He stood and faced me. "You're not helping matters, Gloriana, by defending him." He yanked me into his arms. "Forget him, damn it."
He kissed me then, the kind of soul-stirring kiss that never failed to weaken my knees and remind me of who'd made me. This time? I had his words ringing in my ears, damning Rafe. A man I did love. But Jerry? I grabbed his hair and felt his fangs scrape my tongue as he kept kissing me. I kissed him back, pushing my body against his.
He finally raised his head, his eyes narrowed. "Trying too hard, Gloriana. Yes, I still want you, stupid to deny it." He pushed his hips against me and it wasn't news that he was hard. "But I've always been a fool for you. I even thought we would be together forever."
"So did I." I brushed his cheek, wanting that. Why did I even hesitate? Was it because I still felt his disapproval? And why had I ever been tempted by Rafe? Was it because my relationship with Jerry didn't satisfy me on some level? Too many questions to just brush past this and pretend things were okay between us.
"I need to cool off." He frowned and put some space between us. "And you need to be sure you're ready to let go of Valdez as a lover."
"I am. I have. Rafe understands that we're done, Jerry!" I flushed and stared at his shirt, not wanting him to see how hard that decision had been for me. "The demon influenced me before or I never-"
"So you say." Jerry shook his head. "But you and Valdez are close. You share secrets and keep them from me. And you love each other. You've said that more than once."
"Yes, but as friends." I met his gaze this time, though it wasn't easy. Could I just be friends with a man I'd made love with? A man who could still make my heart race when his hungry eyes met mine? I'd have to, if I wanted to be with Jerry.
"Enough. We need to take a break." Jerry turned and walked to the door.
"Jerry, no!" I threw myself on him, gripping his shoulders and pressing my breasts against his back. I laid my cheek against the soft cotton of his shirt.
"I'm going, Gloriana. I've said all I need to say."
"I hate to see you leave like this, still so angry." His muscles tightened under my arms as I held on to him. "Please stay." My breath hitched. If I slid down to his feet and begged, dragged him to my bed, I might win the night, but not the battle. And we'd both hate me for it later.
"No, Gloriana. There is no point. You need to be around Valdez without that demon inside you and see where things stand between you." He turned and took my hands, holding them between us. "I need to know where things stand."
"I told you." I gasped when Jerry shoved me away and opened the door.
"Oh, yes, you told me." His face was set, his lips firm. He let me see his pain and I bit my lip.
"Next time block your thoughts, Gloriana, if you don't want me to hear them. I'll be back in two weeks. By then, I hope you know who you want. Because if it's the shifter, I'll be relocating. I can't stay around here and watch." With one last look that made my eyes fill, Jerry turned on his heel and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.
I leaned against it, my cheek against the wood. Sweet God in Heaven. What had I done?
Three
"You okay, Glory?" Penny had obviously taken out her earbuds.
"As well as can be expected. Jerry's gone. Business trip." I headed back to the couch. I might never get dressed again. Maybe I'd sell my business. Become one of those weird vampires who lived in a cave and flew with bats. I was so depressed I was thinking about giving up cute shoes.
"Did you two break up?" Penny hurried into the kitchen and came out with a bottle of synthetic. She shoved it into my hand. "You look terrible."
"Thanks." I took a swig. "Not a total breakup, hopefully. Just a time-out. Don't worry about me. I always bounce back. I've had lots and lots of practice." I pushed down the urge to throw myself on the couch and cry bitter tears. Nope, I had a job to do here. Might as well get on with it. But two weeks with Jerry gone. I ached already.
"So you guys have split before?" Penny peered at me like she was trying to break through my mental blocks. No way was I letting her into my thoughts again, though constantly keeping her out was a pain and a half. Literally. It always gave me a nagging headache and vamps can't exactly take Excedrin.
"We're taking a break. We do that sometimes. He'll be back." I stared down into my bottle, then determinedly shook off the urge to smack myself with it. "Now tell me about your transformation, Penny. How did that weird vampire get hold of you?"
Penny sighed and sat across from me. "This story won't cheer you up. It was pretty pathetic."
"I understand pathetic. I just barely stopped short of grabbing Jerry's ankle and having him kick me off. And looking like this." I waved my hand at my rat's nest of a hairdo. "Spill."
"I had a blind date. The only kind I ever have lately." Penny made a face. "Surprise, surprise."
"Nonsense. You're full of potential. Jerry has a sister with hair that color. The Scots love it." I smiled encouragingly. "Keep talking."
Penny sighed. "Thanks. Anyway, I have had boyfriends, other lab rats who don't notice things like how I fill out a pair of jeans."
"News flash, Penny. I never met a man yet who didn't appreciate a woman's assets." I looked her over. "I just don't know why you're hiding yours in baggy sweatpants and a sweater that's two sizes too big." I kept my feelings about her horizontal stripes to myself.
Penny blinked. "You want to hear this or not?"
"Sorry. About that night." I waved my hand.
"Anyway, as I was starting to say, my usual dates had never taken me to a fraternity party." She sighed. "Just once I wanted to have a normal college experience, you know?"
"Not a clue. Never got a whiff of college myself, but I can imagine your sister is living it up. Am I right?" I bet Jenny, so cute in that cheerleading outfit, never missed a Saturday night out.
"Of course she is." Penny frowned and picked at a pull in her sweater. Where had she found it? The last-chance bargain rack in a thrift shop? I wanted to rip it off and use it as a dustrag. "So when I had an opportunity for a blind date at a frat party, I jumped at it."
"I get that. I hear about stuff like that from students all the time. Sounds like they have fun." But if Penny had gone looking like this . . .
She gave me a look. "Your block is slipping, Glory. I didn't wear this. Jenny picked out a cute outfit for me. White jeans and a red-and-white-striped top."
"So what happened?" I heaved my block back into place. White on that butt? Sister Jenny wasn't doing this kid any favors. And the stripes too? Well, well. Made me wonder.
"But Jen didn't want me to go. She said she'd heard rumors this wasn't a regular frat party. I ignored her. I'd spent way too many nights chained to my computer working on my latest project." Penny leaned forward. "I've got a grant to study the molecular structure of . . ." She obviously saw my eyes glazing over. "Never mind. I get really wrapped up in it."
"Fascinating. If Ian MacDonald were here, he'd be thrilled to talk to you about it." I shook my head. "But let's get back to the vamp connection. So what about this blind date?"
"Turns out it was one of those parties where the guys at the frat house are supposed to bring a loser, try to get them drunk and then do ugly things like drive them out to the middle of nowhere and dump them. You know, cruel jokes." Penny shuddered. "I'm pretty unaware of social things, but I thought this guy might be into me. He was cute, bringing me punch. Dancing with me."
"And he was setting you up for some kind of mean prank?" I felt my fangs go down. "We are so dealing with this loser."
"I was clueless. The punch was spiked, I should have noticed when I couldn't grip the cup anymore. And when he dragged me out to the parking lot to make out, I mean"-Penny flushed-"did I really think he was going to kiss me?" She covered her face with her hands. "I'm a total idiot," she mumbled into her palms.
"Stop it! No, you're not." I was up and put my arm around her. "He's a jackass. The guy needs to know he can't get away with this."
Penny looked up, her face splotchy with embarrassment. "No, I deserved what I got. I threw up next to his car. He was disgusted. I didn't blame him." She took a shaky breath. "So I got in the car and shut my eyes. Never asked where we were going, just assumed he was taking me home."
"But he didn't." I patted her shoulder.
"No, he drove to a hilltop and stopped the car. It was quiet, creepy, but he went around, opened my car door and helped me out. I was dumb enough to just go along, thinking maybe there was a romantic view or something. Then he just jumped back in the car and drove off. He never even looked back." Penny shuddered. "I would like to teach him a lesson."
"Now you're talking. We won't kill him. Just scare the little prick and let him know he can't get away with treating women like that." I was imagining all kinds of scenarios that would make this frat boy have nightmares for years.