Kiss of Midnight_ A Midnight Breed Novel - Lara Adrian [845]
Kade said nothing as she retreated several more steps, but then speech would have proved a bit difficult, given the fact that his fangs now filled his mouth. She wouldn’t look at him, which suited Kade just fine, since one glimpse of his eyes right now—transformed from the pale gray they normally were, to the bright amber glow that betrayed him as one of the Breed—would have turned the ill-conceived impulse of kissing her into a catastrophe of huge proportions.
“I never should have let you do that,” she whispered, then ducked around him.
Kade slanted a cautious look over his shoulder at the idling Blazer bearing Alaska State Trooper colors, watching as Alex walked up to it. “Hey, Zach. What’s going on? I thought Jenna was at your house.”
“She just left. Said you were at Pete’s, so I thought I’d swing by and have a beer with you.” Tucker’s voice carried on the chill wind. “What the hell are you doing out here? Were you with someone?”
“No, not with anyone,” she said. Kade felt, rather than saw, the quick backward glance that Alex shot into the shadows where he stood. “I was just leaving. Give me a ride home?”
“Sure, get in,” Zach Tucker said, and Alex opened the door and climbed inside.
Kade clamped his molars together, curbing the lust that was still coursing through him as he watched her close the door and drive off with the human male. He’d detected the trace odor of bullshit in the trooper’s casual tone, and had to guess that Zach Tucker wasn’t the only man in Harmony who was happy to use any excuse to put himself in close company with—and in the good graces of—sexy Alexandra Maguire. Kade had a very strong impulse to go after her, whether she’d been glad to escape him or not.
But if he needed something to distract him from that idea, he got it in spades as the tavern door banged open and out walked Skeeter Arnold and three of his stoner pals.
Kade observed the knot of twenty-something guys, smiling with satisfaction as the group disbanded and Skeeter was left standing alone while his friends took off in a rumbling old F150. When Skeeter started to walk toward the back lot, Kade peeled away from the shadows to follow him and have a word or two about the hazards of pissing off a bunch of vampires.
But before Kade took two steps toward the asshole, headlights came on in the parking lot and a black Hummer rolled out behind Skeeter Arnold. The vehicle gleamed under the weak lights of the lot, and compared to the other clunkers parked at Pete’s, Kade would bet his left nut that whoever was driving it wasn’t local. When the truck slowed down to deliberately keep pace with Skeeter, who paused to stick his head inside the open passenger-side window, Kade’s hackles raised along with his suspicion.
What the hell would someone with Hummer-style tastes want with a low-budget loser like Skeeter Arnold? Something was said to the stoner in barely audible tones before he chuckled and eagerly nodded.
“Yeah, sure. For the right price, I might be interested in hearing more about that,” he said, then opened the door and hopped inside.
“What the fuck are you up to?” Kade muttered as the vehicle sped away, kicking up clots of snow in its wake.
He had a feeling that whatever transaction might be taking place between Skeeter Arnold and his newfound business associate, it was going to prove to be much bigger than the small-time dealer’s usual fare.
A low, hissing heat and a sentimental old country song drifted from the dashboard of Zach’s state-issued Blazer as Alex glanced at the side mirror, watching the parking lot at Pete’s fade into the darkness behind her.
“Thanks for the ride, Zach.”
“No problem. I’ve got to run out for eggs and hot sauce, anyway. Breakfast of champions, you know. And single thirty-five-year-old cops with no nutrition sense.”
Alex gave him a polite smile as they traveled the last of the short two blocks to her house. She felt every bit as relieved as she did foolish for having run off on Kade as she had, but the fact was, she had welcomed the rescue. God knew she’d needed one, before she’d been tempted