“Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready,” she said, and went to open the door.
* * *
It was odd, being in Andrei’s bed. In Andrei’s lair. Tessa grinned faintly. The lair of the lion. The lair of the dragon.
The lair of the vampire.
“I’ve seen too many horror movies,” she muttered.
“Did you say something?” he asked, coming to sit on the edge of the mattress.
“No.”
“The lair of the vampire?” he said, arching one brow in wry amusement.
She shook her head. “I’ve got to work on keeping those walls up.”
“I’ll take you home if you’ll be more comfortable there.”
“I like it here. It feels, I don’t know. Kind of dangerous.”
“You have no idea.”
“I’m glad you’ve never brought anyone else here,” she said, though, of course, she meant other women. “Will you marry me when my parents get home?”
“Is this a trick question?”
“Will you?”
“Any day you like, my sweet. Why the sudden rush?”
She punched him on the arm. “Why do you think?”
“Getting tired of saying no, are you?”
She nodded. “You have no idea.”
“You think not?” Moving so that his back was against the headboard, he drew her into his arms.
“Why do you think my blood kills fledglings but not you?”
He blew out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know. It’s a mystery to me, too. All I can think is that it’s because I’m long past the fledgling stage.”
“Why do you think Katerina wants me?”
“Her bite should have destroyed me. It didn’t. I’m sure she wants to taste you, to see if your blood will increase her powers, or perhaps make her invulnerable to another master vampire’s bite. Her sire’s, perhaps.”
“He’s still alive?”
“As far as I know.”
Tessa found it hard to imagine anyone living longer than Katerina and Andrei. Some people lived to be a hundred, perhaps even a few years more. But Andrei had lived in medieval times. It was mind-boggling, the things he must have seen in his long life, the changes in the world, in people, and technology. He had seen things and places that no longer existed.
Andrei drew her closer, his lips moving in her hair as he whispered, “Can we talk about something else now?”
“What did you have in mind?”
His gaze moved over her, hotter than any flame, as his hands caressed her. “What do you think?”
“You don’t play fair!” she squeaked as his tongue burned a path along the side of her neck. She felt the touch of his fangs, knew he was waiting for her to say yes or no.
But refusing never crossed her mind. She was determined to wait until they were married before surrendering her virtue, that was true, but the sensual thrill of his bite and the exquisite pleasure that followed was not to be missed.
* * *
Tessa was still thinking about the uniqueness of her blood when she woke the following morning. Andrei rested beside her. He lay on his back, one arm across his waist, the other at his side.
Sliding out of bed, she tiptoed out of his lair and up the stairs to the living room.
Settling on the sofa, she called work and told Mr. Ambrose she didn’t feel well and needed the day off.
Her next call was to her mother. “Mom? Hi. What? No, I’m fine . . .” She frowned as static came over the line, and then the sound of music. “I guess I caught you at a bad time.”
“Not at all,” her mom said. “I was going to call you tomorrow. We met the Harringtons in Sydney. They’re on their way to New Zealand and your father and I decided to extend our vacation another few days and go with them. I mean, who knows when we’ll be in this part of the world again? What was it you wanted, Tess?”
“I was wondering . . . I mean . . . do we have any psychics or mystics or anything like that in our family background?”
“Is that why you called?” her mother asked incredulously.
“It’s important, Mom.”
“Why the sudden interest in your ancestry now? I tried to get you to help me with our genealogy a few years ago with no success.”
“I’ll explain it all to you later, I promise,” Tessa said, and hoped it was a promise she would be able to keep.
“Well, your paternal great-grandfather was a Cherokee medicine man rumored to possess mystical powers of some kind, but that’s all I know. I tried to find out more about him once, but there was no one left to ask. His wife and children all passed away before he did.”
“Mystical powers,” Tessa murmured.