He took a step toward her on silent feet, his gaze focused on her face. He moved like a panther, she thought, his body supple and dangerous and beautiful.
"Have you, by chance, been missing me?"
She nodded. Going to his place had been a really bad idea, she thought, her heartbeat speeding up. He was trouble, but he came wrapped in an irresistible package.
He took another step toward her.
Regan glanced over her shoulder but there was no place to run, no place to hide.
He canted his head to one side. "Do you want me to go?"
"Go?" Lordy, that was the last thing she wanted. It was just that he made her want things, feel things, that she wasn't prepared to handle, things that, once done, could not be undone. If she surrendered to him now, there would be no going back.
"Regan, what do you want from me?"
"Nothing," she said, not meeting his eyes. "Everything." She shivered when his arms went around her. "Joaquin…"
"Do not be afraid, my lovely one. I will not hurt you." He rubbed his cheek against hers. "Do you know how much I have missed you these past weeks?"
"Then why have you stayed away?"
"I wanted to give you time to sort out your feelings, and I needed time away from you." He smiled when she looked up at him. "You have no idea how you tempt me, love. I long to possess you, to make you mine for all time. To be near you and not touch you, not taste you, is like being invited to a banquet and being forbidden to eat. Do you understand?"
"I guess so." She rested her head against his shoulder. "I want you, too; you must know that. But I'm so confused… and so afraid."
"Of me?" he asked, silently cursing himself for his lack of control the last time they were together.
"No. Mostly I'm afraid of the changes in me. Sometimes I don't recognize myself. I…" She looked up at him. "I've never liked rare meat, but lately that's all I eat. I know it's the curse, but it frightens me. It's not a horrible thing, but it's not like me. Even Mike…" Her voice trailed off.
"Go on."
"When I went out with Mike, he said I looked different. Do I?"
"You look the same to me." Taking her by the hand, he led her into the living room and settled her beside him on the sofa. "Perhaps he sensed your inner struggle, though most mortals are unaware of such things."
With a sigh, she rested her head against his shoulder. "Nothing in my life seems the same as it was. I feel like I'm sitting on a time bomb, just waiting for it to blow up. I hate it!"
"It will get easier with time," he said reassuringly. "Try not to worry so much. It will change nothing and only make things worse."
"I know."
"Regan."
She tilted her head back so she could see his face and felt a shiver of awareness sizzle through her when their eyes met. He was going to kiss her and she was going to let him.
She closed her eyes as he lowered his head. He was right. What good had worrying ever done? She was a werewolf. In less than two weeks, the moon would be full. She would go to Santiago's lair and he would take care of her. She would find Vasile. Maybe not this month or the next, but she would find him and destroy him and get her life back. But that was in the future and Santiago was here now, his mouth warm on hers, his tongue sweetly dueling with hers, his hands gentle as they caressed her.
Somehow, they were lying side by side on the sofa, arms and legs entangled, hands slowly exploring, learning, arousing.
She loved touching him. She reveled in the latent strength in his arms, broad shoulders, and hard, flat belly. She loved the feel of his hair against her cheek, the weight of his leg lying over hers.
Wanting to be closer, she pressed herself against him, her hands slipping under his shirt to stroke his back. His skin was cool and firm beneath her curious fingertips.
"Regan." Her name was a groan on his lips. An unspoken plea.
How could she refuse him when she wanted him as badly as he wanted her?
She was about to suggest they continue their love-making in the bedroom when there was a knock at the door.
"Leave it," Santiago said, his voice a low growl.
Whoever it was knocked again, harder this time.
There was no sense pretending she wasn't home. The lights were on. Her car was parked out front.
"I'll just be a minute." She kissed Santiago quick and hard. "Don't go away." Gaining her feet, she adjusted her clothing, then went to open the door. It was the last person she expected to see. "Mike!"
"Hi, Reggie." He handed her an enormous bouquet of wildflowers. "I'm sorry for the way I acted the other night."
"It's all right."
"No, it's not. I didn't have any right to… dammit!" Mike said, glancing past her. "Doesn't he ever go home?"
"Mike…"
He shook his head, his face mottled with barely suffused rage. "It's obvious you've made your choice. I won't bother you again."
"Mike, listen…"
"Good-bye, Regan."
Murmuring, "good-bye," she closed the door.
"Are you sorry to see him go?" Santiago asked.
"Yes," she said, going into the kitchen for a vase. "We were friends." She filled the container and placed the flowers inside. It had been a long time since anyone had given her flowers.
Turning, she found that Santiago had followed her. "Do you wish to have him here in my place? If so, call him back and I will take my leave."
"No, of course not. But we were friends," she said again. "Do you even know what it's like to have friends anymore?"
"Are we not friends?" he asked, closing the distance between them.
"I don't know. Are we?"
With a muttered oath, he swept her into his arms.
"We are friends and more than friends, and were it not for that fool's intrusion, we would have been lovers by now."
"Would we?" she asked impishly.
"You know it as well as I." He brushed a kiss across her cheek. "There is still time." He studied her face, one brow raised inquisitively. "I see you have changed your mind. Shall I change it back again?"
"I don't know. Joaquin, I'm so confused about everything. My life has turned upside down since…"
"Since you met me?"
She smiled up at him. "You're part of it, of course. My associations with vampires have never been social, you know."
He grunted softly. "No 'hello, how are you?' before you lop off their heads?"