that it’s hers.”
    “You’ve helped us a lot, Anya,” Hawk added. The girl ducked her head shyly, but she looked pleased.
    Hawk looked toward Diaz, who had been sitting there silently, observing the whole conversation without interruption. He stood and put a hand on Anya’s shoulder. “Yes, Anya, you remembered more than I thought you would.”
    Hawk agreed. “Thank you so much for seeing us.”
    Anya nodded, and Bethany smiled and said, “We’re glad that we could help.”
    In her halting English, Anya added, “Yes, very glad we could help. I hope you find your sister.”
    Hawk reached out to touch Claire’s arm lightly, and she turned to him. “It’s a great lead,” he told her. “We’ll head on to Hattiesburg and see if Tatiana can tell us where she got the necklace.”
    She stood up, and Hawk followed. He reached across the table and shook Diaz’s hand. “We really appreciate it. And we owe you.” He saw Diaz’s acknowledgment of the debt in the brief nod.
    Several more minutes were spent saying their good-byes to everyone. Soon they were climbing back into the SUV and preparing to leave. He was about to reach out to turn on the ignition when Claire’s hand on his forestalled the movement.
    As he turned to her, she was leaning toward him. She pressed a brief, warm kiss to his mouth. Before he could react or reach out to pull her closer for a longer kiss, she had moved back into her seat and reached for the seat belt.
    “What was that for?” he asked gruffly. Just that short contact had him aching for more.
    “Just…thank you. Thanks for thinking of this. Thanks for bringing me. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what I would be doing right now.”
    “We still don’t know where Cassidy is.” He hoped that she realized they still had a lot of unanswered questions.
    “I know. I know. But…thanks anyway. This is the first real sign of her I’ve had since the night I ran away. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. And I would never have made it this far without you.”
    Although he knew he shouldn’t say it, he couldn’t keep the words back. “We’ll find her.”
    She smiled. “I know.” Then she turned to look out the window, and he cranked the SUV and pulled away.

Chapter Five
     
    They’d been on the road to Hattiesburg about thirty minutes, and the silence in the car was deafening. The tension between Hawk and her had grown with each mile. She’d been distracted earlier by her thoughts about the girl, Tatiana, and what she might possibly know about her sister. But now her mind started circling around again to the events of the previous night. She felt like she should say something, but she had no idea what. She’d never had much luck with men in the past, focusing more on her studies than she had on parties and dating. And then her parents had died and she had assumed responsibility for her younger sister. That had pretty much been the death knell to any possibility she’d had of a relationship. What man wanted a woman with a teenaged sister in tow? She knew the answer to that question. Nobody.
    So Claire had spent the last several years concentrating on establishing herself in her career and raising her sister. Dates had been few and far between. She’d had everything so carefully planned. Then one night she and Cass had decided to go for a walk, and that had been the end of it all. Everything she had worked and planned for so hard was now nothing but a pile of rubble. And she was doing what she could to hold the few remaining pieces together. She’d thought she was finally getting things under control again. She knew what she had to do and had focused all her energy on reaching that goal. She just hadn’t planned on her response to Hawk, and it intrigued her even as it frightened her.
    She darted a quick glance toward the man himself. She’d been