I hugged him and he tensed at my touch. "Don't worry," I whispered. "I won't kiss you.
That seems to be what triggers it."
He leaned back and looked down into my eyes. "The thought of not being able to kiss you again is not a pleasant one."
I leaned back and grinned up at him. "I know, I am a fantastic kisser."
His lips twitched into a sad smile. "There was a time, Sarah, that I thought myself a very noble man who did things and made choices to help others. Now, after all this time has passed, I find that the only thing I care about is right here."
"The club?"
He shook his head. "You. I care about your safety and your happiness. Both, however, are currently compromised by this curse and the presence of the Red Devil impostor, and I will do everything in my power to help you."
I ran my hands down his warm, firm chest. "Keep talking like that and I'm going to kiss you. And that wouldn't be a good thing."
"No." He studied my lips. "It wouldn't be."
"I'll have to start writing you IOUs."
"An excellent suggestion."
I swallowed. "I should probably mention that Veronique called earlier. She got the annulment papers and she is freaking out over them."
He raised a dark eyebrow. "Veronique is freaking out! I don't believe Veronique has ever freaked out about anything before."
"She's not happy and she doesn't want to sign. She wants you to call her ASAP."
He nodded. "This is all my fault."
"You're having second thoughts about getting the annulment?" I asked, and felt a heavy weight press against my chest at the thought.
"No. However, I went about it the wrong way. Veronique has a tendency to act as if nothing affects her, but I would assume that having legal church documents delivered was very likely confusing for her."
I thought about our conversation. "She called me a silly, inconsequential girl."
"That sounds more like her." He smiled. "But she was wrong. You are in no way inconsequential."
I frowned. "What about the 'silly' part?"
His smile widened. "Do you truly want me to answer that?"
"Maybe not." I bit my bottom lip. "You know, if you'd rather I give this back to you, I can. It's not a problem."
I was referring to the ring on my right hand, which I now held up to show him what I was talking about.
He glanced down at it. "Do you want to give it back to me?"
"No," I said quickly.
"Then I want you to wear it until you choose not to." His smile faded. "I now realize that I should have let Veronique know my intentions."
"And what are your intentions?"
He took my hand in his and ran his thumb over the eternity band. Then he raised his silver-
eyed gaze to mine. "To figure out a way to kiss you again. I've waited much too long for you to enter my life to allow this curse to come between us."
My toes curled at the tone of his voice, words that promised so much more than just kissing or even sex. It was a tone that promised a future together. My heart raced as he slid his hand through my hair, still damp from the snow outside, and then traced his fingers over my lips.
But then I felt the darkness begin to well inside of me. My fangs began to ache and my vision narrowed down to the small pulse on his throat. Reluctantly, I moved away from his touch. "Better put the brakes on. We've just entered the danger zone."
He nodded and then released me completely to pace his office with his hands firmly clasped behind his back. "Now there is the matter of the Red Devil. I think it's a good idea if we draw him out of his hiding place and demand to know who he is and what his intentions are."
"Ever consider that he's just trying to help?"
"Help? I doubt that."
"Why? He did save my life once. He also tried to give me some good advice about the magic nightwalker object. He said that I'd come in contact with one recently. I'm wracking my brain trying to remember any nondescript piece of jewelry I've seen lately—"
I blinked.
Wait a minute.
No, it couldn't be.
Three weeks ago I'd come in contact with an odd piece of jewelry. Yes, indeedy I had. It was a plain gold chain. Pretty ugly, actually.
In a nutshell, I'd been handed this piece of crap and told to hide it from the bad guys. The bad guys at the time were my bodyguards. The necklace ended up turning my stuck-in-
werewolf-form pet dog back into a human when he came in contact with it. But who knows? Maybe that had only been a well-timed coincidence.
Ah, Barkley. I missed that biscuit-eating mutt.
I knew that necklace had something weird about it. But could it be possible that was what the Red Devil had been talking about?
And if so, how the hell did he even know I had it? Nobody knew. I hadn't even told
Thierry.
"What is it?" Thierry asked.
"Maybe nothing, but there's one way to find out." I made a beeline to the door, but before opening it I glanced over my shoulder. "Am I allowed out, officer?"
He raised an eyebrow. "If you promise not to go running off in search of danger."
"Wouldn't dream of it."