Desire the Night(35)
Bored, she forced herself to watch the movie until the end of the credits. When it was over, she called the front desk and asked if someone could please send up an assortment of snacks and a couple of the latest paperback novels.
She spent the rest of the afternoon indulging her love for chocolate, her nose buried in the latest New York Times bestseller.
She ordered lunch when she finished the first book.
She was halfway through the second novel when she dozed off.
Gideon came fully, instantly, awake with the setting of the sun. A quick check of his preternatural senses told him Kay was asleep in the other room. The lingering scents of bread, bacon, eggs, roast beef, French fries, orange juice, and coffee hung in the air. And chocolate, he noted with a grin. Lots of chocolate.
Rising, he took a quick shower, then pulled on a pair of well-worn blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Barefooted, he padded into the other room where he roused his sleeping beauty with a kiss.
“I was dreaming of you,” Kay murmured. Twining her arms around his neck, she pulled him down on the sofa.
“Were you?” He stretched out beside her, one arm drawing her close. “What were you dreaming about?”
“We were making love on a deserted beach at midnight. It was so quiet and peaceful, with the man in the moon smiling down on us, and the sound of the waves lapping against the shore. It was like there was nothing and no one else in the whole world, just you and me on a white sandy beach that stretched away into infinity.”
He chuckled softly. “No beaches around here, I’m afraid. But if you really want to make love in the sand …”
She cupped his cheek in her hand. “You don’t have to whisk us away to the ocean. The sofa works just fine for me.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Slipping his hand under her robe, he started at her ankle and caressed his way up her calf to her thigh. Her skin was warm with life, silky smooth beneath his fingertips.
“Oh, my.” She breathed the word on a shuddering sigh as his hand moved higher.
“Something wrong?” he asked with a wicked grin.
“Yes.” She gasped as his hand made lazy circles over her bare belly. “I’ll give you an hour to stop that.”
“Only an hour?” he asked, his voice growing husky.
“Maybe two or … oh!” she exclaimed as his hand slid seductively upward to cover her breast. “Better make it three.”
* * *
Chapter 17
Holding Rama in her arms, Verah gazed, unblinking, into the ebony bowl on the table. The surface of the water, as smooth and black as midnight, should have revealed the wolf girl’s whereabouts. Instead, there was only confusion, the marker shifting from one place to another.
Turning away from the bowl, Verah stroked her familiar’s head.
“She knows we’re after her,” Verah mumured. “She’s on the run, heading west.”
Rama answered with a throaty “Meow.”
Verah smiled. “Be patient, my sweet. She’ll have to stop sooner or later. And then we’ll have her. With luck, we’ll have them both.”
Still carrying the cat, Verah climbed the stairs to her bedroom. Before Gideon, she had covered every window in the house, every mirror, every reflective surface, to ensure that she couldn’t see her reflection. She had refused to leave her house or to see anyone. But that had quickly grown old so that, whenever she left the house, she had invoked a spell that gave her the illusion of youth and beauty. But the illusion only worked on her outward appearance. Her body had still ached with the weight of her years, her steps remained unsteady, her voice creaky with age.
But Gideon’s blood had changed all that, restoring her youth and her beauty.
Verah paced the bedroom floor, growing more desperate with each passing hour. What if she couldn’t find the girl? What if she found the girl and the vampire wasn’t with her?
She had gone out several times, hoping to find another vampire lurking somewhere in the shadows, but to no avail.
Taking a deep breath, she yanked the cloth away from the mirror over her dresser, her stomach churning at the sight of the hideous creature that stared back at her—the wrinkled papery skin, the ugly purple veins, the triple chin, the rheumy eyes, and the sunken cheeks.
“I have to find her,” she said, hating the raspy croak in her voice. “It’s the only hope we have of catching that damn vampire!”
* * *
Chapter 18
Kay stood at the hotel window, staring down at the street below. Another boring day loomed before her. True, this day wouldn’t be as long as yesterday, since she had slept until almost two in the afternoon, due, no doubt, to the fact that Gideon was the most amazing lover in the world. Slow and gentle one minute, rough and intense the next, he had aroused her and brought her to fulfillment time after time. Thanks to her werewolf side, she had the stamina to keep up with him. Each time they made love had been better than the last.