2 Vampires, Warlocks, And Exes (19 page)

He looked at Leo and said, “Leo, I don’t think she’s in any shape to
walk back to the car. Will you ...you know, do your vampire thing to get her back there faster?”

“Of cour
se,” he said as he scooped her into his arms. “You three will be safe walking back. I don’t sense anyone else around.” In the next instant, they were gone leaving a gust of wind behind them.

“It’s so weird when he does the super speed thing
,” I remarked.

Tara called the dog to her side. “
We’re going to head back to the truck to call in a squad.”

Vance nodded. “Thanks.
”

I looked back at Jake’s body and grimaced. “Oh, poor Erica.”

Vance said something which reduced the light to a radius that only surrounded the two of us. He pulled a paper out of his pocket and started smoothing it out. He took a moment to read it, and then scrubbed his hands over his face. “Fuck.”

“What? Give it to me.” He started to protest but I managed to grab it before he could stop me.

“Karli, no,” he said. “You don’t need to read that.”

“Vance
,” I warned. I looked down and saw the same beautiful script on this note as the one that had been left in my apartment. It read,

My darling husband,

Happy anniversary. What would this have been? Forty years of wedded bliss? It really is a shame that you couldn’t get over the little matter of my vampirism, because having you inside of me was a beautiful reminder of what once was, and what could have been all these years. Every kiss and every powerful stroke had me in ecstasy. You really do know how to make love better than anyone I’ve ever met. But alas, you had to fall in love with the fairy. Yes, I know what she is, Vance. And if you don’t stop looking for me, I will come back to remove the rest of her blood. That’s not a threat, my dear; it’s a promise. I hope you enjoy my little gift. I will be leaving the country for a while so you can relax for now. But know this, lover...we will meet again.

Eternally Yours,

Maria

I crumpled the paper in my fist
, and bent over to puke up my lunch. After I was done retching I said, “I don’t even know what to say.” I conjured some dust in my hand and placed it on my tongue, imagining minty freshness. Ah, much preferred over bile.

Vance
had been holding my hair back for me, and released his grip as he took the note from my hand. “What did she mean when she said she’d be back to remove the
rest
of your blood?”

I winced at the r
eminder of Maria’s attack. “Um…she drank from me. In the warehouse. Twice,” I admitted.

Vance’s jaw
tightened. “What? Why didn’t you tell me this before now? Why does it always take you so long to tell me the most important stuff?” He was referring to the fact that I’d failed to tell him about the first time Leo had drank my blood until several days after the fact.

“Excuse me for the lack of full disclosure, but I was in the process of picking u
p the pieces of my broken heart! I didn’t think it was relevant at the time. I had Irina remove the blood bond so it’s no big deal.”

“No big deal?” h
e shouted. “Are you kidding me? You could have died! Again! How in the hell did she resist the bloodlust?”

“I don’t know
,” I snapped. “I wasn’t exactly in the mood to ask her.”

He raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t get this. First Leo, then Maria. They’re not supposed to be able to resist your blood. What in the hell is going on?”

A wolf howled in the distance again making me shiver. “Look, can we please get out of here?” I nodded towards Jake. “This isn’t exactly an ideal location for a heart to heart.”

“Let’s go
,” he grumbled as he led me back to the car.

                                                                     
Twenty-six

When we got back to the parking area,
I could see that Erica was sitting inside Leo’s Audi. “How’s she doing?” I asked him.

“As expected
,” he replied.

Tara walked up to us. “A team should be here in about thirty minutes.” She looked at her watch
, then at Vance. “It’s just after midnight. Why don’t you take the ladies home and meet me back here afterwards?”

“I can take them
,” Leo offered.

I nodded towards his car. “Does that thing have a back seat?”

He looked ashamed. “I’m afraid not. I’m sorry, my love… I didn’t think about it.”

Vance dug his car keys o
ut of his pocket. “Take mine,” he said, throwing them to Leo.

“How are you going to get back?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I can hitch a ride with Tara.”

Leo gave him his keys. “Don’t be silly
, Detective. We’ll trade. But if you break it, you buy it.”

He looked at the R8 and I swear he had a little gleam in his eye. “I’ll try t
o take it easy.” Oh lord, what was it with men and fast cars?

Leo helped Erica switch cars and held the door out for me expectantly. “Are you coming
, my dear?”

Vance looked at me. “My house keys are on that ring. Take her home and I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

*****

We drove back to Vance’s. Erica said she needed to
sleep, so I got her settled in bed before meeting Leo back out in the great room. He was looking around the room and appeared to be uncomfortable for some reason.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, of course, my dear. It’s just a little disconcerting being in this home, considering all of the animosity between the detective and me.”

“Yeah, I bet. I’m sorry about that.”

“Plus I can smell you all over this place,” he said.

I blushed. “Huh?”

“Your scent is all over Vance’s home,” he clarified. “I don’t like it.”

“Oh…well, um, I have been here all day. I guess that makes sense.”

“I still don’t like it,” he growled.

I put my hand on my hip. “Since when are you so territorial?”

He looked around the room. “Since I realized I don’t like your scent in another man’s house.”

I took a deep breath. “Look
, Leo, I think we should stop talking before this conversation heads down an ugly path. Thank you for bringing us back here. I’m going to stay with Erica. Vance has wards around the house so we’ll be safe. You need to get back before sunrise. I’ll call you later, okay?”

He took my arm and kissed my inner wrist. “Of course, my love. Call me if you need anything. I can send my day guy if need be.”

“Your day guy?” I asked. “What’s a ‘day guy’?”

“His name is
Takk. He’s a were. I trust him implicitly to take care of anything while the sun’s up. Security, business, picking up drycleaning…if you need him for anything, he’s yours.”

“You have a servant?”

He grinned. “I’d like to think of him as my assistant…or a trusted employee.”

“Yeah, an assistant who’s also your bitch.”

He smiled and kissed me on the head. “Well, whatever you call him, let me know if you need him. Just don’t call him my ‘bitch’ to his face. Werewolves can be temperamental. Get some rest, my dear.”

“You too.” I closed the door behind him.

Twenty-seven

I wandered
around the house for a while, not really knowing what to do. I was so tired, but my brain wouldn’t shut off. I peeked in on Erica several times but she was sound asleep. I tried watching TV, but nothing but infomercials were on, so I decided to try a bath. I walked into Vance’s bedroom and noticed that he’d bought a new bed. The old chocolate leather headboard set had been replaced by a Mission-styled bed. His cream and light brown comforter set was now slate blue which complimented the mocha walls well. I’d hate to admit this, but I was relieved that he didn’t keep the old stuff after what happened. Not that I was thinking of ever being in his bed again, it was just nice to know that if nothing else, he felt guilty enough to get rid of the old stuff and buy new stuff. I walked into the beautiful golden bathroom that I loved dearly. With a shower big enough for a football team and a Jacuzzi tub built for two, it was definitely meant for indulgence. Twin sinks to my right framed in granite and a large walk in closet to my left told me that Vance had never truly given up on the idea of sharing his life with someone after Maria hurt him so badly. This was a couple’s bathroom. I started feeling grief that I wouldn’t be the other half of that couple, but I shook it off reminding myself that I wasn’t going to be sad over Vance anymore.

I started running the tap
and searched under the sink for some bubble bath. I found the lavender scented kind that Vance and I once used together. Squashing the memory, I poured some in the tub. While it was filling, I walked back into his bedroom and opened the nightstand drawer. Bingo! His iPod was still there with headphones. I lit a candle on the bathroom counter, switched the overhead lights off, and climbed in the tub. I sank back, placed the ear buds in, and hit play. Coldplay came through nice and crisp, relaxing me big time. I started remembering my dream about being in Faerie with Vance. I knew that’s where it was because it matched the memories that he had shared with me. Despite my best efforts to change my train of thought, I lingered on how he felt inside of me…how I had woken up feeling like he was
just
inside of me. It felt so real…so
good
. I couldn’t help myself as my fingers moved down my body, cupping my breasts, tugging on my nipples, moving down to my needy core. I pulled on my nipples with one hand as I massaged my most sensitive parts with the other—all the while, thinking about being with him. After a series of frenzied strokes, I cried out his name as I came. Wow.

A knock on the door i
nterrupted my afterglow. “Karli, did you just call me?” Vance asked.

Oh shit. Vance wa
s home. And he’d heard me. I could feel my face redden in embarrassment.

“
Karli?” he repeated. “Is everything okay in there?”

I cleared my throat. “Um, yeah
, I’m fine. I was just taking a bath but I’m getting out.”

He cracked
the door open, but was at least gentlemanly enough not to peek his head in. “Are you sure? You sound strange.”

“Yeah, I’m positive
.” I looked over at the towel rack and noticed it was empty. Damn! “Uh, actually while you’re there, I seem to be out of towels. Would you mind?”

“Sorry,
I just washed them. They’re still in the dryer. I’ll grab you one.”

I stayed under the cover of bubble
s until he returned. He knocked lightly before entering. “I’m coming in.” He gulped as he saw me, and I’m pretty sure he was looking for a hole in the bubbles.

I placed my arm over my breasts and held one hand out. “Towel please.”

He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, sorry.” He placed it in my hand, but made no attempt to move.

I looked pointedly at the door. “Do you mind?”

He shook his head and smiled. “No, I don’t mind at all.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Vance, you know what I meant. Can I please have some privacy?”

He grinned. “Sure. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. Help yourself to one of my t-shirts if you want. I take it you’re staying the rest of the night?"

“Um, yeah, if that’s okay. I’d like to be here when
Eri wakes up.”

“
You never need to ask, Karli,” he said as he walked out the door.

I dried off
quickly, dressed in one of Vance’s t-shirts with a pair of boxers, and walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the crescent-shaped breakfast bar, eating a bowl of cereal.

“Do you have a spare pillow and blanket somewhere around here?” I asked. “I don’t want to risk waking Erica so I’ll sleep on the couch.”

He took one more bite before walking over to the hall closet. He grabbed two big pillows and a down comforter then threw them on the couch. “These are for me. You can take my bed.”

I frowned. “No, that’s okay. It’s your bed. You should sleep in it.”

He stretched out on the couch, fluffing the pillows behind his head. “I’m sleeping here. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like. If not, take the bed.”

“Ugh! You’re impossible, you know that?”

He grinned, which was way too sexy if you asked me. “You make being impossible fun, sweetheart.”

I threw my hands in the air, exasperated. “Jackass!”

I heard him chuckle as I stomped down the hall into his room.

*****

I woke
early in the morning because I couldn’t stop the thoughts from running through my brain. I tip-toed down the hallway, cracked Erica’s door and found her still asleep. I made it to the great room where Vance was snoring lightly on the couch. I quietly moved into the adjoining kitchen, searching for the K-cups. While the coffee was brewing, I started digging through the fridge for creamer. Vance came up from behind, startling me. When I turned around, I saw that he was holding a mug for me. How did he do that so silently? Wow, I must’ve really been spacing out.