I had never been to an airport before, let alone on a plane. It was exciting, but I fought not to show it, carefully making my expression glum and angry. That wasn’t all an act; I was furious at Bones for forcing me to go. Now that we were boarded and awaiting takeoff, my grim countenance began to slip.
He’d booked first-class tickets. The seats were leather and roomy. They reclined as well, but were upright now as the plane taxied down the runway. Glancing to my right, I saw Bones close his eyes when the aircraft picked up speed. With an incredible surge of power, it left the ground, sounds of engines groaning with the effort, and my face felt pulled back into my skull. It was amazing, and without realizing it, I grinned.
I had the window seat, and my eyes were glued to the grainy image of the ground disappearing from sight. The lights of the evening winked up at us, and after several minutes the plane eased into a horizontal position and the Fasten Seat Belts light flickered off. Flight attendants unclipped their belts and scurried to the beverage carts.
“Enjoying yourself, pet?” Bones had been staring at me while I was fascinated with the outside view.
Remembering myself, I dropped the smile from my face and scowled. “No.”
He snorted in derision. “Yeah, you look right wretched.”
Ignoring that, I accepted the offer of a drink from the flight attendant. When she passed our seat, I lowered my voice so only he would hear me. “Why did you come to my house before I was supposed to meet you at the cave? How did you know I had no intention of showing?”
Those dark brown eyes looked levelly into mine. “I saw your face when you left this morning. You looked as though someone had just walked over your grave. Give me some credit for knowing women after more than two hundred years.”
“Keep your voice down.” I looked around to see if someone had overheard him, but everyone appeared to be minding their own business. “You know it can never happen again, Bones. I made a terrible mistake last night, but now I’ve learned from it. You have to respect that.”
“Nice speech,” he commented. “Been working on it long?”
I poked him hard in the arm. “I’m serious! God, what was I thinking?” The last part was meant to be only in my head, but the words flew out.
Bones jumped all over them. “I’ll tell you what you were thinking. You were thinking you were a woman, though admittedly a young one, and I was a man, and for once in your bloody life you weren’t consumed with anguish about your heritage. You took a short trip off your high horse and found out you loved walking on the ground.”
“Whatever!” I snapped.
He reached out and lightly fingered my neck where the hickeys showed. Silly me forgot to wear a high-collared shirt. “The marks you left on my skin have healed. I wish they hadn’t. I would keep the proof of your response to me forever if I could.”
“Then thank God for enhanced recuperative powers.” Muttered because of the stab of remembrance that shot through me. The marks he’d left on me would eventually heal too, but I would never forget what had happened when they were made.
He gave a grunt of dismissal. “Tell yourself what makes you the happiest, pet. You could have walked away from me last night, but you didn’t. I know it, and now you know it too. The rest is posturing.”
He closed his eyes again and reclined the chair, leaving me to flip miserably though the pages of the flight magazines.
It was less than an hour and a half before we landed. Amazing how fast one could cross states while in the air. We collected our bags and went to the car-rental area. Bones had reserved an SUV, and after filling out the necessary paperwork we were off. He drove, of course, since I had no idea where we were staying or how to get there. The name signed on the registration forms was Phillip Arthur. So I wasn’t the only one who had false identification.
We arrived at the Charlotte Towers around eleven thirty. When Bones signed the check-in forms, I saw he had only booked one room.
“You have a package waiting for me?” he immediately queried.
The man behind the desk handed him a FedEx box and Bones tucked it under his arm.
“There are two beds in that room, right?” I asked the concierge.
The man gave a flustered look at his paperwork while Bones arched a dark brow at me. “Um, let’s see… No, the reservation requested a king size, not two queens. Ah, is that going to be satisfactory?”
“No, it’s not,” I began, but Bones gave a warning squeeze to my hand.
“Causing a scene, luv? Why don’t you run an ad in the newspaper while you’re at it? Let everyone know we’re in town. Me, I love a good fight, but you tend to like the ones that are safer. Still, if you insist…”
Defeated, I yanked my hand out of his and looked directly at the mortified concierge. “We are not having sex.” There. Had to tell someone.
He nodded briskly and passed over the room keys. “Enjoy your stay.”
“Thanks ever so,” Bones replied, eyes flashing dangerously at me.
With my head erect, I followed him to the elevator. The hotel was beautiful. It was the nicest one I had ever seen, albeit the only one I’d ever stayed in. The lounge was opulently furnished, and the room was on the top floor with lovely views of the city from the tall windows. If only I weren’t here with Bones, I’d have cried out with joy. Of course, if I weren’t here with him, I could have never afforded such luxury. You pay for your pleasure with pain, my mother had always said. A grim and often truthful motto.
Bones, ever practical, began to unpack. I busied myself with discovering the delights of the minibar and the snacks therein.
“Food! And liquor!” In my eagerness, I broke my stiff silence and heard a bark of laughter in reply.
“Is that the way to your heart? I’d have installed a minibar in the cave long ago if I knew you were so easy to please.”
“For your information, I haven’t eaten all day.”
He finished with the bags and sauntered over. “Make it quick, pet. We can feed you when we’re finished. You have to get dressed.”
“We’re doing it now?” Dismay filled me; I’d hoped for a quiet evening on the couch stuffing my face.
He gave a suggestive wiggle of his brows. “Well, we really should be going straightaway, but I know you could persuade me…”
“Not that, the job. But it’s…” I checked the clock. “Midnight.”
“Yeah, midnight, and time to kill some vampires. Come on, luv. Brought your stakes and knives in that package I picked up at the desk. Get dressed in your tight little clothes and make them drool. When you’re staking them, you can always pretend it’s me.”
I dropped my snacks immediately. “That works.”
***
Uptown Charlotte was a busier city than Columbus or Newark. There were streets lined with clubs and shops, all open until two a.m. or later. When we arrived at Club Flame, Bones had a more ambitious plan than we’d previously implemented. I was no longer going to lure the intended victim to take me for a drive but was going to lead them outside and go for them there. There was a neat little catch to that as well. There were two of them. One for me, one for Bones. Both needed to be quickly and cleanly dispatched and thrown in the SUV before anyone noticed that a murder had occurred. Personally, I thought we were both going to jail.
I wore the purple dress, cut high on the thighs and with crisscrossed straps covering my back. It was the smuttiest of all the dresses, in my opinion, but since I was acting as though two men at once was my bag… Well, there you have it. Bones went with me as well, saying that the marks didn’t know him and therefore wouldn’t recognize him. We would play the swinging couple. How romantic.
Bones looked sleazy as well, wearing a black leather vest that made his pale arms and chest almost glow next to the fabric. He actually wore pants that weren’t black. They were deep purple to go with my dress. We looked like a pair of freaks, in my estimation. Once I would have said that I wouldn’t be caught dead dressing like this, but now that was tempting fate to utter such provocative words. You just never knew what you’d be caught dead in.
Once inside we separated, not wanting to look overly cozy together. That suited me just fine. The less time with Bones, the better. At the bar, I ordered a gin and tonic and watched with paranoid concern that no one but the bartender went near the glass. Even when I looked around, my hand covered the rim at all times. Fool me once, shame on you and all that.
Bones had filled me in on the details of the two vamps while we were driving. The tall skinny blond would be Eric, and his short brown-haired friend was Ed. Eric was supposed to be distinguishable by a nose-to-jawline scar on his face, and Ed by extensive tattooing. Be still, my beating heart. When I asked what they’d done to piss off the person who hired him, he’d responded that they made a snuff film starring his employer’s fourteen-year-old son, who was human and had been snatched off the street by pure bad luck. The bankroller was human as well and had gotten Bones’s name by an elaborate hit man referral network. The vamps were supposedly no more than fifty years old each, so that was the reason for his lack of concern as to their fighting skills. Hopefully he was right.
With his height, Eric was the first one that I spotted. When Bones said tall and skinny, he wasn’t kidding. Eric was probably six foot seven inches and weighed no more than one seventy-five. If that wasn’t enough, there was the jagged scar on his face. Contestant number one. Sidled along next to him must be Ed. He was about five foot flat. As described, tattoos decorated his arms like clothing. They were on the dance floor, apparently boogying with themselves. Anxious to wrap things up before it got any later, I headed over.
Working my way through the people, I started dancing close to them. Truth be told, I’d discovered I liked to dance. It was an outlet my body responded to that didn’t involve waking up with a vampire. I caught their gaze and smiled, dancing closer until I wedged myself nearly between them. To my surprise, they didn’t seem interested. After a few minutes, Eric cast Ed a look and they moved closer to a guy about my age, making him their monkey in the middle. One look at the heat in their stare when they glanced at the other man made it perfectly clear.
Giving up, I made my way to the bar where Bones sat. He sipped a whiskey neat. It amazed me how vampires were able to eat and drink as they pleased even though their bodies didn’t work like a human’s. Plunking down next to him, I grabbed his glass and finished it in one swallow without asking.
“Looks like I could’ve kept my panties on,” I remarked conversationally.
A dark brow rose questioningly at me. “Did I miss something?”
“You sure did. Looks like you’re the bait tonight. They don’t swing my way.”
Bones ordered another drink and digested the information. Finally he gave a slight shrug. “Intelligence on these individuals only went so far this round. At least the location and time were correct. So be it, then. Keep a lookout. When I go out that back door, I want you behind me in three, got it?”
The wicked grin that slid across my face was unchecked. Good to see someone else be the meat instead of me. “I’ll be behind you in three, or they will?”
He gave me a look. “Just be there.”
“Oh, honey,” I called out merrily after he walked away. He stopped, arching a brow. “Don’t forget to take your panties off!”
Laughing, I ignored the strange looks that were cast my way from people within earshot and instead relished the dark one he threw me.
To give him credit, he worked fast. After a few dances with the boys and some drinks, they were out the poorly lit back door within twenty minutes. As soon as the door closed behind them, I set my watch and waited, moving to be in striking vicinity when the timer went off. Counting down to the last ten seconds, I pulled my stakes out of my boots and gripped them in both hands as soon as the timer hit zero.
The alley behind the club wasn’t lit. At nearly two a.m., it was deserted and pitch-dark. With my enhanced vision, however, I could make out three figures by the Dumpster, which was shaded by the long branches of a tree. One of them had just let out a scream that was abruptly choked off.
Charging forward, I launched myself onto the back of the nearest vamp, who turned out to be Eric. He spun around just before I hit him, sensing my attack. In that split second, the stake that had been aimed at his heart struck deep into his shoulder instead. He let out a howl, which I quieted by flinging one of the throwing knives dead center into his throat. Now the noise he made was more of a loud gurgle. Eric leapt for me but I sidestepped him, and he was unprepared for my speed. As he pulled himself up short, I struck out with a fierce kick, knocking him backward. When he was on the ground, I flung myself on him with a pile-driving elbow drop that smashed his ribs. Immediately I crashed my knee with brutal force into his groin. When he instinctively doubled up, the stake in my left hand found its mark and slammed home through his heart. Three wrenching twists and he went limp permanently. Springing to my feet, I looked around to see how Bones fared.
He stood a dozen feet away, watching me. From the head lying unattached at his feet, he’d been quicker than me in dispatching his target. My adrenaline pumped, blood rushing through my veins at the savageness of the brawl and the quickness of the ending. The stark reality was this: the fight was over and I wanted more. It was my first true taste of bloodlust.
“Stay here while I get the car,” he barked.
In less than two minutes the SUV pulled up as far as it could in the narrow alley, headlights off. Bones jumped out and opened the back. He twisted Eric’s head off and then threw the remainder of both their bodies into a Dumpster. Then he tossed the two heads into the hatchback and covered them with the plastic already laid out. There was a thick blanket on top of the plastic. To the casual observer, whoever that might be, it was just junk thrown in the back. As soon as the back slammed shut, Bones pulled me to him and kissed me with all the residual aggression left in him.
To say I responded was to put it mildly. Left with an overabundance of energy, I sought an outlet for release, and he was better than violence. I ripped off his vest. Buttons flew, and I dug my hands into his chest and opened my mouth to rake my tongue with his. His mouth sealed over mine, and my free hand clawed along his waist to pull him closer.
After a minute, he pulled back. “Too dangerous out here. No telling who might come along.”
“What about their corpses being discovered in the Dumpster?” I asked, my voice still unsteady from the deluge of passion and leftover adrenaline.
He grinned at me. “We’re leaving this state tomorrow, so it doesn’t matter. As for their heads, that’s why I brought the box of dry ice. They’ll ship out tomorrow to the client.”
I wondered what the father would do with his grisly trophies. The man couldn’t really put them in the china cabinet next to the crystal.
“But what about the police?” I persisted when we sped away from the Dumpster, the new home for the headless bodies.
“Coppers? That’s the funny part, luv. When a vamp dies, their body decomposes to their true age. That’s why they look like bloomin’ mummies sometimes afterward. Just let them try to figure out how two stiffs dead over fifty years ended up in modern clothes stuffed into the garbage. Makes me laugh just to picture them scratching their chins about it.”
“Really?” The more I learned, the more I realized how little I knew.
“Yeah, really.”
We stopped at a red light. He leaned over and kissed me, lacing his fingers in my hair. I loved the way he kissed me, as though he were drinking in the taste of me and still coming back thirsty.
A horn blared at us, telling us the light was green again. He ignored it, even when it sounded several more times, until he was finished exploring my mouth and my lips were slightly swollen. Rolling down the window, he gave a one-fingered salute to the car behind us and sped through the light just as it turned red again. I leaned back into the seat, eyes half-closed, and watched his profile as he floored it through the sparse traffic. We made very good time back to the hotel.
As soon as he parked, he pulled me to him again. God, but he could make me ache with need, no matter that I knew being with him was a horrible mistake. I pushed at his shoulders when his hands began to creep under the short hem of my dress.
“Not here,” I panted, which was as close to “stop” as I could force myself to say.
He wrenched away and then yanked open his door. I got out too, grabbing the coat I’d worn earlier to conceal the blood smears on my dress. After all, it wouldn’t do for me to look like the murderess I was in front of the nice hotel employees. Bones pulled his denim jacket over his bare chest and kept his arm around me as we hurried inside the lobby. The same concierge who’d checked us in was alone at the desk. Poor man, he apparently worked the graveyard shift.
When we reached the elevators, Bones shot me a wicked glance before he called out to the concierge, “For the record, we are having sex tonight.”
Mortified, I slapped him. He laughed and grabbed me, kissing me so soundly I didn’t even notice when he propelled me into the elevator. The doors closed on the stupefied face of the concierge still staring after us.
We barely made it inside the room. As soon as the door opened, we fell through it onto the floor, knocking over a nearby table and sending the lamp crashing to the ground. Bones kicked the door closed while ripping off his pants, tearing them in his impatience. I slid along the floor under him. The carpet scraped against my skin as he pushed my dress around my waist and buried his head between my legs. My hands stretched out behind me, fingers mindlessly grasping for anything at his erotic assault on my sensitive flesh. Something solid brushed by my hand, the lamp from the table. His tongue stabbed into me and I gripped the base of the light. After a moment it shattered and cut my palm. I didn’t even feel the pain. Only the sensation of his mouth registered, and it burned me as if he breathed fire.
“Now. Now…” The words were raggedly spoken in pure desire. Everything ached to have him inside me again.
“No,” he growled, voice muffled against my skin and tongue ruthlessly tormenting me with pleasure.
“Yes. Now.” My fingernails ripped the carpet in frustration, spine arching with every wet stroke.
“Tell me you want me. Say the words.” He paused long enough to lift his head so he could see my face. His eyes drilled into mine, unrelenting, and his tongue flicked out to tease my quivering flesh.
Sparks nearly flew off me. “Yes, oh God, yes. I want you. Now.” If I had national secrets to spill, I would have. Anything to make him comply.
He dragged his mouth up my stomach, pausing to rend my dress from me and draw on each nipple before his body covered mine. I opened my legs and gave a shuddering moan as he slid inside me. He rocked his hips slowly, and my arms wrapped around him so that nothing separated us. My hand bled where the glass had sliced into my palm. He held my wrist and sucked on the cut while continuing to move within me. I pulled it out of his mouth and kissed him, tasting my blood and other things when his tongue caressed mine.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he murmured into my mouth.
Good, I thought. Then you won’t stop.
Bones locked his arms around my waist and flipped us over, leaving me on top. This hadn’t happened before and I hesitated, unsure.
His stomach muscles flexed as he sat up. His hands caressed my back, dark eyes bright green with lust. One sensuous arch under me as he rubbed his loins into mine took my shyness away.
“Bones,” I moaned. “You feel so good it drives me crazy.”
He smiled and bent his head to my breasts. “That’s the intention. Now it’s your turn. As hard or gentle as you want, you decide. You’re in control.”
I repeated the motion he’d just used. The hard slide of his flesh was punctuated by his pelvis hitting my most sensitive spot, sending heat flaring through me. Being in control had never felt so good.
“Let’s see if I can make you crazy,” I said throatily and began to move with single-minded purpose.
***
“Shit!”
The word burst from my mouth when I woke up to sunlight peeking through the heavy drapes and Bones curled next to me in bed. What was wrong with me? When the sun went down, it seemed to take my common sense with it.
“Not this again…,” Bones muttered, then tightened his grip on me when I would have bolted out of bed.
I squirmed, very aware we were both naked and repeated chafing was not a good idea. “Let me go.”
He appeared to ponder it for a moment and then pulled me closer. “No.”
“Come on, Bones! We have to stop this, can’t you see? This is no good, not for either of us.”
“You’re the only one who doesn’t respect yourself in the morning,” he countered.
“All right, I admit it: I am clearly attracted to you. Why wouldn’t I be? You’re gorgeous and smart and funny, and you’re also the only person in my life who hasn’t made me feel like a freak. Oh, and you’re unbelievable in bed. There, are you happy? You’ve gotten what you want, why can’t you just leave like he did!” It came out of me before I even knew what I was saying.
Something flashed across his expression, and then his voice was low and resonating. “I am not him. You’d do well to try to remember that.”
“But you’re a vampire, Bones, and nothing can change that. There is no future for us. We have to stop this now.” Before I get hurt again. Before I care for you more than I already do.
“’Fraid I can’t do that, luv,” he finally answered.
My fingernails dug into my palms. “Why? You don’t need me, you can do the tracking on your own.” Despair gripped me, because I was very afraid I didn’t possess the willpower to end this on my own.
He touched my face, and the gentleness in that gesture pierced me to the quick. “Because, Kitten, I am in love with you.”
My mouth hung open, and my mind briefly cleared of thought. Then I said, “No you’re not,” because denial was always my first response to something I feared.
He let out a snort. “That is one truly annoying habit you have, telling me what I do and do not feel. After living for over two hundred and thirty years, I think I know my own mind.”
“I can’t believe you’d stoop this low.” If he hadn’t been holding me, I would have jumped up in outrage. “You’re not like Danny? He also lied about his feelings to get some action.”
“And why do you think I haven’t said anything before now?” he shot back. “I never wanted you to wonder if I was merely cajoling you into bed with meaningless prattle. However, I’ve already gotten you on your back, and it wasn’t by declaring my devotion to you. I simply don’t care to hide my feelings any longer.”
“But you’ve only known me two months.” Now I tried arguing the point, because denial apparently didn’t work.
A slight smile curled his lips. “Kitten, I began to fall in love with you when you challenged me to that stupid fight in the cave. There you were, wearing almost nothing, blood in your hair from where I’d struck you, chained hand and foot, questioning my courage. Why do you think I made that arrangement with you? Oh, don’t get me wrong, you ended up doing splendidly. Much better than I thought you would, but as you said, I can do this alone. So could you now, for that matter. You’re strong enough, fast enough, smart enough. Truth is, luv, I struck that bargain with you so you’d be forced to spend time with me. I knew you’d never agree any other way. After all, you had such hang-ups about vampires. Still do, it appears.”
“Bones…” My eyes were wide with his revelation and with the growing knowledge that he was serious. “We’d never work out together. We have to stop this now, before it goes any further.”
“I know what makes you say that. Fear. You’re terrified because of how that other wanker treated you, and you’re even more afraid of what your dear mum would say, not to mention you still think all vampires are evil. But we are who we are, as men and as vampires. Just as you choose how to live your life with the power you have, so do we. You certainly never thought you’d shag a vampire, yet here you are in bed with me again. So although now you may think it could never work between us… Well. I don’t give up so easily.”
While he spoke, my death grip on the sheets loosened and the rigidity of my limbs relaxed. Not one to let an opportunity pass him by, he closed the distance between us and kissed me when my guard was down. His hands wound through the sheets until he pulled them away from my body. The sudden feel of his incredible skin pressing along the length of me caused me to gasp. Those hands began to move over me, seeking the places he knew were my weaknesses with unerring accuracy.
“You see, I told you,” he whispered as I trembled under him, “I don’t give up so easily.”
We ordered breakfast later from room service. Well, by the time we ordered it, it was actually more like lunch, although I still chose the pancakes and eggs with bacon. Bones watched in amusement as I scarfed the food down eagerly, scraping my plate when it was empty.
“You know, Kitten, you can always send for more. You don’t have to chew the dishes.”
“Wouldn’t matter if I did. I think you already lost your security deposit,” I replied, casting a meaningful look at the shattered lamp, broken table, bloodstained carpet, overturned couch and various other items that were in a condition other than how we found them. It looked like a brawl had taken place. One sort of had. A sensual one, anyway.
He let out a contented noise and settled back with his arms flung carelessly over his head. “Don’t fret. It was worth every farthing.”
“What’s that?” There was a marking underneath his inner left arm, and I traced it with a finger. “I never noticed this before. Crossbones. How appropriate.” The tattoo was etched with just the outline, and his pale flesh emphasized the black ink. “When did you get it?”
He reached down and held my hand. “Over sixty years ago. Rather like a name tag. A mate gave it to me. He’s dead now; he was a Marine in World War II.”
Talk about a generation gap. That tattoo was over three times my age.
He had his laptop set up in the bedroom, and Bones went to it and logged online while I visited the bathroom. When I came out, he stared in satisfaction at the screen.
“Bank wire transfer completed. We’ll be shipping the heads tomorrow before we board, and that a neat hundred g’s for the lot. That’ll be $20K for you, Kitten, and you didn’t even have to kiss either of them. Not bad for a few minutes work, is it?”
“I don’t want the money.” The reply was immediate. I didn’t even have to think about it. No matter that the shallow, greedy part of my brain screeched in protest.
He raised a dark brow at me. “Whyever not? You earned it. I told you that was always part of the plan, even though I didn’t let you in on it right off. What’s the problem?”
Sighing as I sat heavily on the edge of the bed, I tried to articulate the whirling of emotions and thoughts that consisted of my conscience. “Because it isn’t right. It was one thing to take it when we weren’t sleeping together, but I don’t want to feel like a kept woman. I don’t know why I can’t say no to you and make it stick right now, but I won’t be your girlfriend and your employee at the same time. Really, the choice is yours. Pay me, and I stop sleeping with you. Keep the money and we continue on in bed until I get my head fixed to where I can resist you.”
He laughed outright, coming over to where I sat and putting his head on my lap while dissolving in hilarity. His arms grasped me around the waist, and when he finally pulled back, his eyes were pink from tears. “And you wonder why I love you. When you boil it all down, you’re paying me to shag you, for as soon as I stop, I owe you twenty percent of every contract I take. Blimey, Kitten, you’ve turned me back into a whore.”
“That’s… that’s not… Dammit, you know what I meant!”
Clearly I hadn’t thought of it in those terms. I tried to wrest away, but his arms hardened like steel. Although still sparking with humor, there was a definite glint of something else in his eyes. Dark brown orbs started to color with green.
“You’re not going anywhere, luv. I have twenty thousand dollars to earn, and I’m going to start working on it right now…”
***
“Wake up, Kitten. We have to be at the airport within the hour.”
I didn’t remember drifting off. Then again, my brain hadn’t been functioning at all after the third shattering climax, or was it the fourth?
“Where are we going?” I asked, sitting up. We seemed to be always on the move, and all I wanted to do right then was sleep.
“Back home.”
“Oh no, I never even called my mother.”
Bones cast a sidelong grin at me. “Going to tell her how much you enjoyed Bible study? I seem to remember you calling out the Lord’s name several times this afternoon.”
“You’re a pig.”
He was too. An arrogant, dirty, insatiable pig, and God help me, I reveled in it when we were alone. “I’m going to tell her the truth.” His eyebrow rose in amazement before I quickly amended, “Er, some of the truth. I’ll tell her I went with a friend to do a job. Thanks to the marks on my neck, she knows I’m sleeping with someone. You’ll be tickled to hear the day you came to pick me up, she was out buying me condoms.”
“Really?” he said with a laugh. “Quite thoughtful of her. Are you going to bring them over so she’ll think you’re practicing safe sex?”
Something between desire and despair shot through me. “Any sex with you isn’t safe, no matter how many condoms were involved.”
He leaned closer until his mouth nearly brushed my ear. “Since when do you like to do anything safe?” His teeth caught my earlobe for a moment, and then he sat back again. The mere brush of him against me caused me to quiver, and no, there was nothing safe about it.
“What will you do, Bones, when one day I finally say no and mean it?” Even I recognized the grimness in my tone.
He looked at me sharply for a moment and then shrugged. “Write you a check, apparently. And then work on changing your mind.”
***
The plane landed at five thirty, right on schedule. We picked up our bags and waited for a cab. Bones was very handy when it came to that; he would just glare at the drivers with his green gaze and compel them to stop. They did, even if they already had passengers. That happened twice, to my embarrassment. Finally we flagged one without occupants and started back to my house. He had been oddly quiet since our little chat. When we were within five minutes of my place, he suddenly told the driver to stop.
“What?” Turning to look at him, I saw his eyes were green again. Great, now what?
“Sit there and face forward. All you see is the road. All you hear is music.”
He used that resonating voice again, the one that caused hairs to sit straight up on my neck, but he wasn’t talking to me. The driver nodded, fixing his eyes forward with a dull stare.
“I am so not having sex with you in this backseat, Bones. Do you know how unsanitary that would be?”
He chuckled and put his arms around me. “That wasn’t the idea. Not that you couldn’t convince me of it, of course. Actually, I was thinking of your family. I take it you don’t want me to walk you to the door and give you a kiss good-bye in front of them? As I said, I could convince your grandparents it was a girl they saw, but that leaves your mum. Somehow I don’t wager you’d want me to hold her down and drink her blood so she’d believe whatever I told her.”
“Absolutely not.” The mere thought of him meeting my mother sent chills of horror down my spine.
The look he gave me told me he didn’t appreciate my vehement response. “As I said, your grandparents think you’ve been to a Bible study with another girl, so that’s what they would have told your mum. Yet you have fresh bruises around your neck. Unless this is a lesbian Bible study the likes of which crowd control would become necessary, those two things don’t mesh.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t keep leaving bruises on me. Then we wouldn’t be having these problems.” The prissy tone of my voice sounded comical even to me. Who was I kidding?
A knowing smile curved his lips. “Kitten, if I didn’t heal so fast, my back would be a river of scars from your nails and there would be bite marks all over me.”
My face flushed and I cast a panicked look at the driver, who still hummed to himself. “Since when are you complaining about that?” I hissed.
“I’m not,” came his instant response. “The point was that you don’t like your family seeing such marks on you. One simple way around that: take some blood from me, and away go the nasty reminders you’ve shagged the undead. Really, pet, I’m being considerate. Doesn’t bother me a bit that you look like you’re wearing a bruise necklace. In fact, I rather enjoy—”
“You’ve made your point!” Exasperated, I poked him. He just eyed the spot and grinned.
“Subliminal message? Looking for a poke? All you had to do was say so. You might not fancy the backseat, but we could go right into those trees and—”
In frustration I kissed him, because at least that usually worked to shut him up. Bones responded without hesitation, pulling me next to him while his mouth moved over mine in a centuries-perfected way that left my head spinning. My arms crept up around him before I knew what I was doing. Then, tearing my mouth away, I attempted to slow my jagged breathing.
“How?”
He drew me against him again and leaned back so we almost reclined. “Kiss me again, Kitten.”
His voice was husky and his eyes were emerald, telling me that he felt the same passion I did. Slowly, I lowered my mouth to his, and right before our lips met, I saw a flash of fang. When his tongue slid into my mouth, I tasted blood. It should have repelled me, but there was something disturbingly sensual about sucking his blood off his tongue as we kissed.
Bones ran his hands down my back, sliding over my hips. His tongue quit bleeding, but I hadn’t stopped kissing him. His fangs were fully extended now, as were other things on his body, and either I had to stop or let him lead me out of the car to finish this in the nearby bushes.
“Bones, no.” Chastity won out this round, and I pushed away from him.
“I want to see you tonight.” The heat in his eyes told me it wouldn’t be for training. Well, not battle training.
“No. I just got back, I’m barely ever home anymore. This weekend I move into my new apartment. These next few days with my family will be all I’ll have for a while. Something tells me my grandparents won’t be visiting often.”
“Where is the apartment?”
Oh, I’d forgotten to mention it before. Silly me forgetting that soon I’d have my own place where no one could track his visitations.
“Near the campus, about six miles away.”
A light sparkled in his eyes. “You’ll be only twenty minutes from the cave then.” How convenient. Bones didn’t speak the last part. He didn’t have to. “I could come to you tonight. No one would see me.”
“No. I’ll call you with the address on Friday. You can come over late after my mother leaves. Not before. I mean it, Bones. Give me a little time. It’s already Monday.”
He took my hand and kissed it, cradling it in his while that green light still glowed in his eyes. “Friday then. I’ll hold you to it. No more running.”
“Running?” Why? I certainly didn’t feel in the mood for jogging.
Then his meaning penetrated. When I got home and looked into my mother’s eyes, I would second-guess a relationship with him all to hell, I knew. He must have known that too. But right now the only face in front of me was his.
“No, I’m too tired to run, and you’re too fast. You’d only catch me.”
“That’s right, luv.” Soft, but with unyielding resonance. “If you run, I’ll chase you. And I’ll find you.”
***
It was a busy week. There was final registration for classes, books to pick up, and the deposit and rental agreement signed with my new landlord. When Friday dawned, my mother actually cried, hugging me to her in bed and sniffling that tonight she’d be sleeping alone for the first time in over nineteen years. I wished I could have said the same.
There were precious few things to pack up. I’d bought a box spring and mattress and a dresser for my clothes. Add a few lamps and an old desk for studying, and that was the whole enchilada. I hoarded as much of the money as possible, knowing I would still have to get a part-time job to make ends meet. When Bones found out about that, he’d freak.
He had been underneath my thoughts all week. To my horror, one morning my mother asked me if I’d had a nightmare the previous evening. Apparently I’d been saying the word “bones” in my sleep. Yeah, it was a nightmare all right, just not what she thought. Mumbling something about graveyards, I brushed her off, but the reality remained. Friday came too fast, much too fast.
My grandparents let me keep the truck, which was nice of them. They had been less than pleased with me lately, but I received a stiff hug from each of them when it was time for me to leave. I was waiting until the last possible moment to call Bones with the address, because the thought of seeing him again made my knees weak. How was I ever going to break this off?
“Be sure and learn good, child,” Grandpa Joe gruffly muttered to me when I started to pull away. My eyes pricked with tears, because I was leaving the only home I’d ever known.
“I love you both.” I sniffed, blinking back the moisture which threatened to leak out of my eyes.
“Don’t forget to keep going to Bible study with that nice young gal,” my grandmother instructed me sternly. If she only knew what she was saying.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be seeing her soon.” Real soon.
***
I sat on the floor of my new apartment, staring at the phone before I finally picked it up and dialed.
The knock came less than twenty minutes later. Not knowing what to do with myself in the meantime, I’d taken a shower and put on new clothes. With the time apart this week, I’d rebuilt my determination to cease all activities with Bones that didn’t involve a stake. Being with my mother had certainly helped that process. She couldn’t stop talking about how vampires were demons from hell and deserved to die, between admonitions for me to study. My hair was still wet from washing it when I heard him rap on the door. My, but he was prompt.
I opened the door… and all my strong, self-righteous intentions crumpled when I saw him. Bones stepped through the entrance, locking it behind him while pulling me into his arms. God, but he was beautiful with those chiseled cheekbones and pale skin, his body hard and seeking. His mouth covered mine before I could get a breath in, and then I didn’t need to breathe because I was too busy kissing him. My hands trembled when they reached up to grasp his shoulders and then clenched when he reached under my waistband to feel inside.
“I can’t breathe.” I gasped and wrenched my head away.
His mouth went to my throat, moving over the sensitive skin as he bent my spine until only his arms held me upright.
“I missed you, Kitten,” he growled, pulling off my clothes.
All of my carefully rehearsed words on how we could no longer continue this flew straight out of my head. Instead, I ran my hands to the front of his shirt and pulled it out of his pants.
He swept me up in his arms and asked a single question. “Where?”
I jerked my head in the vicinity of my bedroom, too busy feasting on his skin to answer. He carried me into the small room and nearly flung me on the bed.
***
“Well, luv, I wanted to see your place before I bought you a housewarming gift. Little did I know that you’d need a whole bloody apartment.”
Bones was sprawled out naked on the bed, looking for all the world like a fallen angel. He stared at the shabby bedroom with a look of mild disdain. “I should slaughter your landlord for charging you money for this hovel,” he went on.
I wasn’t entirely sure if he was kidding, but at the moment, I was feeling too languorous to be offended. “This from the man who lives in a cave. Hardly a Hilton there, is it?”
He grinned. “Hate to break it to you, but my cave is nicer than this. Anytime you want to go back on that silly refusal to take your cut of the money, just tell me. Never fear; I won’t stop shagging you no matter how many checks I have to write.”
“You actually have a bank account?” That was so… normal.
“Several. Why, want to try to coerce me out of my money? Steal my account numbers and rob me blind?”
“No, but if you have money tucked away, why do you live in a cave? Granted, it does have more amenities than this, but it is what it is.” I had never thought about his finances, but now that the subject was open, I was curious.
He stretched. “Safety, for one. I can hear you coming a mile away when you approach. Good warning enough if some other beastie wants to take a stab at revenge for one of the jobs I’ve done. Or one of the things I’ve done for free, for that matter. Besides, it was only supposed to be temporary. Didn’t plan on staying here this long.”
“What changed that?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them.
“You know why,” Bones answered softly.
He grasped my shoulders and forced me to face him. I stared at his collarbone, unwilling to look in his eyes. He traced my face with his fingers delicately, as though I might shatter. How true that was.
“Don’t hide yourself, Kitten, look at me.”
Although I would have given worlds to refuse, my pride wouldn’t let me be so cowardly. Always pride before a fall.
His eyes were brown, and something about their lack of vampire green affected me more than if he’d tried to cloud my mind with his power. Maybe he already had. Maybe that was why I couldn’t resist him.
“I meant what I said before. I love you.”
It was unbelievable how three little words could smash through me with the weight of a wrecking ball, and how unfair that they could never change what he was.
“I wish you wouldn’t say that.” My voice was barely a whisper.
“I wish you would,” he replied at once.
I dropped my head against his shoulder in defeat. “Isn’t it enough that I can’t say no to you? That I’ve gone back on everything I believe in by being here with you? God, you have no idea how every time I’m away from you, I build myself up to be so strong, and then it all comes crashing down as soon as I see you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to look my mother in the eye, knowing I’m sleeping with the same kind of creature that raped her?”
“Don’t you dare compare me to him,” he snapped. I blinked, because he looked as furious as I’d ever seen him, and here I was within biting distance. Smart, real smart. “Do I hold you responsible for the evil that humans do? No, because that would be ludicrous. At the same time, although you try so hard to forget, you are half-vampire. Are you not responsible for half the misery the bad ones cause, then? No, because you are only accountable for what you do. When you finally get that through your head, you’ll be a much happier person, if you live long enough.”
Bones jumped up from the bed. Dumbfounded, I watched as he yanked on his pants and then pulled his shirt over his head.
“You’re leaving?” This was a first. Usually it was me who stomped off in a huff.
“Yeah.” Crisply. “Now you can sleep snug and not fret about waking up with any creatures beside you.”
My mouth was still open in disbelief when he slammed the door behind him.
At once remorse filled me, followed quickly by rationalization. Okay, so perhaps I was out of line calling him a creature, but really, I’d called him much worse before.
Not after he told you he loved you, my conscience whispered.
Right, then, bad timing. But when was a good time to call someone a creature? Before or after breaking in the new mattress? Besides, how was I supposed to refer to his species? As the formerly alive?
Anything except creature, monster, or all the other names your mother has called them, that inner voice continued until it felt like I had a proverbial angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.
Don’t feel bad. Bones is a vampire who beat your head in the night you met—
Because I’d been trying to kill him.
He forced you to endure unmerciful training—
That will probably save my life in the future.
So what! He seduced you, took advantage of you—
Yeah, I was really fighting him off.
You can’t trust him—
But he hasn’t let me down yet.
He’s using you, you fool, just like Danny did!
Then why does he act NOTHING like him?
Miserable, I burrowed into the covers, an ache growing in my chest from how big, lonely, and empty the bed now seemed. The truth was this: regardless of the fact that Bones was a full-blown vampire, I had treated him much worse than he’d ever treated me. Once again, I had been wrong, so wrong. But was it better to leave things the way they were? I’d started today with the goal of ending things between Bones and myself, and now it looked like I’d done a bang-up job of that.
But the thought of never seeing him again made that ache in my chest swell until I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Even if he’s had enough and his walking away is for the best, he deserves an apology from me, I decided, that ache easing a little at the thought of calling him. It was the least I could do, I told myself as I got up and grabbed my robe. Yeah. That’s why I had to call him right away.
But when I got into the kitchen and stared at my phone, I paused. I should probably spend some time actually thinking about what I was going to say before I spoke. If I’d done that before, I wouldn’t be in this situation now. I stood there for several minutes, holding the phone in a tight grip as I went down a mental list of possible apologies. If only there was a lovely, eloquent way of saying, Hey, know what? I was a total ass and you had every right to leave. But I couldn’t find a way to pretty up those cold, harsh facts, and I was concentrating so hard trying to find one that I didn’t notice the knock on the door until the second one.
I glanced at the clock on my phone. Almost midnight and I didn’t know any of my neighbors. Who else could it be?
I opened the door and let Bones in. With an almost abashed look on his face, he thrust a bouquet of flowers into my hand. I gaped at them, speechless.
“I’m sorry I stormed off like that, Kitten. You’re really blasted young, and sometimes I forget that everything seems only black-and-white at your age.”
The selfish part of me was relieved and wanted to leave it at that. Yippee, he was sorry so I didn’t have to be! But that damned little voice of conscience wouldn’t shut up.
“No, Bones. I was wrong. Very, very wrong, and you didn’t deserve that, so I’m the one who’s sorry.”
With a smile, he laid a gentle hand on my forehead. “You don’t feel feverish, but you must be impaired to have willingly admitted such a thing. Or did you just down an entire bottle of gin and this is drunk-speak?”
That mischievous glint was back in his eyes, and I thrilled to see it even as I pretended to be flippant. “There isn’t any alcohol in the place, thank you very much. And what did you just do? Knock over a florist?”
As I spoke, I looked around for something to put the flowers in. The gesture touched me so much; I was afraid I’d embarrass myself completely and start to cry in front of him. These were the first flowers I’d ever received.
Bones came up behind me. When I felt his arms fold around me, I leaned back into them like steel to a magnet.
“There’s an all-night grocer down the road,” he said softly. “I was in the midst of driving home when I spotted it and decided to pop in. It was either buy the flowers or smash the place, but I had to do something.”
“I like the flowers,” I murmured, turning around and reveling in the feel of him holding me tighter. “But most of all, I’m glad you came back.”
Danny hadn’t, even when I’d done nothing to deserve him walking out. Bones had, and I’d given him more than enough reason to keep going. I wrapped my arms around him, that ache in my chest returning as I inhaled, taking in his scent and closing my eyes as his lips brushed my neck. Right then it didn’t matter that I was the only one of us who was technically alive. He didn’t need to breathe because I breathed for him, and my heartbeat surely pushed the blood through his veins as well as through my own.
Right then, in my arms, he was as human as he needed to be.