Under a Vampire Moon (23 page)

“
What
?” Christian squawked.

“Well, it will kill any ridiculous notions she has that just any man can stir the passion in her that you do,” she pointed out, moving to pat Christian’s arm now.

“
What
?” Zanipolo cried. “I’m a good kisser.”

“I’m sure you are,” Marguerite said, turning to pat him again. “But the fact that Carolyn believed you might be the one in the band who was homosexual, suggests you are the one she finds least attractive, so—”

“What?” Zanipolo interrupted mournfully. “But why? Women like me.”

“Yes, dear, of course they do. You’re very funny.”

“Funny?” Zanipolo asked with horror.

“In a charming way,” she assured him quickly. “Women like amusing men.”

“He’s not kissing her,” Christian said grimly.

“Now, Christian,” Marguerite said, turning to pat him again. “Zanipolo—”

“Isn’t laying a finger on my woman, let alone his filthy mouth,” he snapped.

“Filthy?” Zanipolo turned on him with outrage.

Marguerite began to pat him again. “I’m sure Christian didn’t mean—”

“The hell I didn’t, his lips have been on more women than have died of cancer in all of history. And not just their damned lips. He’s not kissing her.”

“Now, Christian,” Marguerite started to turn to him again, but Julius stepped forward and caught her arm.

“You’re making me dizzy,” he muttered, pulling her away. He then scowled at both young men. “Zanipolo, you’ll kiss Carolyn. But no tongue, and no passion. And, Christian, you’ll let him. Once she sees how lame his kisses are compared to yours, she’ll give up this nonsense of taking a lover.”

“
Lame
?” Zanipolo gaped. “I am
not
a lame kisser.”

“Julius just means that the nanos aren’t there with shared passion so they will seem lame,” Marguerite said quickly.

“He’s not going to kiss her,” Christian repeated.

“Would you rather she kissed some random mortal?” Marguerite asked.

“She’s not kissing anyone but me,” he said grimly.

“We’re trying to help you here, Christian,” Julius said impatiently.

“It’s your bloody help that caused this in the first place,” he snapped. “Telling her I’m gay of all things. I should just march down there right now and tell her the truth about everything.”

“Do you think she’s ready for that?” Julius asked quietly.

“She may be,” Marguerite murmured, surprising everyone. When Christian peered at her hopefully, she said, “She did feel comfortable enough to talk to him about sex.” She frowned. “Of course, that may be just because she thinks he’s gay and therefore safe, but I think if she isn’t ready she’s very close . . . Unfortunately, close isn’t good enough. I’d rather you wait just a bit longer to be sure, son.”

Christian shook his head. “I want to tell her everything and take my chances.”

“In front of Bethany?” Julius asked.

“No, of course not, I’ll ask Carolyn to come outside.”

“And tell her on the stoop about immortals and life mates and that she’s yours?” he asked dryly.

Christian frowned with frustration.

“And what will you do if she runs?” Julius asked.

“Chase her,” Christian said without hesitation.

“You can chase her, but you can’t keep her if she’s unwilling. We’d have to wipe her memories of you, and you could never go near her again.”

“What?” Christian gasped with horror.

“It’s what is done,” Marguerite said quietly. “We can’t take the risk that she’d repeat what you’ve told her. It would endanger not just you, but our entire people.”

“But you said Lucern, Bastien, and Etienne’s women ran,” he said desperately.

“Yes, but Kate, Terri, and Jackie already loved them and wouldn’t have turned them in. It would have ripped out their own hearts to harm them.” She tilted her head and asked, “Does Carolyn love you already?”

Christian frowned. He’d realized today that he loved her, but . . .

“Do you want to take that chance?” she asked.

Christian sighed in defeat and shook his head. Not yet. He wouldn’t take the chance and lose her.

“Why not sleep on it tonight and wait and see what happens tomorrow?” Julius suggested sympathetically. “If Bethany comes down to dinner, Santo can put the moves on her and act as a distraction.”

“Put the moves on,” Santo echoed dubiously.

“And you can get more time alone with Carolyn. If your mother’s right, she’s gaining trust, and she likes you. Perhaps love isn’t far behind.”

“Right,” Christian muttered, and finally slapped the bag of blood to his teeth.

Eleven

“T
he captain wants you to sit by him.”

Lowering the water bottle she’d been drinking from, Carolyn blinked at the big man in front of her. She then glanced to the helm to see the captain smile and nod, his shoulder-length brown hair blowing in the breeze.

Putting the cap back on her water, Carolyn slipped it in her bag and stood to move shakily toward the bow, wishing even as she did that she could just get off the boat and go back to the resort. She’d felt fine when she’d first woken up, but wasn’t feeling so hot now. She was shaky, going hot and cold, and oddly off balance. But she’d been like that all night and suspected she was coming down with whatever Bethany had. If so, this trip was going to be one long torturous affair.

Thoughts of Bethany made Carolyn grimace. After their dinner, Beth had left her alone and gone to bed early. Carolyn had paced the villa for a bit, but then had gone to bed as well. However, she hadn’t slept well. Her night had been one erotic dream after another, all featuring Christian Notte. And every dream had seemed to be interrupted before completion by a serious case of the sweats that had sent her to the kitchen in search of juice or food. She must have been up and down five times, she thought with a sigh. And every time she’d dropped off to sleep, she’d found herself starring in another porno with Christian.

Still, other than being a little tired, she’d been fine on first waking that morning and so had Bethany. Although, Carolyn had been in such a tizzy about waking up late that she hadn’t really noticed other than to ask how Bethany was as she’d scrambled to get ready and rushed down to the boat with her. However, by the time they’d reached the main building and run into Genie, Carolyn had begun to feel bad again: a little queasy with hot flashes and an odd disorientation. She hadn’t wanted to ruin Bethany’s first outing, however, so had kept her increasingly alarming state to herself as Genie had rushed them to the dock and the waiting boat.

Genie had followed them onboard to have a word with the captain. The way she’d gestured repeatedly to them hadn’t made it hard to figure out that she was giving him special instructions to make sure they had fun. Genie had left as the last of the guests got onboard and the captain started the engine. The crew had been untying the boat when Bethany had suddenly stood, muttering, “Oh God, I’m going to puke,” and rushed off the boat.

Carolyn had stared blankly after her, her thoughts too muddled to grasp what was happening at first. By the time she’d figured it out and moved to follow Bethany, the boat was slipping away from the dock.

“No! Go! Have fun! I left the cooler with the water and suntan lotion there. Make sure you use both,” Bethany had called, waving her back as Carolyn had stared at the growing distance between the boat and the dock, trying to sort out if she could manage the jump. She might even have tried it despite the swiftly yawning distance had not one of the crew caught her arm and pulled her away with a shake of the head. Frowning, and a little befuddled as to how she’d suddenly ended up all alone on a cruise full of honeymooners, Carolyn had returned to her seat.

It seemed, however, that the captain was taking a special interest thanks to Genie, Carolyn thought as she made her way to the helm where the captain stood watching her unsteady approach with narrowed eyes. She was going to get to sit at his side like the teacher’s pet in class, she thought as she reached him. Great.

“Caro or Beth?” the captain asked, urging her to the seat next to the helm.

“Caro.” Carolyn climbed onto the stool with resignation.

“I’m Jack,” he announced.

“Captain Jack.” She nodded, and smiled wryly. “Like the pirate.”

He grinned, but simply dropped a necklace of flowers over her head, announcing, “This makes you the ship mascot. We have one every trip.”

Translation: charity case
, Carolyn thought as he signaled to the big, brawny guy who had fetched her. He was obviously a crew member, though he could have passed for a guest. There were no uniforms, everyone onboard wore shorts and T-shirts, including her. The signal was apparently to bring a drink, she realized, when the man appeared before her with a plastic cup of what looked like orange juice.

“Your morning vitamin C to ensure you have a good day,” Captain Jack said as she accepted the drink. “Best toss it back quickly, we’re about to hit choppy water.”

Carolyn glanced out at the water, noting that it was indeed choppy ahead. She supposed they were about to pass the coral reefs. She wasn’t sure, but thought those kept the waves down some. Whatever the case, drinking the juice quickly seemed smart if she didn’t want to wear it, and she drank half of it in one gulp, only to come up gasping.

“Sorry, should have warned you that we put a little firewater in to keep your blood up,” Captain Jack said on a laugh, slapping her back as she began to cough.

“It’s seven thirty in the morning,” she got out, her voice raspy and shocked.

“Yeah, but you looked like you could use it to help you get in the mood,” he said with a shrug.

Carolyn grimaced. “The mood for what?”

“Fun. Genie said to show you a good time and that’s what we’re going to do. Right, boys?”

Carolyn glanced toward the men who were all grinning and nodding. They were an eclectic crew. While Captain Jack was a tan and buff white man who looked to be in his late thirties, his crew ranged in age from young to late twenties with one large, brawny fellow who could be mid-thirties. They also ranged in color from a freckled redhead to a couple of men who were obviously native islanders.

“Drink up,” Captain Jack said, gesturing to her still half-full glass. “It will loosen you up. You can’t have fun when you’re as tense as a virgin on her way to be sacrificed. Besides, I don’t want everyone else to get wind of the fact that there’s alcohol onboard. They’ll want some and it’s not supposed to come out until the trip home.”

Carolyn grimaced, but the orange juice had actually eased some of her queasiness. And she was pretty sure one drink wouldn’t hurt, so she shrugged and tossed back the rest of the drink.

“Good girl.” Captain Jack took her empty glass to discard, and turned back to the helm, but then glanced over. “So your friend left. Sick?”

Carolyn nodded. “Since the night we arrived. We thought it was food poisoning, but I don’t think it should last this long.”

“Probably flu,” he said. “It’s been going around the island.”

“Hmm.” Carolyn grimaced. If it was the flu, she’d probably get it next.

“Any other friends here?” Captain Jack asked, adjusting course a bit.

“Genie,” Carolyn answered.

He nodded, his gaze drifting to her hand. “And you’re not married but were?”

Carolyn rubbed the telltale indent on her ring finger. “On the tail end of a very long, two-year divorce.”

“Two years . . . so not still at the screwed-up stage. Ready to date?”

Carolyn chuckled at the exaggerated leer he produced. “I don’t think Genie meant you had to go that far to make sure I have a good time.”

“I’m sure she didn’t,” he agreed with a grin. “But you’re a pretty single lady and I’m a handsome single guy and everyone knows captains make the best lovers. We know how to harden up.”

“Oh,” she groaned. “That’s a horrible play on words.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You know what ‘harden up’ means?”

“Sailing close to the wind.” She’d read it in a book just a couple of weeks ago.

“Damn,” he breathed. “I’m impressed. I usually have to explain that joke. Sometimes after I’m slapped.”

His words made her laugh as she suspected he’d intended.

“You have a nice laugh. You should do it more often. It makes your eyes twinkle,” he said with a smile. “So how long are you here?”

“Another week and a half.”

“Nice. Gives us lots of time to get to know each other,” he announced. “I came here for a week ten years ago. It’s been a long week.”

“I’d say so,” Carolyn agreed with a laugh, wondering why she wasn’t uncomfortable with his compliments and flirting. She suspected it was because she knew he was only doing it under Genie’s orders. The man wasn’t really interested in her. He’d do his job, show her a good time, then set her ashore at the end of the cruise and not give her another thought.

Captain Jack glanced aft again and straightened. “Looks like we’re about to hit those waves I mentioned. Don’t mind me if I’m a bit distracted until we get around the point. You just sit there and look pretty while I impress you with my naval mastery.”