Lydia Dumais was furious. How could her mentor arrange to have her train with Adrian Court? A sexy vampire with a ruthless streak and a reputation of a womanizer. A vampire whose charcoal eyes had branded her with blatant desire at a gala not long ago. Dislike and lust for him invaded her at once. She’d suffered wicked fantasies about him for days afterward. She had no intention of getting involved with a vampire, let alone Adrian. He was trouble and his dark, primal essence tempted something primitive in her, turned her trepidation into dangerous curiosity.
With a jolt of panic, she realized that she didn’t trust herself around him. But for goodness’ sake, she could withstand his dark charm for a couple of hours, couldn’t she? All she had to do was focus on her task and get through the training as fast as possible.
Shit. Lydia tore her eyes from the vampire and gave Daniel a hard gaze. How could he do this to me? Of all the trainers, he’d chosen Adrian Court. A steadfast bachelor with a ruthless streak and a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Still, women, both vampire and human flocked to him. He had irresistible looks. Thick, midnight hair. Eyes that smoldered with dark intensity. A square jaw offset by a mouth most women would envy.
They’d met only once, at a charity gala hosted by the chief of the Vampire Human Protection Unit. Even before the introduction by one of her teachers, she’d known of him—every hunter and vampire in New York City knew who he was. An elite agent and trainer in the unit. Adrian Court had tasted her with his eyes, igniting her skin that instant and the rest of the evening. She’d disliked him and lusted after him at once. Discreetly, she’d put distance between them. Though many young, pretty women flirted with him, he’d watched her over the rim of his glass like a predator, branding her from across the room.
He was damn tempting, but she wouldn’t become one of his trophies. Plus, she wasn’t into vampires. A regular guy was what she needed. When Adrian had left with a curvy redhead clinging to his arm that night, jealousy ripped through her. Her reaction angered her. It was no business of hers who or how many women he slept with. Regardless, she’d suffered steamy fantasies about him the following three nights and now disliked him even more. Making sense of her contradicting feelings left her with two honest conclusions. One—she didn’t like him because he was a womanizer. Two—she was sexually drawn to him not solely because of his looks, but because he frightened her. Not too much. She was a tough girl. But enough to tempt the dark part of her female essence.
Lydia didn’t want Adrian to train her. It’s not that she didn’t trust herself. She could withstand his wicked charm for a couple of hours, for goodness’ sake. He was just way too distracting. He was watching her, probably sizing her up, and she stole another glance at him. Long enough to catch the amused quirk of his mouth. Her pulse spiked. Damn him.
