Kiss of Shadows [Claiming Series, #4]

- 9 -

"You did what?"

Caro faced Iain, her feet firmly planted, and thrust out her chin. "We went for a walk. I can't stand being caged. Besides, I wanted to try out my so-called powers."

"Something may have attacked her," Mackenzie said unhelpfully. "But she fought it off."

Iain unleashed a string of what sounded like German, and it certainly sounded like a bunch of curse words. One or two of them, Caro thought she almost recognized. Like Scheisse or something close to it.

"Relax," Asher said, sounding amused. "She's still with us, isn't she?"

"Relax?" Iain thundered. "After what happened to the Pritchett's, how am I supposed to relax? She could have died while I was dead!"

The statement struck Caro as absurd. Died while he was dead? It sounded so ludicrous that she couldn't quite stifle a giggle. He glared at her.

But even as part of her recognized the absurd in his statement, another part of her realized why he was so frustrated. He'd devoted himself, willingly or not, to protecting her, and during the hours when he'd been unable to do so, she'd taken a huge risk. Of course he was angry. But she suspected the anger was self-directed at his own helpless during daylight hours.

That understand made her feel bad because it was something she could easily identify with. One of her biggest frustrations as a cop was being unable to prevent things from happening. She spent her life dealing with the aftermath of events that shouldn't have happened.

She stared at Iain, taking in his explosive frustration, and offered all she could. "I'm sorry. I won't do it."

"You'd better not. Damn it, I'll handcuff you to me while I sleep if I have to."

She believed him. But instead of getting angry at the threat, she felt an entirely unexpected shiver of pleasure, as if some part of her responded sensually to the idea of being cuffed to him.

Where had that come from? Never before had she felt the least inclination toward kinkiness. Except now she seemed to be involved in the kinkiest relationship possible, one where the drinking of her blood caused her extraordinary pleasure. What was a handcuff in the face of that?

Iain took a few steps, moving almost too fast to see, then he stopped and faced her. His expression had softened a bit, and he no longer looked furious. "My life has limitations. I'm sorry they case you so much difficult."

"No!" She was horrified that she had made him feel that way. So what if he needed to sleep during the daylight? She needed to sleep herself. Nobody could be there all day every day. "You're not causing me difficulty, Iain...everybody needs to sleep sometime."

At that a harsh laugh escaped him. "You needn't be kind to me. But please understand. If something had happened and you were here, in this office, we could have wakened to help you, however difficult it would have been. Just as you can wake if you're needed. For you to be out on the street alone... It doesn't bear thinking."

"I was there," Mackenzie pointed out sharply. "Sheesh, I'm not nobody. And Caro evidently learned a lot that she needs to learn. How was she supposed to do that with you hovering around like an avenging angel?"

That drew a bark of laughter from Asher. "I don't know about you, Iain, but I don't think I've ever been likened to an angel before."

"Least of all an avenging one," he agreed, but the fury appeared to have seeped from him. His gaze returned to Caro, and he frowned faintly. "We have to work this out somehow, in a way that doesn't endanger you."