Blood Secrets-Valorian 1 Read Online Free PDF

private collection of books, he moved in front of her blocking her path. He motioned toward the computer once again.
    “Do you need some help getting started?”
    He meant the question to be condescending, and by the dark gleam in her eye, he suspected he made his point.
    Lifting one perfect brow, Eve flexed her fingers and sat down in his chair in front of the computer. “No. I think I can handle it, thank you.”

    Caine watched, at first unconcerned and then with rising interest, as her fingers flew over the keyboard accessing more programs and screens than he’d ever seen. In five minutes, she had full access to the San Antonio police department mainframe and was tapping into AFIS and CODIS. Using the prints and DNA samples they had on the victim, she ran both searches at once.
    Seemingly very satisfied with herself, Eve leaned back in his chair and smiled up at him, the blue in her eyes sparkling. “May take awhile, but at least we’re in. If she’s in the system, we’ll find her.”
    “Great.” He nodded. “You’re, ah, very efficient with the computer.”
    “Thank you. I’ve been hacking systems since I could type. This was when I was four.”
    She laughed.
    He joined in, intrigued by the dimple in her right cheek and the crinkle of her eyes. She didn’t look like a Barbie doll right then, more like a confident woman. A warm tingling radiated up his spine, telling him he needed to get out of this situation. The room suddenly became too small, too warm. She was too close. Taking a distancing step back, he rubbed a hand over his face.
    “It’s my shampoo, by the way.”
    He looked at her, eyebrow lifted in question.
    “Plums and vanilla.” She touched her hair with the tips of her fingers. “That’s what you smell.”
    Before he could comment, his cell phone buzzed. Feeling very aware of Eve’s presence, Caine turned from her amused gaze and flipped open his phone. “Valorian.”
    While Mahina grumbled in his ear, Caine felt Eve watching him. He sensed that she was eyeing him up and down, taking in everything about him. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched her face blush and she quickly turned her head, her attention focusing back on the computer screen.
    He needed to get out of the office, and now. It was becoming excessively uncomfortable in here. Thank the moon, Mahina needed him at the crime scene.
    He flipped his phone closed, pocketed it and shuffled his clipboard from one hand to the other. Without looking at Eve, he started toward the door. “I need to go back to the crime scene, so if you’ll excuse—”
    “Can I come?”
    Pausing, his foot just over the threshold, Caine turned around. “I’m sorry?”

    “The search will take awhile. I could sit here in your office and paw through your things, or you could take me with you to the crime scene.”
    Again, that sparkle in the blue of her eyes flashed at him. She could read that he didn’t want her in his office around his personal effects.
    Sighing, he nodded.
    With a smile, she stood, smoothed down the line of her skirt and followed him out.
    The intoxicating scent of plums and vanilla clung to her like a gossamer spiderweb.
    He had no desire to be the fly lured into it.

Chapter 6
    I t was nearing ten in the evening when Caine maneuvered the lab’s black SUV into the Black Heart Hotel’s parking lot. Eve had stared out the passenger window as they whizzed through the city, taking in everything she could.
    Necropolis wasn’t all that different from any other city in America.
    High-rises brushed the night sky. Storefronts lined the busy streets. Fluorescent signs declared this week’s special sales. Couples out on the town lined up to get into the hottest nightclubs. What were you expecting? Neon signs flashing: Beware Vampires Live Here?
    She’d seen all the same things in San Antonio, and it was easy to forget that these people were not the same. They were Other. And she was the outsider.
    Glancing over at Caine, she thought