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difference in my world and community.”
     
    “ And that you do,” Jess said quickly, making sure he knew the extent to which he was valued. “Hathen, I have to say I was amazed by what you and your den have accomplished in and for our city. I had no idea of all the work that you’d done, that you continue to do, for the people of Clearview.” She paused. “The same people who no doubt suspicion and shun you on a regular basis.”
     
    Hathen nodded.
     
    “ Ours is not an easy life, sweetheart.” He flashed a sad smile. “Alida got so fed up with the discrimination, in fact, that she left our den a few years ago to start another in Los Angeles. In that city vampires are pretty commonplace.”
     
    “ Shocker,” Jess joked straight faced while devouring the last of her chocolate cake. “So was that when she appointed you the master of the city?”
     
    “ Yep, that’s when I became the King of Clearview.” Hathen pointed a sardonic thumb in his own direction. “Lucky me. Really, though, I do love this city and the people in it. One in particular.” He reached across the desk to kiss Jess’s cheek. “I was so afraid we’d scared you away tonight. I was afraid that, after a beautiful beginning, you’d think me a terrible pervert and abandon me.” His voice cracked beneath the weight of his own emotion. “Abandon the possibilities of us.”
     
    Jess shook her head, reaching forward to tilt her forehead against his.
     
    “ Believe me, baby, in my years as a police officer I’ve seen more than my share of perverts. People like rapists and child molesters, who use sex as a weapon and turn it into something ugly and terrible.” She cringed at the thought of those who passed through her jail on a regular basis. “What I saw tonight in the park was far from terrible.” She smiled at the memory. “As a matter of fact, it was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen. I guess I just wasn’t quite ready for it.”
     
    She took in her breath as Hathen surged across the desk, searing her lips with a hot, hard kiss.
     
    “ Well whenever you’re ready Darling,” he pinned her with a gaze that just dripped seduction. “Come back to the park. I’ll be waiting for you.”
     
    ****
     
    Hathen's words echoed in Jess’s mind late that night. She tossed and turned in the warm cotton sheets that lined her basic camp bed.
     
    Never one to deny her mind fantasies, she lost herself in a haze of ecstasy as she dreamed of her golden-haired vampire; a man who stirred her senses and aroused her deepest, most forbidden desires.
     
    Even before surrendering to a restless sleep, Jess’s mind was plagued by visions of Hathen and his vamps running wild in Nightingale Park. Laughing, playing, and making love in a way unknown to the humans of this world.
     
    And the moment she fell into the grip of a light, uneasy slumber, the visions took over; luring her deep into a world of erotic desire without bounds.
     
    She envisioned herself in Hathen’s arms, twisting in passion as he kissed, embraced, and finally joined with her to complete the promise of their undeniable passion.
     
    As an adult woman, this was not the first sensual dream that Jess had ever experienced. It was though definitely the most vivid, as it drenched her mind in a rich and beautiful multisensory experience.
     
    She beheld his golden beauty in all its glory, also feeling his strong but tender touch. She caught wind of his citrus-tinged scent, and heard his deep, sonorous voice resonate in her ear. The dream deliver the same words he’d spoken to her earlier that night:
     
    “ Come back to the park. I’ll be waiting for you.”
     
    “ I’m coming Hathen,” she said aloud, her body blazing with suppressed desire and reaching for a man who wasn’t there.
     
    Suddenly she bolted upright, rising from a layer of sweat that lined her sheets and soaked her modest nightgown.
     
    Her eyes flew wide open, her heart racing for want of