“Still not happening,” Maddox said flatly.

We’d been around and around a hundred times since we’d left my sister’s house, and we were no closer to reaching an agreement on the way forward than we had been when we started.

“We are not using you as bait. That’s ridiculous,” Cooper argued.

We’d brought her back with us, entering up the private elevator and straight to the suite. She’d wanted to stay and protect her home, but seeing the logic in us all sticking together, she’d agreed.

Now, if only I could get the guys to do the same thing.

I had, however, learned something new about their species: They were stubborn as mules.

On steroids.

After a long, blisteringly hot day.

“It’s not ridiculous. We know he wants to use me to get to you guys. He came to my house and then, realizing I had been at Melanie’s, he went there. Stands to reason he’s not going to give up now. Putting myself in plain view is a practical solution to finding this Horvath person,” I countered, exasperated at the wall of muscle standing in front of me.

While they made for an extremely sexy united front, standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder as they were, their blatant refusal to acknowledge the logic in my plan was frustrating as hell.

Beckham arched a brow and hooked his thumbs into his jeans. “It’s a practical solution that puts you in harm’s way, which means it’s not a solution at all.”

It was a pity that Melanie had gone to sleep in one of their other rooms, she at least would have recognized that what I was proposing was the best idea we had. A little backup never hurt anyone.

"We're skilled trackers and assassins. We've been training for centuries. Knowing you were out there and in danger would only distract us," Maddox said, running his hand through his blonde hair.

"That would only get in our way," Jaeger added. "If you both stay here while we do some recon, we'd be able to get things done much faster and more efficiently."

"You wouldn't need to do recon if we go with my plan,” I countered. “It's simple. If I go home and act normal, like nothing is happening at all, the hunter is sure to come after me again. All you would have to do is lie in wait until he does and ambush him."

Beckham sighed, frustrated. Sitting down on one of the couches, he hooked his ankle over his knee and leaned back with his arms laid out on the arm rests, the rippling muscles on his tattooed arms nearly managing to distract me. "It's not that simple. He's had days to do recon on your place, and for all we know, he could be lying in wait there ready to get the jump on you as soon as you arrive."

"He could also be lying in wait right outside the hotel or even right outside this room," I pointed out.

Shaking his head, Cooper turned and headed to the bar. "Not possible. This place is warded for miles around against people like him. That's why this is the safest place for you right now."

"Safest place for me? What about what's safe for you?” I shot back. “You have no idea where this man is or how to find him. Going to my house or to Melanie's is a calculated risk that gives us the best chance to not only find him, but to surprise him."

"Risk is exactly right and we will not risk you," Maddox snapped.

Jaeger stepped forward and took both my hands, placing them gently on his chest. "We can't take any chance or risk that might involve losing you. We’ve only just found you, love."

"It's not your risk to take, though, it's mine. And I'm willing to take it." That was the bottom line. I wasn't made of glass and I wanted to help them, but they were dead against it.

"You might think that, but it's just not like that for us," Jaeger said, his hands warm over mine on his chest. “We would suffer your loss in ways you cannot imagine. Knowing that having been with us caused your demise? Would be the nail in all of our coffins. Don’t you see that?”

I pulled my hands away and took a step back from him, knowing that I needed to put some distance between us, especially with the way that he was looking at me like I held his heart in my hands. As I turned, I saw that Maddox, Beckham and Cooper were all looking at me in the same way, nodding their agreement to Jaeger's statement.

They weren't going to budge. It made no sense. The way they felt about me…the way I felt about them after such a short time, but damn it. There was no denying it. Why else would I be considering laying myself in front of a psycho like a fat, roasted chicken for the eating if I didn’t feel something deep for them I couldn’t explain?

Because not only do you care for them…you trust them.

"You're wrong. You might not see it that way, but you are. We have a good shot here, one that will turn the tables and the element of surprise on Horvath. You are four bad ass vampires with a chance to squash the man who wants to torture and kill us all, me and my sister included. There is a way to get this done right in front of us, we just have to take it. Think about it, talk about it. I'm going to bed. Come find me when you’ve come to your senses."

Without waiting for them to make their inevitable arguments, I turned and stormed out of the room. It was only once I reached my door that I realized Jaeger was following me.

Ignoring him, I entered my room and he quietly shut the door behind us with a soft click.

"I just want to talk to you for a second."

He crossed the room to my bed and sat down, scooting up until his back was against the padded white headboard, then crossed his legs and patted the space in front of him.

"Please?"

I eyed the space, trying to stay angry but wanting to be near him so much, it hurt.

"Okay, but unless you've changed your mind already, I don't see us agreeing." I toed off my shoes when I reached the bed and sat down facing him.

“I haven’t changed my mind and I’m not going to,” he said, confident as ever.

"Well then, you're wasting your time. I haven't either." I folded my arms and stood my ground, despite the fact the room seemed smaller just for having him in it and Jaeger anywhere near a bed was enough to make my heart race.

Jaeger on my bed? Not a good thing while we were in the middle of an argument.

"No time spent with you is a waste,” he told me earnestly, beautiful eyes serious as they bore into mine.

My heart did a strange hop, skip kind of thing. One person couldn’t possibly be so infuriating and endearing at the same time. "It's not fair to say something so sweet when we’re at an impasse."

He smirked and lifted a light eyebrow. "We’re not at an impasse. We’re just hitting pause for tonight."

"I think you need to go look up the definition of impasse."

Snarky was the only way I was getting through this without caving, an invaluable line of defense that I needed to remember.

"I know the definition. I was around in the mid-19th century when it originated."

"Show off," I mumbled and he laughed.

"Impressed?" he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"No," I lied. The wealth of knowledge these guys had would never stop impressing me. I could only hope that eventually we’d have the time for me to pick their brains a little.

It was completely unfair that they had it all: the looks, the intellect, the personalities.

From the look on Jaeger's face, he knew that I was lying, but he let it slide. "Back to our pause. Cooper told me he checked in with you earlier, but that was before we found out that Melanie had been attacked. How are you doing for real?"

"I'm okay. It's still a little hard to believe that all of this is really happening, but I can deal with it,” I assured him. Another lie, but since that was the gist of my argument—that I really was strong enough to handle everything that was going on and to at least try to help them as much as I could—I had to roll with it.

"I know you can. Doesn't mean that we're going to stop asking or trying to help you in any way that we can. I'm here if you need to talk," he offered.

"I don't want to talk right now.”

"What do you want to do then?" One corner of his decadent mouth lifted and the look in his eyes changed, darkened.

You, I nearly answered, but I wasn't that forward and surely you couldn't screw someone in the middle of an argument, paused or not…could you?

"I should probably get some sleep," I murmured, my flesh heating at the thoughts that were running through my mind.

Jaeger nodded. "Okay. Sleep, let's do it."

"Let's? You mean, as in, both of us?"

"Technically, what I do isn't sleeping. It's resting, but it’s a similar concept." He flicked the switch on the bedside lamp before rising to switch off the main lights and reaching behind his back to pull off his T-shirt.

"You're staying?" My eyes dropped to his torso gleaming in the moonlight and my mouth went a little dry at the sight. Damn these guys for the effect they had on my traitorous body.

Jaeger hesitated next to the bed. "If you don't mind?"

Even my brain joined in on the treachery, commanding my answer. "No, I don't mind."

"Good. I wouldn't have liked to leave you alone tonight." Pulling back on the covers, he looked me over and waved a hand up and down the length of my body. "Do you usually sleep in your clothes?"

"Uhhh no," I said and forced myself to stop staring like a sex-crazed idiot. "I'll be right back."

Racing through my nighttime ritual in the bathroom, I pulled on my cupcake dotted cotton pajamas and surveyed my reflection in the mirror.

The same girl I'd always seen looked back at me. I failed to see what that perfect specimen of masculinity waiting for me in bed saw in me. I supposed it didn't matter what I thought, because when he looked at me, I felt different. It was like that with all of them. They made me feel like more, like I was beautiful and precious.

Fluffing my hair, I wished that I had thought to pack some sexier nighties. Cupcakes and cotton weren’t exactly the stuff fantasies were made of.

When I stepped into the room, however, Jaeger's reaction made me feel like it was. I might have been wearing Victoria's Secret finest for the way his eyes roamed the length of my body, his jaw becoming slightly unhinged before his gaze snapped back to mine.

"I love cupcakes and you look good enough to eat."

He was sitting up in bed, delicious body on full display, and the comforter arranged over his hips so that I couldn't see if his lower half was bare as well. The possibility stirred the butterflies in my stomach to life and sent heat spreading through me.

"If you keep looking at me like that, you won't be getting to sleep anytime soon,” he muttered, his voice slightly raspier than it was before.

"Who needs sleep?"

The question was out before I could stop it.

Jaeger seemed completely unaware of my embarrassment. His demeanor shifted instantly and electricity sparked the air between us when our eyes locked. Any negative feelings I was having melted under his hungry gaze, confidence and desire suddenly replacing them.

Eyes dropping to the curve of my breasts, down my stomach and over my legs, Jaeger swallowed and I realized that while my nighties might not have been the sexiest, the shorts were just that-- extremely short, and the tank fitted to my curves.

“Not five minutes ago you said you needed sleep,” he said, his voice an octave or so lower than usual.

As though he was only just realizing that he was staring, quite possibly mentally undressing me, his heated gaze lifted to mine. Locked. Held.

“I changed my mind,” I admitted, barely above a whisper. Like an invisible thread was drawing me to him, I kept my eyes on his as I walked over to the bed without a second thought.

Things just felt so natural with them. It didn’t feel like the first time Jaeger and I were in bed alone, it somehow felt familiar. Right. Like we’d been doing it for years. Centuries, even.

Brazen and uncharacteristic as the move was, I was caught in the moment and enraptured by his lustful eyes, crawling onto the bed and straddling him. My arms hooked around his neck and my hair formed a curtain around us as I lowered my mouth closer to his.

Jaeger sucked in a quick breath and groaned. “You smell so fucking good.”

One hand speared into my hair, bringing my head forward so his lips crashed into mine. The other hand was planted on my thigh, strong fingers digging into my flesh. Our tongues touched, stroked, caressed. He kissed me fiercely, deeply.

My body came alive under his touch, every nerve-ending sparking with need until my clit was aching and I felt painfully empty inside. Rocking my hips against him, I silently cursed the comforter that lay between my core and his erection, the outline of which I could feel despite all the layers between us.

My hands dropped to tug at the edge of the material, desperate to get it out of my way.  In a flash, Jaeger flipped us and I was on my back with his weight pressing me into the mattress, the comforter a thing of the past. Thank god.

Turned out, he wasn’t naked beneath the cursed thing. His fevered kisses kept me from looking at him, but I felt his briefs under my hands when they flew to his ass to hold him to me. I clawed at the elastic waistband and he helpfully lifted his hips enough to allow me to pull them off his sculpted ass, my foot hooking them to kick them all the way off.

Breaking apart from me for only long enough to pull my shirt over my head, it followed his briefs to the floor. Our naked chests mashed together, my nipples hard enough to cut glass against his smooth skin.

I writhed underneath him, desperate for pressure on my throbbing clit. Positioning himself just right, he moaned when he felt my wetness through my soaked panties and shorts,, allowing me to rub myself all over his hard shaft. He caught my earlobe between his teeth and nipped at it, rolling his hips so skillfully against me that I was soon seeing stars behind my eyelids.

You will not come before he even touches you, I chided myself. But then his hands started working their magic, one reaching to pull my useless underwear away while the other cupped the underside of my breast and his fingers worked their way between us on both ends.

Long fingers slipped through my slick folds and one sank into me just as he pinched my nipple. Pleasurable spasms racked my body. Though I probably should’ve been, I wasn’t embarrassed over being so ready so fast.

I couldn’t help myself with him. It was like he had a direct line to my hormones, ramping them up and knowing just how and where to touch me to make me desperate for him.

Jaeger lifted himself slightly off me, his muscles tight with restraint and his gaze heavy when I met it. A second finger joined the first, pumping into me rhythmically, and within minutes I was right on the edge. My body started shaking and he pressed a finger to my clit, circling it until I was screaming his name.

He kept going until a second orgasm ripped through me, murmuring words of encouragement and nipping at my skin, then licking away the sting. He never took my blood, though when I finally came down enough to notice it, it was to see him visibly struggling not to.

“You ready for me?” he practically growled, his need coming off him in palpable waves as he tore my panties from my body and positioned himself over me. “This is going to have to be hard and fast, okay?”

“Why?” I breathed, opening my legs further to let him know I was ready either way.

Leaning his forehead against mine, his hands gripped into the sheets at the sides of my head as he thrust into me with a long, low growl that sounded something like pain but not.

“Being alone with you...” he rasped, his length pistoning into me, filling me and stretching me and hitting me in all the right places. “It makes it harder to stop from...”

My mind warred with my body, I had so many questions about that one admission, but he felt so damn good. One look into his eyes and I knew there was no way I would stop him to talk about it. There was a wild, hungry edge in them that would’ve scared me had he been anyone else.

With him, though? It only made me feel so much more wanted. I was safe with him. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.

What he was doing to my body was the exact opposite of hurt. He was creating so much pleasure that my vision blurred and I screwed my eyes shut, deciding to absorb the sensations instead and shut my brain down for now.

As soon as I did, I was climbing again. Higher than ever before. His ass tightened under my hands and his thighs quivered. He was close. Biting down on the pillow beside my neck to contain himself, his cock pulsed and swelled inside me.

“Star,” he gritted out, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow. “I can’t… I’m going to come.”

Digging my fingernails into his perfect butt, I thrust up against him over and over again. “Yes! Come for me, love.”

Growling and softly snapping his teeth together, he tensed above me, his hips jerking as he emptied himself into me. Seeing him come triggered my own orgasm and I clung to him, riding out the tempestuous storm raging through me. My channel clenched hard around him as stars exploded behind my eyelids and pleasure crashed over me in frantic waves.

I’d heard some women say that a powerful orgasm could make you see the face of god. I didn’t see that, but I did have a moment of stunning clarity as I reached my peak. The solution to all of our problems…