Page 56 of Protector Unmatched

“Pearce,” she said, and slid her hand onto his nape.

Though he was still invisible, she felt his body, felt how he pulled her to him, one hand around her waist, the other on the back of her head, cradling it carefully.

“When that guy had you in his grip, when he pressed that knife to your throat, I wanted to kill him,” Pearce said.

“Because you kill evil?” she asked, though she guessed already that it wasn’t the true reason.

“Because I don’t want to lose you.”

Hearing him speak with such emotion made tears well up in her eyes. “But you barely know me.”

He suddenly became visible, and she found him gazing into her eyes. “I know all I need to know.”

She felt herself leaning closer as if drawn to him by invisible strings. Was he doing this to her? Did he have magical skills he hadn’t told her about? Skills of persuasion, maybe. She had to know. “Apart from making yourself and others invisible, do you have other supernatural skills?”

“Yes.”

“Are you using them on me right now?”

His forehead furrowed. “On you?”

“Yes, like using some sort of glamor to make me compliant.”

At that, he suddenly chuckled. “You have a vivid imagination. I told you I’m not a vampire. I don’t do mind control or anything alike.”

“But you just said you had other supernatural skills.”

He nodded. “Yes, one. I can walk through walls and doors—any physical object, really, other than a living being.”

“Oh!” The wheels in her mind were turning. “You mean you can enter any place that’s locked? Like the house I broke into, or my brother’s apartment…” She locked eyes with him. “My place?”

His eyelids lowered in shame. “The night I followed you, you came back here. I watched you get ready for the burglary.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Did you watch me get changed?”

“I’m not some kind of Peeping Tom.”

“Did you?”

Pearce sucked in a deep breath. “I wanted to, by God. I was craving to feast my eyes on you. But I didn’t. It wouldn’t have been right.”

To her surprise, she believed him. Pearce was a good man. She put her hand on his cheek, and he turned his face to press a kiss into her palm.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Is that a ‘thank you, you may leave now’?”

She slid her hand onto his nape and pulled his head to her. “If you want to leave, I won’t stop you.”

~ ~ ~

Pearce held Daphne’s gaze. He still held her close to his body, and her hand lay on his nape. It didn’t look like she wanted to get rid of him anytime soon.

“I don’t want to leave.”

“Then don’t,” she murmured.

It was all the answer he needed. Without losing a second, he slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her. Her response was what he’d hoped for. Daphne welcomed him. Her body molded to his, igniting his passion for her in an instant.