“This,” he muttered as he kissed her with all the frustration that had plagued him over the past month.

For a shocking minute Nefri went rigid beneath his hands, and Santiago felt a cold shard of fear pierce his heart. He couldn’t be wrong. Beneath all her ice, this female burned with an awareness that was as fierce as his.

Then, as his kiss gentled with a gut-aching need to taste her response, he felt a revealing quiver. It was faint, but unmistakable as she swayed toward him, her lips softening in invitation.

Sí.

Relief combined with a dark, intoxicating need threaded through Santiago. The scent of jasmine teased at his nose, the cool silk of her lips as potent as the finest aphrodisiac.

But before he could wrap her slender body in his arms and quench the lust that had raged through him for weeks, Nefri was lifting her hands and pushing them against his chest.

Grudgingly Santiago lifted his head to study her pale face with a brooding gaze. “Don’t expect an apology,” he muttered.

The dark eyes flashed with an indefinable emotion before they were once again calm pools of ebony. “You are . . .”

“What?”

“Uncivilized.”

His hands trailed up her arms, luxuriating in the soft caress of cashmere beneath his fingers. He was a tactile vampire who took intense pleasure in touching and being touched. It had been far too long since he’d indulged his senses.

All his senses.

“Why?” he demanded, not even randomly offended by her accusation. “Because I haven’t been neutered like those so-called Immortal Ones?”

“My clansmen aren’t neutered,” she denied, a faint accent threaded through her low, enticing voice. Like many ancient vampires she deliberately cultivated the current slang, but often slipped into a more formal speech pattern when she was distracted. “In fact, they happen to be extremely intelligent, thoughtful, articulate. . . .”

“Eunuchs.”

Her lips thinned. “I may have left this world a few centuries ago, but I’m fairly certain that men are no longer allowed to maul women whenever they feel the impulse.”

His soft chuckle filled the room. “Oh, I haven’t even started my mauling,” he assured her. He wasn’t stupid. This female had the power to crush him into little squishy bits if she was truly offended by his behavior. “This is only a small taste of my pre-maul.”

“Savage.”

He placed a kiss on the tip of her proud, aquiline nose. “And loving every minute of it.”

“That’s enough.” This time she pressed against his chest with enough force to assure Santiago she wasn’t teasing.

Reluctantly he dropped his hands and took a step back. “Not nearly, but it will have to wait for a more appropriate time and place.”

She tilted her chin, looking untouched. Only the faint tremble of her fingers as she adjusted the heavy gold medallion around her neck assured Santiago he hadn’t imagined her reaction to his kiss.

“You actually have the word ‘appropriate’ in your vocabulary?”

Aggravated by her calm while he was being seared alive with hunger, Santiago planted his fists on his hips. “What are you doing here?”

Unfazed by the abrupt question, she met his gaze squarely. “I could ask the same of you.”

“I’m Gaius’s only living child,” he said without missing a beat. “By rights I can claim his property after his death.” He ran an intimate glance up and down the stately length of her body. “In fact, by law anything or anyone attached to that property is mine.”

She ignored his insinuation, regarding him with a cool disbelief. “So you’re just here to inspect your latest acquisition?”

“If I leave it empty too long who knows what nefarious creature might decide to poach on my territory?”

“I see. Then I’ll leave you to your”—a bland smile—

“inspection.”

His hand shot out with blurring speed, grasping her arm as she attempted to move past him.

“Not so quick, cara.”

The heavy pressure of her power filled the cramped space, his long hair stirring in the sudden breeze.

“You should release me,” she warned, oh so softly.

He loosened his grip, but his fingers remained on her arm. She wasn’t disappearing on him. Not again. “You haven’t answered my questions.”

“Nor do I intend to.”

He studied her pale, exquisite features. “Such a perfect ice queen,” he murmured, his gaze lowering to the lush fullness of her lips. Those weren’t the lips of an ice princess. They spoke to him of hot Spanish nights and decadent pleasure. “Did the Oracles send you?”

It was only because he was touching her that he felt her stiffen at his question.

“Only a fool discusses Commission business.”

No shit. Unfortunately, Styx had tossed him straight into the lion’s den. He needed to know why the Oracles were interested in Gaius. And what they were trying to hide from the vampires.

“You’re here looking for Gaius, aren’t you?”

“Why would I?” Frost coated her words. “I was told that Gaius died during the battle against the Dark Lord.”

His short laugh held an edge of bitterness. “Yeah, a lot of us were told that.”

Just for a second he thought he could glimpse something flash through her dark eyes. Sympathy? He shook his head. Not freaking likely.

The female was in pure ice mode.

“And since you’re here to claim your inheritance, it would be a wasted effort to search for him.”

“Half truths and evasion, Nefri?” He leaned forward, drawing deeply of her jasmine scent. “That isn’t your usual style.”

“You know nothing about me.”

A smile curved his lips as he felt her faint tremor. Not fear. Nefri was a woman who was beyond fear of anything. Or anyone.

No, it wasn’t fear. But need.

“I know more than you ever wanted me to,” his voice lowered, his fingers stroking up the back of her arm to her shoulder. “Which is why you bolted behind the safety of your Veil.”

Her extravagantly long lashes lowered to hide her eyes, but it was too late.

They both knew she was vulnerable to his touch, even if she would rather have her tongue cut out than to admit the truth.

“I have to go,” she jerked from his grasp, her steps measured as she headed toward the door.

Santiago let her take several steps, keeping his hands at his side. He had an ace up his sleeve.

“He was here, but he left,” he said softly. “One, maybe two nights ago.”

Nefri froze, her back held ramrod straight, before she slowly forced herself to turn and meet his mocking gaze.

“Gaius?”

“Who else?”

The dark eyes narrowed and Santiago knew she was weighing her desire to keep walking against her mysterious duty to the Oracles.

In the end there really was no choice.

For either of them.

“How do you know?” She at last forced the question past her stiff lips.

“He’s my sire.”

She studied him a long moment. “You couldn’t sense him before.”

“No,” he instantly agreed. Did she think he was lying? “There was something blocking our bond.”

“And now?”

He shrugged. “It didn’t kick in until I reached this lair, but now I can feel him, although it’s still muted.”

Her dark brows drew together. “Why?”

Santiago moved to stand directly before her, obsessed by the need to keep her close.

“Since I’m 100 percent certain you know a hell of a lot more about what’s going on,” he drawled, “why don’t you explain it to me?”

She took a deliberate step backward. “I have no information.”

Step forward. “Nefri.”

“What?”

“Can you sense him?”

Her slender fingers lifted to touch the medallion, her jaw tightening. “No.”

He reached out to capture her fingers, which still clutched the medallion like a lifeline, his knuckles resting against the soft curve of her breast. “Can you catch his scent?”

“No.”

“Then you need me.”

“Your lack of manners is only exceeded by your complete arrogance.”

A wicked smile curved his lips at her icy rebuttal. “Oh no, cara, the rules of the game have changed.”

She tensed. One predator sensing another. Not that she was going to concede defeat. Not without a fight. Good. Strong women were so damned sexy.

“What game?”

“The last time you called the shots, this time—” His words broke off as he caught the unmistakable scent of granite approaching the back steps.

No. Oh no. Fate couldn’t be that cruel.

But it seemed it was.

Even as he turned, the door leading to the bog of a backyard was being shoved open and a tiny gargoyle waddled into the kitchen.

“Did something die in here?” the creature muttered, his ridiculous wings twitching. “I smell”—he came to a halt, regarding Santiago with a sour smile—“vampire.”