then wandered toward her own room. She'd had a shower that morning, but a nice
relaxing bubble bath really did sound lovely.
Nodding to herself, Elvi picked up her pace. She had a lovely new bath set she wanted
to try. A vanilla bubble bath with a crème brûlée body lotion to put on after. She gave
a little shiver at the very thought. Elvi loved bubble baths. In the past, the tub was
often the only place she'd got a moment of peace and privacy. As a mother and wife,
there was always some great tragedy like having nothing to wear to the party the next
weekend, or being unable to find the cheddar cheese that brought her daughter or
husband to knock on the door.
Elvi smiled sadly at the memories of just such interruptions as she ran her bath. If she'd
realized then how little time she would have with them, she would have savored those
moments at the time.
Shrugging these thoughts away, Elvi closed the bathroom door, retrieved a bath towel
and washcloth, then stripped out of her clothes. By then, the water was only a couple
of inches from the top of the tub. Elvi bent to turn off the taps, then stepped carefully
into the tub and eased herself into the hot bubbly water with a little sigh.
Oh yes, this was nice.
"I thought Elvi said she was going to unlock the door?"
Victor glanced toward Alessandro as the man returned to the group around the fire.
He'd been pretending to listen to Harper regale DJ with their latest adventure in
shopping with Elvi, but had really been preoccupied with the best way to make Elvi
explain this business of being an "accidental vampire." It was obvious from her
reaction last night that she didn't really wish to discuss the subject further than to say
that, but it was the reason he was here. He didn't wish to upset her or make her recall
what were obviously unpleasant memories, but he had to sort this matter out.
Victor knew he should have sat her down and addressed the issue today rather than
allow this latest shopping expedition, but found himself too easily distracted by the
woman. She was constantly taking him by surprise, flitting this way or that like a
hummingbird in a garden. He found himself running to keep up with her, and eagerly
doing what he could to aid her in getting what she needed rather than pinning her
wings down to attend to his job as enforcer. This wasn't like him at all. It had been a
very long time since a woman had fascinated him so, and he had never once been
distracted from his duty as enforcer, not since the day he'd taken on the position more
than three hundred years ago.
"Hasn't she?" DJ asked, drawing Victor's attention back to the conversation taking
place around him.
When Alessandro shook his head, Victor frowned and glanced toward the upper
windows of the house. The lights at Elvi's end of the house had come on a good hour
ago. From the brief few moments he and the others had been in her room earlier that
night, he thought it was the window in her bathroom. It was still on, he saw now.
He opened his mouth to suggest the man try knocking on Elvi's sunroom door, then
closed it again and stood. If anyone was going to bother her in her bedroom, it was
going to be him, besides, now was as good a time as any for him to get to the bottom
of her turning.
"I'll see to it," he murmured, moving away from the fire.
Elvi had left the sunroom door open when she'd entered earlier, only the screen door
was closed and it wasn't locked. Victor peered through the screen to the open door
between it and the bedroom, frowning when he saw that the room was in darkness.
Raising a hand, he tapped lightly at the door, waited, then tapped a little louder. When
there was no answer after a third knock, Victor hesitated, then slid into the sunroom.
She obviously wasn't in her room. He'd just slip through her room, go down and unlock
the kitchen door, then find her and have the talk he knew he needed to have with her.
Victor was halfway through her room, heading for the door to the hall when a door on
his right suddenly opened. His feet froze guiltily and his head whipped toward the
sound.
Elvi was coming out of the bathroom, wet hair slicked back from her face and wearing
only a towel. A very small towel.
Victor swallowed heavily, all thoughts of talk slipping from his mind as his gaze
traveled over every inch of exposed flesh. He started at the top, his eyes dancing over
her shoulders, arms, and chest above the towel, before dropping down to slide lovingly
over the legs visible beneath. It was short enough to reveal calves, knees, and a good
three‐quarters of her thighs.
His devoted exploration was interrupted when Elvi apparently spotted him, stopped
short, dropped a small bundle she was carrying and let loose a little, startled shriek.