Be Mine Tonight Read Online Free PDF Page B

supposedly born here, you know.”
    He nodded, following her to a shelf on the other side of the room. Despite the discreet distance he put between them, her scent teased him. “Yes, I know.”
    She took a slim leather-bound volume from a row of similar books and offered it to him. “That’s why there are so many Grail afficinados and hunters here year-round.”
    Chapel eyed her curiously as he accepted the book. “But you believe you’ve actually found its hiding place.”
    She glanced away, but not before he saw the eagerness in her eyes. “Yes.”
    “Earlier I told you why I was here, but you’ve yet to tell me why you are so eager to find the Grail.” He gestured at her with the book. “You do not seem the type to desire either fame or fortune.”
    Her gaze lifted to his, her chin defiantly angled. “The satisfaction of finding that which no one else has ever found.”
    No, that wasn’t it. The Grail meant more to her than that. He could feel the need engulfing her so strongly it stung. For her sake, he hoped it was not the Blood Grail hidden beneath the rubble of her ruins. “I suppose a woman finding the Cup of Christ would certainly set all those stuffy scholars and priests on their ears.”
    Her eyes darkened. “It certainly would.” A blush lit her cheeks. “Present company excluded, of course.”
    Was that laughter rumbling in his chest? A smile took hold of his lips, awkwardly curving them upward, as though the muscles of his face had forgotten how to form the expression. She smiled back and Chapel was suddenly very tempted to lean down—there were only a few inches between them—and press his lips, not against her neck to bite, but against her mouth to taste and kiss.
    He backed away. “Thank you for the book. I will leave you to your own diversion now.”
    Prudence’s eyes widened—the gaze of a child not wanting to be left alone at night. “You do not have to leave.”
    Her obvious desire for companionship weakened him, but he was not the one to grant her wish.
    “With all due respect, Miss Ryland, it would not do for you and I to be caught together, given your attire.” It wouldn’t do if he was found with his fangs buried deep in her soft flesh either.
    That vaguely mocking smile from earlier curvedher lips once more. Was she insulted that he thought to leave her? “I assure you, Mr. Chapel, your virtue is safe with me.”
    If that was true, why did her hazel gaze keep sneaking back to the open neck of his shirt?
    “It is not my virtue that concerns me.” And she truly didn’t seem to realize the danger to her own.
    Slender arms folded across her silk-clad chest. “Why, Mr. Chapel, are you trying to tell me that I am in danger from you?” Her tone was glib, but he heard her heartbeat speed up.
    Chapel moved toward her with lazy determination. Her heart picked up its pace, bringing a smug smile to his lips. It had been a long, long time, but he remembered how to play this game. “What do you think?”
    The innocently voiced question had her gaze raking over him like flames over dry tinder. Color bloomed in her cheeks as her gaze lifted to his. “You do not frighten me.”
    “I think I do, but not in the way I should.”
    Her eyes grew round as she stared at him. Hazel wasn’t a fair description. Her eyes seemed a different shade of green every time he looked into them. Her lips parted, but no sound came forth. It was almost as though she were a statue, she was so still, but the blood warming her cheeks reminded him of how full of life she was, how delicate and fragile.
    Her throat worked at a swallow, forcing the tendons and cords of the slender column into brief, sharp relief. The muscles in Chapel’s jaws tightened as a tingle raced through his gums. One leapand he could pin her, sink his fangs into the sweet hollow between her neck and shoulder. She would shudder in his arms, soft gasps of delight slipping from those pliant lips as he fed, her fragile heart pounding against