A Girls Guide to Vampires (46 page)

That was when I realized what he was talking about. The part I was sitting in was insulated, a box within a box, made of double-paned glass. The smoke filled a thin space between the two layers of glass, no doubt making it look as if I were sitting in the middle of the smoke, when in fact I wasn't. As soon as my vision outside the box was completely obscured, the floor beneath my knees gave, and I dropped down to a small space under the stage. The skirting around the edges of the stage kept me from seeing anyone, but I could hear the crowd. They roared with laughter at something Dominic was doing, no doubt misdirecting their attention so they wouldn't notice the box wobble as I dropped. I wadded up my skirt and crawled forward on my belly when I saw a bit of light flashing at the rear, muttering to myself about ruining my lovely skirt just so Dominic could impress his audience.

Antonio, Dominic's assistant, helped me out from under the stage through another trap in the curtained-off area. Antonio pulled on a gruesome rubber mask, saying,
"
Stay here until you hear Dominic announce that he's brought back a demon from the underworld instead of you. Then you can go out into the crowd." Then he dived under the stage and headed for the box.

"
like
hell I will," I muttered, and peered out of the curtained area. My watchdogs must have been waiting patiently up front for me to return, because there was no one around the back. I slipped out and started hunting for Raphael, keeping well away from the audience around the stage.

I spotted Henri on the far side of the grounds, zipping up his pants as he emerged from a portable toilet.

"Henri, where's Raphael?" I asked as I raced up to him.

He frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be at the magic show? I thought Raphael said you were there. It's not over yet, is it?"

I almost danced with impatience. "Forget the magic show. I have to find Raphael. It's very important. Where is he?"

"He won't like knowing you're not at the magic show," Henri pointed out.

"He will when he hears what I have to tell him. Where can I find him?"

"He said you were going to stay with Paal. Raphael's not going to be happy that you left without him."

Friendly puppy or no friendly puppy, I wanted to throttle him. "Henri," I said with a smile that would do a shark proud. "Do you remember what I did to Christian in the west garden?"

His hand moved protectively to his groin as he nodded vehemently.

"Good. I don't want to have to do this, but if you don't tell me where Raphael is, I'll do the same to you."

His eyes opened wide. "He's down in the cave," he answered quickly, his voice thick.

"The cave?
Already?
Thanks, Henri. Wish me luck."

I took off like a hound after a hare, dodging around people, heading away from the festival along the graveled path that curled around the bottom of the abyss, ending at the entrance to the cave. Since the caves were only going to be open for a couple of hours around midnight, there weren't many people on the path, and those were mostly made up of couples lip wrestling.

I raced down the path toward the cool, dark entrance of the cave, large pools of yellow from the sodium lights strung overhead eating at the blackness within. There was no one at the entrance, but I could hear voices from inside. I listened for a moment, but other than guessing one of the voices was Raphael, couldn't determine whom he was talking to, or where they were in the cave. Noises tended to carry a long distance in there. I plunged in, trotting down the path, ignoring the scenic views and signs describing the various sights.

"Thank God I was here before," I said to myself as I paused at a junction in the path. The public tour continued around a bend to the left that led to the boat dock. To the right was a dirt path that according to the sign led to a maintenance area. I held my breath and listened. The low rumble of Raphael's voice echoed from the right. I started down the path, pausing for a moment,
then
sprinting down the path when a woman's voice answered him.

The path was badly lit, with lights distant and far between. I stumbled over debris and
rocks
a couple of times, but managed to keep from falling. As I rounded a bend in the path, I almost slammed into Raphael.

"What the hell?" I yelled, staring in appalled horror at him.

He stood close to a woman, his mouth almost in her hair as his rotten, stinking, cheating hands moved under the back of her sweater.

"You bastard!"
I bellowed, my words echoing down the walls of the cave. Their heads snapped around at the sound, identical expressions of surprise on their faces. The woman was about six inches shorter than me, had a slight figure, and a pretty heart-shaped face with long, curly hair that I wanted to tear off and stomp all over.

Raphael had the nerve to look annoyed. "Joy! What are you doing here?"

"OH!" I screamed, fury battling with the pain of his betrayal. I doubled up my fist and punched him right in the tattoo. He grunted and let go of the hussy he was holding to grab his stomach. "You cheating, lying bastard! No wonder you didn't want me down here until later! I never want to see you again.
NEVER!"

I spun on my heel and raced back the way I came, stumbling and tripping over rocks because I couldn't see through the tears. Suddenly the tears dried up as fury took the upper hand. How dare Raphael put his hands all over another woman? He was mine, dammit, and I wasn't going to let him get away with that. It was time he understood one
or
two things. I turned around to go back and slammed right into him.

"Dammit, woman, will you stop and let me explain?" I would have fallen but for the strong hands grabbing my arms.

"Don't you dare yell at me, you beastly man! You complete and utter rotter! You can't touch anyone else, do you hear me?" I struggled against Raphael, but knew it would do no good. He pushed me against the smooth limestone wall of the cave, his body pressed against me as I fought him. He pinned my lower half back with his legs, his hands clamping down on my head, holding me in place.

"She's a policewoman," he said, breathing heavily. "Christ, baby, did you have to hit me?"

"You're despicable," I gasped.
"Using your position to corrupt an innocent woman.
You should be hung by your toes.
And your balls.
Both.
At the same time!"

"Listen to me, Joy," he said, his breath fanning around my face. God help me, I was in love with a two-timing bastard, and even when I caught him with his hands all over another woman, he could still melt me with his touch. I sobbed anew at my own body's fickleness. "Kyra is a policewoman. She's one of Bartos's people. She's here to do a job for me,
that's
all."

I didn't want to hear him, didn't want to listen to any of his outrageous lies. "I don't believe you," I said.

"What have I ever done to make you think I'd be interested in another woman?" he said, more calmly this time, his eyes hot with desire and love.

"I…" I didn't have an answer. Behind him the woman appeared, pulling her sweater down. She asked Raphael in German what was going on. Just the sight of her renewed my fury. "She's a policewoman, huh? You had your hands all over her.
Under her sweater.
Exactly what sort of a
job
is she doing for you?"

"Kyra, show Joy your back."

"I don't want to see her back! I am not into threesomes!" I said indignantly, wondering how I could have been so wrong about him.

He rolled his eyes and repeated his order. The woman shot me a sour look and turned around, pulling up her sweater as she did. Snaked across her back was a flesh-colored cord, leading down to a thin black box about the size of a credit card. The cord and box were taped on with white surgical tape.

"She's a policewoman," Raphael repeated. "I was wiring her so we can record anything said to her. I was
not
fondling her. She's our backup in case our suspect doesn't take the bait—namely, you."

He took his hands from my head and stepped aside as Kyra murmured that she would be checking with Inspector Bartos before taking her position outside the cave. Raphael said he'd be out shortly,
then
looked back at me, speculation in his eyes.

"Somehow I always had the idea that if you ever caught me straying, you'd do more than just hit me in the belly."

"I didn't happen to have a castrating knife handy." I glared at him. "But I can assure you that if I did, you'd be singing soprano now. Policewoman, Raphael? Why do you need a backup policewoman? And why aren't you wiring me? Just what exactly are you doing?"

"Trying to catch a murderer.
You know that. I was going to wire you before we sent you out," he replied, stepping closer to me, an odd smile toying with his lips. "You're jealous."

"Well, of course I'm jealous," I frowned, poking him in the chest. "You're mine, and you're not allowed to put your hands on any other woman's back. Those are the rules, and I expect you to follow them."

"Aw, baby," he growled in that low, sexy voice that never failed to melt my bones. It did now, too. Raphael grabbed me as my legs started to give way, pressing me up against the wall again, his hands next to my head, holding me prisoner. "I'm flattered that you're jealous, but you should know by now that no other woman could begin to compare with you. You're all I want." His teeth teased my ear, his breath steaming my skin, starting the familiar inferno of desire deep inside me.

I slid my hands under his leather jacket and sweater, stroking my fingers across the muscles of his back, taking his groan into my mouth, mating it with my own moan of pleasure as he ruthlessly plundered my mouth.

"You make me so hot," he said as he kissed a wet, steaming path down my neck. "How can you think anyone else can do this to me?"

He ground his hips against me. He was aroused, very aroused. I slid my hands down to investigate, smiling to myself as he groaned again, this time louder, his groan repeating itself in an endless echo of pleasure. My fingers worked quickly to free him, so I could feel his heat, feel his need and know it was all for me. I pushed his underwear aside and sighed when I found him, hot and hard, velvet over steel. I bit his tongue and whimpered against his mouth as his hands slid into my bra, wanting to feel him deep inside me where our heartbeats would merge to one wild tempo of passion.

"Raphael," I cried desperately, stroking his hot length, driven half mad by overwhelming desire stirred by his taste and his scent and his touch, knowing he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

"I know, baby, I know. This is going to have to be quick. I'm not going to be able to last long." He pressed me against the wall, blanketing me in his heat as he wrapped his hands around my thighs and settled them around his hips. I locked my heels around him, kissing him frantically, our teeth clinking together as I nipped at his lips and tongue until he gave me what I wanted and allowed me to suck his tongue into my mouth. I tasted blood as I swirled my tongue around his, moaning as his fingers teased a fiery path up my thighs.

I pulled my mouth from his just long enough to say, "Underwear," before licking the drop of blood that welled up from his lip. His fingers stroked the satin of my underwear, then with a jerk they were gone, literally ripped off me.

"Dear God," I whispered as I felt the hot tip of him enter me. "No one's every ripped my underwear off before. That's just so…
mmmrowr
!"

"Baby, I can't wait," he all but sobbed into my neck as he sank into me.

"Don't wait," I answered, mindless to everything but the exquisite feeling of oneness that our joining brought.

He cupped his hands under my behind, his breath hot on my neck, then with a grunt of possession slammed into me, thrusting so deep he knocked the breath from me. The wall of the cave was cold behind me, but he made me burn so hot I came close to leaving scorch marks on it. He nibbled my ear and neck as our bodies strained against each other, craving that moment of completion when we were transported past mere physical pleasure. His hips thrust and
withdrew,
his pace quickening with our breath. I slid my fingers through his curls and arched forward against him, close, so close to the end of our race.

"Raphael!" I screamed just as he bit my neck, his roar of ecstasy matching my own,
the
two indistinguishable as they echoed around us.

We stood like that for an eon, our bodies still joined, his heartbeat deep inside me matching my own, our breaths mingled, ragged, as he held me securely in his arms, still pressed against the wall.

"Ah, baby, I hurt you," he said, his voice thick with satisfaction mixed with concern. His lips were warm on my neck, his tongue a silky caress. "I bit you too hard. You're bleeding."

I tipped my head back so I could see his beautiful face, untangling my fingers from his hair to touch a raw spot on his lip. "I bit you, too. If you were a Dark One, this would be the final step of Joining."

One sable brow rose in question.

"A blood exchange."
I smiled at his look of disbelief, and allowed him to lower my legs to the ground. Raphael tucked himself away, and I was just shaking my skirt down when a sharp sound started at one end of the cave and rolled past us, building in noise.