Hot Blooded

it is a vampire tracking us
.
    How is he trailing us? You aren't leaving tracks behind.
    He smells my blood
. His voice was grim.
    Juliette was silent, sensing Riordan was growing tired with the effort he was
making. Her stomach flipped when he dropped unexpectedly to the ground below.
The canopy was thick and leaves slapped at them as they plummeted through,
skimming branches and hurtling toward the ground at such a fast speed she
thought they would crash. She kept her eyes closed tight and only the thought of
a vampire hearing her kept her from screaming.
    Suddenly they were floating, coming to a halt. Riordan placed Juliette on the
ground, her back against a tree. Her eyes widened with horror as he stared at
his hand, his fingernail growing to a lethal-looking length. Juliette drew in
her legs, stifling a gasp as he tore a long cut in his own wrist. Blood
dripping, he flung droplets in all directions and took off running with blurring
speed, away from her, winding through the trees, spreading the scent along the
leaves and shrubbery over a long distance.
    Juliette held her breath for a long moment, waiting to be certain she was
alone. For some reason, Riordan shocked her by abandoning her to the vampire. He
was clearly using her as bait. She dragged herself to her feet. So much for
sexy, brooding heroes. Obviously the more tortured, the less heroic. "Maybe you
weren't really all that sexy after all," she muttered out loud, furious that he
would leave her. Her legs were wobbly and she was dizzy, the ground tilting and
rolling. It didn't matter. She was not going to wait for the vampire to descend
from the clouds and find a helpless victim. If she had to crawl, she would find
a way to escape. She let go of the tree and took two tentative steps. The ground
rushed up to meet her. Before she hit the ground, a strong arm circled her waist
and she was dragged up against Riordan's hard body.

----
Chapter 3
    Â« ^ »
    "WHAT are you doing?" Riordan hissed the words at her, clearly annoyed.
    Juliette glared at him. "I thought you left me."
    "I am your lifemate. Your protection and health must be placed above all
things. I would never leave you."
    If she weren't so tired, she would have rolled her eyes in exasperation. She
did the mental equivalent just to let him know he was an idiot for not
explaining things she had no hope of understanding on her own. She glanced down
at his wrist. The jagged tear was closed but looked raw and angry. "You laid a
false trail of blood for the vampire, one stronger and fresher, didn't you?"
    "Of course. It will hopefully delay him long enough for me to regain more
strength and remove the poison from my body." He gathered her into his arms. "He
will attack the skies blindly in hopes of finding us. You must remain silent."
    Juliette was becoming annoyed at being hauled around like a sack of potatoes.
"I'm not exactly a cringing baby. I got you out of that place, didn't I?"
    For the first time a faint smile flitted across his face. It nearly stopped
her heart. "That was before I showed you my teeth."
    "Is that a little vampire humor?" she asked, but her stomach was doing a
curious little flip. He looked so weary. She might have given in and put her
arms around him to comfort him if she weren't so certain touching him was
dangerous.
    He bent his head to hers, his breath warm against her skin. When he smiled,
she could see no signs of his incisors, but it didn't stop a small shiver from
running down her spine. Unexpectedly her womb clenched. She didn't think that
was a good sign. There was definite chemistry between them and it seemed to be
growing. It wasn't logical and she just wanted to get away from him.
    "The vampire will try to attack us in the air. He will not really know where
we are, but he will hope to score a hit. It is essential you remain quiet. It
will be very frightening."
    She snorted derisively. "And you aren't? Let's get out of here."
    He took to the skies again with dizzying speed. She felt him stirring in her
mind, an attempt to reassure her, but she wanted to keep him out. Mind-to-mind
contact was far too intimate. He could read her thoughts and even, possibly, her
strange attraction to him. It bothered her that she was susceptible to him.
There was no way to tell whether it was physical attraction or whether he was
manipulating her in some way. She definitely had no intention of sticking around
long enough to find out which it