Bastien fetched a pint glass, emptied a good portion of the blood into it, and was savoring the liquid when the kitchen door opened and Vincent walked in. Startled, Bastien jerked around, slopping the liquid in his glass.
"You're awake,"his cousin said in surprise.
"Yes."Bastien set the glass on the counter with a curse, grabbed a paper towel, and bent to wipe up the blood on the floor. He grabbed another towel to wipe up the bit that had slopped onto his chest.
"I didn't expect you to be up yet, and when I heard someone moving around in here…"His cousin shrugged. "Where's Terri?»
"Still sleeping.»
"Your bed or hers?»
Bastien ignored his cousin's question and straightened to toss the bloody paper towel in the garbage under the sink. It was really none of the other man's business. Vincent already knew too much. The man had been witness to his humiliating experience with Josephine, and now he was here for the second time Bastien fell in love. Not that he had truly loved Josephine. That had been more of an infatuation. He could see that now. Coming to care for Terri as he had had shown that to Bastien. His feelings for Josephine had been mild in the extreme, compared to the passion and enjoyment he enjoyed with Terri. Which meant it was going to hurt that much more when she turned her back on him as Josephine had. And once more, Vincent would bear witness to the event.
"I wouldn't enjoy witnessing such an event now, any more than I did then, cousin,"Vincent said quietly, obviously reading his thoughts. "Besides, I don't see this ending the same way. Terri isn't Josephine.»
Bastien shifted with irritation. He picked up his glass of blood and drank some of the thick liquid. He really needed to remember to guard his thoughts better. He was so distracted by the uproar Terri was causing him emotionally, and all without her even trying, that he was leaving his thoughts open for just anyone to read.
"Terri's different. She won't react like Josephine,"Vincent insisted.
"How do you know?"Bastien knew he sounded angry, but really his tone was to cover the hope that was trying to grow inside him. He wanted to believe his cousin was right, but he was afraid.
"This is a different era. Josephine thought you were a monster, an abomination. Terri is a modern woman, with enough intelligence to understand the science of it,"Vincent argued. "And consider the benefits to her should she join us. Forever young and beautiful, and forever strong and healthy? Few would pass that up.»
"She could still turn away,"Bastien argued. "Not everyone wants to live forever.»
"You're right, of course,"the actor agreed. "She might not. So why risk it? Give her up and forget about her.»
Bastien gave him a speaking glance.
"No, huh?"Vincent arched an eyebrow. "Then I guess you'll have to risk it, won't you? Every day is a risk, everything we do. Would you really give this up willingly, or bypass it altogether, to avoid possible pain later-pain that might never come?»
The answer to that was simple enough: No. Bastien couldn't willingly give her up had he wanted. She was like a drug and he a drug addict; he was constantly longing for a Terri fix. No, he couldn't give her up. He had known that for a while. What he was experiencing now was worth any price later. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to fret about what would come.
"Well, hell,"Vincent snapped, reading Bastien's thoughts. "You mean to say you didn't need me to try to talk you into this? Why did you let me ramble on about it, if you already knew you were going to go for it?»
"I like talking about her,"Bastien said. He shrugged. "I like being with her better, but the next best thing is talking about her. And it's always nice to have your hopes bolstered.»
Vincent made a sound of disgust and turned toward the door. "I'm out of here.»
"When will you be back?"Bastien asked, following him out into the entry to await the elevator.
"Late Sunday night or early Monday morning,"he answered, then quirked an eyebrow as the elevator arrived and the doors slid open. "You know what that means, don't you?»
"No. What does it mean?"Bastien asked curiously.
"You have the entire penthouse-and Terri-to yourself for the whole weekend."Vincent stepped onto the elevator. "You can make love to her in any room you want, any time of the day or night, and not worry how loud she gets. She does get loud, cousin,"he added as he turned and hit the button for the ground floor. "You must be doing something right.»
Bastien grinned.
"Heck, you can even make love to her in the elevator."Vincent waggled his eyebrows as the doors started to close. "Catch it on tape, maybe, and keep it for posterity.»
Bastien couldn't tell Vincent what he thought of that idea; the doors were already closed. But he'd never do that to Terri… unless she knew and wanted to. They could catch it on film and watch it later and… He shook his head at the idea. Too risky.
He didn't want personal tapes of Terri floating around. What if something happened and it got away from him? But he could make love to her in any room in the penthouse now. They'd already made love in the living room, on the couch, but they hadn't tried the bar. Or the pool table. Or the floor. Then there was the kitchen, the-A nice soak in the Jacuzzi with her would be nice, too. Of course they could have done that anyway, since the Jacuzzi was in the master suite, but…
Realizing that he was standing in the entryway thinking about making love to Terri, when he could be actually doing it, Bastien gave himself a shake. He started down the hall to the bedroom, realized he still carried the now empty glass, and did an about-face. He rushed back to the kitchen to give it a quick rinse before setting it in the sink. Then he headed for the bedroom to wake up Terri.
Terri tossed another acceptable flower into the appropriate box, then stretched and stood. It was late afternoon, and Bastien had yet to wake up. He had been awake already today. Twice. First, when he'd followed her into the shower, then when he'd crawled into bed at midday and woken her up in the most delicious manner she could imagine.
Bastien had kissed and caressed her awake, telling her as he slid his hands over her body that Vincent had left for the weekend, which meant they had the whole apartment to themselves. Terri had chuckled at the glee with which he'd said that, and then again as he'd told her each and every room and spot in the penthouse where he planned to make love to her. Then she'd stopped chuckling as things got serious. Seriously heated. The man was a dynamo in bed, arousing her passions like no one else could.
Despite his big plans, they hadn't made it out of bed. It hadn't mattered; they hadn't needed the extra impetus of new places to excite them-they'd done quite nicely right there in the master suite. Had they ever! Terri's body urged her to stretch again as tingles of awareness slid through her at the memory.
Afterward, she'd fallen asleep in his arms. But Terri hadn't slept long. She'd awoken an hour ago and tiptoed out of the room to take another shower before going in search of food. Getting a bowl of cereal, she'd come into the office to make a couple more flowers and eat while she waited for Bastien. The man was taking his time, however. Perhaps she should go wake him up as he had her, Terri thought with a small smile.
Deciding that was a fine idea, she stored the bag of Kleenex boxes and string back in the office closet where Vincent had put it the night before, then picked up her empty cereal bowl and carried it to the kitchen. Terri gave it a quick rinse, then dried and put it away. Then she headed to the bedroom.
Bastien was dead to the world when she entered. Terri approached the bed silently, her gaze on his face as she walked. He was a dear man-and just as adorable in sleep as he was awake, she decided, taking in the way that his hair was standing on end as if he had been running a hand through it. She wanted to smooth that hair for him. Terri also wanted to kiss his lips, which looked so soft and relaxed in sleep.
Pausing beside the bed, she hesitated, then quickly shed her clothes and climbed onto the mattress to crawl to Bastien's side. Arriving next to him, she hesitated again, unsure where to start. Terri had awoken earlier to find him kissing and caressing her. But he hadn't been kissing her lips. His mouth, as well as his hands, had been playing over her body.
Deciding to take a leaf out of his book, she carefully eased the blankets and sheets off of him until only his feet were covered. Then Terri just had to pause and stare. Dear God, the man was gorgeous, a delight to the eye. She took a moment to enjoy the view, then shook herself into action. Kissing and caressing, she reminded herself. But where to start? There was so much of Bastien that she would like to kiss.
After a pause, she decided his chest would be a good place to start, and Terri eased closer and began to press light little kisses across his pectoral muscles. She steadied herself with one hand, while she ran the other lightly across the flat muscles of his stomach. Bastien moaned and shifted under her touch, but didn't wake up. Terri managed to make her way down past his belly button, and was pressing light little butterfly kisses along his hipbone, before he stiffened, telling her he was awake.
Well, one part of him had grown stiff before her kisses and caresses had reached his belly button, but Terri knew he still hadn't been awake yet then. Now he was.