Part 10 (1/2)

Avery's brow wrinkles.Why would you think that?

I flutter a hand. ”Why? Because I was on my way home from here when I got stopped. And the cop wasted no time in getting me into his car. How else would he know I was a vampire?””Did he s.h.i.+ne a light in your eyes first?”

Now it's my turn to be surprised.As a matter of fact, he did. It almost blinded me.

And weren't you speeding when you were stopped?

You got that from reading my thoughts, didn't you?

He smiles a hard, cold-eyed smile. ”I told you to be careful, not to call attention to yourself, didn't I? And what's the first thing you do, drive that sports car of yours 100 miles an hour down a city street.That's why you were stopped. And the light is the way they check for us. It's a high-intensity strobe bulb. It affects the vampire physiology. Disorients us. That cop wasn't looking for a vampire when he stopped you. He lucked into finding one, and you made it easy.”

I have to grudgingly concede that everything Avery said rings true. Uncertainty creeps into my consciousness. ”So now they know about me, don't they?”

Avery shoots me a black, layered look. ”And you may have led them right here. To me.”

Guilt makes me turn away from Avery. I was so sure I had been picked up leaving here. The possibility that I may, in fact, have put him in danger fills me with dismay. It was a stupid, rookie mistake.

Getting to my feet, I place the gla.s.s on a small table between our two chairs.I'd better go.

But he's on his feet, too, and he stops me before I reach the door. His hands are on my arms.

You can't go, Anna. It won't be safe for you to return to the cottage. You'd better stay the night.

My first reaction is to object-to his hands on me, to the idea that I'm not safe on my own. But his touch sends an involuntary tremor through me. I try, but I can't hide the reaction. I'm suddenly flooded with the memory of how it felt when I was drinking his blood. I find myself wondering how the rest would be.

”You can find out.”

He takes a step closer, heat and desire radiating from his skin. I feel his lips, a feather touch at the hollow of my throat, tantalizing, persuasive. I close my eyes and sway into him. His lips part. His breath burns.

I'm lost.

He lowers my body to the floor. His hands are gentle and sure as they gather my skirt up around my waist, unb.u.t.ton my blouse, and pull it all free. His robe falls open, exposing a smooth, bare chest. I fumble with his belt, unzip his pants. He yanks them off and presses himself against me. His skin is cool beneath my fingertips, but there's heat where our bodies touch. Electricity arcs between us, and gusts of desire that shake my very being.

Then he's inside me, and I'm inside him, pa.s.sion making us one. When his blood fills my mouth, and mine, his, the raw act of mutual possession is complete. I abandon myself to a whirl of sensation, the pleasure pure and explosive.

Nothing that has come before prepares me for this. I'm dreadfully afraid that nothing will ever be the same.

Chapter Sixteen.

I'm glad when I awaken in Avery's big bed that I am alone. I pull myself into a sitting position from a tangle of silk sheets and look around. Sunlight from huge, arched windows illuminates a room filled with antiques-heavy, carved, and made of some rich, exotic wood.

No dark, dank casket filled with earth from the motherland for this vampire.

Still, I hold my head in my hands and groan.

What have I done?

On the nightstand, there's a decanter of coffee and a china cup, along with a single red rose in a crystal vase and a note that simply says, ”You were wonderful.” I feel as if I'm living a scene from a bad romance novel.

I groan again. The night is a blur in my mind, but I remember that there was s.e.x-a lot of it-and the taste of blood as intoxicating as any wine.

You were wonderful.

No, it's not a romance novel, it's a bad fantasy novel complete with a rakish vampire and his eager protege.

I finger the note.Very eager protege, evidently.

I put a tentative hand to my neck, but there's nothing to feel. No puncture marks, no raised skin. Did I remember to do the same for Avery?

I swing my legs out of bed.That I feel. I'm sore and chafed, and as I stumble off to find the bathroom, I wonder if Avery is having the same trouble.

The thought that he might be a little tender today, too, brings a smile to my lips.

Where are my clothes?

I get the answer when I swing open the bathroom door. My dress has been neatly hung on a hangar, my panties and bra folded on the edge of the tub. It's a big tub, with Jacuzzi jets and a lot of decorative bottles promising perfumed delights.

I succ.u.mb.

I'm soaking in a jasmine-scented whirlpool when the first dose of reality hits.

Max.

Whathave I done?

I sink deeper into the water.

I was protecting, Max, wasn't I? From myself. And it's not like we're married or engaged or anything.

Right.

Well, we've never even talked about it. We've just had-what? What have Max and I had?

I lay my head back on the cool tile. I'm already thinking of him in the past tense.

The reality brings a wave of sadness. I love Max. I think. We've been together for almost two years-well, as together as a couple can be when one of them is an undercover Drug Enforcement agent. It's the first long-term relations.h.i.+p I've had in years, and it's built on mutual respect and trust.

At least it was.

Trust.

I trust Max, and Max trusts me.