Night's Master
I ran my fingertips over his chest. “How long will you sleep?”
“Until sundown.”
“What's it like, when you're sleeping? Is it really like death?”
“I wouldn't know,” he said with a wry grin. “Since I've never died. All I know is that it's different from mortal sleep.”
“Different how?”
“Sleeping Vampires, except for the old ones, are helpless during the day, and they don't dream.”
“So, what's it like for you?” I slid my hand over his biceps, admiring the latent strength beneath my palm. “If I touch you while you're sleeping, will you feel it?”
“Yes.”
“And if I call your name, will you hear me?”
“I will always hear you.”
I smiled at that. “Do you dream?”
His heavy-lidded gaze held mine. “Sometimes.”
“What do Vampires dream about?” I ran my hand down his arm and over his abs.
“If you don't stop that,” he said, his voice husky. “I'll show you what I dream about.”
Warmth spread through me. If he hadn't been on the brink of oblivion, I would have made those dreams come true. As it was, I kissed him lightly. “Will it disturb you if I take a shower?”
“No.” He smiled faintly. “Next time, perhaps I'll share it with you.”
“I'd like that.” The image of the two of us, soapy from head to foot, stirred something deep within me. I kissed him again, then went into the bathroom and closed the door.
For a moment, I stood there, my fingertips pressed to my lips as I remembered all that had happened between us the night before.
Smiling, I took a quick shower. Later, while drying off, I wished I had some clean clothes and a change of underwear. I wasn't happy with the thought of putting on my dirty clothes. I never wanted to wear them again. I pulled on a pair of Rafe's sweatpants and one of his T-shirts. Both were too big, of course, but they were clean, and they smelled of the man I loved.
I tiptoed out of the bedroom and went into the living room where I found Cagin sitting on the sofa, his hands dangling between his knees.
He lifted one brow when he saw me.
“What?” I said.
“You slept with him.” There was no censure in his voice; it was simply a statement of fact. “I wondered how long it would take.”
He could have meant I slept beside Rafe during the night, but that wasn't what he meant and we both knew it. I felt my cheeks grow hot. I started to deny it when he lifted his hand.
“I can smell it on you,” Cagin said.
I lifted my chin and squared my shoulders. “It's none of your business.”
He shrugged.
“I don't suppose there's any food in the house,” I remarked.
“There's coffee, orange juice, and donuts in the kitchen.”
“Oh?”
“I went out early this morning.”
“Do you think that was wise?”
Cagin made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “We've got to eat. The coffee's cold, but you can nuke it in the microwave.”
“Thanks.” Coffee and donuts weren't the most nutritious meal, but this morning they suited me just fine.
Going into the kitchen, I glanced around while I heated the coffee, thinking that the room was going to waste with nothing in it but a small refrigerator to keep an occasional bag of blood fresh and a microwave to warm it in. The thought made my stomach churn. I'd have to get used to his ways, I thought, and he'd have to get used to mine, which included buying a stove and a larger refrigerator, as well as a table and chairs.
I took the cup from the microwave, wishing that Cagin had thought to pick up a few packets of sugar. Plucking a buttermilk donut from the box on the counter, I returned to the living room.
“How's Susie?” Plopping down in one of the chairs, I set my cup on the coffee table, then took a bite of the donut.
A sigh rose from deep inside Cagin's chest. “Sleeping peacefully now.”
“Was it…terrible? Watching her change?”
“Terrible?” The word seemed torn from his throat. “Terrible? Yeah, it was terrible. Damn near broke my heart to watch her.”
“But she's all right?” I took a sip of the coffee. It was black and strong and bitter. I drank it anyway.
He nodded. “I owe Cordova a debt I can never repay.”
“And she's all right with being a Vampire now?”
“She said she was glad to be alive, but she's worried about her kids.”
That was understandable. She would have to find someone to look after them during the day now, someone to take them to school and pick them up, drive them to the dentist and Little League. How would she explain her sudden aversion to light, the fact that she didn't eat, or sleep at night?
“Tell me about you.” I put the empty cup aside. “What's it like to be a shape-shifter? Do you like it?”
“What's it like to be human?” he asked. “Do you like it?”
“Touché.”
“It's what I am, what I've always been. A leopard can't change his spots,” he said, grinning, “or, in my case, his stripes.”
“It's different than being a Werewolf, though, isn't it? I mean, you don't run around killing people, do you?”
He shrugged. “It's been known to happen, on occasion.”
I had a sudden mental image of Rick McGee lying on the floor in a deserted house.
“So, how serious is it with you and the Vampire?”
“I don't know what you think of me,” I said sharply, “but I don't sleep around.”
“You're in love with him?”
“Yes, I'm afraid so.”
“He drank from you last night. It wasn't the first time, was it?”
When I didn't answer, he shook his head in disgust. “How can you let him do that? It's disgusting.”
I lifted a hand to my neck. “That's what I thought, too, until it happened to me.” And then I frowned. “Susie's a Vampire now, remember? What if she wants to taste you? Are you going to refuse?”
“Damn right,” he said, but I heard the hesitation in his voice and knew he was thinking about it, even if he wouldn't admit it.
“It's quite wonderful.”
He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “He's brainwashed you, hasn't he?”
“No, although I guess he could if he wanted to.”
Cagin grunted softly. “Life sure as hell gets complicated sometimes, doesn't it?” he muttered, and I knew he wasn't just talking about himself and Susie.
Complicated, I thought. That had to be the understatement of the century.
“I'm still hungry,” he said. “What do you say we order a pizza? With lots of garlic?”
I grinned, happy to see that his good mood had been restored.
We spent the next hour watching TV and eating pizza, and then we played cards with a deck I found while snooping in the kitchen drawers.
“So,” I asked during a lull in the conversation, “what are you and Susie going to do now?”
“I asked her to marry me.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. She said she'd think about it.” He rubbed his palm against his thigh. “I probably spoke too soon. Hell, I killed her husband. She's never going to forget that, no matter how long she thinks about it.”
“You saved her life,” I reminded him. “Twice.” Once when he'd saved her from Rick, and again last night, when he had insisted that Rafe bring her across.
“I guess it's all in how you look at it,” he muttered.
“She cares for you. Anyone can see that.”
“She's the first woman I've ever loved.” His voice was so low, I could scarcely hear it. “And she'll be the last.”
The look in his eyes and the fervent tone of his voice touched a chord deep inside me.
We played another hand of cards, and then Cagin pushed away from the table and stood. “I'm going to go look in on her.”
“All right.” I went to the room's single window and drew back the heavy drapes. Through the thick iron bars, I could see that the sun had gone down. Rafe had said he would rise at sundown. Was he awake? Maybe waiting for me to join him in bed?
While I was deciding what to do, Cagin returned to the living room. “She's gone.”
“Gone?” I shook my head. “How can that be? We'd have seen her leave.”
“Would we?”
I hurried down the hallway to Rafe's bedroom. Opening the door, I peered inside. The sheets were rumpled, but the bed was empty.
I glanced over my shoulder at Cagin, who was standing in the doorway behind me. “Where can they be?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Susie stared at the young man who stood, unmoving, in front of her, then glanced at Rafe. “I don't think I can do this.”
“Sure you can.”
She looked back at the man that Rafe had mesmerized, her expression doubtful.
“Susie, stop thinking like a mortal. You're a Vampire now, and you need to feed. I know you can feel the hunger inside you. Surrender to it, to what you are.”
“You want me to drink his blood?”
“It's what you're craving,” Rafe said patiently. “It's the only thing that will relieve the pain. And it's natural for you now. Sweet, like nothing else.”
She made a face. “Yuck!”
“Trust me on this. Here, this will make it easier.” Grasping the man's shoulders, Rafe scraped his fangs along the side of the man's neck. A thin ribbon of bright red oozed from the shallow incision. The coppery scent of blood rose in the air.
Drawn by the scent, Susie took a step forward, her nostrils flaring. Slowly, her eyes took on a faint red glow. Her lips parted, and Rafe saw her fangs, sharp and white and ready.