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.“Cuyler, listen for a—” The whir of a battery-powered hair dryer cut him off.Ramsey blew air through his teeth and went into the bathroom with her.She sat on the vanity’s padded stool, hair flying all over the place as she whipped the dryer through it.There was no mirror.He wanted to say something.He just wasn’t sure what.He didn’t want to make amends, exactly.Hell, she was still his enemy.The fact that he was burning up inside for her didn’t change that.But he’d hurt her.And despite his years of learning that vampires had no feelings, he regretted it.Opening the cabinet, for want of anything better to do, he found his kit right where she’d left it.He unwrapped a fresh needle and took out a color-coded strip.With a quick, practiced flick of his wrist, he poked the forefinger of his left hand, squeezed a fat drop of blood out, and smeared it on the strip.Then he watched for the color change.He was moving like a robot, doing the things that came automatically, without really giving any thought to them.He felt her gaze on him, heard the hair dryer flick off, and looked at her.“Are you sick?” If her eyes got any bigger, they’d swallow him whole.“Just checking the blood sugar.” He glanced at the strip again.“And how is it?”“Fine.” He put the used needle and strip back into the container.He’d dispose of them properly when he got back to civilization.“Do you have to do that every day?”He nodded as he held his finger under the cold water tap for a second or two.“Has it ever been out of whack?”“My sugar level? No.It’s always within normal range.I have a good doctor who keeps me in great shape.Hell, I’m the healthiest diabetic I know.”Her eyes narrowed to slits as she studied him.“And who is this Marcus Welby of the nineties?”“Just one of the best hematologists in the country.”“Don’t tell me.A DPI staffer.”Ramsey shrugged, wondering about her line of questioning, but relieved she’d apparently forgotten his earlier slam.“Yup.One of the perks of being an agent.”“Kind of balances out against having to work around us animals, doesn’t it?” She got up and brushed past him, going back into the bedroom, yanking a pair of huge, fluffy slippers with unicorn heads on them from under her bed.“Look, I didn’t mean that.”“Sure you didn’t.” She lifted one foot, put a slipper on it.“Ramsey, if you didn’t mean it, then why are we both dressed and vertical?” She never even looked at him.Just hopped on the slippered foot and dressed the other one.It came out before he could order it not to.“Because I know damned well it’ll do me in.Cuyler, once wouldn’t be enough.I’d be addicted, and I know, as sure as I’m standing here, that I could OD on you.You really think I could take you to bed and then take you in? If I had you once, I…”He glanced up at her, saw her blinking rapidly, staring at him in something like childish wonder.“What?”Her lips curved upward a little.“I just didn’t know you wanted me that much.”And she shouldn’t have known.It didn’t do any good tipping his hand to the enemy.But he’d been honest, if nothing else.He was determined to take her in, and he knew he couldn’t do it if he ever made love to her.He lowered his head, refusing to meet her eyes.“I didn’t say I did—”“Sure you did, Ramsey.Don’t try and take it back now.” She took his arm in her warm hand and tugged him along beside her back into the bathroom.“Come on downstairs after you’ve had your shower,” she told him softly.“I’ll get you some breakfast.I don’t want you getting sick.”Then she left him.And he had to wonder when he’d stopped seeing her as something abnormal, something frightening, and started seeing her as a woman with a few special needs.One of which he’d really love to fulfill for her.Chapter Five“I’ll keep this impersonal, Ramsey.”“What?” He finished the whole-wheat muffin, washed it down with a gulp of remarkably good coffee.“As long as you find the idea of laying a finger on me so frightening—tempting, but still frightening—I’ll try and make it as easy on you as I can [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]