Tall Dark and Hungry(24)

What she was beginning to feel for Bastien was neither puppy love nor maternal in nature. He wasn't simply a friend with whom to gambol through life. He was becoming necessary to her. He made her feel complete, sated, just by his presence.

Terri wasn't a stupid woman, and she knew it was too soon to feel such things, but she felt them just the same. Perhaps her feelings were magnified because of the time limit of her stay here, but it didn't really matter. The fact was, she thought of Bastien constantly and wanted to be with him all the time. He was the first thing she thought of upon opening her eyes in the morning, and the last thing she thought of before drifting off to sleep. And she liked that. She liked this abounding joy she felt. Terri liked the way her heart sped up when Bastien walked into the room, or looked at her, or smiled at her, or complimented her, or kissed her.

Yes, she was happier than she had ever been in her life, and more scared than she had ever been. Terri really didn't want to get hurt, and yet she really, really didn't want to lose this-whatever it was-either.

Since common sense told her it couldn't be love this quickly, Terri decided to go with logic. That would be safe. This wasn't love. She just liked Bastien. A lot. And as long as she just kept liking him-and didn't love him-perhaps she could survive with her heart still intact when it ended.

"You can handle this,"Terri told her reflection quietly. "Just don't go falling completely in love with the guy. Just keep liking him.»

Feeling a little bit better and a little less scared now that she had something of a plan, Terri returned to brushing her hair. She would enjoy the time until the wedding. She'd go out with Bastien when he invited her, share talk, laughter, and kisses with him. But she wouldn't fall in love. Then, when she had to go home to England, Terri wouldn't be totally crushed; she would just be terribly sad and resigned that it-like all things-had to end.

"Good morning, Sunshine. You're looking pretty chipper for someone who only straggled in four hours ago.»

Terri wrinkled her nose and smiled at Vincent's greeting as she entered the living room. "How do you know what time we got in?»

"I heard you two talking in the hall. It was so late, I worried something had happened to delay you. I opened the door to ask if everything was all right, but you were a bit preoccupied."He waggled his eyebrows meaningfully. "I gathered everything was all right when I saw the two of you lip-locked outside your door. I didn't want to intrude, so I just closed the door and went back to bed.»

Terri felt heat flush her cheeks. She hadn't realized anyone had seen them.

"So. Out all night, huh?"Chris said with a grin. "What were you doing?»

Terri was saved from having to answer that question by the elevator buzzer. Someone wanted to come up to the penthouse.

"Are you expecting anyone?"Vincent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, actually. The florists."Terri moved to the panel on the wall, grateful that she'd paid attention when Bastien had worked it. She hit the button to bring up the monitor image of the elevator's passengers, then nodded as she spotted men bearing floral arrangements. Not bothering to ask the obvious question of who they might be, Terri simply hit the button to release the elevator, then glanced at Bastien's cousin. "Will you greet them, Vincent? Just have them put the flowers in here. I want to make some coffee.»

"Sure.»

"Flowers?"Chris asked. Terri thought he sounded a bit odd, but then many men weren't big on flowers, she supposed.

"Yes. They're the possible floral arrangements for Kate and Lucern's wedding,"she explained as she headed for the kitchen. "Bastien is going to take photos and e-mail them to Kate, so she can decide which ones she likes best.»

Leaving the men to deal with the flowers and where to put them, Terri hurried into the kitchen to make coffee. It was a new coffeepot, however, with that new smell; and she knew that it needed a couple of pots of just plain water run through it.

She surveyed the kitchen for what she should, or could, have for breakfast while the first pot ran. She could have anything she wanted, Terri didn't think there was a single type of food that hadn't been purchased. What she should have was another story. She considered toast, but that sounded boring. Cereal wasn't very exciting, either. And the Pop Tarts and toaster strudels were too sweet for breakfast.

Sighing, Terri paced the kitchen briefly, then settled on an omelet. She'd make an omelet big enough for all of them to eat-though it seemed to her that she and Chris would probably eat most of it. Bastien often just picked at his food, and Vincent never ate at all. She should really ask about his digestive ailment. Surely there was something she could cook that he could eat.

Shrugging, Terri started to remove items from the fridge: onions, cheese, bacon, green peppers. Maybe she'd throw some potato in, too. This was going to be a yummy omelet. And she'd make toast as well. For some reason, she was starved this morning.

Bastien sniffed the air as he walked down the hall toward the living room. He'd slept late, but then they'd been out late last night. He smiled to himself at the memory of his date with Terri. It had been perfect, absolutely and completely perfect. The play, the dinner, the talking at Maison-the night had passed like minutes for him, and that hour of shared kisses in front of the Hilton had felt like mere seconds. Terri was a beauty, a joy to spend time with, and so interesting and amusing that he always felt comfortable in her company. She was perfect to be his life mate.

According to his mother, only someone whose mind he could not read would make a good life mate; a husband and wife should never be able to intrude on each other's thoughts. Those should be shared willingly, Marguerite said, not poached like chickens from a henhouse. Bastien couldn't read Terri's thoughts. But she did share them freely.

A pleased sigh slid from his lips, and Bastien grinned to himself. Her openness and honesty were what he liked best about Terri. Her passion for life, not to mention the passion she'd revealed in his arms, was priceless. He'd lived long enough to know that such open caring and passion were a rare find nowadays. Most people allowed fear to deaden their feelings and responses. Terri wasn't one of them. She was full of life, she was beautifully and vitally… dead?

He stopped short in the living room entrance and gaped at the sight of Terri lying silent and still on the floor. Her body was splayed like a rag doll tossed to the ground, her luscious chestnut hair a pool around her head.

Two telltale red dots marked her lovely, slender throat.





CHAPTER 9



Oh, my handsome manly vampire. Achoo!"That high falsetto voice-not to mention the sneeze-drew Bastien's attention to the two men standing several feet away from Terri's prone body. Vincent and… Chris? He thought it was the editor but couldn't be sure. The man had a sheet draped over his head and caught beneath his chin in Little Red Riding Hood style. Judging from that, and from the really bad imitation of a female voice the editor was affecting, Bastien would guess he was supposed to be a woman. For some reason.

"How my heart beats for y-achoo!-you, Dracula. You stir my fire, my desire."Chris let the page he was reading drop to his side with disgust. "Who wrote this drivel?"he asked.

"A playwright,"Vincent sniffed. "A professional playwright.»

"Well, I'm a pro-achoo!-professional editor. And I-achoo I-wouldn't publish this poppycock.»

"You just don't understand camp,"Vincent snapped. "Haven't you ever heard of a little play-later made into a major motion picture-called the Rocky Horror Picture Show?»

"That was good camp,"Chris informed him, then rubbed his nose. "This-achoo!-is drivel. God, I wish the drugstore guy would get here with those-achoo!-allergy pills.»

"Believe me, so do I,"Vincent said. He spotted Bastien in the entry and smiled. "Cousin! So you finally decided to join the living, did you?»

"Yes."His gaze shifted back to Terri, who blinked her eyes open, sat up to glance over at him, then scrambled to her feet.

"Good morning,"she said brightly. "Did you sleep well?»

Nodding, Bastien moved purposely forward. His curiosity was killing him. Terri's eyes widened in surprise when he paused in front of her, wiped one of the red spots off her neck, and pressed it to his tongue.

"Sauce?"he asked with disbelief. A couple of drops of sauce were what had nearly caused him the vampire equivalent of a heart attack? He'd thought-

"Ketchup, actually."Terri gave a laugh as she wiped off the rest. "We were helping Vincent with his lines. I was Lucy, and Chris is Mina."She glanced toward the editor, who sneezed violently three times in a row. She then leaned forward to tell Bastien in hushed tones, "He's allergic to the flowers. I suggested he go to his room until we can get the pictures done and the flowers out, but he says it won't help.»

"I did when they first arrived,"the editor complained. "But there are so many-achoo!-that the pollen is all through the apartment. Achoo! It wasn't much better than being out here."He removed the sheet from around his head and shoulders, and sank onto the couch with a groan.

Bastien slowly turned, only now noticing the flowers that filled the living room and made it look like a bloody flower shop… or a mortuary. He didn't know how he had missed them on first glance, except that the sight of Terri lying prone on the floor had so overset him, he hadn't noticed anything else.