Hot Blooded by authors_sort Read Free Book Online Page A

without an operator. He had merely flown into it, which
meant there might be other traps out there waiting for him. Blood trickled down
his beak and seeped through his feathers. Far below, on the forest floor, the
silver net lay tangled in a heap. He could see traces of his blood on the thin
wires.
    Humans, puppets of a vampire, had constructed the trap, and only a master
vampire could have kept his presence from Riordan. He was dealing with something
extremely powerful and evil. Something willing to mingle with humans and use
them for its own ruthless purposes.
    Fear for his lifemate clawed at him. She was somewhere alone and unprotected.
It couldn't have been Juliette. What would be the point of rescuing him only to
lead him into a trap? He touched her mind, heard her weeping. His heart
shattered. For a moment he couldn't breathe, couldn't drag air into his lungs.
How could her soft weeping affect him so deeply?
    Juliette, it is nothing, a trap that failed.
    There was a small silence. He pictured her wiping at her tears, felt the
anger stirring in her mind.
I hate that you did this to us. Tied us together
until we can't breathe without each other
.
    Destiny tied us together, Juliette.
    You had a choice.
    I did not have a choice. I was shocked to find you. I had never expected
to find you. Tell me why you are so resistant. I can help you with whatever it
is you feel the need to do. You are not so opposed to our joining as you want me
to believe.
    He felt her shock that he had penetrated her barriers to such an extent. He
felt her hurt that he might think she was part of a larger conspiracy to harm
him when she had risked her life to get him out of the laboratory. He felt her
withdrawal, but he could not let it matter. He would find her. He had no other
choice.
    Carpathians often traveled in the form of an owl. The vampire had prepared to
capture him in the form of mist, knowing hunters often used the fog to travel
in. The vampire could very well have planned a trap for a bird winging through
the sky. Riordan chose the shape of a smaller cat, a civet, able to move fast on
the highway of branches above the forest floor. Any trap designed for an animal
would be for a wolf or the much heavier leopard, forms routinely used for fast
travel.
    He was much more cautious as he leapt from branch to branch. His mind
continually tuned itself toward Juliette. Riordan was used to being in complete
control, without the danger of intense emotions, and his newly acquired feelings
threw his normal balance. He sighed.
I am as ensnared as you
.
    The silence was so long, he feared she would refuse to answer.
I would
not say ensnared. I am merely obsessed, and obsession is very disturbing
.
    I do not mind if I am the object of your obsession.
    I mind. I refuse to be obsessed over anything, or anyone, let alone a
man.
    He felt the heat in her voice, the raw desire. Somewhere,
    Juliette was thinking of him, fantasizing over him. There was a silence, and
he caught the shimmer of images in her mind. Their mouths welded together, her
hands stroking his body, her lips traveling over the terrible burns on his
chest. Riordan's temperature rose sharply. Thunder pounded in his head. His body
went tight and uncomfortable. The small cat stumbled as the sexual drive hit it
hard.
    You cannot do this to me
. He knew his voice was husky and slightly
harsh but he couldn't help it. His body burned, was on fire. Each step was
painful and mixed with the cat's animalistic emotions, his own beast roared for
his mate.
    Why not? You did it to me. I don't think my fantasy about touching your
body or kissing you is nearly as bad as you touching me without physically
laying a finger on me.
    The little cat leapt over a twig holding a spray of leaves and nearly didn't
make it, almost somersaulting into a thick snake coiled around a branch. The cat
hissed and spit as it gave the snake a wide berth.
    Riordan nearly groaned. Juliette