Jessica struggled with her emotions as she stepped away from the door and allowed the group to enter. She accepted my kiss on the cheek with abstract attention.
Mei-Lien and Dao-Ming had changed into clothing that fit them and accentuated their beauty. Mei-Lien hesitated as she watched me kiss Jessica. Her eyes sent a smoldering message to Jessica as she passed that caused a shudder of dread to run through her entire body.
Mei-Lien’s time with me had created a bond between us that Jessica instantly felt. Mei-Lien was married, but it was several years since she’d seen her husband and didn’t know if she’ d see him again before she turned into a vampire and was distanced from human emotion. So much had happened. Even if she didn’t become a vampire, she wouldn’t be returning to him the same woman he’d married. How could she be?
She’d grown attached to me in the short time she’d known me, maybe more than she was to her husband. She didn’t like the thought of sharing me with another woman.
“What’s going on?” Jessica asked.
She eyed Mei-Lien and me as I escorted her to the sofa.
“Dan?” she persisted.
I glanced at Jessica with a pleading look and nodded my head toward the bedroom before returning my attention to Mei-Lien.
“Try to relax,” I said softly. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Jessica winced at the gentle, almost loving way that I addressed the exotic looking Chinese woman. The tension between Mei-Lien and Jessica didn’t go unnoticed by Shen and Dao-Ming. Nor did Mei-Lien’s triumphant glower, as she watched Jessica follow me into the bedroom.
A gasp escaped Jessica’s pursed lips and she forgot her anger and jealousy when she was the bruises and welts on my chest, back, and stomach when I took off my shirt.
“What happened?” she whimpered. When I didn’t answer, she grabbed my arm firmly. “What’s going on, Dan? Where have you been? What’s happened to you, and who are those women?”
“Can you do me a favor and grab me some clean sweats?” I asked. “Please.”
I hopped into the shower as quickly as my bruised body would allow. I knew I had to tell her the truth and I dreaded it. I needed a shower first. Then, when I felt more human, I’ d face the anger I knew my explanation would rouse in the woman before me.
“This is a joke, right?” she practically hissed.
She knew me all too well and was fully aware the I was stalling, in hopes of avoiding her question. I popped my head from behind the shower curtain and gave her my best pleading look.
“Please,” I said.
Although annoyed, she couldn’t resist my pleading pout so she stomped off to select fresh clothes. I couldn’t remember when I’d taken such a long shower. It not only felt marvelous on my aching muscles, it also prevented me from having to face Jessica and answer questions that I just couldn’t or didn’t want to answer; such as what Mei-Lien was to me. How could I tell Jessica that I she held a very strong hold of my heart and that I was considering the possibility of marriage to her, but Mei-Lien also tugged at my heart strings and had a hold on me that I simply couldn’t explain even to myself? What woman would accept this. What man, for that matter?
The cool water coming out of the shower head indicated that I’d prolonged my conversation as long as I could. I reluctantly turned the water off and grabbed the towel from the hook on the wall. As I came out of the bathroom gently drying my bruised and beaten body, Mei-Lien casually walked into the room. She ignored the look of disbelief on Jessica’s face as she came up to me with confidence and touched my ribs.
“You need bandaging,” she said seductively.
“Just what is going on here?” Jessica bellowed. She couldn’t decide whether to explode or attack. “Dan? Can you please explain to me why this strange she-wolf seems to feel it’s okay to just barge into our bedroom and start pawing at you?”
Mei-Lien gave Jessica a warning look. Her need for the taste of blood was growing stronger by the minute and this shrew seemed like a good person to have her first feed on. Sensing Mei-Lien’s barely suppressed urge, I took her hand and squeezed it firmly in an attempt to communicate to her that thoughts of this nature weren’t acceptable. My actions calmed Mei-Lien, but enraged Jessica even more.
“I see!” she spat.
Seeing me grab Mei-Lien’s hand in such an intimate fashion was the answer Jessica feared. I’d cheated on her in the past, but I’d never brought the woman home while expecting her to play hostess. Tears flooded her eyes as she lifted her chin defiantly. She turned on her heels and stormed out of the room.
“Hang on, Jess!” I called out as I moved to follow her.
My sudden movement sent a searing pain through my rib cage and I doubled over with pain. Mei-Lien seized the opportunity to guide me to the bed where she could minister my wounds.
“Damn!” I roared; more out of frustration than pain.
Mei-Lien ignored my protests as she prodded and searched for broken bones.
“I find nothing broken but you are bruised big and cut in places. We must care for your wounds or you will not fight good,” she said.
Knowing her words made sense, I surrendered to her ministries. I would have time to deal with Jessica after all of this was over. I could only hope her feelings for me were strong enough to help her understand and get her through whatever was about to occur.