Part 17 (1/2)

She'd take him there, say good-bye, and hit the road. Under the circ.u.mstances it was the smartest thing to do. She didn't need him in her life right now, and he certainly didn't need her.

Maybe, after she found the Madonna, she really would come back and see him again. See if the feelings were still there.

That's not it. You don't want to let him go.

Blood was going to be a problem; Nick knew that she couldn't keep feeding him hers. She'd stop in Nimes and see if she could make a clandestine withdrawal from one of the city's hospitals or blood banks.

Nick looked over at the man sleeping in her bed. There was something about him that echoed inside her, as if they were back in her dream. But why did the Green Man insist he wasn't Gabriel? Why did he talk about Gabriel as if he were dead? Did the dream have any meaning? She figured the dandelions represented all the new doubts and old fears gnawing at her; only she could rid herself of them.

She would, too, as soon as she found the Golden Madonna. She'd never be free to love anyone until she did.

Chapter 12.

Gabriel woke soon after Nick finished packing, and carefully got to his feet. ”Has the sun set?”

”Almost.” She picked up the towels Adelie had provided and tucked her scissors into her back pocket before she handed one of the towels to him. ”Wrap this around your waist; we're going to take a shower.”

He didn't move. ”I will be seen.”

”As long as you're quiet, no one will come looking.” Nick tugged on a long, snarled piece of his hair. ”This needs was.h.i.+ng and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g. Unless you're into the homeless-hippie look.”

Gabriel allowed her to lead him to the bathroom, but caught her hands when she tugged at the towel at his waist. ”I am not completely helpless,” he told her. ”I can bathe myself.”

”We had this argument last night. You lost. Besides, if we share, the innkeeper won't get suspicious about how much water I'm using.” Nick removed the towel and started the shower. ”You're okay with being naked with me, aren't you?”

”Oui,” He reached and with startling accuracy ran the tip of his finger down the hollow of her throat. ”I only wish that I could see you.”

”I'm nothing special. But you...” Nick admired the width of his shoulders, and the hard, lean muscle under the mottled skin of his chest. The green burn scars didn't disguise how beautifully he was made. ”You're very hot, even for a vampire.”

”You're kind.” He sounded as if he didn't believe her.

”Rarely.” She quickly stripped down to the skin before stepping into the small cubicle. ”Here we go-step over the edge, like that-there you go. Hair first.” Once she had him inside, she reached up and pushed his head back to wet the tangled mane.

”It feels good.” He turned his face into the lukewarm spray.

Nick worked her hand through his hair to make sure it had gotten saturated before she tapped his shoulder. ”I can't reach you all the way up there. Bend down.”

Gabriel put his hands on her waist and knelt in front of her, his mouth level with her chin. ”Is this better?”

If only she were six inches taller. ”That's fine.” Nick concentrated on the shampoo, and getting it out of the bottle and onto her palm. ”Close your eyes.”

”Soap will not harm me.”

This close, Nick felt as if she could dive into his eyes. ”They're distracting.”

She worked the shampoo through the matted length of his hair and used her fingernails to gently scrub his scalp. Mud-colored foam and water ran down his back, and it took two more scrubs and rinses before Nick got the last of the dirt out.

”You've got a major rat's nest going here,” she said as she ma.s.saged a handful of shampoo into the clean but knotted length. ”I might have to cut it pretty short if I can't comb them out.”

”I do not care.”

Nick lathered a washcloth with the bar soap and went to work on his body. The dip in the river had gotten off most of the blood and surface grime, but what she had thought was an uneven tan turned out to be another layer of dirt. Beneath it his skin was golden brown where he wasn't burned and dark green-brown where he was.

His hands moved up as his head bent. ”Let me have the soap.”

Nick placed the bar and cloth into his hands. He dropped the cloth and rubbed the bar between his palms. ”Let me look at your back again,” she said.”I want to wash you now.” His soapy hands encircled her neck, sliding down and over her collarbone before sweeping up to lather her shoulders. ”Lift your arms.”

Nick reached for the ceiling, shuddering as Gabriel stood and followed the length of her arms with his hands, first up to her wrists, then down the insides. His thumbs explored the soft crescent s.p.a.ces under her arms-two places on her body that Nick had never considered erotic until that moment-before chasing the line of her ribs.

The foam on his hands, she saw, had been washed away. ”You need more soap.” And she needed to step out of here before she wound herself around him like a starving octopus.

”You need to eat more,” he murmured, moving his hands under her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to cradle her waist. ”You feel so thin.”

”I've got a weird metabolism. I told you I wasn't much to look at,” she tried to joke. She glanced down to see what he was doing and saw his erect c.o.c.k, the slick, engorged head pus.h.i.+ng out from his foreskin, bobbing between them.

His palms grazed over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, dragging at the tightly puckered nipples. ”Are you cold?”

”Not exactly.” She swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. ”I see a spot I missed.”

Now Nick went on her knees, steadying herself with one hand on his thigh. Soap still clung to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and she cupped them, catching his p.e.n.i.s between the inner curves and ma.s.saging him from the purple-red tip down to the broad base.

Gabriel's hand slapped the tile wall as he braced himself. ”What are you doing, ma mie?”

”Guess.” She tilted her head, allowing the shower spray to rinse off the foam before bending her head and kissing the glans.

His hand threaded through the wet curls at the back of her head. ”Faites comme vous voulez.”

Nick nipped the inside of his arm. ”Oh, I intend to do exactly as I please.”

She moved up and then down, sliding his shaft between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She gave the straining head of his c.o.c.k a quick, light suck when it came up far enough to touch her lips, and then freed it to squeeze it between her aching b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Nick knew that, much as she wanted to, she couldn't spend the afternoon playing with him in the shower. As soon as she felt his shaft swell and tighten, she released her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and took him in her mouth. Breathing in and pus.h.i.+ng down until her lips met his body, she held him and caressed him with her tongue, sucking as he muttered her name, as his hand pulled at her hair, as his hips jerked. His s.e.m.e.n burst from his c.o.c.k in one long, delicious gush, as cool and thick as cream.

Nick loved how good it felt to give him the pleasure he had been denied for so long. She let him slide from her lips with slow, greedy reluctance. ”All nice and clean now.”

Gabriel lifted her up to meet his mouth, and kissed her so deeply and pa.s.sionately she almost came right there. But the water had turned cold, and if they stayed any longer someone would be coming upstairs to see what was going on.

”We gotta get out of here.” She reached behind him and shut off the spray.

”You owe me the payback now,” Gabriel told her, pulling her closer. ”And I very much want to collect.”

She chuckled. ”It'll have to wait until we get to your place.” She nuzzled his chest. ”We seem to have this thing going with water.

Have you got a good, hot shower?”

”Five of them, and a sunken bath, and a whirlpool.” He kissed the wet top of her head. ”We will make love in all of them.” Nick dried off with Gabriel, dressed, and left him in the room while she went downstairs to pack the bike and settle her bill.