He caught her.

"What's the matter?" he asked again.

He rolled her over and landed on top of her. Afraid he'd see her brain pattern, she turned her head and stared at the underbrush. Tears stung her eyes again.

"Hey." His voice came out more tender this time. He'd obviously noticed her tears. "Look at me."

She didn't. She couldn't. "I just want to get this over with," she snapped.

"Get what over with?" His chest moved up and down on top of her as he breathed.

"Facing Burnett."

"He doesn't know, but if you leap over the fence right now, he will."

She looked back him. "He doesn't know?"

"No. I got out without being detected. And if you'll listen to me, I think I can get you in without him knowing, too. Or you can jump over the fence and go head-on with his wrath."

Realizing she was facing Lucas again, she turned her head. The underbrush against her back felt like soft moss, but the emotion in her chest was scratchy.

"Is that what this is all about? Damn it, Kylie. I already know."

She looked back at him, unsure what he meant. "Know what?"

He scowled. "That you're vampire. I ... smelled you when I first walked into the cemetery."

His insult hit hard. Emotion had her lips trembling. "If I smelled that bad, then why did you bother to come in?"

His expression darkened. "I came in because I thought you were in danger." He exhaled loudly. "I'm not going to lie. I don't like it, and it's going to complicate things with my pack even more, but..." He looked into her eyes. "But what's important to me isn't what's up here." He touched her forehead. "It's what's in here." He rested his hand on her chest, on the upper swell of her right breast.

She felt her heart race. His touch hadn't been meant to be intimate, but it felt that way.

"You mesmerized me from the moment I first saw you when we were kids. I didn't know what you were, and yes, I hoped you were werewolf, but it didn't matter. You ensnared me."

The dampness of her tears spilled out on her cheeks. Suddenly, the soft verdant scent filled her nose. She knew it was both Lucas's natural scent and that of the woods.

"I'm still ensnared." He wiped a tear from her cheek. "I don't care if you're part witch and part vampire."

"I'm not just that," she said.

He looked a bit confused. "Okay. Then what are you?"

She smiled through her tears. "I'm a chameleon. Which means I have a little of everything in me." She recalled what her grandfather had told her about not telling anyone. But Lucas wasn't just anyone.

"Even werewolf?" he asked.

She nodded. "I just don't yet know how to control the shifts from one thing to another." She sighed. "Does that make me even more of a freak?"

"It makes you freaking amazing," he said. "Even when you're a vampire." He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss tasted of innocence. And odd as it was, she suddenly remembered him kissing her like this before, but way before. Like before she'd ever come to Shadow Falls. She touched his cheek, and when he pulled back, she asked, "Did you ever ... climb into my window when you lived beside me?"

He looked guilty, but not much. "Just once. I swear, you left the window open. And I didn't ... I just-"

"Kissed me?" she asked. The idea didn't make her angry; it made her feel cherished.

"You were ... my first kiss," he said.

She grinned, and then his mouth lowered to hers again. She barely felt the warmth from his lips when he pulled back. "But I'm still pissed at you for throwing that net on me." He exhaled. "Not that I can stay mad at you."

He kissed her again. Only this kiss wasn't so innocent. Not that she complained. He tasted like passion, like raw, sweet passion. His weight came against her in all the right places and she felt differences in what made him male and her female. His vibration, his humming seduction, entered her every place his hard body now touched hers.

She met his kiss with desperation, wanting to feel it, wanting to savor how he made her feel. His hand resting at her waist, warm against her naked skin, slipped farther under her shirt, and his palm cupped her breast. She moaned with the sweetness of his touch and ached for more.

His kiss moved from her lips to her neck. The feel of his warm kisses made her feel liquid inside. Need, want, desire, she felt it all.

When his hand moved to her back to unhook her bra, she rose up to make it easier. When his hand came back around to her bare breast, she trembled with the pleasure.

He slipped the tank top over her head, discarding the bra at the same time, and his eyes shifted downward to what he'd uncovered. She'd thought she'd feel embarrassed. But it wasn't embarrassment stirring inside her. She felt ...

"You're so beautiful," he said hoarsely.

That was it. That's how he made her feel. Beautiful. Cherished.

He inhaled sharply. "We probably shouldn't-"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "I want this." She moved her hand behind his neck, threaded her fingers in his thick black hair, and brought his mouth back to hers. And in seconds, they were both lost in each other.

Chapter Twenty-four

The kiss went from hot to smoldering in a vampire's heartbeat. She wasn't even aware that he'd removed his shirt until she felt the wonder of his bare chest against her breasts. She shivered with pleasure. His kisses moved down to her neck and then lower. The sensation had her arching her back and saying his name.