"Dammit, Riley, don't give me a lecture. Not now. I just feel like blowing some steam and that's exactly what I intend to do."

Liander would be more than willing to accommodate any steam blowing my brother required, and we both knew it I wondered why he was so resistant to making any sort of real commitment to Liander—but the edge of anger so evident in his gray eyes suggested now was not the time for this topic.

But he had to be aware that he was running the risk of losing the man who was probably his soul mate. He had to be—no one else but a soul mate would put up with the sort of shit Rhoan had been pulling of late.

"Be careful," was all I said I leaned forward and gave him a kiss, then climbed out of the cab.

He waved as the cab zoomed off I smiled and walked up the steps to our building.

Jack wasn't happy that we were still living here After Gautier's initial threat, he'd insisted we shift into a more secure building. Only it hadn't stopped Gautier. I don't know how he'd gotten into the apartment given the fact that vampires couldn't cross thresholds uninvited, but he'd left us a bloody rose and a simple message:

The best kill is one that is fully appreciated beforehand. The hunt has not yet begun.

After that, we'd come back home. Which didn't mean we relaxed our guard any, but Gautier had proven his point. He could get us anywhere, anytime, so there was no purpose in hiding.

I thrust open the old glass and wood front doors and began to climb the stairs. This old brick building had originally been a warehouse, but for the last fifty years, at least, it had functioned as an apartment building. And though both the building and the apartments had become as run-down as the entire Sunshine area, it was close to the city and transport, and the apartments were bigger than anything they built nowadays. Not to mention the fact that it was cheap.

Of course, the old biddy who owned the building hated nonhumans of any kind, but it was against the law to discriminate. Which didn't actually mean she had to accept us as tenants—humans could always find ways to circumnavigate laws if they wanted to—but having werewolves in the building also meant there was never a problem with rats. And in a rat-infested area, this was a good thing.

Though why those beady-eyed little bastards hated us so much was anyone's guess. It certainly wasn't because we hat! a habit of eating them. They tasted as ghastly as they looked.

Rhoan and I lived on the sixth—and top—floor, and there was no elevator, only these stairs. I ran up them—the one regular form of exercising I did outside the training they forced on us at the Directorate—then pushed open the stairwell door and strode down the hall toward our apartment. I have to admit, my thoughts were not on safety at that point. I just wanted to get inside, have a hot shower followed by several gallons of hazelnut coffee. Which I'd neatly top off with a block of my favorite chocolate—black forest.

One of the many good things about being a werewolf was the fact that our metabolic rate was so efficient, we could basically eat what we wanted and not put on weight.

I opened the door, threw off my coat, chucked my keys on the phone table, and began stripping off as I headed for the bathroom.

A soft chuckle ran across the silence.

My heart froze and, for one horrible second, I thought I'd made the mistake that would end my life. Then the voice registered and my heart did a strange little leap. I couldn't help the smile that touched my lips as I turned around.

Quinn O'Conor, ancient vampire, billionaire businessman, and one of my two permanent lovers, stood near the window, his arms crossed as he leaned casually against one of the panes of the glass that lined the entire outside wall of our living room.

As window dressings went, he was mighty damn fine.

Tonight he wore a navy shirt that emphasized the width of his shoulders and dark jeans that drew the eye down the lean, athletic length of his legs His hair—once shoulder length but now cut shorter—was night dark, and so thick, so lush, that my fingertips itched with the need to run through it. Unlike most vampires, he could stand a lot of sunshine, so he was as far from white as a vampire could actually get, his skin possessing a warm, almost golden glow And to say he was handsome would be the understatement of the year. I swear even angels would be envious of his looks, and yet he was in no way effeminate.

But it was his obsidian eyes that always caught me, and right now they were filled with a heat that instantly began to warm the chill from my skin. And, as ever, as our gazes met something passed between us, an awareness that made my heart stutter and caused goose bumps to prickle across my skin. It was an awareness that had been present from the very first time we'd met, and it seemed to be getting stronger with every passing month.

The last time I'd seen him was two weeks ago—when he'd left me high but far from dry after a delicious dinner date. Why he'd refused all my efforts to get him into bed—or anywhere else, for that matter—I have no idea. But I very much suspected it was all part of a larger plan.

All I had to do now was uncover what that plan was. Not an easy thing when he'd had over twelve hundred years of practice at keeping secrets.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," I said, continuing to strip off wet clothes and drop them on the floor as I walked toward him.

His eyes gleamed with heat, and desire swirled around me—a teasing, lusty aroma that had my blood racing even harder through my veins. If it was anything to go by, he would not be playing hard to get tonight.

"I heard you liked surprises," he said, a smile teasing his lush lips as he lightly touched my shoulders and leaned forward to kiss my forehead.

Not exactly the type of kiss I was hoping for.

I pulled away from his light touch, undid my bra and tossed it toward my discarded shirt. As tosses went, it was pretty lame, but at that point, I wasn't really caring.

"So is the surprise you appearing uninvited in my apartment, or have you something more interesting in mind?"

He smiled, his finger warm against my skin as he skimmed my cheek and lightly outlined my lips. I opened my mouth slightly, drawing in his fingertip, sucking on it briefly. Heat flared brighter in his dark eyes, and the sweet aroma of lust sharpened, until it felt like I was being crushed under the weight of it. But oh, what a way to go.

"I thought you might like to go out for dinner," he said, the Irish lilt in his rich voice suddenly more pronounced.

"Me eating food and you eating me?" I raised an eyebrow, a smile teasing my lips. "We could do that now, if you'd like."

Even as I said it, I skimmed my hands down the muscled planes of his chest and stomach, wishing he was naked so I could actually feel skin. When I reached the button of his jeans, I played with it lightly, one finger skimming underneath, brushing the top of the erection straining against the denim. All it would take was one quick tug of the zip, and he would be free and mine.

But before I could put thought into action, he caught my hands and brought then back up to his lips. The kiss he dropped on the top of my fingers was light, almost impersonal, and yet there was nothing impersonal about the way his gaze met mine. This vampire wanted me as much as I wanted him, and I'd be damned if I knew why he was resisting. It wasn't like either of us were new to the game of lovemaking.

And it certainly wasn't as if we were new to each other. We'd been making like rabbits for months. Well, at least up until the last few weeks, when this whole "let's frustrate Riley" mode of operation had come in.

"You're wet and cold," he said, matter-of-factly.