He'd affected her from the start. At nineteen he'd been lean and lanky, but he'd still exuded an earthy sexiness that had appealed to her. Now, at twenty-seven, he'd filled out that lanky form with muscle and an aura of male power. Every nerve ending in her body seemed aware of him, drawn to him, on fire for him.
She had to be out of her mind. Hadn't she endured enough pain in her life? She would apologize and then let him go. She took a deep breath and met his steady gaze.
He stepped toward her. "I need to apologize."
She blinked. He'd stolen the words right out of her mouth. "But—"
He raised a hand to stop her. "I need to say this. I was on the sidewalk, waiting for a cab, when I realized I was a hypocrite. I volunteered to help you handle your anger, but I wasn't handling my own. I was rude—"
"But you had every right to be angry with me. I tormented you. I made you miserable. I shouldn't have treated you like that."
His eyes softened. "I could suffer far worse things than having a beautiful woman come on to me."
The blueness of his eyes made her chest feel tight, like it was hard to breathe. "You're being kind, but I don't deserve it. You were right. I was bored, and you seemed like a safe diversion. I'm really sorry."
"I'm sorry, too. I was coming back inside the club to apologize when Max appeared."
She recalled her bouncer's strange warning. "I heard you reacted very quickly."
"I've been working for MacKay S & I a long time, so I've learned a few tricks." He touched his pocket. "Like carrying a silver chain with me. It's the only way to keep a vampire from escaping." He tilted his head. "Do you have any kind of security?"
"Of course. I have Hugo."
"I meant away from the club. Who's guarding you while you're in your death-sleep?"
She shrugged. "Pamela, Cora Lee, and I share a condo, and the building has really tight security. They never let anyone near our apartment during the day. We're officially listed as day-sleepers."
He shook his head. "That's not enough. Maybe you should move back to Roman's townhouse for a while—"
"No." Vanda lifted both hands as if to ward off evil. "I'm not giving up my independence. I did that once, and it took over fifty years to get it back."
His eyes narrowed. "Why did you join the harem?"
Damn. Now she'd said too much. "It's ancient history. Forget it."
The look on his face made it clear he was forgetting nothing. "I don't think you've seen the last of Max."
"He can't bother me while I'm sleeping. He's just as dead as I am during the day."
Phil frowned at her. "I don't like the thought of you being alone."
"I'm not alone!" she said, louder than necessary, then winced. "I have friends. And I have this club. My life is one big party."
Phil stepped closer, studying her face. "You've been crying."
"I'm fine. Now, if you don't mind—" She flinched when he touched her cheek.
"Vampire tears." His finger traced a line down her cheek. "They leave a faint pink stain."
She moved back. "Good night, Phil. Thank you once again for protecting us."
He stared at her. She looked away, her heart floundering under the searching gaze of those pale blue eyes.
"How about giving me a ride home?"
She swallowed hard. Hadn't she been through enough tonight? But how could she refuse? He'd brought her car back. He'd saved her from Max. But the thought of spending more time alone with him was too disconcerting. Her nerves were completely shot. Her emotions were a tangled mess. She wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel his strong arms around her. And at the same time, she wanted him to go far away and never come back.
She pressed a hand against her brow. "I–I'm very busy."
"It will only take a few seconds for you to teleport me. But then, you would have to let me wrap my arms around you and hold you tight. If that scares you too much—"
"I'm not scared!" She clenched her teeth when he smiled slowly. Damn him. He'd manipulated her into this. "You're still getting even with me, aren't you?"
"Actually, I'm making progress with those negative feelings. I no longer have visions of making you suffer."
"Oh, that's big of you."
His mouth twitched. "How kind of you to notice."
Her gaze flitted south, then quickly away. Good Lord, he was big. How could he be so turned on? He'd only touched her cheek. Her skin tingled, and she suddenly wanted him to touch her everywhere.
He took hold of her shoulders. "Instead of making you suffer, I'm thinking about all the ways I could give you pleasure."
Oh God, don't melt on him. She locked her shaky knees and planted her hands against his chest, more to steady herself than shove him away. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
She gasped when his hard shaft pressed against her belly. "Not so close. I have to concentrate to teleport. You don't want to arrive home minus an appendage, and I don't mean your foot."
With a smirk, he eased back. "It is a foot right now."
She groaned. "Caveman." She closed her eyes to focus on Roman's townhouse. Her body started to waver, but when Phil's body remained intact, she stopped. "There's something wrong. You're not coming with me."
"Not enough foreplay, sweetheart."
She swatted his arm. "I meant your body is refusing to teleport."
"Ah." He released her and dug the silver chain out of his pants' pocket. "This must be the problem." He dropped the chain onto her desk. "Now, where were we?"
Her heart executed a little flip when he dragged her back into his arms. She rested her hands against his chest and felt the powerful thudding of his heart. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus, trying to block out all the tingling sensations that zipped along her body.
His arms were so strong. His breath stirred the hair on top of her head. And his scent—clean but earthy, and redolent with male power—filled her head and made her wish for the impossible.
But it was impossible. No matter how tempting he was, she couldn't let herself have genuine feelings for him. She'd had all the pain a person could bear in a lifetime. She would simply teleport him home, then come right back. Alone.
She felt her consciousness tumble into a black hole. She wavered, taking Phil with her, and everything went black.
Phil had never been fond of hitching a ride from a Vamp. It placed him in an inferior role of accepting help, which grated on his instinctive need to be dominant. He put up with the situation since the war against the Malcontents was more important than anyone's ego. When it came to teleporting with Vanda, however, he'd simply wanted an excuse to hold her tight.
They landed in the foyer of Roman's townhouse, and Vanda immediately broke free of his embrace.
She grimaced, covering her ears. "What's that awful noise?"
"We must have set off the alarm." Phil strode to the control panel by the front door and punched in the code to stop the high-pitched wailing. Only vampires and dogs were supposed to be able to hear it, so apparently he was more like a dog than he cared to admit. "The guys usually teleport to the back porch, so they can turn off the alarm before coming in."
"Oh, I didn't know about that." Vanda glanced around. "Place still looks the same."
"It is, though it's fairly empty." Phil pressed more buttons to reactivate the alarm. "We had to tighten security. Couldn't have Malcontents teleporting in to attack us."
Vanda nodded. "Will it be okay for me to teleport out?"
"Just a sec." He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and called Romatech. They would have received an alert about the alarm going off at the townhouse. "Hey, Connor. False alarm. Everything's fine." He hung up.