up your dress.” While he
didn’t mind seeing the skin tight dress,
they didn’t need to draw any attention to
themselves.
As soon as she’d stripped off the coat
and put on his, he threw hers in the closest
garbage can of the parking garage.
Holding her hand, he was pleased when
she didn’t pull away, but tightened her
grip instead.
A thread of steady fear rolled off her,
and he didn’t blame her. From her own
accounts she’d been sheltered most of her
life. While the Rodriguez pack had seen
their share of violence in the past century
—he knew first hand—she was too young
to have taken part of any skirmishes
between her pack and other supernatural
beings. Hell, she was a vet. She helped
animals all day. Kiernan was just
surprised she was handling everything so
well.
In case anyone had tracked them using
traffic cameras—doubtful, but he wouldn’t
put it past anyone at this point—he knew a
route completely free of cameras. Not a
straight shot to the condo complex he
lived in—it took them twice as long to get
there—but it was worth the extra
precaution.
“You’re pretty paranoid, huh?” Melina
asked as they headed into the underground
parking garage of the building he actually
lived in.
“Careful.” At the elevators, he pressed
his palm to the biometric scanner and the
doors opened.
“After what just happened, I’m not
complaining,” she murmured.
Melina still held his hand as they
entered the elevator, even though she
could have dropped it long ago. The
knowledge warmed something inside of
him he’d forgotten existed. He wasn’t
supposed to develop feelings for a shifter.
For a member of the Rodriguez pack, no
less. But he couldn’t deny what she made
him feel.
The door opened on the top floor. His
family owned the entire building and
thankfully he was the only one living there
at the moment. He wasn’t ashamed to be
seen with Melina, but he didn’t feel like
explaining to any of his coven why he was
helping a shifter. Not until things between
the two of them were settled.
Melina’s shoes clacked along the
marble floor of the entryway the elevator
opened up into. Placing his palm against
the other biometric scanner—one that also
read his lower vampire body temperature,
not just his palm and fingerprints—he
opened the heavy metal door and entered
first.
He paused for a moment, inhaling
scents and listening for heartbeats. A lot
of supernatural beings could mask their
scent and even their heartbeat, but he was
almost a hundred percent sure they were
alone. Still, he did a quick sweep of the
five bedroom place before retrieving
Melina from the front door.
He steered her down the long hallway
that branched off toward bedrooms and
opened up into the living room. The living
space directly connected to a giant kitchen
with all new, state of the art appliances—
kind of pointless to have considering his
kind didn’t need to eat. They did and
could, especially in social settings to put
others at ease, but it wasn’t a necessity.
From the amused look on Melina’s face
he could tell she was thinking the same
thing. When she shivered, all traces of his
own amusement fled.
Stroking his knuckles down her cheek,
he reveled in the feel of her soft skin.
“Are you okay? What happened back there
to make you so weak?” He’d had to pull
out a chunk of glass from her head—the
thought made his hands curl into fists—but
it shouldn’t have weakened her to the
point that she’d needed his blood.
Something flickered in her eyes but it
was gone so fast he wasn’t sure what to
make of it. Wrapping her arms around
herself, she shrugged. “I was in a car
accident.”
“There’s more to it though, isn’t there?”
She swallowed hard and shook her
head. “No.” She’d make a terrible poker
player. Those big green eyes of hers
flashed with guilt, but he didn’t have the
heart to grill her.
Not when