Real Vampires Don't Diet (34 page)

"You going to be okay if I just park you out on the front porch, V?"

"Sure. I'm not jonesing to witness your humiliation."
Valdez laid his head on my thigh.
"Sorry, Blondie. Sorry as hell. You
have a right to your feelings. Whichever guy you want, go for it. Just think about your history with Blade. He's been
taking care of you for a long time. The man deserves respect. Ya know? "

"I love him, V. I do. But Ray's my friend. I admit he's been pushing to make it into something more but Well, Ray didn't deserve to be attacked like that. Jerry didn't give either of us a chance to explain what was going on out there." I tucked my impossible hair behind my ears. "Oh, hell, it looked worse than it was."

Valdez raised his head.

"Never mind. I do owe Jerry an apology. For dodging his calls and being gutless about this whole Siren thing. I should have come clean about it from the get-go."

"And worry him when he was an ocean away? No, you did what you had to. Quit second-guessing. Just get in there and
say what's in your heart."
Valdez chuffed.
"Jeez, listen to me. Dear Abby in fur."
I leaned down and put my cheek against his head. "Thanks, old pal. I need a friend right now. I can't afford you, but if Blade
had
fired you, you'd always have a home with me if you needed it."

Valdez looked up, his eyes gleaming.
"You haven't seen me in human form, but VU remember that. Flo's room is empty.
I'm claiming it."

"Fine." I opened the car door and climbed out, then waited while Valdez hopped out and trotted to the front door. He stopped on the porch, his growl alerting me that all was not right in his world.

"What's up?"

"Blade's not alone. There are at least four other vampires in the house. And three of them are not good guys."
I rang the bell and pounded on the door. If Jerry didn't answer in less than two minutes, Valdez and I were going right through the leaded glass insert. No, wait, I had a key. I was digging in my purse when Jerry flung open the door.

"Well, I guess I'd better ask you in before Valdez decides to tear someone apart." He looked at my dog. "Stand down. These vampires are under my protection."

"You sure, boss? I'm not liking the vibe I'm getting here."

"Are you questioning me?"

"Guess not."
Valdez tucked his tail.
"Glory asked me to wait on the porch. Where do you want me? "

"Porch is fine. Come in, Gloriana." Jerry wasn't smiling, but at least he hadn't left
me
on the porch.

"Who else is here, Jerry? Did you bring Lily home with you?" I followed him into the living room. A nice fire blazed in the fireplace. A woman and three men sat on the sectional couch in front of a big-screen television watching a particularly gory slasher movie. They were laughing and pointing out how lame the details were. Nice.

Jerry picked up the remote and hit a button, pausing the action as a werewolf bit into a woman's breast. The men high-fived each other.

"Cool, Blade. Let's see if we can do that all the way through." One of the men tried to grab the remote.

"After I leave the room. I have a guest. Lily, let me introduce you to Gloriana St. Clair. Glory, this is Lily MacTavish."

"Oh, the infamous Glory. The one my mother hates. Great to meet you, Glory. Anyone Mother hates is a friend of mine." Lily got up and stood next to Jerry. She had Jerrys dark hair, her mother's pale skin and a fabulous figure set off by a tiny T-shirt and low riding jeans. Her feet were bare.

"Great to meet
you,
Lily." I nodded and smiled, liking her immediately.

"And these gentlemen," Jerry said the word like he didn't even begin to mean it, "are Dracula, Benjamin and Lucifer."

"Call me Drac. I'm Lilys guy. Benny and Luke are my running buddies. We're here to protect my lady." He jumped up and gave Jerry a warning look. "Seems this guy's trying to make a claim on her."

"As my daughter, Drac. I hardly think that will harm her." Jerry glanced at me, then tossed the remote between Benny and Luke who had remained on the couch.

All three men were beautiful in their own way. Drac had dark good looks, very edgy with a restless energy that kept him moving around the room, touching a book here, a silver box there, all the while watching Lily with a hunger that was easy to interpret. Benny looked like a fallen angel, blond, with startling turquoise eyes and long golden lashes. He smiled and I almost gave him a reflex smile back until I saw his tongue flick his fangs, a sensual invitation in the vampire world. I turned my attention to Luke, Lucifer. Oh, yes. Another angel, this one Dracula dark. He had a calm about him, like he could wait forever for his prey, then would happily enjoy ripping it into pieces. I shivered as he watched me with dark eyes then smiled and nodded.

"A pleasure to meet you, Gloriana. Perhaps you'd like to sit here and watch the movie with us." He patted the couch next to him.

"No, she would not." Jerry gave all three men a warning look then put a proprietary arm around me. I took it as a good sign and was bold enough to take advantage, slipping my arm around his waist.

"Gloriana and I are going upstairs. If you leave to go hunting, remember what I said. Be discreet. If you kill a mortal or leave a witness remembering your feeding, I'll make sure you regret it." Jerry said this so firmly that even I got a shaky feeling in my stomach. The men merely nodded.

"Gee, Dad, lighten up. They gave their word." Lily grinned at me. "Blade's really protective, isn't he? He's worried we'll get caught and staked or something. I think its cute. We're doing the DNA thing this week and I almost hope he
is
my father, though I loved MacTavish of course. He was the best of dads." She blinked and looked down. Drac rushed to her side to hug her and murmur in her ear.

"You
should
be careful. Jerry, Westwood made an attempt on me the other night. Did Valdez have a chance to tell you?" Oh, boy, Jerry did not want to hear that yet another secret had been kept from him. "No, he did not. Lily, men, there's a hunter in Austin who uses olive-wood arrows and shoots with a bow. Watch out for him. He has a ranch west of town. When he hunts he wears special goggles that allow him to identify vampires. Take care if you see anyone suspicious wearing dark glasses or goggles."

The remote hit the coffee table and skidded to the carpet.

"All right!" Benny and Luke jumped up.

"We've got ourselves a challenge, boys." Drac rubbed his hands together and his grin was full fanged. "Let's find this hunter. What's his name again?"

"Westwood. Brent Westwood. If you can take him out, I'll personally pay a sizable reward." Jerry smiled grimly. "I expect you to bring me proof, of course."

"Ah, I love it. I say we chop off his head. That would be excellent proof. Right, Blade?" Drac actually had the nerve to slap Jerry on the back. A look from Jerry sent him back toward the couch.

"Hey, Benny, did you bring your ax?" Drac picked up a black cape and threw it over his shoulders.

"Of course. Never travel without it. You know, I was afraid this trip would be boring. Let's get the hell out of here." Benny and Luke threw on similar capes, Benny pulling a lethal-looking ax out of his. He grinned at me. "What do you think, Gloriana?"

"Uh, awesome." I refused to cringe when he sliced the air near me.

Lily looked at Jerry and me and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I'll go with them and make sure they clean up any messes they make." She sat down and slipped on black suede boots, then picked up her own black cape and followed them toward the rear of the house. We heard the back door slam.

Jerry stepped away from me as soon as the men left the room. He picked up the remote and turned off the television.

"Why does she run with that crowd?"

"She says they amuse her. But it goes deeper than that. She made Drac over a hundred years ago and feels responsible for him. And his gang keeps her on her toes and away from her mother. You heard her attitude about Mara."

"Yes." I looked toward the staircase. Would we still go up to his bedroom? I wasn't sure if I was for or against that idea.

"Why did you come, Gloriana?" Jerry sat in a chair, not even waiting for me to sit somewhere. Still not treating me with respect. And not heading upstairs.

"To apologize. I'm very sorry that you saw what you did out there. I made a mistake. Ray and I set up a phony engagement. To protect me from Simon. Anyway, we knew we were on video in that sunlight room. Things obviously got out of hand." My knees felt weak and I sat in a chair across from Jerry, where I could see his face.

"I know what I saw. And things don't get 'out of hand' unless you're feeling something." He glanced at my hand. "Where's his ring?"

"I just wear it for show, Jerry. It's part of the act. And what you saw" Here was the hard part. I looked him straight in the eyes and opened my mind to him. "Okay, I admit it. I'm attracted to Ray. It's a lust thing. That's all. But I'm not in love with him." I bit my lip and felt sappy tears well in my eyes. I blinked them back, determined not use that old female trick to soften him.

"I've loved you for a very long time, Jeremiah Campbell. Even you have to admit we've gotten comfortable together." I took a steadying breath. "Ray was something new and, for a while there, maybe I forgot how special you make me feel. And how I feel about you." I got up and walked over to Jerry.

I couldn't read his expression but he
was
watching me. There wasn't exactly warmth in his gaze, but none of the chill that had frozen me in the sunlight room either. Here it was. If he rejected me now, I guess it was all over.

"Jeremiah, I know you have a lot of pride. So do I. You hurt me deeply when you called me a whore. I feel that you've wronged me too. I have
not
made love with Israel Caine. I've been true to you. To what we have. If you don't believe me, then I'll leave and that's that." I stood very still and breathed through that urge to cry again.

Jerry stood. I didn't try to read his mind. That would be cheating. If he wanted to read mine, fine. He'd see that I'd told him the truth. To accept me or reject me, he was going to have to say the words. I didn't breathe again. Just waited.

"I do have a lot of pride, Gloriana. It's how I was raised as heir to the laird of Clan Campbell. Maybe it's made me arrogant, but I thought that I was enough for you." He shook his head.

I wasn't about to comment. Arrogant? Some would call Jerry confident. Whatever, it was one of the reasons I knew I could lean on him, why he made me feel safe when no one else could. I felt myself sway toward him but resisted the urge. He wouldn't look at me, but stared at a spot over my head. Not a good sign. I let my hand fall to my side.

"I know we've taken breaks before. Usually by mutual consent. This time, I thought we were still together when I left here. That's why when I saw you like that with Caine, it hit me like a knife between the ribs." Jerry put his hands on my shoulders and finally looked into my eyes.

I held very still, afraid that this was sounding like a kiss off. Oh, God, no. I wanted to close my eyes, but couldn't, in case this was the last time he'd let me this near to him.

"I consider you mine, Gloriana. He had his hands on you. Your breasts were touching his body. God damn it, woman, those beautiful breasts should be seen by no man but me, touched by no man but me." He crushed me to him and took my mouth with his.

I stopped thinking and tasted him, tasted blood where his fangs scraped against my tongue. And I didn't mind. If I was his, then he was mine. No love words yet, but I could wait for those. Or could I? He slung me up into his arms and carried me toward the stairs. I grabbed the post at the bottom and stopped him in his tracks.

"Wait. I have to know, Jerry. Do you believe me? Or is this just a territorial thing? If we're not okay, you can put me down right now." Yeah, maybe my timing sucked, but once we hit the sheets, I didn't want to have to rehash things. I wanted this settled.

"Aye, lass, I believe you. I think I'd know in my gut if you'd lain with another man." His smile was rueful. "Maybe that's crazy."

"Which is it, Jerry? Do you believe me or your gut?" I stared up at him.

"Gloriana, I want us to be together. You came here. To me. Not to Caine. That's all the proof I need that I'm the only man you want. Now can I carry you up the damned stairs or not?"

"One thing." I nipped his neck, not entirely satisfied with his answer but willing to let it go for now.

"What?" He growled and stroked my backside.

"Let Valdez in off the porch, will you? It's cold out there, and I don't want Drac and his buddies to get the idea that he's fair game."

"That shifter deserves to freeze his balls off for letting you go out to the EV headquarters unguarded, but as you wish." Jerry carried me over to the front door and reached around me to open it. "Inside. Don't say a word. The lass here thinks you should have a place by the fire. I'd as soon you had icicles on your arse." He kicked the door closed and carried me up the stairs. I waved at Valdez over Jerry's shoulder and the dog winked at me before he ambled over to settle in front of the fireplace. Jerry stepped inside his master suite and slammed the door shut behind him. A fire was going in the fireplace near the king-size bed and provided the only light in the large space. The bedclothes were rumpled, like he'd flung out of bed at sunset and hadn't bothered to straighten the covers. As if he would.

I expected him to lay me on the bed. Or toss me on the bed as he'd done a few times before. He did neither. Instead he carried me to the rug in front of the fireplace. It was a fur throw, dark, soft and probably cost the earth. Didn't matter. I lay back and watched the firelight play on the contours of his face, waiting for what Jerry would do next. He sat beside me and stared into the fire.

"You said we were comfortable together."

"Yes. It's a good feeling." I sat up, well aware that the black miniskirt I'd put on in hopes of stirring some lust in Jerry had ridden up to panty-revealing heights. And those panties were of the skimpy-thong variety. I tugged off my black leather coat and tossed it aside. If Jerry bothered to look, he'd see a red satin blouse that I'd unbuttoned to the edge of the corset I wore underneath. The shiny fabric glinted in the firelight. Not that Jerry was noticing.