Page 89 of You Only Love Twice
The perfect place for an ambush.
Catacombs existed below the colonnade. A pair of marble angels watched her pass by, stained by the repeated attentions of the local pigeons. Gemma crept down the sloping path leading directly to the mouth of the catacombs, fog swirling away from her skirts. Two pillars stood on either side of the door, and she could smell blood again, as if someone lured her into the shadows like some gothic version ofHansel and Gretel.
This doesn't make me nervous at all.
Movement stirred behind her.
Gemma spun, tracking the darkness. Only the swirling fog indicated someone else was out there. All her senses went on alert, the color leaching out of her vision as it sharpened. She stepped between two headstones, using them as cover, crossing one foot carefully over the other as she searched the shadows for an assailant.
The tiny hairs down the back of her neck prickled.
Behind her.
Gemma spun around, both pistols locked on the shadowy figure emerging from the fog.
Pale brown hair tumbling to his collar, the familiar harsh slant of his cheekbones.... The breath burst out of her as Obsidian appeared, gloved hands held in the air. Dressed entirely in black as if he melted from out of the shadows themselves, he strode toward her with an intense stare. Gemma's heart skipped a beat; a combination of the danger of the situation, and a sudden jolt ofsomethingshe couldn't name.
"Are you insane?" she whispered hoarsely. "What are youdoinghere?"
I nearly shot you.
His pale gaze raked the shadows of the graveyard, and he pressed a finger to his lips. "You shouldn't be here," he mouthed.
A horrible suspicion dawned in her breast. "Please tell me you're not here for the reason I think you are."
He moved like a sudden blur, capturing her from behind and slamming a hand over her mouth. Gemma found herself hauled back against that hard body, her skirts crumpling between them.
Instinct almost made her pull the trigger, but she froze instead. He wouldn't hurt her. He'd gone to great lengths not to hurt her.
Instead, she softened against his chest, her heart pounding madly in her ears as Obsidian drew her back into the shadows of the catacombs. Somewhere out there in the foggy evening, something else moved.
They weren't alone.
Chapter 19
Curse her to hell.
Obsidian rested his back against the brick wall of the catacombs, the rapid thump of Gemma's heart echoing in the darkness.
This was the worst scenario he'd ever imagined, with Silas moving out there in the cemetery, almost invisible in the fog. If Silas saw Gemma he wouldn't hesitate to shoot her. And Silas was the onlydhampirObsidian wasn't certain he could actually kill.
Gemma wriggled, her skirts pressed against his groin.
"Don't. Move," he breathed in her ear.
She seemed to understand.
Seconds stretched out. Minutes. The heat of her body began to warm him, and the faint scent of her perfume imprinted itself on his skin. All he could hear was the steadythump-thumpof her racing heart, and the sound of it began to call the darkness within him. Shadows deepened as his eyesight became clearer. He rarely saw the world in color anymore, for the hunger was always just beneath the surface, but something about Gemma called to another part of him. Color drained backintothe world, until he could make out her vibrant, berry-stained skirts.
The pink of her lips.
The creamy perfection of her skin.
His gaze locked on the pulse in her throat, and there was a rush of blood through his cock as his teeth began to ache. The diamond-shaped canines had grown in several years after his initial transformation, as if to give him a predatory edge. Some blue bloods of the Echelon used to file their teeth into points, but for adhampirthey were a natural enhancement.
Gemma's head tilted to the side as she glanced back over her shoulder at him. One eyebrow arched in pointed exasperation as if to say,really?
His fists clenched in her skirts as he whispered, "I haven't drank today."
