Desire the Night

A bathroom appointed in marble and gold-veined tile adjoined the bedroom.



Kay shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Did you decorate the place yourself?”



He snorted. “Hardly. I hired a fancy decorator who charged me a ridiculous amount of money for this layout.”



“Well, it was worth it.”



Coming up behind her, Gideon slid his arms around Kay’s waist and nuzzled the side of her neck. “How would you like to try out the bed?”



“Not on our first date,” she answered primly. “I’d like to be romanced first.”



“Romanced, huh?” He nipped the tender skin just beneath her earlobe. “I’ll see what I can do.”



* * *



Chapter 12



Later that night, after Kay had gone to bed, Gideon left the house to go hunting. New York City was one of his favorite hunting grounds. No matter the time of night, prey was never hard to find, whether it was some drunken bum down on his luck, a world-weary hooker trolling for one last trick before calling it a night, or some small-town tourist foolish enough to go out alone after midnight.



Gideon strolled along Broadway, past Times Square. In the early sixties and seventies, this part of the city had been a red light district, but these days it was more family-oriented. Moving on, he came to that part of Broadway known as the Great White Way, so named for the millions of lights of theater marquees and billboards. Most of the theaters were dark now. He glanced at the marquees—The Lion King, Wicked, and the ubiquitous Phantom of the Opera, which he had seen perhaps a dozen times.



His hunger quickened when he spied a young couple looking at the posters in front of a theater. On cat-quiet feet, he moved up behind them. Speaking to their minds, he commanded them to follow him.



Faces slack, expressions blank, they trailed behind him as he moved toward the deep shadows near the theater doors. He took the male quickly, the female more slowly, his whole being focused on the woman in his arms, the scent of her hair and skin, the warmth of her blood quenching his thirst. Her blood was sweeter than Kay’s. Even so, he wished it was Kay he held in his embrace, Kay’s blood easing his hunger.



After satisfying his thirst, he wiped the incident from the couple’s minds and sent them, none the wiser, on their way.



Hands shoved in his pockets, Gideon turned for home. So, Kiya the werewolf wanted to be romanced, did she? He grinned at the idea and then, with that thought in mind, he headed for the mall located in the heart of the city. It was closed at this hour, but that wasn’t a problem for him. The owner was a friend. And a vampire.



On waking, Kay stretched her arms over her head, and then froze as she realized she was in a strange bed in a strange room, and that she wasn’t alone. It took her a moment to remember where she was, and who was lying beside her.



Turning onto her side, she regarded the sleeping vampire. He was bare to the waist, revealing a broad chest, wide shoulders, and six-pack abs that would have made any male model jealous. She realized, abruptly, that he wasn’t breathing. When she touched his arm, he didn’t move. She worried her lower lip with her teeth. Maybe vampires really were dead when they slept. A creepy thought, that, sharing a bed with a dead man, even one as roguishly handsome and sexy as Gideon Marquet.



And with that in mind, she practically jumped out of the bed, only then noticing the flowers set around the room—vases of red roses and pink carnations occupied every flat surface save for the dresser, which held a large white box and two shoe boxes. Her name was scrawled across the box tops in a bold hand. Opening the largest box, she found two pairs of jeans, a pink T-shirt, a couple of sweaters, and three changes of underwear, all the right size. The first shoe box held a pair of strappy black sandals; the second, a pair of white sneakers.



She ran her hand over a pair of silky black bikini panties, wondering how he had known what size she wore. But she didn’t care. She selected an aqua sweater and a pair of jeans and carried them, along with a bra and panties, into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her.



There were more flowers in the bathroom—roses, again—along with a new toothbrush, toothpaste, a hairbrush, and a comb. Heaven bless the man for his thoughtfulness.



With a shake of her head, she dropped her dirty clothes on the floor and placed the clean ones on the counter. When she opened the shower door, she found a bottle of shampoo, a new bar of soap, a pretty pink washcloth, and a single red rose.



Who knew vampires had such a romantic streak? Stepping into the shower, she wondered what other surprises the day might bring.



Additional gifts, flowers, and treats arrived all day long. Shortly after she finished her shower, a waiter from a nearby restaurant knocked on the door bearing her breakfast on a silver tray, along with a single red rose in a delicate crystal vase.



Kay smiled, thinking how sweet it had been for Gideon to order her something to eat.



A full-body massage came an hour later, followed by a manicure and a pedicure.



As the manicurist was leaving, lunch arrived, accompanied by another red rose.



She had barely finished eating when there was another knock on the door. She opened it to find several personal shoppers from Bloomingdale’s standing in the hallway. After introducing themselves, they laid out a wide array of clothing for her consideration—everything from dresses to pants, shoes to hats, nightgowns to slippers.



Reluctant at first, Kay soon got into the spirit of things. She chose a couple of casual dresses by Tahari and Calvin Klein, jeans and T-shirts by Guess, shoes by Ferragamo, a handbag by DKNY, a nightgown and robe by Natori. As Kay signed the receipt, she hoped Gideon had been serious when he said money was the least of his problems, because she had just spent a small fortune.



The sun was setting when the ladies from Bloomingdale’s packed up the rejects, thanked her profusely, and left the apartment.



Kay was standing at the window, gazing at the darkening skyline, when Gideon ghosted up behind her. Slipping his arms around her waist, he drew her against him. “How was your day?”



“Wonderful. Thank you.” She turned in his arms and smiled up at him. “I hope you really are rich.”



His gaze moved over her. “Whatever that outfit cost, it was worth it. You look terrific.” Better than terrific, he thought with an admiring glance. A sleeveless black dress made of some clingy material outlined every delectable curve. A pair of black, sling-back pumps did wonderful things for her legs, which were long and shapely.



“I should look fantastic, considering the small fortune this little black dress cost you.”



He laughed softly. “You’re right. You do look fantastic.”



“So do you.” Her gaze moved over him. He looked gorgeous in a dark green, long-sleeved shirt, a pair of khaki pants with a crease that looked sharp enough to cut steel, and black leather boots. “It was very thoughtful of you, sending all those clothes over, but really, something a little less expensive would have served just as well.”



“Nothing but the best for my lady werewolf,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, it’s only money, and if you don’t spend it, what am I gonna do with it?”



“Well, I’ll be more than happy to spend it for you, since you have so little regard for it. Where did you come by it all, anyway?”



He lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. “In the beginning, I pilfered what I needed from the rich. But then, as I got richer, I invested it. And now …” He made a vague gesture with his hand. “Now, I have more than I need.” He grinned at her. “And finally, someone to spend it on.”



“‘Pilfered’? Now there’s a word you don’t hear every day.”



“True.”



“How long have you been a vampire?”



“Three hundred and sixty years, give or take a decade or two.” His hands spanned her waist, his thumbs lightly stroking back and forth. “In answer to your next question, I was turned when I was twenty-seven by an ancient vampire who had grown weary of living but who didn’t want her very old, very powerful blood, to go to waste.”



“So, she turned you against your will?”



“Most assuredly. For someone so ancient, there was little substance to her,” he recalled. “Or so it seemed. But she was a lot stronger than she looked. I tried to fight her off, but she held me down easily. ‘I’m going to give you a wondrous gift,’ she said, and then she buried her fangs in my throat. When it was done, she took me to her home and told me what I needed to know to survive.



“It was near dawn when Lisiana told me good-bye. When I asked where she was going, she told me she was over a thousand years old and she was tired of living. ‘I’m going out to meet the sun,’ she said. ‘Do what you wish with the house. Keep it, sell it, burn it down.’” He paused a moment. “Before I could ask her anything else, she was gone. When I woke up that night, I was a vampire. I never saw her again.”



Kay stared up at him. It was an incredible tale, she thought, and then she grinned. “You seem to be a magnet for older women. What are you doing with me?”



Gideon threw back his head and laughed. “Damned if I know.”



Moving to the sofa, Kay sat down and crossed her legs. “You seem to like being a vampire.”



“No sense being miserable over something that can’t be changed,” he said, sitting beside her. But the truth was, once he’d gotten over the fear and the shock, he did like it. “What about you? You like being a werewolf?”



She tossed his words back at him. “‘No sense being miserable over something that can’t be changed.’ I was born this way.”



“So, basically, when the moon’s full, you turn furry.”



She nodded.



“How does it usually affect you? You didn’t go all Lon Chaney the other night and start killing everything on two legs, so I’m assuming you have at least some control.”



“Yes. I’ve never had the overpowering urge to go on any kind of killing spree, although”—a faint blush heated her cheeks—“I feel the need to hunt, but only deer or rabbits and the occasional squirrel.”