Courted by the Vampire (20 page)

He glared then stalked about the room, savagely kicking at the flowers on
the floor. “What’s wrong with my name? I think it’s quite grand.”

“It is if you’re a dead playwright.” Hannah sat on the desk with her feet propped on the chair. She cocked
her head and regarded him. “So, you’re free to go. You needn’t stick around.”

“I’ve been here so long I don’t remember where home is. I got into a bit of
mischief when I pestered the man that used to live here. He captured me. How was I supposed to know he had a magical can?”

“Well, I have a solution to your problem.” She rummaged in her bag and
brought out her jar. “If you wish to travel along with me, you may. I have three other fairies in here. The last time I checked, they were having a great time playing a rousing game of poker.” She tapped the glass. Where they’d procured the green visors and sunglasses, she didn’t know, but they were pretty annoyed to be disturbed.

“I suppose I could hitch a ride with you for
a while. I have no other plans.”

Hannah grinned
. How large would the transient community in the jar get before they demanded an upgrade or freedom? “Since you’ve been in the area for a while, can you tell me where I might find Corinne the Wise? I’ve been searching but haven’t had any luck.”

“There.” He gestured to the portrait on the wall. “She’s there in the
picture. Just tap the frame three times and call her name.” He blinked. “Can I join the party now?”

She said the words of the
binding spell. Shakespeare morphed into the jar with a shower of blue sparks.

“If you wished to receive floral arrangements, I would have arranged to
bring you a more exotic mix than these common weeds.”

“Funny, vamp.”
Hannah stuffed the jar into the depths of her bag then hopped off the desk, teetering on the unfamiliar heels. “When I levitated a coffee can off the shelf, I sneezed. The daisies are the result.” She scooped a handful of the blooms from the desk and brought them to her nose. “What?” She caught his gaze over the flowers and her cheeks warmed under his scrutiny.

“I will remember you as you are now for the rest of my days,
spatzi
. You make a fetching picture. I suddenly wish I chose painting over bounty work.” He stood immobile near the window, staring, his eyes hooded, and a thoughtful expression on his face. “Were you talking to someone just now?”

“Yes. Can you believe there was a fairy imprisoned in that coffee can? I let
him out. He opted to travel with us for a while. Oh, and he also told me where to find Corinne.” Warm chocolate brown color swirled into her mind as Edwin’s desire made itself known. When he slipped his arms around her, her libido flared.

“Is there nothing you cannot accomplish? You are truly remarkable.”

She lifted her lips for his kiss. Being stranded in the middle of a forest on an impossible mission with certain death at the end didn’t lend itself well to romantic liaisons
. It’s not fair!

“What is not fair?”

She kept her gaze fixed on a button of his shirt. “I just found you. I have a feeling Fate plans your death.”

His
sigh was one of long-suffering. “Why do you think these things now?”

“I can’t help it.”
She shivered when he nibbled a path down her throat. “I take it you approve of me with all of my odd faults and quirks?”

“Most definitely.” He ran his hands under her tank top
and drew circles on her back. “They make you all the more endearing.”

She allowed him one more searing kiss then gently pushed him away.
“There will be plenty of time for that sort of activity. Right now we need to talk to the lady in the picture.”

“Pardon me?”

She grinned and pointed to the Victorian-era portrait. “That, my dear bounty hunter, is Corinne the Wise.”

Edwin gazed at the picture, a dark frown marring the perfection of his
lips. “I do not see how that is possible.”

“After everything that’s happened to us in the last five days, this is what
you find hard to believe?” She tapped the frame three times and crooned Corinne’s name. “Watch and learn, ye of little faith.”

The painting came alive before her fascinated eyes. A spectrum of colors
seeped into the black and white drawing until the picture resembled a regular windowpane. Experimentally, Hannah touched a finger to the canvas and marveled at how that digit disappeared into the canvas.

“Ready?” She took Edwin’s hand when he nodded. “See you on the flip
side.” Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the painting and into another world.

Chapter Sixteen

Hannah looked about with interest as Edwin squeezed her hand. They stood in the middle of an authentic Victorian-era parlor. Oil paintings in heavy gilt frames lined walls papered with striped wallpaper. Floor to ceiling windows covered with damask draperies in a dusky mauve color overpowered the intimate space.

J
ust think of how much easier researching different periods of history for books and movies would be to the writers if everyone could just jump into a portrait.

Fantasy clouds your brain again. Be wary.

“Come in, come in and sit down. I’ll make you two a nice cup of tea and we’ll have a proper gossip.”

She
spun around. The ghost of the woman in the portrait bustled over a teacart, busily pouring out three steaming cups of the beverage. She glanced at Edwin and shrugged. He wore the same perplexed expression.

“Sit down, ducks.” The ghost pushed the cart over to a grouping of chairs
and waited for them to settle.

“Thank you.” Hannah took in lacy doilies and china knick-knacks
that littered every available space. She imagined the chair she uncomfortably balanced on would cost a fortune in today’s market. She accepted a delicate porcelain cup of tea from Corinne, surprised to find it really was hot. The irreverent part of her brain had expected it to be make-believe. She slid another glance at Edwin and her lips twitched as he handled the dainty china.

“Now, there’s sugar and milk on the cart here. Please help yourselves to
some of these delicious almond cakes or cucumber sandwiches. If you desire something else, let me know, and I’ll be happy to have Cook bring it out.”

“This will be fine, thank you, Corinne.” Hannah calmly dropped a
decorated sugar cube into the amber tea and stirred it with an impossibly small teaspoon. “Is this your home?”

“Of course, dear. Me and the Mister just moved here not two months ago
and we rub along quite happily.” The older woman handed Hannah a plate of delicate cucumber sandwiches.

She
passed it on to Edwin, resisting the urge to laugh as he tried to balance the plate on his lap along with a starched linen napkin as well as his teacup.
I don’t like cucumbers. They’re disgustingly slimy.
But she did accept the plate of cookies she was handed her next.

Her jaw hung open as Corinne drink from her own cup. She
followed the course of the tea as it made its way through her transparent body to pool on the Oriental rug beneath her chair. The ghost—for that’s what she was—didn’t seem to notice.

“Hannah, you’re gaping.” Edwin jostled her arm, causing her tea to slosh
into the saucer.

“I’m sorry.” She mopped up the spill with her napkin and peered again at
their host. Her white hair twisted into the pompadour style popular in that day, she wore a cameo brooch on the lace at her throat, and her gown was of navy worsted-weight wool. Just as Hannah opened her mouth to ask a question, Corinne interjected words of her own.

“In my day young ladies never wore pants like the men. They wore pretty
dresses and skirts of whites and pastels.” She simpered, the only purpose it served was to highlight the wrinkles on her ghostly face. “A young lady should retain an air of allure and mystery if they hope to attract a man.”

Edwin choked on his tea.

Hannah gave him “the look,” but he smiled back with the grace and charm of a Victorian gentleman. Belatedly, she realized according to his age, he probably had grown up in this same period.

Damn the man!

What did I tell you the last time you said that?
He cleared his throat. “You are wearing a lovely frock, Corinne. Perhaps you could school Hannah in her wardrobe choices.”

Bastard!
She munched an almond cookie and glared at the vamp, thinking black thoughts of the tortures she would like to inflict upon him.

The ghost smiled at
him.

Hannah rolled her eyes. If Corinne possessed hormones, they would definitely
be churning.
What is it about him that has the spectral babes sniffing?
Vampy pheromones?

Jealous?

You wish.
She ignored him to focus on the ghost. Did the woman even know she was no longer living?

“I would be happy to be her mentor. My daughter is about your age.
She wears only gowns of beige and pink. She’s hoping to catch the eye of the squire’s son in the village. Quite a prize and he’ll inherit a nice property when his father dies.” She sent a smug glance Edwin’s way and nodded. “Hannah, you would do well to grow out your hair. I suppose there’s nothing we can do about that rather shocking red color, but if it were longer we could really work with it.”

Edwin’s deep chuckle reverberated through the small room. “I agree. I
think Hannah could be the belle of the ball in a gown made of sapphire silk with an overskirt of silver tulle. Perhaps a glittering comb in hair, above her ear, just so.” He scooted next to her on the sofa and held back a lock of her “outrageously” red hair. “What do you think?”

Corinne clapped her transparent hands, bounced up and down in her
chair with apparent excitement. “How marvelous! Between the two of us we could launch her into society to find her an extremely suitable match.”

Hannah ignored her irritation with some difficulty. Her heart went out to
every heroine of Regency and Victorian romances. They knew what it was like to be pimped out too. She slapped Edwin with her eyes then set her half-empty teacup down with a noticeable clink. Intending to tell her companions exactly what she thought of their “help,” she took a deep breath.

Edwin shoved a cucumber
sandwich into her mouth. “You must taste this, and may I give my compliments to your Cook, good lady,” he said to the ghost, his voice smooth and soft as baby oil.

“Alas, all of your efforts in finding Hannah the perfect mate will fall on deaf ears,
I’m afraid.”

She
chewed furiously on the sandwich. The soft bread stuck to the roof of her mouth while the taste of cucumbers flooded her palate, making her gag, while Edwin’s expression clouded with fake sadness. She glared, her mouth still full. He continued to schmooze the ghost.

“Why do you say that?” Corinne fell hook, line and sinker for
his tale.

“It is such a tragic story.” He moved from the sofa to the chair beside their
hostess, his features perfectly schooled into melancholy. “I am afraid Hannah has already given her flower to another man. She found herself alone one evening and was swept off her feet by his overwhelming charm and handsome good looks.” He paused for effect, leaning closer. “She succumbed to her dark desires and passion.”

Corinne gasped and pressed her napkin to her spectral lips. “What
happened?”

“Of course
she became besotted with this fellow. She follows him everywhere, making her unfit to be with another.”

Hannah gagged as the bread stuck fast to the roof of her mouth. She
gulped tea hoping to dislodge the wad but finally had to resort to freeing it with a finger. She swished her mouth out, and with another gulp of tea, glared at the vampire.
Two can play this game.

“The most tragic thing about this story, Corinne, is the man who, uh,
deflowered me refused to marry me. He resists all my attempts at reconciliation. It’s all so sad.” She pinched the inside of her arm until tears sprang into her eyes. She raised her gaze to Corinne’s and slipped an evil smile at Edwin. “You see, I’m carrying his child. I’ve been cast into the streets with the brand of a loose woman.”

“Oh, no!” Corrine’s jaw dropped.

“Yes. No home, no family, no way to take care of myself. It’s too much to bear!” Hannah hoped her few drama classes from back in high school would send her performance over the top. She flung herself prostrate across the sofa. Draping a limp hand over her forehead, her eyes fluttered closed.

Cold air whispered across
her cheek. She knew the ghost touched her face but didn’t want to risk opening her eyes to confirm that fact. “Oh my dear, you mustn’t let it bother you. Why, even I succumbed to my husband’s persuasion before we were married.”

When Hannah opened her eyes, she caught Edwin’s dark scowl over the
back of the sofa. “My only comfort is the knowledge he’s somewhere in Indianapolis. His name is Duncan, but it’s such a large city, I’m afraid it will be impossible to find him.”

“Tread carefully.”
The warning hissed between Edwin’s teeth. He rolled his eyes as Corinne busied herself pouring out another cup of tea. “What Hannah is hinting at in her overly dramatic way is we think you have information on this man’s whereabouts.”

Disapproval radiated from him like a furnace. Hannah stifled a grin. She
had irritated him, and he grew angrier by the second. Well, good. He deserved it. How far could she push his limits?

“Why would I know anything about
her beau?” Corinne’s thin lips formed a pout as her sip of tea ran straight to the carpet.

Laughter threatened to erupt, so Hannah bit the inside of her lip to stifle
it.
Get ready, bounty hunter.
“If I don’t find Duncan soon, Edwin threatened to carry me off to his home and hold me captive until I agree to marry him.” She grinned in triumph. His scowl deepened and black clouds of disapproval scooted across her mind in response.
Beat that, Snookums.

You are playing with fire. I hope you are prepared to be
burned. I have warned you.

He
moved to her side of the sofa, dumping her feet unceremoniously to the ground so he could seat himself. After retrieving his teacup, he took a sip and gazed at their hostess. “Hannah already consented to be my bride. I do not mind she is carrying another man’s child. Indiscretions happen, and I look forward to raising the child as my own.” His sigh echoed with the sadness of the ages. “I only hope she will grow to love me in time.”

“Oh dear.” Corinne pat
ted his hand.

“Oh brother.” Hannah huffed her annoyance.

Edwin assumed a wounded expression. “My only desire to find Duncan is to warn him off any pursuit of her. I want the assurance she is mine alone. No man has a claim to her.”

Hannah sucked in her breath at the deadly calm in his voice. She was the intended target for his hidden message. Goose bumps prickled her
skin.
Over the top possessiveness isn’t becoming, bounty hunter.

He ignored her. Not even an eyelid fluttered.
“You see, I am extremely adept at tracking people down. He is a threat. It pains me to know this man lurks near her. Hannah belongs to me.” He sat back against the crushed mauve velvet and sipped his tea as if he issued veiled threats every day. “You understand my position, don’t you, Corinne?”

The ghost nodded. “Of course.” She looked at Hannah with a trace of
envy. “You are extremely fortunate to have such a protective man. It’s not every day men of this generation stand up for their women.”

“I’m a lucky, lucky girl all right.” Edwin’s transformation into a male
chauvinist pig was complete. She mourned the loss of her hard work from the week.

This tea party is over.
Abandoning the act, Hannah struggled to a seated position. Edwin’s strong hand on her thigh kept her rooted to the sofa. “Can you tell us where Duncan is?”

“I don’t know how useful this will be but I was given this card by the post
man two days ago. He told me to pass along this direction to any visitors I had in for tea.” Corinne fumbled with a wooden trinket box on the table at her elbow and withdrew a business card which she handed to Edwin. “I believe it mentions a gentleman by the name of Andre.”

“Thank you, fair lady.”

Hannah released a sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t the vengeful Gothic vampire anymore. The black cloud in her mind retreated. In its place crept an intense violet stain that grew stronger and stronger until it consumed the empty spaces in her mind. Tingles flirted at the base of her spine. She set her teacup down, ignoring the conversation between Edwin and Corinne.
What the hell?

Desire swept through her body in waves so powerful
her breath caught in her throat. She shot a wild glance at Edwin, but he gave away nothing.

His lips titled upward in a tiny smile as he bent his head to Corinne’s, deep in
conversation.

Ripples of urgent need emanated from Hannah’s core to spread
throughout her body. The silken waves grew more intense, caused her to clutch at the sofa cushions. He winked, and the golden threads of his laughter interrupted the violet colors in her mind. She swallowed, biting hard on her lip to keep from crying out.

What are you doing to me?

A dark glossy eyebrow lifted, but he didn’t glance at her.
I have no idea what you mean.