Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter 7)

She would have said no had it not been for the peculiar note in his voice. If she didn't know better, she'd swear it was one born of needful longing. "Why do you want to?"

He dropped his hand and looked away as if trying to banish a nightmare. "Because I live in a place where there is no human to touch. I miss the warmth of a woman's skin. The softness." He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. "The heady, feminine scent that is unique to all women. You've no idea what it's like to crave human contact to the point that it permeates your entire being with a need so strong that at times it makes you wonder if you've gone mad and that your whole life is nothing but a fucked-up delusion brought on by the insanity."

Now that was a scary, intense thought. So much so that she had to force herself not to back away from a man who made Norman Bates seem normal. All he needed was Mother in the rocker.

Good thing she wasn't blond and preferred a bath to a shower...

You're rambling, Danger.

You think? I got a lunatic in my house sent to me by Ash. Thank you, Ash. Any other loons you want to offload on me? And I thought my aunt Morganette was insane. At least she only thought her cat was Uncle Etienne who she kept dressed in breeches and knee coat. That was almost cute, but this...

Oh, yeah, send me the straitjacket, Ash. You owe it to me.

Yet even in the midst of her mental rant, something he'd said struck her and calmed her down a degree. "What do you mean that you live someplace where there aren't any humans?"

His eyes were an almost normal shade of hazel. "In a realm far away from here."

"Is that like in Star Wars? A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away? Want to tell me where your Tatooine is located? Is it anywhere in this universe? Near Toledo maybe? The one in Ohio or Spain? I'm not picky. Can I MapQuest it?"

Alexion laughed bitterly. "You know the biggest difference between men and women? Whenever I was sent to a male Dark-Hunter, he never asked me any questions. I simply told him that I'd been sent by Acheron and he either accepted it or tried to kill me. If he accepted it, then he went about his life as if I weren't there, but you... you want to know every little detail of my life and being."

She gave him a miffed stare. "Gee, you think? Here's an interesting tidbit about me. I don't let strangers into my house. Ever. So if you expect to sleep here, then you owe me some answers about who and what you are. Now let's get back to this realm thing where you live. What is it?"

Honestly, she didn't expect an explanation, but to her amazement, he gave her one after a brief pause.

"It's like heaven or hell. In a weird way, it's a combination of both. It exists in a place that most humans would call another dimension. Sort of." She could tell he was struggling to explain so that it would make sense to her. "Let's just say that there is no MapQuest for it. It leaves Hammond completely stumped."

Well, at least that was a beginning. And it did go a long way in almost soothing her. Yeah, right. You still don't know anything about him. No, but at least he'd tried to explain it to her. That was a big leap forward for Mr. Spooky.

He lifted his hand toward her cheek again and froze before he touched her. "May I?"

You really ought to run out of this room and lock your door, Danger. That's what a smart woman would do. The urge to comply with that was strong, but she didn't listen. It had never been in her nature to run from anything.

Taking a deep breath, she took his hand into hers and pressed it to her face. His touch was cold. Icy. There was absolutely no warmth whatsoever to his skin.

But the look on his face was one of pure pleasure and it made her stomach flutter. No one had ever taken such joy from touching her. At least not this platonically.

"You are beautiful," he said in a breathless tone. His eyes filled with wonder and lust, he cupped her cheek in his palm as he searched her gaze with his. "How long has it been since you last made love to someone?"

She was stunned by his question. "I beg your pardon?"

A wicked light danced in his eyes. "I know, none of my damn business." His face turned somber, then he let his hand fall away. "But I, too, have moments of profound curiosity."

"Yeah well, that particular curiosity is likely to get you cold-cocked."

His features softened as if the thought amused him. "I suppose even painful contact with that area is better than none at all."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "What?"

He gave her a wicked grin to let her know that he was teasing her again. "You have to forgive me if my social skills are a bit rusty. I don't interact with others much."

"No?"

"No."

She considered all of his disclosures. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who confided in others easily and that made her wonder how she got to be so lucky. "So you don't eat. You don't interact. What do you do?"

Once again, he didn't answer-an action that reminded her much of Acheron and his vagueness whenever someone asked him a personal question.

Instead, Alexion walked away from her.

Danger wasn't willing to let this go. She followed him down the hallway.

Halfway down, he stopped. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted as if he were listening to something. It was a very Ash-like pose.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Do you hear that?"

She listened for a few seconds, but all she could hear was her own heart beating. "Hear what?"

He didn't respond. "Someone's watching us."

Danger went cold with dread as she turned around slowly, searching every corner of her house with her gaze. "Who? Where?"

"I don't know. But I can feel it."