Page 25 of Twilight Destiny

“Did you come in here for a reason?” Kincaid asked.

“Excuse me, but thisismy house, or did you forget that?”

Kincaid grinned at him. “I guess I did. Can you blame me?”

Saintcrow glanced at Rosa, who was staring at the floor as if the Berber carpet was the most fascinating thing in the room. “I’ll leave you to it,” he said, good-naturedly.

Rosa breathed a sigh of relief when she sensed Saintcrow had left the house.

“Hey,” Kincaid said, tilting her head up. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not ashamed. Just embarrassed. I mean … I don’t know what I mean.”

He laughed softly. “It was a close call, wasn’t it?”

“Too close. I hardly know you.”

“I know how to remedy that.”

She glared at him.

“Maybe we should take a walk or something?” he suggested.

“Good idea.”

Standing, he took her hands in his and lifted her to her feet and into his arms. She leaned into him, feeling warm and safe. What was there about him? It had to be more than just his inherent vampire allure. Saintcrow had it, too, and he was sexy as all get out, but she wasn’t drawn to him the way she was to Jake. Not even close.

He kissed the top of her head. “We’d better go, lovely lady,” he said, his voice husky, “or we’ll never get out of here.”

They walked to town and went to a double feature. They held hands and shared a few kisses. And then a few kisses more. As bad as horny teenagers, she thought with a grin as they left the theater. Sometimes she even felt like a teen with her first crush, unable to think of anything else but the boy who made her heart skip a beat. Next, she’d be drawing hearts with his name in the middle.

Kincaid grinned at her. “I can hear your stomach growling,” he said. “Where would you like to have dinner?”

Rosa shrugged. “The hotel in town, I guess.” It was the only one that served a wide variety of choices. Of the other two restaurants, one was Italian and the other served mainly fried chicken and burgers.

“We don’t have to stay here, you know.” Slipping his arm around her waist, he said, “Hang on.”

And the next thing she knew, they were in downtown Cheyenne.

“What are you in the mood for?” Kincaid asked.

“Prime rib sounds good.”

He took her to T-Joe’s Steakhouse and Saloon where she had the best prime rib she’d ever tasted. Kincaid nursed a glass of red wine while she ate.

“I’m stuffed,” Rosa said, pushing her plate away. “I may never be hungry again.”

Kincaid grunted. “Wish I could say that.”

“Do you have to … you know … every night?”

“I can skip two or three days, if I have to, but it’s damn painful if I wait too long.” His gaze moved to the hollow of her throat and lingered there. He didn’t know why he needed to feed so often. Most old vampires could go for a week or more without any discomfort. But he wasn’t one of them. For some reason, abstaining affected his temper and his control. The results were never pretty.

“Are you hungry now? Or is thirsty?”

“A thirst like you can’t imagine.”

“Do you like it? The blood?”