“Aren’t you full of yourself?”

He laughed softly. “I do have some experience in this area.”

“What? Chasing runaways... orphans?” I almost said “girlfriends” but I stopped myself.

“Among other things.” He gave me an impatient look. “Are you going to tell me why you went to New Mexico?”

I sighed. “Madeline was there. We were so close, and we just missed her. But we got a good lead that she was headed for LA.” I met his gaze. “Now it’s your turn. How did you know we went there?”

“Let’s just say that when a vampire as old as Stefan Price is killed, news travels fast. We’ve been hunting him for years, but he’s always managed to evade us.” His eyes darkened. “When we heard a rumor that he was killed by a girl warrior who looked suspiciously like you, we went to Orias’s place to check it out for ourselves.”

“You know Orias?”

“Everyone knows Orias. He’s a powerful warlock, but he usually stays under the radar.” Nikolas fixed me with a hard stare. “For some reason he couldn’t mention the names of the warrior and her friends or where they’d gone.”

I lifted my hand. “Warlocks are a strange breed.”

He caught my hand. “Tell me the truth. Did you kill Stefan Price by yourself?”

“Roland and Jordan helped, but I did kill him.”

“With your power?”

“That and one of Jordan’s knives.”

He exhaled deeply. “And then you went to LA, and you met the faerie at Adele’s club.”

“You know Adele, too?” My jaw clenched at the thought of him anywhere near the gorgeous succubus.

“Jealous?”

“No.”

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my fingertips, sending a thrill through me. “Adele is well-known in the Los Angeles underworld, and she has given us helpful information in the past.”

“I bet she didn’t tell you that she and Madeline are pals, or that Madeline goes to visit her once or twice a year.”

His eyes widened. “She told you that?”

It was my turn to be smug. “I told you I was close to finding Madeline.”

Footsteps alerted us that we were no longer alone. “Um, what are you guys doing down there?”

I looked up at Roland, who wore a knowing smirk. “What does it look like?”

His grin grew. “Looks like you got started without the mistletoe.”

“Mistletoe?” I glanced from him to Nikolas. “It’s Christmas?”

“Christmas Eve,” Roland said. “And we’re getting ready to decorate the tree. You two coming?”

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” Nikolas answered.

“Right.” Roland walked away.

Nikolas rubbed my arm. “You’re quiet all of a sudden.”

“I can’t believe I forgot Christmas.” Our first Christmas together.

His gaze softened. “You had more important things on your mind.”

“But I don’t have gifts for anyone.” Knowing Jordan, she had already been on a shopping spree. I knew Nate and Tristan would have presents for me as well. And Roland and Peter. “I need to –”

Nikolas moved suddenly, and I found myself pinned on my back beneath him. The intensity of his gaze made my stomach flutter wildly. “Are you going to run away from me again?”

I swallowed hard. “No.”

“Then that’s all I want.”

“Oh,” I said breathlessly, unable to stop staring at his mouth inches away.

“There is one other thing.” He closed the distance between us and his lips found mine again.

* * *

Jordan tossed me a sly look as she hung an ornament on the tree. She’d been wearing a Cheshire grin ever since Nikolas and I had joined everyone in the living room twenty minutes ago.

“What?” I demanded.

She leaned around the tree toward me. “You look thoroughly kissed. I don’t know whether to hate you or high-five you.”

Heat filled my cheeks. “You can tell that?”

Her laugh made the others look our way, and she lowered her voice. “You obviously haven’t looked in a mirror. You’re practically glowing.” She reached over and plucked a blade of grass from my hair. “You and I are having a chat later, and you are not leaving out a single detail. That is, if he lets you out of his sight.”

I peered through the branches at Nikolas, who stood by the window talking to Chris and Tristan. As if he felt my eyes on him, Nikolas looked my way, and his gaze warmed me from across the room. This was a side of him I’d never seen, and I was finding it hard to focus on anything else with him nearby. My thoughts flew back to his kisses, and I put a hand to my mouth absently. His mouth quirked as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, and I pulled my gaze from his before my face burst into flames.

Jordan threw a rope of garland at me. “Am I going to have to take a water hose to you two again?”

I made a face at her and hung my last ornament on the tree. “He’s different, less intense.”

“He hasn’t taken his eyes off you since you came in. If that’s less intense, I’d hate to see him worked up.”

“I mean he’s not as fierce as he usually is. He’s hasn’t yelled at me once for taking off.”

She moved closer. “Almost losing your mate-to-be would affect anyone, even Nikolas. I’m sure he’ll be back to his old charming self soon enough.”