Real Vampires Hate Skinny Jeans (15 page)

“What?” I ran around the coffee table to her side.

“It moved.” Penny looked at me then back down at Alesa’s stomach. Sure enough, you could see something undulating under there, like a serpent trying to escape. I shivered. Penny cautiously laid her hand on the skin again.

“You can feel it, right?” Alesa laughed. “Try it, Glory. You’re a witness. You can tell Rafael that there really is something inside me. My baby.
Our
baby.”

I was fascinated and not a little creeped out but I put my hand beside Penny’s. Sure enough, I felt something stir under Alesa’s warm, silky skin. I don’t know what I expected, but it actually wasn’t creepy. Instead, I felt sorry for whatever was growing inside her. Because that tiny creature was doomed. Rafe was right. Alesa for a mother. What a future.

“What about me? Can I join the party?” Laurie peered over the back of the sofa.

“No! You think I don’t see your intentions, tiger? You’d like nothing better than to rid the world of a demon before it had a chance to see daylight.” Alesa glared at Laurie. “Stay away from me. I mean it.”

The were-cat just smiled and nodded. Penny and I backed away. Alesa had actually seemed—dare I say it?—afraid of Laurie. I nodded at my bodyguard approvingly then followed
Penny down the hall to help her pack. What do you know? My headache was actually gone. Seemed a little positive energy and a fierce were-cat were better than Excedrin.

Too bad I had another headache in my future. I’d never gotten around to telling Jerry about my new statue skill. He’d had an urgent business call while we were at the club. Yes, at 1:30 in the morning. That’s a vampire’s life for you.

“F
inally,
we’re away from that demon’s reek. Insane that you’re actually letting her live with you.” Jerry dragged me out into the hall and up the stairs to the roof.

“I really don’t want to argue about it, Jer.” I jerked my hand from his. “Insane”? His word choice hit me wrong, that was for sure. “Where are we going? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“Somewhere we can talk without all those people around.” He opened the door to the rooftop and cool air hit my warm cheeks.

“All those people? Penny and Trey were trying to move her stuff. You could have offered to help.” I strode to the edge of the roof and looked down at the alley. Trey had borrowed a pickup truck and I could see half of it already filled with boxes. Penny’s precious computer was going last, in the backseat of her car. She’d asked if her cat could stay with me for a while and I’d been happy to agree.

“The shifter can handle things by himself and you and I need to get this settled between us.” Jerry stood next to me, his temper fairly vibrating the air between us.

“Settled? Doubt it. Because in your mind that means I’ll stand back and let Laurie do whatever it is she does to run Alesa out of there. It’s tempting. I admit it.” I could see in his face that I’d hit the target. “But I don’t want to stir the pot, Jer. An angry demon is a dangerous demon. So I’m just going to let Alesa park in Penny’s bedroom and then I’ll go with her to Ian’s Monday night. Where’s the harm?” I smiled at him, but I knew my fangs were showing. I was pissed at
the way he’d rudely dragged me out of there. I’d wanted to help Penny with the move.

“I’m afraid you’re in over your head, Gloriana. There’s only so much protection Laurie can offer.” Jerry actually tried to take me into his arms. I wasn’t having it.

“My female, less than equal to the task, head.” I threw myself across the roof. Yeah, I was definitely in a snit. “God, Jerry, when will you get me? You may think I’m dumb as dirt. Or naïve. But would you at least
pretend
to respect my decisions?” I swear, if I were a demon, my eyes would be flamethrowers. Lucky for Jerry, I just had my fangs to show how truly furious I was. Too bad he’d see a move by me to rip out his throat as foreplay.

Four hundred years and it came to this. Block-headed Scotsman. Why did I still love him? I swept my eyes over him. Sure, he had a hot body but lust only went so far. And, yes, he protected me and cared about me, but that felt more and more like a suffocating blanket and less and less like the warm fuzzy comfort it had in the beginning.

“Gloriana, you’ve made many excellent decisions. But you tend to trust people who simply aren’t trustworthy.” Jerry didn’t come close, staying on his side of the roof. Okay, at least he realized that trying to win me over with a sexual move right now would send me screaming into the sky.

“Rafe? Ian? Or both, Jerry?” I leaned against the metal door to the roof. I had no intention of letting anyone interrupt this long overdue showdown. “Never mind. Don’t bother. I know the answer. Once a person hits your shit list, that’s it. No second chances.”

“Some things are simply unforgivable, Gloriana. I don’t know why you can’t understand that.” Jerry was stony-faced. Not promising.

“No, I’ll never understand that.” I wasn’t about to bring up the most obvious problem Jerry had with Rafe—my affair with the shifter. Unforgivable? Jerry had seemed to give me a pass while putting all the blame on Rafe. Obviously Gloriana was easily manipulated, putty in a bad man’s hands.

“And
I’ll
never understand why you persist in your dealings with MacDonald. What are you trying to prove?” Jerry’s fists hit his hard thighs.

“Prove?” I heard my voice rise and took a breath. “This isn’t about you. Get it? So Ian made the mistake of having the last name MacDonald. Big freakin’ deal. He’s a doctor. We need a doctor. That’s all there is to it. He’s not done one thing to warrant your continued suspicion of him.”

“He’s done nothing? What’s this then?” Jerry stood in front of me in an instant, lifting my shirt to poke at my swollen stomach with a blunt fingertip.

I gasped. “Really? Is it so offensive? Don’t look at it then.” I jerked down my top. I’d changed into low-riding jeans and a green tank to help Penny pack. Bad choice since the knit clung in all the wrong places.

“It’s not offensive except as a reminder of what MacDonald’s drug did to you.” Jerry actually tried to drag the top up again. “You are always beautiful to me, no matter how strange your stomach looks.”

“Keep talking, Jerry, and you will never see me naked again.” I darted to the opposite side of the roof.

“That didn’t come out right. Besides, that’s minor compared to this latest nonsense he’s filling your head with—blood with powers, making you out to be some kind of paranormal entity. It’s insane!” He held both hands up, obviously still unsure how to make his unwieldy tongue push out the right words. “On some subjects, such as your loyalty to Valdez, you’ve lost all perspective. There’s no reason to risk your immortal soul to protect the man’s by-blow.” He gave me a narrow-eyed look. “Unless there’s more between you two than I know.”

“You know there’s not anything going on now except friendship. And my immortal soul?” I clenched my fists. “You’re assuming I ever had one. News flash, Jer. Whatever I am may not be in the running for a nice hereafter.”

“Of course you have a soul. You’re good, Gloriana. Too good for Valdez with his demon taint. You’ve got to know
that Alesa’s story of conceiving while inside you is bullshit. If that baby is his, then it’s clear he bedded the she-demon before or after she inhabited your body. He did marry her once. What does that say about his standards?”

“Lay off, Jerry. Even you were young and foolish once. Does the name Mara ring a bell?” I had him there. His ex made Alesa look positively angelic. Mara had a history of lying that included keeping the truth about who her daughter’s father was for hundreds of years. That’s why Jerry had only recently learned he had a daughter, made before he was turned vampire.

“Don’t try to change the subject.” Jerry had crossed the roof, close now. “We’re talking about Valdez.”

“Rafe denies sleeping with the demon and that’s good enough for me.” I was so tired of Jerry always taking the wrong side of these arguments.

“Valdez has demon blood. Lying is like breathing to those creatures. Why are you forgetting that?” Jerry tried to approach me again. “You’re letting your fondness for him overcome your common sense. Think, Gloriana. The man is not who you thought he was. He played a part with you for five years. Now he’s finally showing his true colors.”

“He played a part because you paid him to do it, Jerry!” I felt my temper explode. I wanted to hurt him for not seeing my side of things. Damn him for being so blind and stubborn.

“Calm down. See reason, Gloriana.” Jerry reached for me. That did it. Rafe bashing, discounting my own instincts, I’d had it. I concentrated and he froze where he stood.

Yep, I turned Jerry, the love of my life, to stone. He couldn’t even blink but his eyes burned as he realized what I’d done to him. I backed away. For a moment I actually gloated. Hah! Look what Glory could do. Then I came crashing down to earth.

Oh, God. What now? A quick thaw? Or should I explain this while I had a captive audience? Because he sure as hell
wouldn’t listen to a thing I had to say once he was mobile again.

“Uh, sorry about that. Meant to tell you. While I was with Alesa earlier, she said she discovered I had some untapped powers when she was inside me. Part of my non-human thing, I guess. She taught me the statue trick. I take it as proof that Ian didn’t lie about that at least. That I started out as some kind of paranormal.” I gulped and tears stung my eyes. “Jerry?” This was bad, very bad. I could read his thoughts and they weren’t words he usually used around me. Jerry hated feeling or being helpless. As a warrior it was his worst nightmare.

“You see? This could be a clue about what I am, er, was.” I was babbling, stalling. This wasn’t going to be pretty when I released Jerry from the freeze. Had to do it. I stared at him, wisely put a dozen feet between us first, then did the deed.

He whirled as if testing his freedom, then glared at me. “What the
fuck
was that?”

“I told you. A new skill.” I took a shaky breath. He was stalking me, bearing down like he was intent on shaking me until my fangs rattled. I deserved it.

“And you used it on me,” Jerry ground out, mere inches from me now.

“S-s-sorry about that. Really. But you made me lose my temper.” I backed up until I hit that door to the stairs.

Jerry slapped his hands against the steel on either side of my head. He leaned down until his breath touched my cheek. “Sorry? Sorry that you made me look foolish, standing there unable to so much as twitch?” He wound my hair around his hand, his voice so menacing I felt my knees go weak.

He wasn’t hurting me, but I could feel the pressure and see the urge to kill in his set jaw.

“Jerry, please. I didn’t mean—”

“To make me helpless? To shut me up so you could win your argument?” He watched as I licked my dry lips and I saw heat flare in his eyes.

Oh, no. Arguing had fired his blood, made him want to punish me. Show me that he was stronger than I was, as long as I didn’t cheat with powers that came from God knew where. His gaze roamed over my body where my top clung to nipples suddenly alert to his nearness. Stupid knee-jerk response. He pressed closer, obviously aroused, and I reacted shamelessly before I could stop myself.
Down, Glory.
I’d be damned if I’d let this end in bed.

“Bed? Of course I’m reading your thoughts. Why don’t I just drag you down to this concrete and take you there?” He gave my hair a sharp tug. “But I’d never make it, would I? You’d turn me to stone before my thought became deed. What else has the demon bitch taught you? Can you read through my blocked thoughts now?”

“Don’t know. Haven’t, um, tried. But I wouldn’t—” I slid my hands across his chest. “I will never, ever do that to you again, Jerry. It was a mistake. Unfair. No,
mean
. And I love you too much to do that to you.” I did press against him, deliberately this time, and reveled in the taut proof of his lust. It would be so easy to settle this that way and so wrong. “I hated seeing you like that. Helpless.”
Shut up, Glory.

“No more than I hated feeling that way.” He hadn’t released my hair but he did ease the pressure. “I want to hear you swear it, Gloriana. With your mind open. That you will never use that power against me again.” His lips were within a breath of mine.

“Yes, I promise, Jerry. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ll never do it again.” I leaned the inch it took to touch my lips to his. “Please forgive me. My temper got the best of me.”

“You never used to have a temper.” He released my curls and ran his hand down my throat, stroking my pounding pulse there.

“It’s living with a demon. I won’t deny it’s working on my last nerve. I could really use some sympathy here instead of another lecture.” I stretched my neck when he followed his hand with his lips.

“Yet you’re allowing her to teach you tricks such as this
statue maneuver.” He raised his head and stared down at me. “It’s a valuable defense. I’m glad you have it. Though it raises questions.”

“Yes!” I slid my hands up to twine in his hair. “What can I be that I have this power? Thank God Alesa assures me that I’m not demon. Not that I ever thought I could be. I do attend church, hold crosses, talk to God. All things a demon can’t do.”

“Exactly. And I’ll say again that, except when you’re in a temper, you’re a fine and decent person, Gloriana.” Jerry finally smiled.

“I owe you some serious groveling to make this up to you.” I ran a fingertip around his ear then traced a scar just visible in the open collar of his shirt. “Perhaps ending up in bed isn’t such a bad idea.”

“That sounds like an interesting proposition. But it won’t be in that apartment of yours. It smells like Willy Wonka’s candy factory down there.” Jerry frowned. “And knowing the demon is down the hall is a real joy killer.”

“Willy Wonka?” I laughed. “What do you know of such things?”

“My daughter decided we needed to catch up on some of the things parents did with their children when they are growing up. She rented a pile of children’s movies and made me watch a marathon of DVDs. That was one of them.” Jerry laughed. “It was a nice evening. The kind a mortal family would share. Beat the hell out of Lily bringing home another undesirable male.”