Oh hell. The man who'd caught her would make the sexiest man alive list burn up in smoke. With sleek hair running to his shoulders in a sheen of washed obsidian and tan skin she wanted to lick to see if it wasn't coffee flavored chocolate, it was hard for her to form rational thought. Worse, he seemed to notice her state of befuddlement and just the hint of a smile lifted his lips. The way it didn't dimple his face made him that much more attractive as it pulled his mocha skin into a mere ripple.

"Y-you must be Jesse," Tara said, unable to keep her composure as his hand warmed against her own. It slowly ignited as her face heated from him standing so close, touching her still even though she was standing fine on her own now.

"Yes," Jesse responded in a low growl, like it was normal for him to sound like a tiger preparing to eat people. It had such a pleasant roll to it, like he was imagining undressing her, and she couldn't help but notice his nostrils flare near her.

"I'm Tara, the human in charge of this fiasco, at least in this room." Tara tried to calm herself and hold normal conversation, and Jesse flitted his eyes down to her neck for just a moment before he stepped out of her space.

Tara made her way over to the desk, slid the surveys into the shelf under it, and took her time about setting up the clipboard and pens. There was only so much she could do before she was out of things to distract her from the frostbite of Jesse's gaze searing into her back. It didn't take eyes in the back of her head to know he was watching her.

"Fiasco?" Jesse asked questioningly after she'd settled.

Tara nodded, internally stuffing the words back into a box of things she shouldn't have spoken. What would the man think of her if she didn't respect what they were doing? Tara turned to him, but he didn't look upset, more like legitimately confused with what was going on. Had no one given him a packet? Unable to find words immediately, she slid her eyes down an ivory shirt that tightened around his pecs before winding over his abdomen and covering the waistband of his black pants.

A small sound escaped him, sort of like a gasp, and Tara snapped her gaze back up to his nose doing that thing again, breathing in heavily as he eyed her throat. It was instinct, but she brought a hand up to cover her neck, and his focus moved on.

"Pardon me," Jesse said with a bow of his head. "I will not bite you, so please do not fret on that account. You just... smell pleasant." Jesse rubbed his neck, and her face colored darker. "You have a very gentle perfume, something like jasmine and sandalwood. I'm from a heavily forested area, and I've been missing it of late, is all. You reminded me of home."

Yep, no. Brain was gone. Of all the things a chocolate sex god could utter, most of which could easily be lewd or at least flirty, this man had gone with something sentimental. Like, what level of compliment was it to have a man tell a girl that they smelled like home. That was the best pick up line she'd heard yet and bordered grievously on something one would utter when proposing. It was intimate in a way that wasn't at all physical.

This man had class.

Fantasizing about him was wasted. This guy was miles out of her league, so they should just get this day over with so she could go home and mourn the love life she'd never have. Journalism didn't exactly offer enough time for a healthy relationship. Too odd of hours, travel, and too much time alone typing or out half rubbing up on someone for a scoop.

Why had she blanked and put on her perfume? No matter how hard she'd tried to wash it off, the man could smell the Chanel. Now it looked like she was trying to seduce him, didn't it? Did he think she was shallow?

"I didn't mean to trouble you." His deep voice dipped into something soft and gentle. "I'd talk about something else, but I don't know why I'm here." Jesse's smile fell to a frown that drew real worry on his face.

Wait...

"You don't know why you're here?" Tara asked, and he nodded. "They made me read a manual before I came in," Tara said, slapping her hand on a stack of paper, and his frown flattened but his eyebrows creased as if she'd slapped him. "Sorry. I figured they'd have told you something."

"No, sorry. I was instructed to be here and do what I'm told," Jesse said, biting his lip, and she saw the glint of his fang as he did so.

This poor guy was just as lost as she was, and it served well to ease her about all of this. It should have made her feel worse that he had no idea what was going on, but it gave her a connection to him, because neither of them were comfortable or jumping for joy here.

"Well, according to my manual, it's pretty simple. They have a few of these stations set up in an attempt to smooth over relations with the human populous. Many want to see what a vampire is and confirm for themselves, so they're facilitating direct interactions." Tara figured she could explain things to him, sitting on her chair and pointing to the lower one that was his.

The man sat quickly as if he didn't mind that she was now looking down at him. Or he enjoyed looking up at her, because she noticed his gaze crawl over her open throat where the first two buttons were undone on her blouse. Maybe she should have worn the turtle neck.

"All you need to do is sit still and try not to scare anyone," Tara said, wishing she hadn't drooled on her manual so she could give it to him. "They have mage security outside, and people will be coming in one at a time. They mostly will ask questions about your kind and observe you to learn. You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but the guide said that some people might want to... touch you. I've been told you have enough control that you can handle that, and it's okay as long as you consent, but I don't think it was an obligation."

Jesse's eyes nearly glazed over as he looked at her, and she was so feeling him right now. They had told him nothing it seemed, and he looked as horrified about this all as she was. Poor guy, kidnapped from snow white's cottage to be a curiosity for gawkers.

What was worse was that when he'd left the door way, a specter had followed him in, one Tara was desperately trying to pretend wasn't there. It wasn't that it was a ghost so much as that it was a woman with her breasts popping out of a top tighter than a poor man's budget.

Hovering over Jesse the woman was leaning back with her arms crossed, a permanently pissed off dip of her eyebrows, and her lips parted in a fanged scowl. Indigo hair curled over the woman's shoulder, tied at the back of her head and run down the front of her... front. Tara tried very hard to pretend that she couldn't see the reflection of light off the swell of her breasts.

Could she have found a black top any smaller? Were ghosts not allowed to change clothes? Either way, her muscles were toned and attractive, and Tara was sure she'd be able to see the curves of her crotch with how tight those leather pants were. Thank god her torso was bent as if she was reclining on a couch.

"I'm sorry this puts you on display like fancy china," Tara said, focusing on Jesse instead of the dead hooker lingering around him. Ignoring ghosts was best. That way Tara could pretend she was normal and they weren't tempted to communicate with her.

"That's quite all right," Jesse replied, his gorgeous eyes lingering far too long on hers before dipping to her lips.

The attention had her so nervous that she licked them. It hadn't been intentional, just something people do when their lips get dry, but his damn nostrils did that thing again and his teeth shifted side to side before he looked away from her and to the door. Adjusting his chair, Jesse pulled it in and straightened his legs before intertwining his fingers and relaxing back to wait.

All the while, Tara was trying to get the thought of licking her damn lips while he watched out of her head. What was wrong with her body? Didn't it know there was a time and place for responses like that? Dry lips or not, that was not how that man had seen it, and now she wasn't sure if he thought she was hitting on him.

The female laugh drew Tara's frustrated gaze above Jesse with a glare she should not have thrown in the ghost's direction. It noticed her, closing its lips and dropping to the floor with an inquisitive stare.

Fuck.

"You can see me," it mused, walking around her so closely that Tara needed a shower.

Tara remained silent. Talking to the air around a vampire was a poor idea if she wanted to come across as grounded. Jesse would likely think she'd lost it in hysteria for other reasons.

"You want him," the woman purred, trailing her hand across Tara's cheek.

Apparitions sizzled when they got close, Tara had learned long ago, and she flinched from the contact. Jesse focused on her when she did, his eyes dipping in concern, and Tara cursed herself for being so petty as to glare at the dead. For some reason, the ghost drifted away from her and floated up above the man's head then. Maybe Tara was boring or perhaps the ghost too had felt the unpleasant burn of contact.

"You want to fuck him?" the ghost asked so abruptly that Tara dropped her face on the desk with a groan.

"Are you all right?" Jesse asked, his tone so soft that Tara was sure it was stroking the inside of her thighs.

"I'm all right," Tara said, lifting her gaze with a shallow smile. "It's not you. I just remembered I have a deadline for a report and didn't finish it last night, is all."

"I see," Jesse said, relaxing back into his chair but not seeming to actually see. What did vampires know about work reports anyway?

Tara really had to zone this woman out and pretend she wasn't there. The dead were dead. Whatever this woman was to Jesse, she was gone. It did make Tara wonder if this was Jesse's type. Did he like that much exposed skin and a blunt sexual nature in a woman? If so, she was so not compatible.

"I'll rip your throat out, human."

Not listening. Nope.

"I was an evil bitch in my lifetime, not his lover," the ghost defended Jesse. "You want him, go for it. Better than that mage infiltrator he's got the hots for. She has a mate, and I hate watching him waste his time being nice to her when she couldn't give two fucks about him."

By the time, Tara lifted her eyes back up to the apparition, the woman had disappeared and Tara dropped her eyes to Jesse where he was watching her. Most people stared at her when she was wrestling with ignoring a specter, so it wasn't any worse for it to be a vampire. What was hard, was getting the idea of fucking him out of her mind after the ghost had put it there, especially with how his gaze lingered on her eyes before another smile flicked up his lips.

Part of Tara was relieved the woman haunting him, for lack of a better word, hadn't been his mate or whatever they called girlfriends in vampire society. Jesse'd been considerate when she'd tripped, was elegant in the words he chose, and hot as hell. The latter wasn't as big a factor as the way his eyes seemed to burn every time he looked at her, silent and yet hinting of what he might be thinking about her.

On the other hand, he might just be thinking about taking her down to those tunnels, shoving her up to cold concrete, and sinking his fangs into her. As she fondled the idea in her head, she wondered if it was pleasant or not. Even if it was straight up a guy biting into her neck, that could be hot in itself, and if it pressed her up against his taught muscles, who was she to complain?

This man seemed so mellow and refined that she doubted he was into anything unsavory. Love making to him was likely super sensual and slow, like dripping pleasure down her skin and massaging it in with his fingers, easing it out of her like one milked an orgasm before giving in to the deepest dive.

"Please stop." The hush of Jesse's words was so sharp that Tara jumped out of her daydreaming. His lips were rolled back, his fangs elongated past them, and her heart skipped as Jesse panted at the table. "Forgive me. I'm not trying to frighten you. I just can't think when you sit there and..." Jesse covered his face with both hands, stood, and left out the back door.

It took Tara a moment to form thought, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Could vampires sense when humans were... fantasizing about them? That ghost sure as hell had noticed. Man, she was a moron. Humans had physical reactions to arousal, and if vampires had that sensitive of a sense of smell, he'd probably been able to tell what she was thinking about. It wouldn't be hard, because she was pretty sure she was wet between her legs.

Tara's face turned to crimson, and she stuffed it into her arms as she waited for Jesse to come back. If he came back. Having some guy she didn't know next to her and fantasizing about her naked would have pissed her off, and she hoped that wasn't the case here. It wasn't like she did this normally to men, but something about Jesse just rubbed her in a way that wasn't natural.

It had to be a vampire thing.

She wasn't a pervert.

Not a pervert.

...

Definitely a pervert.

Word Count: 2479