Real Vampires Know Size Matters (15 page)

“She drugged you.” Bart stood in the door from the kitchen. “I hope you don’t mind, but I kept that extra key and let myself in the back door.”

“Doctor.” Jerry turned, clearly jumpy. “Seriously? It was a drug. Not—”

“Not amnesia. Or at least not a recurrence of your old problem.” Bart came into the room and kissed Cait on the cheek. “Gloriana, you look, um, dangerous tonight.”

I nodded. “Thanks, Bart. That’s exactly the look I was going for.”

“A drug, you say. Any idea what kind?” Jerry sat again, clearly relieved.

“You don’t want to discuss this now.” Bart glanced at me.

“Oh, yes, he does.” I leaned forward. “Was it the date rape drug? Did that voodoo vixen make Jerry have sex with her under the influence?”

“What the hell?” Jerry shot to his feet again, one of his knives in his hand. “No one can force me to do that.”

“Want to bet?” Bart faced him. “Sorry, Jerry, but this drug makes you lose track of time, forget what happened, and does a number on your libido. While you were under its influence you
had
to have sex, were wild for it. It scrambles your brain, makes you lose touch with reality and of course wipes out your memory. While you were drugged you might have even imagined you were with another lover. Gloriana for example.” Bart glanced at me. “If you said her name during the act, I’m sure that would make the woman who drugged you hate Glory even more.”

“God, I need a shower.” Jerry looked sick and staggered away, holding on to the banister when he headed up the stairs.

“Bart! Surely there’s been a mistake.” I felt like crying, my urge to talk tough vanishing. “You really think Jerry might have had sex with Mel and not realized who or what he was doing?”

“Exactly.” Bart sat in Jerry’s spot and pulled Cait against him. “It’s a hell of a drug. The bitch was clever. Ian and I are still trying to figure out how she got it into Jerry.” He spouted some scientific jargon that went right over my head.

“He didn’t want to drink from her. He wanted to kill her.” I looked toward the stairs. I wanted to go to Jerry, console him somehow. But the idea that he’d been intimate with that woman . . . My stomach churned.

“Ian is all over it. He’s fascinated by the voodoo connection. We’re wondering if she mesmerized Jerry somehow, then made him drink a tainted blood. I don’t know.” Bart kissed the top of Cait’s hair. “I can’t imagine how you feel, Glory. Knowing how she used Jerry.”

“How
do
you feel, Glory?” Cait’s eyes filled with tears. “Are you furious, hurt, ready to give up on my brother?”

“Mad at Mel of course. But I can’t abandon Jerry now. You heard him. He loves me. He was trying to protect
me
.” I stood.

“Don’t blame yourself, for God’s sake.” Bart was on his feet. “But I’m sure he could use your support right now. She made a fool of him. He’s a proud Scot. We can’t stand to be exploited.”

“No, it’s the worst kind of humiliation. If I abandon Jerry now, she’s won, hasn’t she? No way in hell I’m giving her my man.” I stalked to the stairs and ran up them. When I got to Jerry’s bedroom door I heard the shower running. Steam filled the bathroom but I could see Jerry through the glass shower doors. He was leaning against the tile, the hot water hitting his back, his head bowed, the picture of despair. I couldn’t stand it. I stripped off my clothes, piling them on a chair in the bedroom before I slid the glass shower door open.

“Gloriana. How can you want to be with me now?” He didn’t reach for me. His eyes were bleak when he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel clean again.”

“Then let me help you.” I grabbed the bar of soap and a washcloth. “And of course I want to be with you. You’re my lover, my best friend, Jerry.” I smiled, kissed the spot under his right shoulder blade where he had an old scar, then ran the cloth over his broad back. “Relax and let me take care of you. This is just another battle wound. It will heal.”

“I don’t deserve you.” He turned to me, letting me soap his chest and his earth brown nipples as the water hit us both.

“Quit talking, Jerry.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I just said that. How many times have I begged you to communicate, to share your feelings? But this moment is too important. I know you don’t want to hear it, but you were Mel’s victim.”

“By God!” Jerry’s fists clenched.

“That’s right, you should be livid, not up here feeling sorry for yourself. You’re a virile, dynamic man who always makes my knees weak when you look at me, touch me.” I gave his body a good checking out, my heart pounding as I saw how aroused he was. I ran that soapy washcloth down to scrub away any hint of voodoo priestess from his cock. I couldn’t bear the thought that she’d taken him inside her.

“If that woman were here now, I’d break her neck with my bare hands.” He pressed his fist against the tile wall and I could see his muscles jump. “Gloriana, you are the only woman I want. I hope you believe that.” Jerry pulled me against him, our bodies slick and warm, easily finding our fit from years, no, centuries of practice.

“Prove it.” I wrapped one leg around his, his hard cock nudging my inner thigh. “You’re mine, Jeremiah. Take me with your eyes wide open. Know you’re with me every minute. I don’t need to cast some lame-ass spell to have you, do I?”

He lifted me, wrapping both my legs around his waist as he pushed into me. He pressed my back against the tile, the warm water cascading around us. Feeling him inside me, I thought about what he’d said. That my blood was home to him. Sweet words. And so very true for me as well.

“Drink from me, Jerry. Get more of her poison out of your system. Drink until you can’t remember what in hell she tasted like.”

He growled and leaned forward, striking hard, his mouth rough at my jugular. I’d stoked the anger simmering inside him. I wanted him in fighting form, not moping around like a wounded little boy. As he began his rhythm, coaxing an answering arousal in me with a clever finger, I had proof again that he was far from an inexperienced child. Jerry knew all my pleasure points and easily brought me to a screaming crest. Then he turned off the water and wrapped me in a towel.

On his bed, he stripped away the cover to stare down at me.

“My beauty. Let me love you.”

“Have at it.” I smiled and held out my arms. He fell into them, kissing me breathless before he rolled me over to lick a path from my shoulder blades to behind my knees with stops in between. I moaned when he pressed open my legs and pulled me up to kiss me intimately. His clever tongue made me call his name and beg him to come inside me again. He did, mounting me and riding me like he was the bull in a barnyard. He held my hips, his arms strong, his cock filling me and making me gasp as he surged into me time after time.

He said my name over and over, as if to reassure himself that he was with me, only me. I came apart, crying out his name, my heart demanding it. When he rolled me over to face him, I felt loose-limbed, replete.

“Drink from me, Gloriana. Or are you afraid my blood might be infected by that creature?”

My answer was to pull him down so I could sink my fangs into his vein. I tasted his blood and couldn’t help the questions that haunted me. Did it taste different? Contaminated by Mel’s evil? I didn’t stop for long, his sweet familiarity reassuring. I drank until satisfied, licking the punctures closed with a sigh.

“I love you, Jeremiah.” I snuggled against his shoulder.

“And I love you, Gloriana. Will you forgive me?” He kissed my wet hair.

“What did
you
do? That bitch tricked you. Scared the hell out of you with her mind games. Let’s forget it ever happened. We need to plan what we’ll do next. I’m going to try to use voodoo against her. I’ve even got a book coming, with a recipe for a potion in it.”

“You think you can cook up something to send her away?” His voice was skeptical. “Since when do you know voodoo?”

“I called an expert. Hang loose for a few days. Avoid her and let’s wait for the book.” I rubbed my hand over his chest, thinking about maybe going another round.

“What if I left town? I still have that management problem in Miami and I thought I could do some investigating. Maybe I can find out more about Melisandra’s background if I go back there and ask some questions. There might be something I could find out that could help us.” Jerry had caught on to my idea of another round and slid his hand down my waist to the curve of my hip.

“Not such a bad idea. I know Mel’s stuck here all weekend because I saw an ad for her seminar in Austin Saturday night.” I sat up. “But you’ve known her for years, Jer. Didn’t you have a pretty good idea of her background then? Meet some of her friends and family?”

“Not really.” Jerry actually flushed. “It was a hot and heavy affair, Gloriana. We would meet at my hotel and, you know, get together. I have no idea if she has anyone important in her life. So this is worth a shot. Maybe I can find out if she has any vulnerabilities.”

I lifted his hand off my hip. Counted. Put it back. Okay, I couldn’t be mad at him for an affair he’d had when we’d been apart. I’d had my own, two actually. One when Jer and I had kind of been together. Anyway, it was an area we didn’t need to explore right now. Instead we had naked bodies and healthy appetites that deserved exploration.

Shallow? Sure. Too much introspection can lead to short and sad relationships. That’s one reason Jerry and I had lasted for centuries. We skirted deep issues, kept things light. It helped that he was usually all action and did very little talking. Now he proved he was still that way, rolling me under him and kissing me silent.

Finally, he pulled back and stared into my eyes. “Are we okay?”

“I suppose. Go to Miami. Get the dirt on Mel. Give me time to get that picture of you two being ‘hot and heavy’ out of my head. In the meantime, a demo of ‘hot and heavy’ here and now might help.” I tugged on his hair, just to show him I was semiserious.

“Gloriana, she’s mortal. There’s no comparison. I was making do until I could be with the woman who takes ‘hot and heavy’ to a whole new level.” He grinned and rolled until I sat astride him. “Look at you, perfect, tasty and able to read my mind. What more could I ask for?”

What more indeed? I leaned down to kiss him, shoving my old insecurities into the dark corner of my mind where they usually skulked. Perfect? Not hardly. But he didn’t seem to mind my extra pounds or the way my ass dimpled. So I put a little extra enthusiasm into my lovemaking, to give him something to remember while he was in Miami. With luck, he might even find something useful there.

• • •

“This
book came while you were at Jerry’s.” Aggie tossed it at me when I walked into the apartment after sunset the next night. “Pretty creepy stuff if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you. What are you doing opening my mail?” I frowned. It was an old book and Aggie’s rough handling hadn’t helped it any.

“I thought it might be something I ordered online. A new diet book. I figured you owed me. Nice that you’ve got a credit card on file at Amazon.” Aggie groaned when she settled on the couch. “Flo is killing me. I swear my thighs are paralyzed.”

“No pain, no— Hey! How did you get my password anyway?” I grabbed my laptop. Sure enough, it didn’t take me long to see she’d ordered a book and a couple of other things. Candy? How did that fit on her diet? I started to change my password.

“Please. You used your cat’s name. Boogie. How easy was that?”

I stopped typing. I’d been about to change it to something equally easy, the name of my shop. I smiled and typed in Aggie’s name. She’d never guess that. I closed the computer.

“Stay off the Internet. Don’t use my credit card. Are we clear?”

“Desperate times.” Aggie frowned when Sienna came in wearing a vintage leather jacket. She’d had Megan call for the price and had ended up buying it in the shop. “Look. Everyone is shopping but me.”

“Goodwill has leather jackets. Check it out.” I smiled at Sienna. “Looks good.”

“Yes, I think so. Thanks for the great deal. I also bought some early Christmas presents but I can’t imagine how I’m going to handle giving them out.” Sienna’s eyes filled with tears. “Guess I’ll tell the family I have to be in the studio, recording, so I can’t come home like I usually do. I’ll just mail the gifts.”

“This first Christmas it would probably be for the best.” I patted the couch next to me. “By next year you’ll be able to work out a way to be with them only at night and not arouse suspicion.”

“I can’t tell them I’m a vampire? Seriously?” Sienna blew her nose. “I don’t think that’s a promise I can keep.”

“Think about it. They’d freak if they realized vampires really exist, wouldn’t they?”

“Well, my baby sister would probably be cool with it. She’s a big
Twilight
fan. But Mom and Dad?” Sienna sniffed. “No, I can’t imagine it. I’m from a nice little town in Oklahoma. We have football on the weekends, you know high school games where everyone goes. I actually went back for homecoming last year and my first boyfriend got me a corsage. One of those big mums with streamers.” She smiled, obviously remembering.

“Sounds . . . nice.” I couldn’t imagine it. It was like a movie I’d seen once.

“It
was
nice, though I didn’t realize it back then. Everything’s so
normal
. I was always a freak in high school. So I ran away. Which broke my folks’ hearts. We’ve made our peace and they’re over it now. Proud of me. But a vampire? No, can’t see it.” Sienna collapsed with a sigh.

“Your sleep cycle would give you away. If you went home, how would you explain that you conk out when the sun comes up and simply can’t wake up until sunset? It’s just too bizarre for ‘normal’ people to deal with. Forget church on Sundays.” Picturing Sienna’s “normal” family made me wistful. Not that I had a clue about how a real family acted. My only exposure had been TV reality shows and I hoped that wasn’t how most families lived.

“You’re right. The lunch after church is always a big deal. You should see the way my mom feeds me when I’m home. Cooks all my favorites. And even if I stayed in a hotel, which my folks would never allow, it wouldn’t work. My mom would be pounding on the door of the Holiday Inn before noon, wanting me to drive over to the mall in the next town to shop the after Christmas sales.” Sienna wiped her wet cheeks. “I love that shit. What did Ray do to me?”