Vampires Are Foreve(67)

Thomas closed his hand over hers and Inez glanced at him with surprise.

“Eat,” he murmured giving her hand a squeeze. “Bastien is arranging a flight back to London for us.”

Inez nodded and picked up her fork, relaxing a little when he picked up his own and dug in. Eating was also a sign of finding a lifemate, she recalled the delivery guy telling her, and Thomas was eating. He had also had a meal with her in the pub at the airport the day before; though, he’d only ordered breakfast for her when he’d arrived at the Dorchester—but, then, that had been an apology of sorts, she recalled and was amazed to realize this whole adventure had started little more than twenty-four hours ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed, Inez thought and then changed her mind. No, not really. It was strange, this day and a bit had passed quickly enough, but she felt like she’d known Thomas a lifetime.



“I take it you like cats.”

Thomas glanced up from the black cat and two tabbies he was alternately petting, and smiled faintly. “I love them.”#p#分页标题#e#

Inez nodded with amusement and said, “And they seem to love you in return. We’ve picked up a new cat to trail us in each room.”

“Jealous?” Thomas asked with a grin.

Inez chuckled as he straightened and the three cats immediately began to twine around his legs, meowing plaintively at being abandoned. Shrugging mildly, she raised her gaze back to his face. Arching one eyebrow, she asked lightly, “Why would I care if you enjoy playing with pussy? I’ve only known you a day.”

Thomas’s eyes widened incredulously at the sally. When she then turned away and headed out of the room, he stepped carefully over the still-complaining cats and hurried after her. Thomas found Inez standing just inside the door of the next room, gaping up at the painted ceiling. Thomas didn’t even glance up. He’d been to the Kattenkabinet before and thought it was charming, that was why when he’d learned that Bastien hadn’t managed to book them on a flight until that evening, he’d suggested he and Inez tour around Amsterdam while they were here. He wanted to show her a bit of one of his favorite cities.

A night tour would have been better, of course. It wasn’t really in his best interests to stay out in the sun long, but Bastien had had enough blood delivered to the hotel to last for several days in the normal course of things. Thomas suspected he’d use up most of it in this one day and was now carrying a black collapsible cooler filled with several bags, enough to keep him going until they had to go back to the hotel to collect their things and head to the airport. They’d headed back to the hotel after their breakfast, stopping in a luggage shop on the way when Inez realized she had nothing in which to pack away all the things Bastien had ordered, purchased, and delivered to the hotel for her.

Thomas had spotted the collapsible cooler while in the shop and had purchased it, as well as a good-sized suitcase for Inez. Thomas had consumed several more bags of blood while he waited for Inez to pack, then had put the rest in the cooler and slung it over his shoulder before setting out.

He’d considered taking Inez to the Rijksmuseum, but one could easily spend a whole day there and he’d wanted her to see more of the city than just a museum. So they’d utilized the shadier areas and walked here to the offbeat and much smaller Kattenkabinet in a leisurely fashion, enjoying the sights and sounds of this most unique city. Inez had peered around at the seventeenth-century houses with wide eyes and Thomas had been a little wide-eyed as well since he’d never actually walked the streets here in daylight. It had been nice.

“You didn’t ask why I love cats,” he commented finally when she continued to ignore him and began to move toward the window to peer into the gardens behind the house, dedicated to anything and everything to do with cats.

“Why do you love cats?” she asked indulgently.

“Because they’re intelligent, independent, graceful, subtle, and mysterious…” Thomas tilted his head slightly and commented, “Rather like you in fact.”

“Me?” Inez asked, glancing at him with surprise and then chuckled softly and shook her head. “I’m not the least mysterious.”

“You are to me,” he countered solemnly. “And I like it.”

Inez met his gaze, and then glanced toward the window as one of the cats leapt up onto the sill and lay down in the sunshine. Reaching out, she petted the cat and said, “Well, I’m not subtle either.”

“You are,” he assured her.

She chuckled wryly, “I hardly think my berating you wildly when I arrived at the hotel was subtle behavior.”