Dead Perfect

“Go on.”

“Oh, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. You’re just weird, that’s all.”

He laughed softly. “Honey, you have no idea.”

“Don’t say that! It scares me. I can see the headlines now. Girl’s body found in dumpster.

Neighbors claim killer was such a nice quiet man, never caused any trouble.”

He grunted softly. “Since you’re the girl, I guess that makes me the killer.”

He was smiling when he said it, but a chill went down Shannah’s spine. There was something in his voice, a knife-like edge beneath the mildly spoken words.

She shook her head. “Don’t mind me. I’m just nervous. It makes me say silly things.”

“You have nothing to fear from me, Shannah. Believe that if you believe nothing else.” He wasn’t so sure he could guarantee the safety of the hundreds of other people on the plane.

Every breath he took carried the scent of prey. Like a lion prowling the jungle, he could sense the weak in the herd, the weary, the ones who would welcome death. “Whatever happens, I’ll keep you safe.”

“I believe you.” With a sigh, she rested her head against the back of the seat. “I think I’ll take a nap.”

“It’ll have to be a short one,” he said. “We’ll be there in an hour or so.”

But she didn’t care. If the plane crashed, at least she wouldn’t be awake when it happened.

She was almost asleep when she remembered she had missed her appointment with her doctor. No matter, she thought, she had never felt better. She would have to find time to call him when they reached Los Angeles. It was her last thought before sleep claimed her.

Ronan listened to the even sound of her breathing, watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She knew there was something not quite right about him. He wondered how long it would take her to figure out what it was, and what he would do when she did.

Looking at her, sleeping so innocently beside him, he feared he had done the unthinkable.

He had fallen in love with a mortal. And not just any mortal, but one who was dying. He stared out the window, his gaze piercing the distance of eternity. He could keep her from dying, he mused. That was why she had come to him in the first place. But once the deed was done, would she love him for it? Or spend eternity regretting the night a vampire gave her what she had come looking for?

Shannah was glad that it didn’t take long to fly from Northern California to Los Angeles. It was a rather bumpy landing and it had Shannah gripping the edge of her seat again and praying the plane wouldn’t sink in the Pacific Ocean or crash on the runway or land in someone’s backyard.

She breathed an audible sigh of relief when the plane was safely on the ground.

They collected their bags and found a taxi. An hour later, Shannah was drinking a Coke in her hotel room. She would have her first book signing tomorrow night at an exclusive bookstore in West Hollywood. It was a good thing Ronan would be there with her, she thought, because she knew she would be a nervous wreck without him. In spite of all his assurances to the contrary, she still wasn’t sure she could carry this off.

She glanced in his direction. He stood at the window, gazing out into the darkness. She wondered what he was thinking about. Was he, too, having second thoughts about her ability?

“I can’t believe we’re really here,” she remarked. “Have you been to Los Angeles before?”

“Once or twice.” It hadn’t been called Los Angeles then, and California hadn’t been a state. It had been a beautiful place in those days, the air clean and sweet, the sky blue instead of brown with smog, wide dirt roads instead of clogged freeways. Progress wasn’t always a good thing.

“It’s late,” he said. “You should get some sleep.”

She smothered a yawn. “I think you’re right.”

“I won’t be here in the morning,” he said, moving toward the door that connected his room to hers.

“Why not? Where are you going?”

“I’ve got some business to take care of.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No. Sleep late. Go sight-seeing if you like, or spend the day out by the pool.”

“You’ll be back in time for the signing?”

“Of course. And don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

She nodded, though she still had doubts.

Retracing his steps, he drew her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep well, Shannah.”

She smiled up at him. “Good night, Ronan.”

“Good night, love.”

She stared after him as he left the room. Love. He had called her love. Warmth spread through her. Had he meant it? Or was it just a term of endearment, like “honey” and “sweetie” or any of a hundred other expressions of affection?

Love. Not long ago, she had been certain she would never fall in love again. It was too much trouble. Too time-consuming. Too painful when it was over. She had loved and lost and she had decided that, in the future, it would be better not to love at all. And then she had gotten sick and she didn’t have the time or the energy to think about love or anything other than surviving from day to day.

But all that had been before she met Ronan. He was unlike any man she had ever known. She guessed he was probably in his mid-thirties, though he seemed older than his years. He was certainly older than any man she had ever dated…

Dated. The word made her giggle. They weren’t dating, exactly, she thought. Mainly, he was teaching her how to be his alter ego. Still, there were those devastating, mind-boggling, soul-shattering kisses. It was for certain no one had ever kissed her like he did. Not even Billy Ray.

Until Ronan kissed her, she would have said no man in the world kissed better than that swine, Billy Ray. Just proved how wrong a girl could be, she thought, grinning.

Just thinking about Ronan’s kisses made her toes curl inside her shoes. Kicking off her heels, she went into the bathroom where she soaked in a hot bubble bath while her wicked imagination pictured Ronan in the tub with her, washing her back, nuzzling her neck…

With a shake of her head, she stepped out of the tub, dried off, and slipped into her nightgown.

She was making far too much out of one endearment.

But she was still smiling when she fell asleep.

Ronan strolled along the dark streets, shielding his presence from those he passed along the way. It was relaxing, wandering through the city alone, especially after being confined inside an airplane. All those beating hearts. Warm bodies. Rivers of blood, each with a taste and texture of its own. The urge to feed, to gorge himself on the bounty before him, had been almost more than he could bear. He lived a solitary life most of the time. When he felt the need for company, he did what any man did, he went to one of the singles bars or one of the Goth hangouts and surrounded himself with music and people, and when he felt the need for feminine companionship, he found a woman who knew the score. His needs were few and simple. He had grown accustomed to his life and his lifestyle, had been content to live alone, until Shannah wandered up his driveway one afternoon and knocked on his door. Since the moment he had looked into her eyes, nothing in his life had been the same.