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Pushing back the covers, she lay among the pillows gazing out into the cloudy night sky. Cold wind breezed in through the open window.
“One night you’ll catch your death,” he said, emerging from the darkness.
She didn’t respond to his voice, just lay there silently regarding him for the moment he took to secure the window. Tonight, he styled his thick auburn hair straight with product. Jaggedly cut, it lay on his shoulders. He’d been out as usual, dressed in black leather pants, gold jacket and shirt. He closed his collar with a jade pin that she’d given him years ago. Very stylish, she thought then wondered if he wore it for a reason. Was he trying to remind her of their past when she thought they’d been in love?
“Why are you always in bed so soon lately? Are you avoiding me?
“No, Wilder. I have day activity to look into.”
“Just you? Anyway why wasn’t I told?”
“Look, don’t come in here questioning me, call Rankin tomorrow.” She turned away from his silence to her side.
“Darling?”
“What?”
He walked over to the bedside and sat placing an arm over her. “If you don’t have to work days, I wish you wouldn’t.”
“And why is that, Wilder?”
“The night belongs to us,” he said. “Remember?”
“I remember everything.”
“You do?” He leaned over her, his head close to hers, sharing the scent of his cologne. Aramis, not the popular high end brands he usually splashed on. “Why are you this way, Velvet?”
Wearing her favorite cologne and speaking so low and near her face that his breath faintly kissed her cheek worked a quick response from her body. A response she did not welcome at the moment.
“Your breath is warm,” she said, pushing his arm. He’d just been feeding! And had the nerve to be all over her now! She rose out of her bed. “How many did you have tonight?”
“That is hardly your business.”
“Right,” she agreed. “Just like Troy isn’t yours.”
“That doesn’t matter because I’ve gone all out of my way to make it my business.”
“We agreed years ago that you would not interfere unless it was another vampire. Troy is not a vampire!”
“But he is connected to another vampire that wants you dead. I will protect you whether you appreciate it or not.”
“I wouldn’t need protecting, if you had taken care of Jerome the first time he tried to kill me.”
“Is that what you want from me, Velvet? To kill Jerome or watch you and Tyra do it?”
“He’s a terrible creature that needs to be put down. I had him! I had his heart- and you let me down and betrayed the team! I can’t forgive you for that!”
“Yet, you’ve endured my presence all this time. Why?”
“Because I feel sorry for you.”
“For me?” Wilder gaped at her as if stunned. “You feel sorry for me?”
“Yes! You’re almost pathetic! Look at you, stumbling in here looking like a freakin’ J rocker! You used to be an aristocrat for crying out loud!”
“I was never an aristocrat.”
“You had class and my admiration at least. Even when you gave up the brood and let Jerome claim your home, I thought you were noble, doing it for love. It was just that you couldn’t deal with Jerome. But you had no problem trying to kill Troy right before my eyes!”
“If I wanted or cared about personal property, I’d have them back, but all that matters is you! If I must, I will keep Troy and any other man away from you in order to protect you!”
“If you hurt Troy again, or just attempt it, I will hex you, Wilder. I mean it.”
“You want him that badly? Troy? That idiot?”
“Yes!”
“Sorry, you can’t have him!”
“I’m not asking your permission.” She pushed him backward. “Get out of here, you fool, before I kick you out.”
“If I leave, I won’t come back. Is that what you want?”
“What do you care what I want?” She pushed him again, forcing him out of the bedroom. “And don’t you ever just walk up in here again!” When he started down the hall on his own, she rushed into her bedroom, slammed the door shut and sealed it.
~*~
He kept the penthouse, knowing one day he’d need his own personal refuge away from Velvet. She was a witch after all and regardless of their love, their natures would repel the other.
Touching down on the terrace, he immediately felt a presence. Magic. Excited, he spun around running to the French doors. Before touching the door handles, he realized the signature wasn’t Velvet’s. Of course not. He’d never told her about the penthouse.
“Celeste.” She sat amid the plush comfort of his leather sofa having a very big brandy, smoking a cigarette. She turned her head a tad to bestow him with a smile. “You are not invited,” he said, entering the living area.
“Fortunately that rule only applies to vampires. I can spirit myself anywhere I want.”
“I suppose you think that’s cute,” he grumbled.
“Almost as cute as this dress,” she replied, getting to her feet. She left the cigarette in the ashtray on the table. “I think red is my color, don’t you?”
“It’s very becoming,” he allowed, after a quick appraisal. She looked perfect. “But you are still trespassing.” He went to fix himself a glass of blood wine on the rocks. He felt like knocking back the entire bottle, but why give Celeste a show? Clearly, she’d heard the fight in the house. Wilder got the impression she’d have heard even if he and Velvet spoke quiet as mice.
“Don’t pretend to be cross with me,” she said, slow walking to the bar. Holding her hands behind her back, she thrust her breasts forward. She smiled when his eyes lingered at her exposed chest. “You look like you can use a good time.”
“I just ended my night out. Sorry, you got all dressed up to come over here.”
“I’m not interested in going out.” She took hold of his jacket front, putting her face close to his. “You know what I’m here for.”
“I think you’ve assumed too much, Celeste.” Unaffected, he sipped at his drink, enjoying the rich sweetness. Velvet’s blood mixed with Merlot. A gift from several Christmases past, he’d made it last.
“I suppose as long as you have some of that you can cope.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s your last bottle,” she grinned. Letting go off his jacket, she strolled back to her own snifter and cigarette. “My hat is off to Velvet though. She doesn’t have a tonic to ease her passions like you, just work and bossing everyone around. But poor you, that only works if she isn’t doing it doggie style. You haven’t been unfaithful- yet.”
“Do you have a point?”
“All that talk about protecting her was a lot of crap. You’re just jealous.”
“So?”
“You admit it?”
“There’s nothing to admit, and certainly not to you.”
“I wonder what she’d think about the blood wine, and how you use it, while she’s eating her horny heart out.”
“Why don’t you tell her and find out? As you said, I haven’t been unfaithful.” He guzzled the wine he’d hoped to savor. “Nor do I intend to be.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, real-” The bottle flew up to the ceiling, then crashed shattering, spilling blood wine into the carpet. “No!” He pitched his empty glass at Celeste’s head. “Damn you!” Raging, he grabbed her by the throat as she came up from ducking to avoid the glass. “I should kill you,” he said, but relaxed his grip.
“Go ahead, Wilder!” she screamed. “Bite me! Get her taste out of your mouth!”
The urge was great. His blood lust rose just from feeling the warmth of her flesh. If he bit her, he knew he’d have to kill her. And why not? Who’d miss her or give a damn one way or the other? “Arggh!” The lust began to fill him to the point of approaching pain. “Damn your soul, Celeste.” He ran to the terrace doors, then turned to bestow his shining amber eyes back at her. His face was demonic. She began to laugh as balls of light formed in her palms. Ultra violet. “You fool! Do you wish to die?”
“Not tonight,” she laughed, hurling a ball for his chest.
A direct hit to his heart would kill him. He met the first few blasts with his arm, it staggered him back into the doors, knocking them loose, but he kept his feet on the floor. Finally one struck through his arm, and it knocked him flat on his back. Groaning through the searing pain, he lowered his arm and stood ready to engage Celeste in mortal combat. The fool had given him no other choice by firing on him when he attempted to exit his own dwelling rather than attack her further. “Come on then, I don’t have all night for you.”
“I hit you!” Celeste cried, pointing at his smoking chest. The fabric of his coat burned more than his skin. “Impossible. You should be on your knees begging for mercy!”
“Ultra violet is deadly, especially to the heart.” Bluffing through the extreme pain, he stood straight. “But be serious, I am a master vampire and you are a mere kitchen witch.” He managed to dodge a volley of silver balls, as he marched up to Celeste, backing her into a wall. Her power was weak or she was too scared to fight up close. Wilder didn’t care which as he jerked her forward, pulling the front of her dress apart. “Now, you die!”
“No!” Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her face. “Wilder, please! Don’t kill me!”
“I wouldn’t sully my hands with your blood,” he hissed against her face. “Any more than I’d degrade my love for Velvet by sleeping with you!”
“But she doesn’t want you anymore. I can give you-”
“Nothing, but ague!” Releasing her, he let her fall to the floor. “Get out of my sight before I toss you over the balcony.”
“All right,” she sniffed, pulling her dress back together. “Just give me a minute.”
Her hands shook and Wilder noticed her perfectly manicured nails were gone. Her hands hand no fingernails. She kept her head cast down. Her big hair was raggedy like it hadn’t been combed in days. She was coming undone, he realized, right before his eyes. Curiosity got the better of him. Kneeling beside her, he put a hand under her chin meaning to bring up her face for a look.
“No! No, please, don’t!” She pulled herself into a ball, trying to hide or protect what she had left. “Give me a minute, please!”
Rising, he wondered why he wasn’t dead. She really meant to kill him in her jealous spite. Odd, he’d known he could hold her attack, but how? Automatically, he fingered the jade pin at his throat. “Velvet.” He marveled at the idea. She’d given him a talisman, strong enough to throw back at Celeste! Removing the pin to examine it, he felt the slight vibrations on his fingertips. “But how did she know?”
“ Wha- what?”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” he said, kissing the pin.
“Wilder, I’m a mess. I can’t seem to fix myself. I can’t travel like this. I need time and rest.”
“You can stay here until tomorrow night and then you better be gone for good, away from me, Velvet and Suzanne. You understand what I’m telling you?”
“I’m sorry. Please, don’t cast me out!” She began to cry, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed loudly.
“Stop it, Celeste! I am not moved or sympathetic! You tried to kill me!” He went to the broken doors of his terrace. “The only reason I didn’t kill you is because you aren’t worth the effort!” He walked over the doors and stood outside. The pain in his arm was horrible, but he got himself in the air and flew away from the mess in his penthouse.