Chapter 1
“Stop looking at me like I’m going to bite you.”
Lori turned on the narrow bed to face Terrence directly, instead of glancing at him from the corner of her eye. “Aren’t you? You’re a vampire.”
Terrence threw up his hands. Straightening to his full six-foot-four height, he glared at her.
Lori smiled. It felt good to bait him back for a change, considering he drove her up the wall most days. After spending the winter and most of the fall in his presence, she knew he wouldn’t really bite her. At least, not without permission.
Which she had no intention of giving.
Her smile slipped into a grimace. Rubbing a hand over the back of her aching neck, she glanced around the cramped dorm room. Why did he insist on staying here with her all night long? Maybe she should switch from her nocturnal habits.
The dresser groaned in protest as Terrence leaned his weight on it.
“Look, unless you’re going to let me interview you for my thesis, I really need to finish this up.”
“Thesis,” Terrence spat. He clenched and unclenched his fists, then ran them through his dark hair. The pointed tips of his fangs winked in the fluorescent overhead light. “We should be outside. Searching. Looking for leads.”
“Then why don’t you do that? I’ll wait here.”
Seconds passed, but Lori didn’t get her wish. And with Terrence staring at her, she couldn’t concentrate. With a sigh, she saved the file, shut her laptop, and glared at her midnight visitor. “Let’s go,” she said. She couldn’t hide the note of resignation in her voice. Not that she tried hard.
Despite her tone, Terrence perked up immediately. His blue eyes lit with excitement. A flash of guilt made her insides squirm. Should she have given in earlier?
This was Terrence. Cute, puppy dog, follow-you-around-even-after-you-kick-him Terrence. He brought it on himself.
Standing, Lori shooed him away from her dresser. He stepped aside, but stayed close. Close enough to hem her in with his solid body. She forced herself to relax. Terrence would never hurt her.
After all, he’d already saved her from death twice, even after she’d rewarded the first attempt with a stake to his chest.
As she rummaged in her top drawer for the bracelets, netted gloves and makeup to arm her gothic exterior, Terrence skated his fingers over her back. The slightest touch, almost a breeze. But she knew it was him. He just wouldn’t accept that she’d give him no more than a one-night stand. They were friends now. Nothing more.
“Terrence,” she said softly.
“Yes?” He moved closer, their bodies charged like magnets, almost touching.
Lori refused to shrink away. She wasn’t afraid of him–not his fangs, not his vampiric nature, and certainly not his touch. Stiffening her spine, she mustered her most discouraging voice.
“I warned you about this.”
“And I warned you I’m not giving up. When we find the Spenta Michos…”
She turned to face him, schooling her expression into stone. This would be easier if they didn’t have a past bubbling to the surface with his every advance. If she hadn’t been wrung through the emotional wringer since the moment she’d met him. If she didn’t think she might love him. But she had no room for a relationship in her life. Especially since everyone she cared for managed to turn up dead.
Avoiding his gaze, she adopted her frostiest voice. “Nothing will change when this is over. We’re only friends.”
In time he would give up, wouldn’t he?
“We were never friends.”
Lori’s stomach tightened at the raw edge to his voice. When she risked a glance at him, his mouth was twisted into a vulnerable expression. Where was the persistent facade she always saw? His shoulders were hunched, his fists balled at his side. She couldn’t deal with this today.
Maybe not ever.
“I don’t want to be friends,” he added softly.
Lori fastened the clasp of her bracelet with one hand. What could she say to
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