“We'd better spread the word that a white-haired vamp is risking all of us. He has to be stopped.” Maybe my shop name hadn't been such a great idea. Ray had come straight to me looking for a vampire. Not exactly blending.
“Quit worrying, Gloriana. The vampire community here is tight. We'll find him and straighten him out.” Damian frowned and put the car in gear. “If he wants to stay in Austin, he's got to play by our rules.”
“Good.” I felt a little better. New place, new friends. You never knew what you were getting into when you relocated. The Austin vamps seemed to have it together.
“I don't know what to make of the praying. Most vampires are afraid God has turned his back on them.” Damian smiled and touched my cheek. “Not you and me, of course. How could God not love us?”
His smile was charming and I couldn't argue with his logic.
“Thank you, Damian. I hope I didn't interrupt anything tonight.”
“Not anything important. Busy night?”
“Yes. Wonderfully busy. We're a hit.” I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes. “It's hard work though. And I'm not sure I'll do enough business between now and dawn to justify staying open twenty-four hours.”
“Time will tell. Give it a while for word to spread. Your shop is interesting. And there are many night creatures looking for a place to shop. Not just vampires, but mortals who work a night shift.” He turned a corner and headed up a hill.
“Thank you. And you're right. There are lots of night owls, mortal and otherwise. I'm impatient, I guess. Always did like instant gratification.”
Damian's eyes lit up. “My philosophy exactly. How would you handle a detour before I take you back to the store?”
“Detour?” I looked down to where he held my hand. Boy, he was smooth. Instant gratification. Was it my imagination or did everything he said or did seem to be about sex? Not that I was complaining. He turned up the winding street on Castle Hill.
“I think it's time I show you my coffin.”
I laughed and brushed at my hair blowing in the cool night air. “You've just reinvented the come-on.”
He grinned as he pulled into the curved driveway and parked in front of the heavy wooden front door. “Is it working? Will you come on?”
He was out of the car and opening my door before I could decide. The last time I'd been here, Blade and I had made love. Blade had sent red roses tonight.
“Are you trying to kill this?” Damian pulled me out of the car and looked down at me.
Of course he'd read my mind. He toyed with the tab on my zipper. It was low enough to show an inch of cleavage, thanks to Emmie Lou.
“There is no
this.
And I haven't killed anything in centuries. ” I glanced at the castle. Grand stone entry flanked by gargoyles. “I'm not staying long, but I
would
like to see this coffin I've heard about.”
“It's a start.” Damian pulled me toward the door.
“Wait! My shoes.”
“You won't need them.” He swung me up and into his arms.
“Are you crazy? I'm no featherweight, Damian.”
He strode easily up the steps, reminding me that he had vamp strength. So did I, but for now I was content to relax and let him show off.
“You weigh nothing, less than a feather.”
I hugged his neck. This was fun. I felt like a bride being carried over the threshold as he juggled me to open the front door. Hold it. Not a wedding night. Just looking at his bed, er, coffin.
“You have a really cool place.” Which was certainly true if you were into castles. Which I was, as long as they had modern conveniences and were within minutes of a shopping mall like this one was.
“You'll have to come back some night and take the full tour when you have more time. I know you're anxious to get back to your shop.”
Giving himself an out if I called a halt to things? Good. He saved his pride and I had an unwimpy excuse for rushing out of here if things got too intense.
“The shop. Yes, I'm anxious.” I felt his arms cradling me and smiled. Were we really having this conversation while he held me like this? “But not
too
anxious.”
“Excellent.” Damian grinned and headed up the wide stone staircase. “Come to my coffin, pretty one.” He growled and showed his fangs.
He played up the vamp thing like this was all a game. Which it had to be. It had been six weeks, but Damian knew I'd been remembering my last visit here. With Blade. A man would have to be a fool to compete with Jeremy Blade.
“I don't just compete, I win, Gloriana.” He kicked open a door at the end of a long hall.
I'd let that comment go for now. Damian the mind reader would soon realize that I wasn't the prize in a vamp tug-of-war. Forget games. Hello, coffin. Funeral directors would have wept at its beauty. Mahogany. Brass fittings. King-sized.
“That is the most amazing bed I've ever seen.” The bed slash coffin dominated the large room. A fat mattress covered with white satin sheets gleamed in the candlelight from sconces set in niches about the room. At least six pillows were propped up against the headboard and a wine, or should I say blood, red velvet comforter was folded neatly across the foot of the bed.
Damian strode into the room. “Here's the best part.” He dropped me, no, threw me onto the bed. I sank into sheer, unadulterated soft-as-a-cloud bliss.
“I
love
this bed.” I threw back my arms and looked up. Gilt cherubs flew along the edge of a wooden canopy lined with more white satin. A fancy coffin lid. “That thing's not going to close on me is it?”
“Not unless I press this button.” He reached for the headboard.
I sat up. “You wouldn'tâ”
Damian laughed and kicked off his shoes. “Just kidding. Relax. Lie back.” He settled on the bed beside me and we lay there shoulder to shoulder. “Cool, isn't it?”
The bed, yes. And the man? Not cool. Hot. Candlelight flickered over his Roman nose and strong chin, shadowed by a slight beard. Masculine. Powerful. Very sexy.
I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my hand, giving him a good view of cleavage if he'd just check it out. He checked and grinned. And reached for the tab again. The sound of that old metal zipper riding down my body was a total turn on. Should I stop him? He looked up, his eyes gleaming, daring me to stop him as he inched the zipper lower.
A dare? I reached for his shirt and unbuttoned it just as slowly as he was unzipping me. He had a beautiful chest, smooth, muscular. He breathed deeply as I skimmed my hands over him, stopping just short of his waist band and the bulge below it. I knew a point of no return when I saw it.
If I did this it would be just sex. A release. Some of that instant gratification we were both supposed to be into. Because I didn't know Damian well enough to make it into anything more.
“Quit thinking.” Damian sat up and brushed my hair back from my forehead, reminding me that I was a windblown wreck. A horny windblown wreck.
“I can't.” My mind was racing. Did Damian share his sister's appreciation of a curvy woman? I felt cool air on my breasts above my lacy low cut double
D
push-up bra. Damian's warm hand brushed down my body to my new thong panties. Flo had dared me to wear them after she'd brought home seven pairs in seven different pretty colors and thrown them on my bed. I loved them. They made me feel free and very sexy. And they were skimpy enough to distract from my tummy. I sucked it in anyway.
“You
are
very sexy. And I love voluptuous women. No skinny sticks for me.” He brushed his fingers over the swells of my breasts. “I like . . . curves.” He pushed open the jumpsuit. “Beautiful.”
“Wait a minute.” I wracked my brain. I'd had reasons why this wasn't a good idea. But his look of frank appreciation made them fly right out of my head. Maybe there was something to be said for an ancient male. Skinny used to be a sign of poverty. To look at me, you'd think I'd been a bloody millionaire.
I sighed as he ran his hands over me, murmuring compliments. I couldn't read his mind, but men tend to block everybody at first. I didn't really expect that kind of intimacy so soon. Wait. This
was
soon. I should slow things down. Our first date. Date? Who was I kidding?
I'd
called
him.
“Relax, Gloriana. Don't make this too complicated. We'll have fun. Nothing more.”
Nothing more. Fine. I wasn't ready for more. And I was a with-it happening twenty-first century kind of vamp. A woman who took her pleasure where she found it. Full speed ahead then.
“No need to rush, Gloriana.” Damian leaned down to skim his tongue along the edge of my bra. “I love your breasts. Let me see all of them.”
He found the front clasp of my bra and popped it open. My own vamp magic. Centuries old boobs still perky in my twenty-four-year-old body. The real deal and definitely one of my “on” buttons, if you know what I mean.
Damian growled and leaned down to kiss one nipple, sucking it into his mouth and then lightly dragging his fangs back and forth across it. Pleasure jolted through me. There's nothing like sex with a mind reader. I could draw him a mental road map to my personal nirvana. Hmm. Which should it be? The scenic route or a more directâ
“Oh. My. God.” I dug my fingers into his thick hair and held on. Damian blew on my damp nipple, then moved to the other one. Oh, yes. Good move. Perfect move. Uh huh. Now do the fang thing again. If I could just catch my breath, I'd tell Damian what an incredible lover he was.
A phone rang.
Phantom of the Opera.
My phone. In my pocket. I pulled it out and threw it across the room.
“Mmm. Good choice.” Damian didn't even bother to look up.
“Damian.” His clever mouth abandoned my breasts to explore my stomach. His tongue dipped into my navel. Why bother holding my tummy in when he obviously loved it? He'd discovered my almost-panties and plucked the elastic with his fangs. I shivered. Another point of no return. Was I ready for this?
“I'll
make
you ready.” Damian sat up and shrugged off his shirt, then pulled me close until my breasts pressed against his chest. My bones were melting. Then he kissed me and his kiss was just as delicious as I remembered. No, better. The friction of his chest against mine, the press of his arousal between my legs. I moved against him. Better and better. Damian stripped off my jumpsuit and tossed it aside.
“Answer me, Gloriana.”
No! Not now.
“Beautiful.” Damian stroked my stomach, then hooked his fingers on either side of my thong and eased it down, kissing a path down one leg. I lifted my foot, quivering when his tongue lightly traced my arch. I'm not ticklish, thank God, but if he wanted to work his way up . . .
He grinned and nipped at my toes. “On my way,
cara
.”
“Answer me or I will come to you.”
“Stop it! Leave me the hell alone.”
Damian sat up, my hot pink thong dangling from his wrist.
“What? Have you changed your mind?”
“Where are you?”
“I'm not answering. Go. Away.” I couldn't believe Blade would
pursue
me like this.
Damian threw the thong across the room. “Son of a bitch! I hear him. What is he? Your keeper?” He looked around as if he expected Blade to materialize at the foot of the bed. Which was a possibility. Blade had a built-in homing device that could zap him right to my side no matter where I was. Damian was no more furious than I was.
“He
thinks
he's my keeper. But he definitely is
not
.” But he was a real mood killer. “Get out of my head. Right now, Jerry. I'm safe. That's all you need to know.”
“Gloriana has a new protector now, Blade.”
Thank God Blade was in
my
head and could only hear my voice. All I needed was two possessive vamps duking it out over yours truly. But where did Damian get off declaring himself my protector? This had started as a quickie. No strings.
“If you show up here, Jerry. We're through. No more Valdez.
Nada
. Read my mind. I
mean
it.” I gave Damian a blistering look as I climbed out of bed to retrieve my bra and panties. “I don't need a protector, Damian. I can protect myself.”
I stepped into my jumpsuit, zipped it up and waited. Probed my mind. Blade was gone. When I picked up my phone I could see that he'd left a message. Later. Maybe never.
“That was a first.” Damian lay back on the satin sheets. He must have been an outdoor man in his mortal life, because he had a natural tan. “I'm not adverse to a little
ménage à trois
, but I prefer another woman in bed with me, not a hairy Scot.”
“You would.” I was up to here with men, no matter how gorgeous and sexy they were. I ignored my still sizzling body parts. What had I been thinking? No question what was on Damian's mind. He was obviously still very aroused.
“Take me back to the shop.”
“What did I do?” Damian rolled out of bed, picked up his shirt and stepped into his Italian loafers.
“It's not you, it's me.” I shook my head. “Cancel that. Yes, it's you. That whole protector thing.” I felt his hand on my back and ignored it. I was not falling under his spell again. Not until I had my own issues resolved. Which might be never. His hand moved lower and I whirled around and shoved him away.
Of course he wasn't about to just give up. He was a man, wasn't he? And he'd almost scored a minute ago.
“I misspoke, Gloriana. I meant partner, not protector.” He captured my hand and pressed it to his chest. “Come back to bed. We'll do whatever you want.”