"Duncan, you're not my bodyguard."

He'd "read" Sam's protective thoughts over her. When he saw the burly guy put his hands on Rose's shoulders as he approached, as if he were very familiar with her, rage welled up within Duncan. He resisted the urge to knock the man back against the convenience store window for daring to lay his hands on Rose.

Duncan was surprised at how intense his feelings for Rose had become in such a short time. He wanted to be the man to touch her, to protect her...to find out how many ways he could make her moan or sigh.

"I don't think you're listening to me," Rose continued while she waved her hand in front of his face. "I have an appointment with a client in a half-hour-"

"James will begin to hunt for you again in a couple hours."

A horrified look crossed her face. "What? You didn't defeat him?"

Duncan shook his head and pressed his lips together in anger. "No. The bastard ran as soon as you were out of sight." Right before the sun's rays would have fried his sorry ass, too.

She began to pace behind her car. A frustrated look settled on her face as she bit her thumbnail. Duncan could see the wheels turning in her head. Finally she stopped and faced him. "Okay, you can follow me to my appointment, but you must stay back and out of sight."

He shook his head. "No deal. James will find you again. Your scent is especially easy to track at the moment."

"It is?" A curious expression filtered across her face.

"You're in a breeding state. You may as well lay a breadcrumb path out behind you," Duncan said in a droll tone.

She stepped toward him, her blue-green gaze intrigued. "Are you saying you can tell when I'm ovulating?"

When he gave her a "what the hell did you think I just said" look, she curled her fingers around his forearm and smiled. "Hmmm, maybe I'll just carry you around for a month or two. You're better than my basal thermometer."

Duncan tensed and folded his arms across his chest as extreme jealousy gripped him. Why hadn't he sensed a man in Rose's life? He'd smelled no man's scent on her earlier.

"Hey, it was just a joke. Well, kinda," she amended with a smirk.

The idea she was married and trying to conceive made his chest constrict. He scowled at her. "You're married? I sensed no other in your life," he commented without thinking. The appalled look on her face answered his question faster than he could've ever read her mind-fuckin' hell...why couldn't he read her?

"No, I'm not married, but I do want to have a child."

"Alone?" He looked at her as if she were nuts.

She took a step back, visibly withdrawing. "It's none of your concern. I don't even know why I told you." A look of self-disgust filtered across her face before she adopted a businesslike expression once more. "Like I said, you can shadow me to my appointment."

There has to be some way to compel her, some way to break through her strong will. Duncan contemplated his options as he shook his head and stepped forward. Then it hit him. The one time he'd felt a slight drop in her defenses was when he'd cleaned the wounds on her wrists.

"Before we go, let me see your neck," he said in a gruff tone as he stepped close and tilted her chin.

He felt her stiffen while he pulled the scarf away. "I want to make sure you're all right, Roisin."

Rose relaxed a bit at his comment. She began to peel back the tape for him. "Okay, but no licking-"

Duncan took her completely off-guard, covering her lips with his.

Chapter Four

Duncan's lips moved over hers, dominant yet coaxing. He pulled her close to his heat. His thumb traced the soft skin under her jaw while his other hand clasped her rear tightly, fitting her curves against his erection.

Rose's heart hammered in time to the heightened adrenaline pumping throughout her body. She reveled in Duncan's hard chest pressed against hers, his masculine smell and the feel of his stubble scraping her sensitive skin. Clutching his shoulders tight, she enjoyed the play of muscles she felt through his cotton T-shirt, while she returned his kiss, parrying every sensual thrust of his tongue against hers.

He slid both hands to her jeans-covered rear, pulling her even closer as he rocked into her. His lips moved to her jaw, then hovered over her wounds, his breath hot against her neck.

Rose's entire body tensed in sexual awareness and nerve-clenching anticipation, waiting for him to make the first move, praying he would.

When I cleanse your wounds, I won't stop, Roisin, he spoke in her mind, his tone husky, barely controlled.

She literally felt the lust that clawed at him, breaking down his good intentions, changing them to pure, unadulterated desire to plunge his fangs into her skin and taste her...take her blood. Her breathing changed to rapid pants when he moved his hips once more, his erection hitting her lower belly. Her hands moved to his hair, threading through the thick silk as she arched her neck, offering herself to him.

I want to know, she whispered back mentally.

Duncan growled low in his throat. His hand shot through her hair to cup the back of her head in a firm grip, his gaze glittering in satisfaction as he searched her face. When she felt a presence moving inside her head, trying to probe her mind, she instantly stiffened and mentally pulled away.

"Stay with me!" he commanded, his tone almost desperate. His hand flexed, tightening in the thick strands. "I need to know..."

Rose awoke with a jerk, the remnants of her vivid dream shaking her to the core. Her heart still beat at a wild pace and her sex ached in unfulfilled desire. Being kissed and then losing total consciousness left her feeling very much out of control. Intuitively, she knew Duncan wouldn't hurt her, but to wake up in a strange place wigged her out. Rose dug her elbow into the bed underneath her as she sat up and peered into the darkness, trying to see her surroundings.

Rain pounded hard, pelting the ceiling above her head, causing her to jerk her gaze to the angled window and the dark night outside.

When the light came on from the nightstand next to her, she gasped and blinked to let her eyes adjust to the change in light.

How'd the light come on? she wondered at the same time she noted her hairclip lay on the nightstand next to the lamp and her jacket was on the end of the bed. She let out a sigh of relief when she looked down and saw she was still fully clothed. She was in a queen-sized bed with a hunter-green comforter partially covering her body. Apprehension gripped her. She scanned the room, taking in the contemporary desk off to her right against the wall and a chest of drawers.

Glancing at the slanted ceiling not more than five feet above her head, she noted the window was a skylight flanked by exposed wooden beams. Her worry quickly turned to anger when she realized nighttime meant she'd missed her appointment with her client.

"I see you're awake." Duncan's low voice came from across the room. His tone sounded almost regretful.

She turned her head in his direction and narrowed her gaze at his casual delivery, as if she'd been an invited guest and not freakin' kidnapped! Again.

She started to speak, ready to blast him for screwing up her meeting. But the look in his eyes froze the words on her lips. Duncan sat in a cushioned brocade chair, his elbow resting on one arm in a casual manner. His gaze was anything but casual. His hungry stare reminded her of her dream and the sexual longing he'd made her feel, the desire to have his teeth sink into her, to know what it felt like. The memory still burned hot in her mind.

When he'd kissed her in the gas station parking lot, taking her by surprise, she couldn't resist his sexual pull. The way his hard chest felt pressed against hers, the heat of his body seeping into her clothes...electricity had jolted straight to her toes when his tongue had touched hers, enticing her to respond.

Duncan's kiss had been one of the most masterful, intimate, seductive kisses she'd ever experienced. It took down all her normal defenses. And that's when he'd zapped her with his vampire mojo. Before blackness overtook her, all she could think of was Duncan, how he tasted, felt and smelled. God, he'd smelled so good-like a mixture of woodsy outdoors, leather and musk.

So much for this vampire not being able to compel me, she thought in anger. Shaking off the seductive sensations his kiss and her dream had aroused, her temper flared. She sat up on her knees and pushed her hair back from her face, anger rising in waves. "Where the hell am I? I've missed my appointment."

"This is a second home my brother and I co-own. Kind of a 'getaway house'," Duncan responded in a calm tone. He didn't appear the least affected by her tirade. She shoved the covers back at the same time she tried to get out of the bed, ready to let him have it. But her feet got tangled up in the covers and instead of stalking over to him, she ended up flat on her face kissing the carpet. Oh yeah, that was graceful.

Duncan was there before she could recover, grasping her arm to help her up. She jerked her arm from his hold and stood up on her own, her eyes blazing. "Don't you dare try to be nice to me. I'm so damn mad at you. Thanks to you my client will probably never trust to meet with me again."

Not a single look of regret crossed his face. "Your well-being was more important."

Argh! She wanted to shoot him for his one-dimensional thinking. There was a way around it. He could have followed her as she'd asked him to, but nooooo, instead he'd ignored her wishes and... Wait...she might still be able to patch things up with her client.

She glanced at her watch then met his gaze. "Where's your phone? Maybe I can reschedule with my client and try to salvage his trust in me."

Duncan's expression turned hard. "There are no phones here other than my cell. You're not calling or meeting with anyone until James has been caught."

Her stomach tensed and her shoulders tightened at his command. She hit his chest in frustration. "Damn you, this is very important to me."

Duncan didn't stop her so she hammered on him some more. But his chest felt like steel and the stoic look on his face told her that her outburst did nothing to sway him. When her pummeling slowed, her anger changed to disappointment. "I've worked hard. I've scrimped and saved and..."

He clasped her wrists, halting her movements. "Enough, Rose." His hard tone had softened yet still held a commanding edge. "You've begun to bleed again."

She pulled a wrist away from his grasp and touched her scarf. "How do you know that?"

Duncan's golden gaze locked on hers. He began to untie her scarf in unhurried movements. I can smell your blood, he answered her mentally, his tone gruff. She glanced at his ticcing jaw and the hard planes of his face as she tried to decipher his mood.

Apprehension gripped her. She batted at his hands. "Just get me some more bandages. I'll be fine."

"No!" he barked out as he tossed the scarf to the floor. "I want to see your wound."

The menacing look on his face warned her that she was dealing with a man who wasn't human, but another being entirely, a dark, dangerous, predatory person.

Letting her hands fall, she lifted her chin a notch as he peeled away the tape. "Fine, you can look, but I mean it. No licking-"

"Sonofafuckingbitch!" he hissed out as he clasped her chin and lifted it higher so he could fully see her wound.

Rose tensed at the anger that lashed through him. She felt every single wave as it hit him, rolling through his body, tightening his shoulders. Ugly, dark revenge churned in his belly, clawed in his gut.

She gasped at the fact she felt his emotions and experienced his ferocity. When his eyes changed from their golden amber to a burnt orange-red, self-preservation kicked in. She tried to take a step back.

But Duncan cupped the back of her neck and held her still as he lowered his forehead to hers. She placed her hand on his hard chest, hoping her touch would calm the beast that seemed to have unleashed inside him.

Duncan's grip tightened. He whispered in her mind, You're mine to protect and protect you I will.

When she heard him take several calming breaths, her apprehension lessened. She didn't realize she'd been holding her own breath until she let out a sigh of relief.

He lifted his head, his look tortured and regretful. "I must cleanse and seal your wounds or you'll continue to lose blood and possibly develop an infection."

While he spoke, his hand moved from her head to her hair as his thumb rubbed a sensitive spot behind her ear.

Her blood pumped through her veins at a rampant pace and her breathing turned shallow at the way he made her feel-weak, tense, excited, aroused. Rose shook her head. "No licking."

Duncan raised an eyebrow, amusement reflected in his golden gaze. "Would you rather I kiss you again then?"

His sexy accent laced his words, making her heart thud out of control. Rose quickly tilted her head. "Fine, but don't...don't you enjoy it."

He gave her a feral smile. "I wouldn't think of it."

When his tongue swiped against her wound for the first time, Rose jerked at the initial pain. Another lick and she held back a moan as desire took over, clenching her body. She swayed in his arms and clutched his shoulders. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips when he went back over the same wound another time.

She felt his anger at James rush through her once more, vicious and ruthless as he ran his tongue along another gash. Her body tensed, ready to pull back at the black, violent emotions that emanated from him.

Duncan gathered her closer, refusing to let her go. The next lave of his tongue changed to a slow, deliberate, exploring velvet caress. The assured, erotic pace told her he'd reined in his vengeful thought patterns to more pleasurable considerations. Her lower belly clenched and her core flooded in liquid heat at the sensations swirling through her.

Your wounds are deep, Roisin. This will take a while. The gravelly sound of arousal accompanied his words and her stomach clenched in response to his husky tone. She was weakest like this, her mind most vulnerable.

"Think of something to occupy your mind then." She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone as much for herself as for him. She needed to keep her mind distracted from the way he made her feel, the things he made her want.

He clutched her even closer and slid his hand down to her rear. Intentionally pressing his erection against her, his lips grazed her jaw as he rasped, I can think of much more interesting things I could do to occupy my mind.

"My wounds," she reminded him even as she moved her hands to his arms. She couldn't stop her fingers from naturally flexing around his hard biceps.

Duncan knew she was right. That he needed a distraction. He was supposed to be healing her, not seducing her. Using his powers, he mentally ran his fingers across the keys on the baby grand piano downstairs. A classical song began to play in the background. Music had always soothed him, allowed him to think, to focus.

Right now he needed all the help he could get. He'd only intended to heal Rose's wounds, to get rid of her discomfort, but he found her scent too inviting, the taste of her dried and fresh blood too alluring. He'd stopped speaking verbally because he didn't want her to see his fangs. They'd erupted at the first taste of her blood. She didn't need to know just how much he ached to plunge his teeth in her throat.

He continued to lave at her wounds, but when she said, "Ohhh, Mozart is one of my faves," as she began to move her hips to the beat of the music, he groaned inwardly. His body instinctively responded to her seductive rhythm. He slid his thigh between hers, his cock throbbing for close contact.

Duncan needed more of a distraction. The music slowly died off and he began to play a jazz song on his sax, accompanying with the piano.

"Hmmm, you've an interesting mix of CDs," she mused aloud. She moved to the music's bluesy change of pace. Subconsciously, she clutched her thighs around his leg, riding him.

Duncan could only grunt in response. He'd thought working two instruments at the same time would be challenging enough to keep his mind on healing her instead of seducing her. Something about Rose told him once he had her, taken her blood, he'd have a hard time not wanting to do so again and again.

He had no clue how long they'd have to hide out here. He hoped to hell it wasn't long because all his good intentions were flying out the proverbial window as her heated body brushed against his erection with her movements.

The song moved to a higher pitch and he found his mind naturally worked the instruments while his body reacted in kind to the faster pace. He began to move with Rose, enjoying the brush of his cock against her lower belly as he took the last lick to close her wounds.

"All done?" she asked in a trusting, panting tone.

Instead of stopping as he should have, Duncan wrapped his arms around her waist and used his powers to raise their bodies off the ground. "Not near enough, a ghra."

When she yelped at the elevation and clung to him, he concentrated hard to retract his fangs. He met her frightened aqua gaze and spoke in calm tone, "Tog go bog e. Have you ever danced on air, Roisin?"

She bit her lip and shook her head, still clutching his shoulders.

He gave her a devilish smile. "Then relax and enjoy the benefits I can offer. I won't let you fall."

Her body began to relax in his arms and he nuzzled her neck, inhaling her intoxicating scent. "You smell just like your name." He swiped his tongue up her neck in a slow, reverent stroke against her skin. She tasted so damn good.

"Mmmm," she responded and this time turned her neck, openly asking for more. Duncan could no more refuse her than stop breathing. While he ran his tongue along her neck once more, he lifted her body higher so his erection touched her mound. As they slowly spun in the air, he rocked against her until he heard her breathing change and her heart hammer against her chest.

He smiled and tilted their position to reclining, laying his body over hers. Duncan moved his lips to her throat. He kissed a searing path down her neck, across her collarbone to the vee in her blouse, wanting so much more.