Read Online To Have: Vampire Assassin League #19 by Jackie Ivie - Free Book Online Page A

against his legs as he pulled them on. Yanked on the ties about his waist to cinch them. Put his entire attention on tying a bow with precision. It helped calm any tremor.
    “Look. Daron. Come back here. We have to talk.”
    He searched through the pile of fabric for his tunic next. It was fashioned of thick silk and severely wrinkled from his misuse.
    “Don’t put that on. And get back here. Now.”
    She sounded serious. Daron turned to her, holding the shirt in front of him. It probably looked like a defensive move if he pondered it. He didn’t.
    “You heard me. Right now. Drop the shirt and get back here. Don’t make me chase you. I’m warning you.”
    “You would chase me?”
    She sighed heavily. It was loud in the stillness. “Look. Your Highness. I’m from New Jersey. I’m not wet behind the ears. And I’m not a player. We don’t go around telling gorgeous guys that they’re gorgeous. The heads on their shoulders are already big enough. They don’t need inflating. So. You coming back here or not?”
    “You think me...gorgeous?” There was a surge of something joyful that bloomed through his chest. It wrapped about his heart and squeezed with what felt like fingers. The shirt fell from inattentive fingers.
    “Look. Daron. You already nailed it.
Every
woman you run across is going to think you’re gorgeous, and if they knew the assets you have, well. You’d get crushed beneath the weight of women who want you. There. Does that feed your male ego enough?”
    He frowned. The words didn’t match the tone. She sounded almost angry. “I do not understand,” he answered
    “And that there is exactly why we need to talk. Right here. Right now.”
    “It is?”
    “Yep. So. You coming back over here, or do I really have to chase you? Because I’m telling you right now, if that happens, I am really going to be pissed off.”
    The bed bounced with his arrival. He settled back where he’d been, only this time he was covered by trousers. And she was looking at him with her mouth wide.
    “What?” he asked.
    “How...did you just move that fast?”
    “It is one of my powers.”
    Her features dropped. So did her shoulders. She even tilted her head to one side and looked at him with what looked like skepticism. When she spoke, he knew that’s what her expression meant.
    “So, now you’re going to tell me you’re a superhero? And expect me to believe it? Oh, come on.”
    “No.”
    “Good. Because I’ll stand in line for hours to buy premium-grade merchandise, but I’m not wasting a moment on bullshit.”
    “What?”
    “Wait a sec. Let me rephrase that so that even a guy from Mars can understand. You have been feeding me a line of bullshit since we met and while I’m beginning to suspect I got slipped a
roofie
or something, I am completely sober and alert now. That means the party is over, Your Highness. Finis. Done.”
    “What party?”
    “This one.”
    “I do not understand.”
    “That again? Okay. Straight up. Who are you really? Where am I? And what the hell is going on?”
    “I told you. I am Prince Daron. Son of King—”
    “Stop.” She put a hand up. He stopped talking. “Skip ‘the who’ part for now. Skip the Ecbatana Palace stuff, too. Just go to the ‘what’s going on’ section. Okay? Can you just answer that?”
    “I am not certain you are ready.”
    She chuckled. “Unless you’re going to tell me I’ve been beamed aboard a UFO, I’m ready. Come on. Tell me. I can take it, Big Guy.”
    “Very well. I...am a vampire.”
    She tipped her head back and laughed. It was a hearty sound that reached out to him, giving the same sense of merriment. He was grinning as she finished, brought her head back down, and looked across and up at him. She finally settled to a giggle and dabbed at her eyes with a section of the sheet.
    “Okay. Okay. Stop. You’re killing me here. Tell me something believable.”
    “You do not believe me?”
    She shook her head.
    He opened his mouth and