“Vampires have sleepless days?” There was a playful note in her voice that he hadn’t expected. Lilith seemed surprisingly relaxed around him now. The trace of fear he’d detected in her this morning was gone.

“More often than you think when we are hungry,” he whispered, his eyes caressing her throat.

“Never going to happen,” she said without even looking at him.

Her senses were acute if she’d detected his intent without having to see it with her own two eyes. There was something different about her. Perhaps she’d been modified like some of the other hunters he’d encountered recently. Since the Law Keepers’ report that humans had been playing god, they’d met more genetically altered hunters. They’d killed every one.

She filled her mug, removed the tea bag and went to move past him towards the lounge area. Her eyes strayed to his torso again.

He tensed his muscles for her and she quickly looked away. Either she was a prude, or it was because he was a vampire that she didn’t want to look at him. He hoped it was the latter. It would be fun to prove to her just how curious she was about his kind. Her eyes strayed again and he waited to see what she’d do this time. She stood there, gaze furtively taking in his body. A dull ache settled in his chest, followed by another in his gut. Temptation whispered to push her now while he had the chance.

“Have you ever been curious? Come now, you must have been curious to know sometimes.” Lincoln held her gaze when it darted to meet his. She looked wonderfully innocent and clueless. It didn’t fool him. She understood what he was saying. He stepped away from the cupboard and towards her. “What we feel like, what it feels like.”

“Never!” There was such defiance in her voice, such vehement denial. He might have believed it if she’d managed to keep better control of herself. Her eyes betrayed her. They strayed to his chest for a split second.

He grinned, enjoying this game. It was time to up the ante.

He trailed his fingers across his bare chest.

“I know you want to feel it.” His senses locked onto her heart, revelling in the staccato rhythm it had adopted. A rush of adrenaline entered her blood, sending the scent of it into the air through her overheating flesh. She was either embarrassed, or his words held some truth and she wanted to touch him. Another push. “Just reach out and touch. I can see the questions in your eyes, Lilith. Is it cool, hard? Would you feel a heartbeat? Would I feel your touch, feel pain if you scraped your nails down it... feel pleasure?”

Her cheeks blazed and her eyes widened. She went to turn away. He was beside her before she could move, his hand tight around her wrist. He couldn’t let her get away when it was just getting interesting.

Taking the mug from her other hand, he placed it down on the counter away from them, his movements slow so he didn’t draw her attention away from his eyes. He drew her towards him. Her fingers shook in his. Her breath trembled uneasily, quivering with her racing heart. Her dark eyes fell to his chest and she slowly wet her lips with the bare tip of her soft pink tongue. He stared at her mouth, mesmerised by the motion of her tongue against her lips, and then snapped himself out of it.

This game was turning dangerous for them both. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t stop now.

He had to see what would happen.

“Surrender to it,” he whispered, voice smooth and convincing.

Her fingertips barely grazed his skin and he was on fire. His eyes half closed as he absorbed the sensation of her warm caress heating his body. He hadn’t expected this. He clawed back a modicum of control, telling himself this was just a game to annoy her, to make her feel weak. It shouldn’t make him feel this way.

Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated as she stared at her fingers where they traced patterns on his chest. She was lost. He could smell the hint of arousal, the alluring pheromones coming off her.

He breathed in a voice of temptation, “Imagine what it is like to kiss me.”

Her gaze burned him, trailing fire over his body as it rose to his mouth. He stared at hers, imagining the silky glide of her lips against his and the brush of her tongue, the warmth of her.

“Imagine what it is like to be kissed by me.” He smiled to reveal his extended fangs.

She jerked her hand away and then shoved him hard in the chest. He laughed. She stormed off into her room. A small cream table lamp took the brunt of her anger. It hit the wall not five feet from him and smashed into pieces, raining down on the kitchen counter. He’d expected her aim to be more accurate.

Lincoln forced his teeth to recede and listened to her tramping around her room. What was she doing? Was she looking for something else to throw at him? He didn’t know why she was angry with him. All he’d done was play a vicious game as she had been. Only his game was different. Instead of being designed to show her how much he hated her kind as hers was, it was designed to show her how curious she was about them and how tempting they were to her.

She walked back out of the bedroom.

He froze and stared at her.

The only trouble was she was becoming tempting herself.

The rose-coloured camisole hugged her upper body to the point where imagination wasn’t necessary. It emphasised her breasts. They swayed as she moved towards him, free of a bra to restrain them. Dark blue jeans were moulded to her legs, revealing their slender shapely form. Her small feet were bare, her toes painted a sultry black.

She neared him and he raked his eyes back up her. They didn’t make it to her face. She made sure of that. Her fingers skimmed across her chest, gathering the sheen of sweat there until it beaded against her skin. He swallowed. She stopped close to him, not three feet away. He couldn’t take his eyes off what she was doing. The sensuality of it only heightened his desire for her, his want to take her and her blood for his own. He curled his hands into tight fists of restraint. It didn’t stop his desire from rising. It was no use. He was captivated. She had turned his game against him and triggered thoughts that he shouldn’t be entertaining. What they spoke of was forbidden. It was a sin to want a human.

He licked his lips and stepped towards her, still mesmerised by the motion of her fingers on her chest. A single drop of moisture slid down over the arc of her breast and into her cleavage. His lips parted in fascination and he looked at her. She smiled, all innocence laced with seduction. This was a cruel game to play with a man.

Another step.

She moved before he had time to react, reaching into her back pocket and pulling something out.

His eyes flicked to it.

A stake.

He leapt backwards.

She didn’t attack.

His own weakness hit him with tremendous force. She’d lured him in and had drawn her stake before he’d even known what was happening. If she’d been serious about staking him, there was no telling what might have happened, but there was every possibility she would have hit her mark.

“Next time you try something, I will be armed, and I will kill you,” she said, voice dark and lethal.

He raised his hands, in control again. “Touché.”