Hungry for You (18 page)

“Melted meat loaf,” Cale admitted, moving to take a second bag of blood from the cooler.

“Melted? It looks fine.” Bricker poked at it. “The cheese feels kind of weird though.”

“That’s not cheese, it’s a plastic lid that melted when I microwaved it,” he explained unhappily. When Brickerraised an eyebrow, he added defensively, “I plan to replace the container tomorrow.”

“Hmm.” Bricker moved on to the next dish. “And this?”

“Rock-hard penne. Since the plastic wrap exploded and the Rubbermaid melted, I tried cooking without either. I thought maybe you weren’t supposed to cover the food at all, but it came out all shriveled and hard as rock,” he pointed out grimly. “That’s why I tried the pan for the next one. I figured you must have to cover it with something more solid than plastic.”

“How long did you cook it?” Bricker asked.

“Only ten minutes.”

“Oh man.” He laughed. “You’re lucky it didn’t burst into flames. It only takes a minute or two to reheat dishes when you have it on high.”

“Well, that explains things,” Cale said, and slapped the second bag to his teeth.

Shaking his head, Bricker moved to the refrigerator and opened the door. “There’s still some kind of pasta dish in here. It looks like an Alfredo of some sort. I’ll heat it up for you if you like.”

Unable to speak with the new bag in his mouth, Cale nodded.

“Before I forget, Lucian found a cook to replace Alex tomorrow night,” Bricker announced as he pulled the Alfredo from the fridge. “Is she sleeping?”

Cale nodded again and watched as Bricker removed the plastic wrap at one corner of the dish, and then set it in the microwave.

“You only use microwaveable plastic wrap, which I’m pretty sure this is,” Bricker explained as he began to push buttons. “But you have to leave an opening for the steam to escape.”

Cale grunted his understanding around the bag, and then tore it from his teeth as it finished emptying. “Who did Lucian find to replace her?”

“Actually, it was Lucern who got the guy. Lucian called everyone to set them on the task and Lucern called back to say he’d gotten—you won’t believe this—Chef Emile agreed to take Alex’s place.”

“Is he any good?” Cale asked, moving to set both empty bags back in the cooler.

“You’re kidding, right?” Bricker asked with amazement. “He’s a famous chef, Cale. He has his own show and everything.
Emile’s Kitchen.
He’s not only good, but this will have the media rushing to La Bonne Vie for interviews and such. It will be good press for Alex, probably get coverage of the opening of the new restaurant too since Lucern invited him to that as well.”

Cale narrowed his eyes. “He agreed? Or was convinced?”

“Agreed,” Bricker assured him, moving to the microwave when it dinged. “Lucern and Kate are in Toronto for a couple of weeks and Emile is in New York. You can’t control a mortal’s mind over the phone. Besides, I gather he and Lucern are buddies. Emile did a cookbook for Kate’s publishing house. It’s how they met. They’re always talking online.” He shrugged and took out the Alfredo. “So when Lucian called him, Lucern called Emile, and we got lucky. He apparently just finished shooting this season’s show and has a couple of weeks off. Lucern asked him to come cook for Alex and stay with him and Kate for a week or so, maybe attend the restaurant opening, and get in relaxation time … and he agreed.”

“Hmm, I’ll have to thank Lucern,” Cale murmured. He glanced toward the Alfredo Bricker was now stirring. “Is that ready?”

“No. You put it in for a minute and a half, then stir it and cook it for another forty-five seconds,” Bricker explained as he replaced the plastic wrap.

Cale nodded and turned to head for the door. “I’m going to go check on Alex again while that cooks.”

“I’ll come with you.” Bricker set the dish back in the microwave and pressed the buttons to get it going again. When he turned to find Cale had stopped to glare at him, he reminded, “Lucian wants me to read her.”

“Right,” he muttered, and turned to lead the way upstairs.

Cale paused outside the door, listening to be sure her breathing was slow and steady, and then eased the door open a crack to see that she was indeed sleeping. He turned to Bricker to whisper, “From the door, I don’t want her to wake up and find you in her room.”

“I’d control her if that happened,” Bricker assured him and then quickly added, “From the door is fine.”

Nodding, Cale stepped back and waited as Bricker peered in and focused his gaze on Alex. It didn’t take long for him to read her. After a moment, he shook his head and eased the door closed.

“He grabbed her from behind, so she didn’t see anything,” Bricker said as he led the way downstairs. “It didn’t feel like an immortal attack though.”

“Why is that?” Cale asked as they returned to the kitchen.

“He didn’t control her, not even when she went for his eyes with her nails, and he didn’t have our strength.”

“I see,” Cale murmured, moving over to the microwave to retrieve the now-done Alfredo. He set it on the counter to cool and then moved to the cooler of blood to finish off the last two bags as he waited. Before slapping the first to his teeth, he asked, “So you don’t think it could be connected to Leonius? ”

“Doubtful,” Bricker decided. “It just doesn’t have the feel of an immortal. Although I suppose Leonius could have spawned a mortal child or two. The son who went after Jo was immortal rather than no-fanger, and while it’s rare for a mortal to be impregnated by an immortal or no-fanger, it isn’t unheard of. I guess he could have a mortal son trying to win his approval by bringing him someone connected to the family.”

Cale pondered that as he waited for his bag to empty. He’d just removed it from his mouth when Bricker spoke again.

“Maybe it was just a mortal mugger or rapist,” he suggested.

“Bev suggested it might be that Peter guy who quit on Alex the day I arrived,” Cale admitted, setting the empty bag in the cooler with the other two. He then moved to search the drawers for a fork and set it on the table beside the cooling pasta dish.

“I thought his name was Pierre,” Bricker said with surprise.

“An affectation,” Cale said dryly. “His real name is Peter. And I guess he showed up recently looking to get his job back and wasn’t happy when Alex told him no.” He slapped the last bag of blood to his teeth. It was better to use them up and send the empty bags with Bricker than to risk Alex finding them in her garbage and asking questions.

“Huh,” Bricker said. “I met him a couple of times when I went to the restaurant for dinner with Mortimer and Sam. We always went in back to see Alex before leaving, and that guy was a straight-up-arrogant prick. You haven’t happened to come across his address while straightening out Alex’s paperwork, have you?”

Cale frowned around the bag in his mouth, forced to wait until it was empty before he could ask, “Why?”

“Because I’ll stop by his place on the way home and give him a read, see if it was him or not,” Bricker said as he watched Cale set the last empty bag in the cooler with the others, and then move to sit at the table.

“I don’t recall his address, but I did see his last check and know his last name. We can probably look it up in the phone book if it’s listed,” he said, and scooped some Alfredo into his mouth, then paused and simply held it there as the flavor exploded on his tongue.

“Good, huh?” Bricker said enviously.

Cale nodded and swallowed. “Alex has brought me lunches at work and I knew she was a good cook, but this is manna from heaven.”

“Yeah.” Bricker sighed. “She’s one hell of a cook.” He turned and walked to where the phone sat on the kitchen counter and opened the drawer below it, then smiled and lifted out a phone book, saying, “Bingo. So what’s Peter’s last name?”

“Cunningham,” Cale answered, and continued eating as Bricker began to leaf through the book. It took several moments, but then he made a triumphant sound. Cale glanced his way in question. “Find it?”

“Yeah, several, now I just have to figure out which one he is.” Bricker said dryly as he closed the book. As he put it away, he said, “I saw in Alex’s memory that the light wasn’t working outside the door when she left but had been earlier in the evening. Do you want me to take a look at that too?”

“Someone smashed the lightbulb,” Cale announced quietly.

“Alex didn’t know that. Why didn’t you say anything to her?”

“Because they couldn’t see that and would wonder how I could,” Cale pointed out dryly.

“Ah.” Bricker nodded in understanding. “It was that dark?”

Cale nodded. “Whoever attacked her probably did it so she wouldn’t recognize him if she got a look.”

“Which suggests Pierre/Peter is our guy,” Bricker said grimly, his gaze on Cale’s meal. “I’ll go have a meeting of minds with him. I think I’ll hit a fast-food joint on the way. The smell of that has made me hungry.”

“Thanks for bringing the blood … and for the help with heating up dinner,” Cale said, standing up to walkhim out when Bricker picked up the cooler and headed for the door.

“No problem. Give me a shout if you need anything else. If I can’t get away, I can always have one of the other guys swing by.”

“Thanks,” Cale repeated as the younger immortal opened the front door.

Bricker nodded and paused to glance back. “Good luck with dreaming. Hopefully her headache is gone now and you’ll be able to experience the shared-dreams business.”

“I’m not counting on it. She took a pretty hard knock. Even if she doesn’t have a headache, she might not be up to something like that.”

“You weren’t counting on her being your life mate either,” Bricker pointed out with a grin as he continued out the door. “Good night.”

“Good night.” Cale watched him walk to an SUV parked in the driveway, get in, and start the engine. He closed the front door and locked it as the SUV began to back out of the drive.

Cale returned to his meal then, savoring every bite of the tasty dish. Once it was finished, he dumped all the meals he’d ruined with his microwaving efforts and cleaned the dishes before heading back up to check on Alex again. Finding her sleeping peacefully, he went downstairs to the living room, and then just stood there for a minute, unsure what to do. It had taken them a lot of time at the hospital, and it was now after three. Cale had been keeping normal hours and should have been tired, but felt wide-awake.

His gaze landed on the television, and he shrugged and grabbed the remote off the coffee table, then settled on the couch and turned on the TV. Cale didn’t have a television at home, but he’d taken Bricker’s advice and watched some TV at the hotel before dropping off to sleep and knew how to work the remote, which was a bonus. He flicked through the channels until he found something that looked interesting, and then settled in to watch.

Alex woke up thirsty. Shifting sleepily, she sat up and peered around the room in the dim light creeping from the partially closed door of the bathroom. Cale had left the light on and the door slightly open in case she woke in the night, and she now appreciated his thoughtfulness, as she slid from the bed. She considered donning her robe for this trek down to the kitchen in search of water, but then decided her overlarge flannels were more than decent.

A light was on in the living room as she came down the stairs. Alex glanced toward it curiously but headed into the kitchen for the water. After gulping down two glasses, she ran herself a third, and then headed toward the living room, curious to see what Cale was doing.

She found him sleeping on the sofa seated upright, his chin on his chest. Alex grimaced at the thought of the crick he was sure to have in his neck after sleeping like that and moved closer to the couch. She considered waking him, but he looked so peaceful, so she took one of the decorative pillows from the end of the couch, and then moved in front of him. After a hesitation, shestepped between his legs, moving forward until her knees pressed against the couch. She then leaned forward to set the pillow on the sofa back behind him and tried to ease his head to rest on it.

Alex was just about to straighten and head up to her room when his eyes suddenly opened. She froze at once as if caught doing something she shouldn’t, and then smiled wryly at her own reaction, and explained, “I was afraid you’d get a crick in your neck from sleeping like tha—”

Her explanation died on a small gasp of surprise as he suddenly reached up and caught her by the back of her head. Before she could do more than blink, he’d tugged her head down over his and pressed his lips to hers. It was so unexpected, Alex didn’t react as she should have and pull away. By the time she recalled that she was trying to avoid getting involved with him and that she shouldn’t allow this, it was too late. His tongue had slid between her slightly parted lips and into her mouth, stirring up an immediate maelstrom of responses within her. Rather than push him away, Alex found herself opening her mouth wider for him and bracing her hands on the back of the couch on either side of his head.

Cale immediately deepened the kiss, his hands coming up to run along her arms. A shiver of desire slid through her at the simple caress, and then she moaned as his hands slid to clasp her breasts through the flannel of her pajama top. Alex leaned into the caress, giving him some of her weight as he kissed her most thoroughly. When he began to urge her upright,she went with some confusion, and then glanced down with surprise as she felt a cool breeze brush across her chest. Her eyes widened when she saw that the buttons of her flannel top were now undone, leaving it gaping open, her breasts on display.

She swallowed when Cale sat forward on the couch and reached to caress the revealed bounty. Her gaze slid to his face, and she watched his expression through drooping eyelids as he squeezed and kneaded the round orbs. When he then caught her nipples between thumbs and fingers and tweaked them gently, she moaned and covered his hands with her own, her eyes closing briefly as pleasure rolled through her.

“Open your eyes,” he whispered, and Alex forced them open in time to see him shift forward to the edge of the couch and close his mouth over one now-hard nipple. She watched with fascination as he alternately suckled, nipped, and flicked the hard tip with his tongue even as he continued to caress her other breast with one hand. Her body was humming with sensation, and she was hardly aware of his other hand’s moving until it slid between her legs, rubbing the cloth against her there.