With a shake of his head, he left his lair and went up the private stairway to his apartment where he took a quick shower and changed into a clean shirt and a pair of pants. If he didn’t hurry, he would be late.

He was doing a quick walk-through of the casino floor, on his way out, when he had the sudden sense that he was being watched. Pausing near the dice table, Zack pretended to be interested in the game while he let his preternatural powers expand. Sounds grew louder, colors brighter, smells sharper and more intense.

He glanced casually around the casino, his gaze resting quickly on each patron. It was still early. The crowd was light. He had no sense of another vampire on the premises, no scent of werewolf, and yet he would have sworn there was another supernatural creature in the building, although there was no trace of it now. Had he imagined it?

He finished his walk-through, stopped to talk with a few of the pit bosses, conferred briefly with the head of security, and left the casino, bound for Kaitlyn’s.

She opened the door before he knocked, a smile of welcome on her face. Dressed in a pair of white slacks and a lavender sweater, her cheeks flushed with color, she was even prettier than he remembered.

“So,” she said, “what do you want to do tonight?”

“Take a walk?” he suggested. “Go for a drive? See a movie?”

“It’s a nice night for a walk,” Kaitlyn said.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

Kaitlyn felt the same peculiar sensation she had on other occasions when he took her hand in his. Not a chill, exactly, more like a warm shiver of awareness that she felt all the way down to her toes.

She pondered her strange reaction to him as they walked down the narrow, tree-lined path toward the lake. Maybe what she felt for Zack wasn’t all that extraordinary. He was an extremely handsome man, after all, and there was no denying that she was physically attracted to him. But then, what woman wouldn’t be?

The night seemed to close in around the two of them as they neared the lake, which gleamed like a dark mirror in the light of the full moon.

Zack paused at the edge of the water where someone had thoughtfully placed a wooden bench just big enough for two. He waited until Kaitlyn sat down and then sat beside her, one arm resting on the back of the bench. A warm breeze, carrying the fecund scent of earth and foliage, rustled the leaves of the trees. A fish popped up in the middle of the lake, sending ever-widening ripples across the face of the water.

“It’s lovely here,” Kaitlyn said. “Do you ever come here to swim?”

“Now and then. Do you like swimming?”

She nodded. “My father taught me when I was a little girl.” She would never forget how much fun it had been to go swimming with her dad. Of course, they’d had to go at night, but she had never been afraid, not when he was there. Before she was old enough to swim, he had let her sit on his chest while he floated in the water. The most fun had been clinging to his back while he swam swiftly, effortlessly, from one end of the lake to the other and back again.

“What else do you like to do?” Zack asked.

“Oh, lots of things. I enjoy going to movies and plays and doing crossword puzzles. I don’t like to cook, but I love to bake.” She smiled at him. “I make a really wicked strawberry pie,” she said. “I’ll have to bake you one.”

Zack nodded. “Anything else?”

“I love to read.”

“Me, too.” He had spent many a long, lonely night in the company of a good book. “What do you like to read?”

“You’ll laugh.”

“Why would I laugh?”

“Because I like to read old fairy tales.”

He didn’t laugh, but he couldn’t hold back a grin. “You mean like Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty?”

“Yes, but my favorite is Beauty and the Beast. It’s such a wonderful story, the way Belle learns to love the Beast in spite of his gruff attitude and fearsome appearance.”

“I guess you’re really into those happily-ever-after endings.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing.” He glanced out over the water, wondering if he would ever have a happy ending of his own. “I guess everybody wants one.”

“So, what do you like to read?”

“Murder mysteries. Arthur Conan Doyle. Dashiell Hammett. Mickey Spillane.”

“Blood and guts, huh?” she asked with a grin. “Death on every page.”

He had to laugh at that. She had no idea.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, frowning.

“I was just thinking how far apart our tastes are in books.” And in food and drink and sleeping habits, he added silently.

“So, Mr. Macho Man, what do you like to do?”

“Oh, you know,” he said, flexing his muscles. “The usual manly things. Watch extreme sports on TV. Gamble. Drink too much. Drive too fast.”

She punched him in the arm. “Be serious.”

“I know what I’d like to do right now,” he said, his voice soft and seductive.

A thousand butterflies took wing in Kaitlyn’s stomach. There was no mistaking the desire in his eyes. “Oh?” Her voice emerged as little more than a squeak.

His finger traced the curve of her cheek. “Shall I show you?”

She swallowed. “Will I like it?”

“I think so.” He drew her closer, his voice low and husky in her ear. “I hope so,” he said, and kissed her.

Her eyelids fluttered down as she turned into his embrace. Her arms went around his waist, and she hugged him tight as she lost herself in the wonder and magic of being near him, of having his mouth on hers. He smelled of sandalwood cologne and musk. The combined scents made her stomach curl with pleasure. A delightful warmth spread through her, leaving her feeling weak and exhilarated at the same time. She moaned softly when his tongue stroked hers.

Pulling away, she fanned herself with one hand.

Zack looked at her, a smug, masculine grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Kaitlyn blew out a breath. “I think I need a drink.”

He nodded, reluctant to let her go when he wanted nothing more than to swing her into his arms and carry her to bed, to touch and taste her all night long. But maybe it was better to take it slow.

“As it happens,” he said, tamping down both his desire and his hunger, “I know a place that serves a great strawberry daiquiri.”

“As tempting as that sounds, I think I’d better go home.”

“Are you sure?”

Kaitlyn nodded. Going home was the last thing she wanted to do, but right now, it was the safest thing. For both of them.

She was vaguely disappointed when Zack didn’t argue. Instead, he took her hand and drew her to her feet.

She tried to think of something to say while they walked up the path, but words failed her. She couldn’t tell him the truth—couldn’t tell him she was fighting an almost desperate yearning, not only for the taste of his blood, but a hunger for his body, as well.

Better to let him think that she was a prude, or that things were moving too fast, rather than let him know the truth.

Chapter 5

After bidding Kaitlyn a reluctant good night, Zack willed himself to the city, which was roughly twenty miles from the casino. It might have been smarter to build his place closer to the general population, but he liked the club’s solitary location, liked having some distance between himself and the tourists after the casino closed for the night.

It wasn’t easy, being constantly surrounded by the lure of beating hearts and the coppery scent of blood. It was easier to ignore temptation when it was far away. But tonight, his hunger wouldn’t be denied.

He knew it was only his imagination, but it seemed that even here, miles away from her cabin, he could still hear the beating of Kaitlyn’s heart, smell the sweetness of her blood.

Hunger drew him to an all-night café. Pausing inside the door, he opened his preternatural senses and quickly scanned the room. The man at the far table was drunk. The couple in the booth was too old. The woman sitting near the window was an actress down on her luck, but she was young and smelled clean.

With an effort of will, he called to her, then stepped out onto the sidewalk to wait.

A moment later, she was there, her eyes void of expression as she waited to do his bidding. Taking her by the hand, he led her down the street and into an alley between two commercial buildings.

A search of her mind revealed her name. “Alice.”

She looked up at him, her expression blank.

“Relax, Alice,” he murmured, taking her into his arms. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She gazed up at him, her lips slightly parted, her heart pounding with fear.

Zack brushed her hair over her shoulder, his fingertips trailing down the length of her neck while his mind invaded hers. She was a lovely girl who had left her home in Montana, certain that having a pretty face was all she needed to make it in Hollywood. Having failed that, she was ashamed to go back home and admit defeat.

It was an all-too-familiar story. Bending his head to her neck, he took what he needed, wishing, all the time, that it was Kaitlyn in his arms, her blood chasing away the coldness within him.

When he had taken his fill, he captured the girl’s gaze with his. “You will remember none of this,” he said quietly. “Do you understand?”

She nodded, her eyes still blank.

“Where are you staying tonight?”

“At the hotel down the street.”

“All right. I want you to go there now and go to bed.” Reaching into his pocket, Zack pulled out a handful of bills and pressed them into her hand. “Tomorrow, you’re going to buy a plane ticket and go home.” He stroked her cheek. “You will not remember me, or this conversation.”

She nodded again.

“Tell me again what you’re you going to do tomorrow.”

“I’m going home.”

And even though she was in a trance, he heard the happiness, the relief, in her voice.