The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

He laughed and turned off the water. I stepped away from him, then squeezed the water from my hair. He handed me a towel so thick and lush my fingers got lost in it, then began to dry himself with another. It was, I thought, as heat stirred anew, a delicious sight.

I shoved my hormones back into their box and began to towel myself dry. "I could really do with a coffee right now."

"And here I was about to suggest we retire to the bed and continue our refamiliarization process there." He flung his towel around my shoulders and tugged me close. "Because there's still lots of you I'm hungry to explore and remember."

And there was lots of me that wanted to be explored and remembered....

I let my towel drop and pressed myself against him. He was more than half ready to go again, and it sent a shiver of delight traipsing across my skin to know that he was as hungry for me as I was for him. "There's nothing to say we can't have coffee and bed. I'm versatile. I can share my pleasures."

"I've heard that about you," he said, tone serious but ebony eyes alight with amusement. "But I'm not convinced. Perhaps you need to demonstrate this versatility."

My grin was all cheek, all dare. "Any way you want me to, vampire."

He laughed, a low rich sound that had my hormones flipping with glee, then he grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the bedroom. "With a challenge like that, it could be a very long time before we surface."

And it was.

But God, it was good.

One thing about being in the presidential suite, I discovered, was all manner of food being available on call whenever you wanted it.

I sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed, the tray in front of me holding a hamburger with all the trappings, a hazelnut coffee in the biggest mug the hotel could find, and chocolate-coated strawberries that were as sweet and delicious as they looked. Right now, I was alternating between them and the burger, and getting some very disapproving looks from Quinn. He might have proved in the last few hours that he wasn't as old-fashioned when it came to lovemaking as I'd thought, but it seemed he still had a few hang-ups about the way food should be eaten.>"This is a pleasant surprise," he said, the lilt in his voice returning twofold and his tone dropping an octave. "I wasn't actually expecting to see or hear from you at all tonight."

"I need to talk to you." Need to kiss you, caress you, make love to you. God, I was making myself hot just thinking about it.

"Right away?"

"As soon as you can get away."

"That can be done immediately. These functions are a duty, not a pleasant pastime." He hesitated. "Would you like to meet for coffee, or shall we just go back to my hotel room?"

I hesitated. I actually hesitated. God, Kellen leaving me had done my heart more harm than I'd even imagined. "Hotel room. I need information on the Trollops."

"I hope that's not all you need," he said, low voice sending shivers of delight down my spine.

"Probably not."

"Good. I'll be waiting at the Langham's main entrance in ten minutes."

"I'll be there."

I hung up, flung the phone into my bag, and started up the car. For the first time in ages, excitement buzzed through my veins and I couldn't help the silly grin that stretched my lips.

Yeah, Quinn and I had problems. Yep, we could be bad for each other - but we could also be damn good together. And I needed that right now. I really did.

I made it to the Langham in record time and parked in the underground lot nearby. The rates were a killer, but I didn't care.

Quinn was waiting near the main doors. His warm gaze slid down me, heating my skin to greater degrees, then stopped when it reached my sensible black shoes.

"What happened to the pretty green ones you were wearing?"

"Stabbed a shifter with them."

"That's a rather nasty thing to do." He slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. His body pressed against mine, warm, hard, and wonderfully familiar. "What did she do?"

"It was the bakeneko, not an ordinary shifter."

"Ah. Well, it wouldn't have done much good, then. Wooden stiletto heels don't affect bakenekos the way they do us vampires."