She listened, unable to look away from the emotions she saw filtering across his face. The piece he chose seemed difficult and intense. He played a piece by Beethoven so beautifully she wondered if he could sing as well. She almost walked downstairs and asked him, but her fingers clung to the wooden banister, locking her in place.

It's for the best to stay away, she told herself. She should never have insisted on "no condoms", but something inside her, something she couldn't explain, insisted she do so. She had to admit to herself, as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she knew in her heart she wanted someone like Duncan to father her child.

Her conviction intensified as she watched this amazing man play. She had a feeling she was seeing a side to him that she didn't think he often shared, an emotional, sensitive side...a hidden part of him she'd seen just a glimpse of tonight in front of the fire. Duncan appeared to be working through something with his music. After the way she left him, she had a feeling she was part of that "something".

As the song came to an end, she sighed and turned away, unbuttoning her blouse. Fumbling around in the dark, she opened a dresser drawer and pulled out one of Duncan's T-shirts.

Once she put it on, she lifted the soft, worn cotton to her nose and inhaled. His sexy scent smelled comforting. She crawled under the covers as another song started up, this one more poignant than the last.

Rose turned on her side and clasped the locket between her fingers. Rubbing her thumb along the engraved letters on the back, she whispered the saying, Cosain me i gconai, relishing the sound of the Irish words on her lips. Duncan's music had slowed and her eyelids closed as the final notes lulled her to sleep.

Rose awoke early the next morning. She glanced up at the skylight to see the sun had barely started to lighten the morning sky. Pulling the covers off, she sought the bathroom, knowing her bladder would thank her immensely. After she'd used the facilities, she smiled at the beautiful decor surrounding her. She loved the warm terracotta floor and the light that came through the tall glass block window that touched from ceiling to floor on a far wall. Cream-colored towels hung from the towel rack near the stand-up shower and more towels lay stacked on a trunk next to a gorgeous claw-footed tub.

Opening one of the small vanity drawers, she smiled when she found an unopened toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste. Rose brushed her teeth and turned on the taps to the tub as she hummed a tune her mother used to sing to her when she was a child. While the tub filled, she looked under the cabinet for some soap and shampoo. There's more than one way to have a bubble bath, she thought with a smile as she held the bar of rose-scented soap under the running water.

Rose moaned in pleasure as she sank into the bath, enjoying the sweet-smelling warmth that surrounded her. Her hair floated around her, covered in bubbles. When she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but remember the seductive feel of Duncan's warm hands on her body, the way she'd responded to him. She'd never been so uninhibited with another man.

Duncan made her forget the past. He made her want to discover just how passionate she could be with a man who knew how to caress and tease her to a fever pitch of arousal, a man whose kiss alone made her ache for his touch the moment his lips brushed against hers.

She fantasized, reliving the memory of his rough beard on her cheek and then her neck. The sensation of his fingers on her nipples, the rough pads tweaking a response from her. The vivid memory of his teeth grazing the hard pink tips made her sex throb in response. Her breathing increased and she arched her neck as she skimmed her fingers down her belly, intending to relieve the ache between her thighs.

The very real sensation of something brushing against her nipple caused her to gasp. She jerked her eyes open to see Duncan sitting on the trunk next to the tub, his hand in the water below the bubbles.

Dark hunger filtered across his expression. His eyebrow rose as his finger moved around her nipple in a lazy circle. "If you need relief, a ghra, all you need to do is ask."

Dressed in navy blue silk lounge pants that tied at his trim waist, he was naked from the waist up. His biceps flexed as he leaned one arm on the tub and trailed his fingers down the valley between her breasts. When his heated gaze left hers to flick to her breasts, Rose realized that the bubbles had all but dissipated. She wrapped her arms around her breasts and quickly flipped over on her belly in the tub. Leaning on her elbows to hold her face above the water, she turned her head and looked back at him. "What are you doing in here?"

Duncan slid his hand from the back of her neck to her shoulder down her spine and across her bare ass. You're beautiful, no matter the angle.

"The door was locked," she said, trying not to let his touch arouse her any further.

His sexy chuckle made her stomach flip-flop. "You're aroused, aching to be filled. Do you really think a door would stop me, Roisin?"

The confident arrogance in his voice made her throb even more. "Ruthless," she reminded him, looking away. She didn't want him to see how right he'd been reflected in her gaze.

"To the core," he agreed. The deep timbre in his voice slid down her spine like a velvet caress at the same time the water inside the tub began to bubble as if he'd turned on Jacuzzi jets.

Rose gasped at the sudden change. There were no jets in this stand-alone tub. As the hard water hit her skin, traveling up the outside of her thighs, massaging her muscles, she glared at Duncan. He leaned forward, both forearms resting casually on his knees. But there was nothing casual about the look in his eyes as he stared at her. His lion-like gaze glittered with desire if he were waiting.

Rose narrowed her gaze on him, ready to let him have it when one of the jets suddenly hit her swollen clitoris. The hard, relentless, pulsating spray of water didn't let up in its intensity.

Instead of speaking, she gasped and found herself arching her back. She panted as she turned on her side and grasped the edge of the tub. Her change in position didn't make a difference. Still the water pounded against her. Her heart thundered in her chest and her body shuddered at the unrelenting onslaught. She wanted to come so bad, needed the release.

Are you ready to come now? Duncan asked in a knowing tone.

No way in hell was she giving in. "Fuck...you," she said between rampant breaths.

The jets suddenly stopped and Duncan stood, his hard erection outlined by his silk pants. "Any time you're ready," he growled before he turned and left the bathroom.

Rose worked to control her heavy breathing in the still water. She was so close to giving in, so close to asking him to have sex with her, condoms be damned. If he had gone on another minute she wouldn't have been able to form a single argument.

Climbing out of the tub, she stood on shaky legs and pulled the towel around her wet body. After she towel-dried her hair, she wrapped the towel around her and opened the bathroom door.

Duncan grabbed her shoulders and pressed her against the bedroom wall as his mouth came down hard on hers. Shock rocked through her at the ferocity of his kiss. His rough hands slid up her bare thighs, clasping her ass as he lifted her in the air.

Rose gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into the skin as he plundered her mouth. Why do you fight this? he asked as he fit his silk-covered cock against her entrance and rocked her against the wall.

His action brought everything slamming back, all the memories she crammed in that dark place in her mind, hidden so she didn't have to remember, to relive.

Panic set in and she began to fight him. Duncan's entire body stilled and then she felt rage well inside him. Setting her on the ground, he slammed his fist into the sheetrock beside her, shaking the whole wall in his viciousness as he roared, "What the fuck was his name? I'm going to kill him!"

She jerked her gaze to his, her fear disappearing at the look of utter fury on his face. His eyes had turned a fiery red and his fangs were unsheathed to their full length. She had no doubt Duncan would kill without a thought. But more than anything she was surprised he'd gotten past her mental barrier, had walked around inside her head, and found his way into her innermost thoughts. The idea frightened her more than anything.

Shoving him away, she gave a casual wave of her hand and walked toward the bed to retrieve her clothes, "It was a long time ago, Duncan. Leave it alone."

"He raped you, Rose. I won't allow that to go unpunished. I can see his face as clear as day, but I want his name." His tone was lethal.

Rose tensed when Duncan mentioned the past out loud-a past she'd buried away.

Rubbing her temples, she said in a low voice, "I've put it behind me. I don't want to discuss it, Duncan."

She tensed when he pulled her into his arms. He surrounded her with his warmth and kissed her temple. "I'm sorry. I would've been more careful with you if I had known." Regret laced his tone and she instantly wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek on his shoulder.

She buried her nose in his chest, enjoying the soft hair, then spoke in a low voice. "Don't you dare treat me like a delicate flower. If you ever held back with me, that would piss me off more than anything else. I know in my heart you'd never hurt me, Duncan. It's the only reason I allowed you to get close in the first place."

Duncan lifted her chin until she met his gaze. He searched her face for a long moment before he stepped away. "You've got to be hungry. I'll make you breakfast while you get dressed."

What she wouldn't give to know what he was thinking. Rose's heart sank at the detached look she saw in his gaze before he turned and walked down the stairs. One of the reasons she'd never told anyone what happened was because she didn't want sympathy.

Jeff had been an acquaintance in high school. It's not like he was a total stranger. She'd only expected a kiss. But the memory of that night at Cynthia's party had colored her view on relationships in general, no matter how hard she'd tried to let it go. Ever since then, she really focused when she met people, gauging them and measuring their trustworthiness. That's when she discovered she had a knack for "reading" others. Well, except vampires, apparently.

Glancing at the damage Duncan had done to the bedroom wall, her heart jerked as she walked over to the wall to inspect it. Shock slammed through her when she saw that not only had his hand gone through the sheetrock, he'd split the two by four stud as well. No wonder the house had rocked.

How had he read her thoughts and learned of Jeff? Thank God she hadn't thought of his name or she was certain Duncan would hunt him down. The past was the past. She preferred to leave it that way.

She dressed slowly, not wanting to face Duncan. No matter what he'd said, he would look at her differently now. The depressing thought made her heart constrict and her stomach clench into a hard knot.

Duncan cooked bacon and eggs for Rose while his mind whirled. He'd wanted to know what she was thinking so badly, he'd pushed her more than he'd pushed another woman, relentless in his need to know if he was the only one seemingly obsessed.

When her mental barrier collapsed as she relived the memory of the night she was raped at a party she'd attended, he'd been surprised by what he learned. While her old fears reared within her, she still held an instinctual trust in Duncan. Trust he didn't deserve.

As for Rose's past...even though she had no memory of the actual rape, awaking aching and sore with no clothes on had been enough to give her a bad taste for all men. She'd learned to control her emotions with an iron fist. He'd solved the mystery of her ability to block him, but the knowledge had come with a cost. A cost he'd carry the responsibility of for a very long time-bringing back a horrible, buried memory.

He'd seen the guy's face as clear as if he were facing him, experienced her confusion when she awoke and the sinking, sick feeling in her stomach at the realization of what had happened to her. She'd been a virgin, too. Fierce, biting fury swept through him all over again. Rage unlike anything he'd ever felt in his life burned like a festering wound in his gut. He replayed the scene in his head several times as he etched the sonofabitch's face in his mind.

The clatter of the spatula falling to the floor, broken in half, brought him out of his vengeful musings. His thoughts shifted back to Rose once more as the bacon sizzled in the pan in front of him.

He'd never felt so violently protective of another. No wonder he'd seen a look of horror on her face when he'd asked if she was married. She wanted a child, but no man in her life. Sex was just sex to her. She had no need for fulfillment, no need to feel or experience the full range of emotions a good round of heart-pounding sex could give her. In that respect, all men were abhorrent to her.

Until him.

She wanted him passionately, ached to be filled. But only to a point. She didn't want to feel anything beyond exploring her sexual urges. Hell, that's what he wanted too, to be able to easily walk away. He should be thrilled, but he wasn't, not at all.

He glanced up as Rose started to descend the stairs. The vulnerable look on her face tugged at his heart-a look she quickly hid when she realized he was watching her. Her mental barrier was back too, stronger than ever.

"Mmmm, bacon and eggs." She gave him a smile as he set the plate of food down on the table in front of her.

After she chewed her first bite, she said with appreciation, "Wow, Duncan, a girl could get used to this."

"Don't," he shot back, angry at the deeper, more primal thought that had wormed its way into his mind at her comment. His gut had clenched in sheer male satisfaction at the idea her comment evoked-the thought of just how much he'd like to provide her the kind of nourishment only a vampire could offer his mate. What would it be like to see her enjoying his blood with such fervor?

A hurt expression crossed her face before she masked it behind an indifferent look and said in an upbeat voice, "So how long am I going to be stuck here with you? I mean, we're going to get tired of each other soon enough." Realization dawned in her expression. "Uh, hey, how often do vampires eat? Aren't you...like..." she stumbled on the word before she finished, "hungry?"

"I'm fine," he said in a gruff tone. He turned away and put the pan into the sink. As he dipped his hands into the hot soapy water, all he could think about was the sound of her blood rushing in her veins, her rapid heartbeat and the knowledge she wanted him.

He'd have to leave the house and feed soon or he wouldn't be able to continue to mask her scent. The rain had helped last night, giving him relief from his constant vigil, but as the day wore on and turned to late afternoon, James would be out hunting. Duncan knew he had to be well-fed in order to protect her.

A stinging sensation slammed into his ass and he turned with a raised eyebrow to see Rose standing behind him with the hand towel at the ready to snap him in the butt once more.

"Good thing you changed into jeans or that would've hurt a lot more." Mischief sparkled in her aqua gaze. She nodded toward the dishes. "I'm drying. It's the least I can do considering you're feeding me."

Duncan suppressed an inward groan at the effect her innocent comment had on him. His cock throbbed and his chest tightened in pent-up sexual frustration. The brief walk he'd had inside her mind only to be so effectively shut out was akin to a cock tease. He wanted to roar out his frustration.

She moved to stand beside him and her intoxicating rose scent seemed to dance seductively around him before it settled deep into his pores. Duncan backed away before he followed his natural instincts. Thoughts swirled in his mind of setting her against the counter and sinking his teeth into her throat while he rocked his raging hard-on against her soft mound preparing her before he plunged his cock into her warm, wet sheath.

When she began to dry the dishes, Duncan walked away. He pulled his acoustic guitar out of the closet and sat down on the couch to pick through a few new chords that had been rambling through his head. Anything to distract him from Rose and the primal desires she elicited in him.

"Quite the multitalented musician, aren't you?" she teased a few minutes later. Tossing her gorgeous auburn hair over her shoulder, she sat down cross-legged on the couch facing him.

At his questioning look, she said, "I saw you playing the piano last night."

Duncan's gaze locked with hers for a second before he glanced down at the guitar strings once more, strumming.

Rose continued, "I've always wanted to learn to play. I still have my mom's guitar she used when she sang songs to me as a little girl."

"It's not so hard to learn," he commented, drawn in by her interest.

She tucked her legs underneath her and scooted closer. Placing her hands on her thighs, she leaned forward to watch him. "As much as I wanted to learn, I didn't know anyone who could teach me."

Duncan's heart rammed in his chest at the thought of sharing his music with Rose. He could show her the basics, put his hands over hers so she learned to hold the instrument right. But he'd have to touch her, wrap his arms around her body. He knew he wouldn't stop there. And right now, she needed space.

Pushing the thoughts away, he set his guitar down against the couch. His gaze landed on her necklace when he glanced at Rose. The locket had come out of her shirt when she leaned toward him to watch him play.

He reached up and clasped the quarter-sized, circular locket, his curiosity piqued. Running his thumb along the unusual tick marks along the edge of the pendant, he said, "These marks make me think of Ogham." His brows drew together in confusion. "But some of them seem cut off."

Rose drew closer. "What's Ogham?"

"It's an ancient Celtic alphabet, said to be used by the Druids. Some people use it as a divination tool today."

"Divination?"

He nodded. "For guidance, a way to live one's life."

She put her hand in his and clasped the locket. A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "From what I remember, my mother was very spiritual so that would make sense."

"When did your mother pass away?" Unable to resist touching her, he wrapped his hand around her much smaller one to keep her from pulling away.

She looked back down at their clasped hands. "My mother died when I was a little girl."

"You were raised by your father then?" He moved closer to her, his body drawn to hers.

When his thigh pressed against her knees, desire flickered in her gaze. She shook her head and said in a breathless voice, "My father had an accident on his way to work one day, leaving him in a coma. My mother died that same year. After he awoke from his coma, my father was never the same. Since he was unable to take care of me, my uncle raised me."

Duncan's heart clenched at her sad family history. "Are you very close to your uncle?"

She nodded. "He's my best friend in a lot of ways."

His gaze touched on the rapidly beating pulse in her neck while the sound of her thudding heart roared in his ears.

She had a beautiful heart-shaped face with high cheekbones and the kind of lips a man only dreamed about, full and pouty. He imagined those full lips swollen from his hard kisses, sliding up and down his cock, sucking him hard. Duncan clenched his jaw as the erotic imagery slammed through him. He traced his fingers down her neck as his lips hovered close to hers. The sight of her pupils dilating and the scent of her arousal fueled his desire. Damn, he ached to slide inside her, to feel her heat surrounding him.

He knew if he kissed her, he wouldn't stop. Rose didn't need a man who wanted to throw her on the floor and have his way with her. The hunger to feed only revved his libido more. He had to assuage his need for blood or he wouldn't be able to control the beast raging inside him.

Releasing her hand, he stood. "I need to eat." He moved with swift strides toward the door and continued in terse tone, "I may be gone for a few hours. Lock the door behind me and stay inside."

"But...James?"

Duncan met her concerned gaze and answered her honestly. "He'll come out as soon as he possibly can. I will protect you, Roisin. I promise."

Rose's heart plummeted when Duncan walked out the door. She'd seen the detached look in his eyes, the way he pulled away from her. The knowledge about her past had changed everything. Disheartened at the thought, she lifted the locket and rubbed her fingers across the tick marks Duncan had seemed so interested in. When the trinity knot design in the middle of the locket moved, she gasped and removed the necklace so she could see it better.

Intrigued by the comment Duncan made about the design along the circular edge reminding him of Ogham, she used her thumb again and ran it across the raised knot design. Again the knot moved. She realized that the center part of the locket was made to move as she took hold of the knot and turned the knot on the locket in earnest. It was almost like a combination lock. She turned it left and then right, noting that the outer etch marks surrounding the locket were actually lining up with the etch marks surrounding the knot if she turned it just so.

She stared at the perfectly aligned marks, her heart racing. They meant something. But what?

Turning the locket over so she could see the back, she whispered the inscription in Irish, "Cosain me i gconai." She jumped when she felt the front of the locket move on its own.

Her pulse racing in her ears, Rose flipped the pendant over in her hand. She gasped to see it was open and a tiny folded piece of paper dropped into her palm.

Her hands trembled as she let the necklace slide through her fingers to land with a light thump on the couch. She held her breath while she slowly unfolded the piece of paper.