Page 122 of Vampire so Virtuous

“What is weird,ma chérie?” He leaped as he spoke—but ‘leaped’ was so inadequate to describe their sudden ascension, the weightless drop in her gut, the height they attained, and the way the world seemed to dim around them. Shadows billowed from him, unfurling like black mist to wrap around them, and she gasped as she realized they were now halfway up a building, a hundred feet from the ground. He had one foot on a ledge, his balanceperfect, with darkness enveloping both of them. “Is this weird?”

Before she could answer, he jumped again, her stomach flipping. She gave a breathless little laugh and clutched his silken shirt. The cool night whistled by, yet didn’t seem to disturb his shadows. Below, the city blurred—streetlights, traffic, the oblivious hum of life continuing beneath their flight.

“No,” she said, when they landed once more on the roof of a skyscraper and she could catch her breath, “I don’t think this is weird. I think this isawesome.”

“Good.” He leaped anew, this time more for distance than height, and they soared for so long, she was sure they were really flying. Then he touched down again, landing so softly she wasn’t even jolted against him.

She laughed with delight. “Faster than a car.”

“You flatter me.” He ran a few paces then leaped a short hop to the far side of the roof. “I estimate it at no more than thirty miles an hour—but I admit I may have been trying to impress you.”

“Consider me impressed.” She clung to his neck as he took off again.

The cold night whipped through her dress as he soared from one building to the next, but beneath his thin shirt, his body was warm. Cold wasn’t the only thing urging her closer, but she held back.

He sailed over a busy street below, the air rushing past, a dozen seconds before he touched down again. When he landed, her breath hitched—not from the leap, but from the way he looked at her. His expression was unreadable and half in shadow, yet his eyes were as intense as ever, an unmistakable pull in their depths. It made her shiver.

“Are you cold?”

“No, you’re keeping me warm,” she said. “I figured vampires would be like ice.” She let her fingers skim over the fabric of his shirt, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breath, and play of muscle as he gathered himself for the next jump.

“I’m constantly healing. It generates a lot of heat.” He shifted his grip a little, their bodies rubbing together as he pulled her in tighter.

“Oh.” He wasn’t just warmer than she’d expected a vampire to be, but warmer than anyone she’d ever been this close to.

And they were very close.

His hold on her seemed effortless, yet the adjustment made her hyperaware of the way his fingers pressed into her back, and his other arm hooked beneath her legs. She swallowed, pulse fluttering. What was trust if not this? He could drop her from the peak of one of his jumps, and it wouldall be over. Yet she knew she was safe.

Safe in a vampire’s arms.The thought should have terrified her—but it didn’t.

They landed again, her hands still fisted in his shirt, his face only inches away. The city stretched out below them, but all she saw was the sharp angles of his cheekbones and the soft curl of his lips. If she just leaned in… but instead, she lay her head on his shoulder and chewed her bottom lip.

When she closed her eyes, the ride took on a rhythm. Leap, soar, land. He touched down so gently that she couldn’t always tell, sometimes thinking they were still in the air until he leaped again. Then she knew, for the surge of acceleration took her breath away.

Somehow, she’d curled closer without realizing it, her lips brushing the crook of his neck. His skin was soft, his hair tickled her face, and he smelled faintly of the subtle spice of cologne and musk, mingling with the leather of his jacket.

Cally couldn’t resist. She licked the side of his throat—then sank her teeth in.

He stumbled as they landed, jolting her. His arms closed more tightly around her, and it took him a step to catch his balance.

“If you do that again,ma chérie,I cannot guarantee I will get you home without breaking your trust.”

It was too dark to see his skin beneath his swirling shadows, but she hoped she’d left a mark. She traced the bite with her tongue, and he made a noise deep in his throat.

Home. From the direction they were heading, he wasn’t taking her to her apartment, but to his house in Fisher Hill. Shouldn’t that be unsettling? Why did the thought of staying with him make her feel safe?

She pondered it for a minute or two. Before Antoine had come into her life, she’d never really feltunsafe—not more than anyone else. Taekwondo had helped, not least for the confidence it gave her. But since being bitten by the very vampire whose arms now held her, her world had turned on its head.

The nightmares she’d had, she could place firmly at his door. But the evil in Minh’s nightclub? Not so much.

Then there was Minh himself, and his obvious interest in her—if only to strike at Antoine. Anyone she passed could be a thrall, stronger and faster than any other human.

But wasn’t she stronger now, too?

“Does your mark make me stronger?” she asked.

“Physically, you mean?”