Page 49 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

“Neither have I.”

A frown. “You haven’t?”

“I’ve been busy running around after a pesky four-legged fur-monster.”

De Luca smiled again, and the sight caused the pressure in Bastian’s chest to release.

“Inspector, your smiles are heavenly.”

“We have to focus on the case,” De Luca said, but they were even closer now, their faces inches apart, and Bastian felt the heat of De Luca’s breath against his lips. He stared into De Luca’s bright blue eyes, transfixed by them.

“Yes, absolutely,” Bastian said, feeling dizzy with desire. Wanting De Luca to kiss him. No, not wanting.Needing.

“We have to focus,” De Luca said again, but he sounded less certain. Bastian’s hand found his arm, found those hard, tensed muscles, and the contact seemed to set something loose in De Luca, because he surged forward, closing the space between them, pushing their mouths together, and his scent filled Bastian’s nostrils. Aftershave and perspiration andhim.De Luca. De Luca kissing him.

Heat rushed into Bastian’s lips.

He felt De Luca’s pulse in the kiss, the blood pumping hard, and when De Luca’s tongue entered Bastian’s mouth, he tasted of mint chocolate chip.

Bastian tingled from his head to his toes. Every part of him shivered with delight. Madonna’s “Open Your Heart” played in his head as he ran his hands over the inspector’s chest, feeling the strength in him, the heat. His hands moved down to De Luca’s waist, then around and behind him, grabbing his ass and pulling their bodies together—feeling De Luca’s enjoyment growing in his pants. Bastian’s own cock twitched, swelling with heat, reacting to the sensation of De Luca pressed against him, breathing into him, his kisses hungry and urgent.

“Shit,” De Luca said, and Bastian broke away just in time to see one of the oars sliding through the oarlock, about to slip free, into the water.

Bastian lunged for it, but the boat rocked, and he lost his balance. With a cry, he went over the side, into the water.

Coldness crashed around him, rushing into his nostrils and filling his lungs. It pressed down over his head and Bastian thrashed his arms, propelling himself upward. He broke the surface with a spluttering gasp, coughing water from his lungs. He didn’t breathe, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed being waterlogged.

“Are you okay?”

Bastian looked up to see De Luca was laughing again, and the musical sound was both thrilling and infuriating. It echoed across the water and penetrated Bastian’s heart.

Bastian smiled despite himself as he treaded water.

“Maybeyou’regoing to be the death of me, Inspector.”

17

The caves were a bust.

Bastian and De Luca spent an hour searching the dark abandoned recesses in the cliff, every footstep and stumble echoing into the endless gloom. A couple of tourists sailed through the main passage on boats, but otherwise it was quiet. And cold. The sun couldn’t penetrate this deeply into the earth. Luckily, Bastian had his vampire sight, and De Luca had his phone flashlight.

They didn’t speak about the kiss.

As they dug around in the caves, the inspector was back in business mode. Jaw tense, brow serious. Bastian liked watching him work, knowing that every decision De Luca made was in service to finding the killer and clearing Bastian’s name.

He tried not to watch De Luca’s ass as he walked ahead of him, even though the sight filled him with a deep, twitchy kind of need.

He tried not to think about the way De Luca had tasted, and that delicious swelling between them, their cocks pressed together, a promise of more to come.

“Here, darling,” Bastian had said, passing De Luca an oar as they got back into the boat.

“Grazie,” De Luca said, not looking at him.

It hadn’t escaped Bastian’s attention that De Luca had stopped telling him not to call him “darling.” He smiled to himself, savoring the thought. It felt good to have something positive to cling to, despite the gravity of his situation. More than that, it was heartening to consider that De Luca might like Bastian for who he was, without worrying aboutwhathe was. Perhaps De Luca could see past the fangs and the blood baggage to see Bastian.

Just Bastian.

When they got back to shore, De Luca gave Bastian a long look that made him think they were going to kiss again or at least hold hands.