Tempted in the Night (37 page)
He turned her around so he could wash her back. "It was better than great." He pulled her against him and the thin layer of soap made their bodies slippery together. His hands came up again to massage her breasts as he dipped his head low enough to speak softly in her ear. "I told you before that I'd never bite you."
"Did you want to?" She was worried that maybe the experience hadn't been as great for him as it had been for her because he'd held back.
"I won't deny that I was tempted, but I don't have to take your blood to be satisfied. There are a thousand ways I want to make love to you and none of them involve taking blood."
"A thousand?" she teased, letting him hear the smile in her voice. "I don't know if I have the energy tonight for more than a hundred or so."
Again, she heard the gentle rumble of his laugh. "Fortunately, we have plenty of time to explore each and every one of those ways." His voice grew very serious. "Hopefully, we'll have a lifetime."
Jess stilled, not sure she'd heard him correctly.
"A lifetime?"
"God, I hope so," he said, sounding suddenly vulnerable. He turned her so she was looking up at him. "I meant what I said—I love you. I want to be with you. Marry me. We can work out any
differences,
overcome any problems, as long as we love one another."
She could hardly believe what she was hearing. "You want to marry me?"
"You sound surprised." He laughed. "Marriage between two people in love is not unheard of, you know. You do love me, don't you?"
She realized then how remiss she'd been in sharing her feelings with him. Wrapping her arms about his neck, she pulled him close and kissed him. "Yes, I love you.
With all my heart and all my soul."
She thought about all the things she wanted to do with her life. Could she give all that up and move back to
Washington
,
"Actually, I was kind of hoping you might want to live here in
New Orleans
."
"What?"
"Yeah, well, you see, I sort of quit my job."
"What?" She knew she sounded like a broken record, but couldn't seem to stop herself.
"I called Gamble up yesterday to check in. Turns out he'd received a phone call from a man claiming to be Brody's killer. He described the Thompson Park murder scene in such explicit detail that Gamble was left with no doubt that he was speaking to the real murderer, which means he no longer considers me a suspect."
"Do you think Harris made that call, before he died?" She felt the pain of his loss stab through her again.
"I think he did. Anyway, after the call, Gamble lifted my suspension and wanted to know when I was coming back to work. I started to give him a date and heard myself resign instead. My heart just isn't in it anymore. Besides, I have a new job."
"You do?"
He smiled. "I'm a Night Slayer."
She cocked her head and gave him a saucy look. "Is that a fact?"
"It is, indeed, a fact."
"Hmmm.
New Orleans
's very own Night Slayer. But with Brody gone, are there any vampires left to slay?"
He grew serious. "Unfortunately, there are. I didn't have a chance to tell you, but Harris found a whole group—about fifty, and some of them are former convicts. I'm just glad I won't be hunting them all by myself."
She smiled. "That's right, you have
me
to help."
He gave a bark of laughter. "We'll talk about it. I'm not so sure I want the mother of my children out there hunting vampires."
"You can't go out there alone, and besides, I'm not pregnant."
He gave the end of her nose an affectionate flick. "I won't be alone, and you're not pregnant
yet
. I have a feeling that if we don't start using protection soon, that status could change rather quickly—not that I mind at all. I'm looking forward to having children with you."
The admission was so touching, she felt like crying. As if sensing that, John kissed her quickly and then grabbed the bar of soap and washed himself. "I'm going to leave you to wash your hair while there's still hot water. As soon as you're finished, get dressed and come downstairs. There's something I want to show you."
He left before she could ask him for details, so she quickly washed her hair and got out of the shower. With a towel wrapped around her, she hurried to her room and dressed. She combed her hair and though she hated taking the extra time to put on makeup, she found herself wanting to look nice for her fiancé.
Fiancé
.
It had a nice sound to it.
As she started down the stairs, she heard the sound of male voices talking. John had company. There was something familiar about the sound of his guest, and she hurried down the stairs.
"Harris!"
The vampire had been sitting and hurriedly got to his feet as she burst into the room, breathless and excited. Not only was he alive, but he looked as vibrant and healthy as he had the night they'd gone into the cemetery to find John.
Overcome with joy and relief, she threw her arms around him, embracing him tightly.
"How?
I don't understand."
For a second, Harris stood ramrod stiff and then slowly, his arms came up around her. "Does this mean you're glad to see me?"
She stepped back, slightly embarrassed. "Yes, I'm very glad to see you." She gave John a pointed look. "But you told me he died. I made the funeral arrangements."
Harris smiled. "John tells me it was a nice ceremony, too. Thank you."
She glared at both men. "Someone needs to start explaining—now."
"I will," John started. "First, I'm sorry we lied to you, but we felt it was the best thing to do at the time. You see, the blood we gave Harris worked, even more quickly than we could have hoped. Shortly after you went to sleep that night, he woke up and we started talking about what to do about Brody."
Harris took up the explanation. "We knew that over the next couple of weeks, his intelligence would start to deteriorate, so we needed to find him before he lost all sense of reasoning."
"So you set a trap," Jess concluded.
"In a way, it's your fault," John told her.
"How's that?"
She wanted to know.
"You're the one who said that the best way to catch vampires is to lure them to you, not go after them."
She slowly smiled. "That's true."
"Given Brody's obsession with you, we knew he wouldn't just leave you alone. In fact, either he or someone he hired was probably watching you at all times, so that's why I had you make the funeral arrangements," John continued. "We wanted Brody to know exactly where we'd be and when. We also wanted him to think he'd been successful in killing Harris."
"He'd feel like he had the advantage," Harris explained. "It would be just you and John."
"But you could have told me," Jess said, feeling a little hurt.
"I'm sorry," John said again. "We needed your actions and reactions to be genuine."
She nodded. "I guess I understand."
"Thank you." John went to her and, putting his arm around her shoulder, pulled her to his side and kissed the side of her head. "I knew you'd understand, but I
am
sorry to have put you through it."
She smiled, unable to tear her gaze from his face. He truly was a very handsome man and she felt so lucky that he loved her.
She was torn from her introspection by the sound of Harris clearing his throat. "I should probably be going," he said, sounding a little embarrassed. "The sun will be coming up shortly."
"Where will you spend the day?" John asked him.
Harris shrugged. "I don't know. I'll find a place."
Jess found she wasn't reassured by that answer. "Harris, if you already have a place where you feel comfortable, that's great, but you're welcome to use that little room under the stairs—at least until we can
sunproof
one of the other rooms."
"Are you sure?" Harris asked, sounding surprised.
"Of course, I'm sure. It's no trouble, really." She leaned against John and smiled. "In fact, we'd love to have you stay with us for however long you want."
Harris hesitated only a moment and then smiled. "Thanks, I'd like that."
"We'll start work today on one of the other rooms," John told him, "but I have to tell you that with any luck, Jess and I will be moving out in a couple of months."
It was Jess's turn to be surprised and she pulled back enough to look up at him. "We will?"
"Yeah.
You see, over the years, instead of spending my money, I invested it. Well, after ten years, I've accumulated quite a nice little nest egg. Yesterday, I withdrew it all and bought a house—the
chupacabra
house. It'll need a little work, but I thought we could live there after we're married."
Jess couldn't believe it. She grabbed his face and kissed him. "It'll be so wonderful. Thank you, John." She was bubbling over with excitement. "You'll
come
stay with us, won't you?" she asked Harris.
He gave her a dubious look. "You really want a vampire living in your house?"
"Oh, please." She waved away his comment. "I grew up with a vampire living in my house and you're not nearly the Neanderthal Erik can be."
"I'm just not sure how we'll pay for everything after my savings runs out," John admitted. "It's not like anyone's going to pay us to get rid of vampires they don't even know exist."
Jess smiled. "That won't be a problem."
"It won't?" John asked.
"No. The Winslow Family Trust was set up for this express purpose, so as long as there are evil vampires to slay and good vampires to save, we've got money—and I assure you, it's more than enough to live on for all of us."
"I don't like the idea of living off someone else's money," John told her.
She smiled.
"With all those vampires running around?
Don't worry—you'll earn every dime, I've no doubt."
"She's probably right," Harris added, sounding worried. "In fact, I'm a little concerned about whether the two of us will be able to handle them."
"You mean, the
three
of us," Jess interjected.
John and Harris exchanged looks. "I'll call Charles tomorrow and brief him on the situation," John said. "If Mac and Dirk have taken care of their situation in D.C, then maybe they can come down and help."
"Sounds good," Harris replied as he stifled a yawn. "If you'll excuse me, I think it's time I retired."
After he left, Jess smiled and took John's hand, pulling him into the kitchen. "We have so many plans to make. I'll make a pot of coffee and we can talk."
She started to walk off, but he tugged on her hand, pulling her off balance. As she started to fall, he swept her up into his arms and headed for the stairs. "I have a better idea. Let's talk later." He carried her up the stairs and into his bedroom, where he placed her on the bed. His eyes glowed with a crimson light, letting her know exactly what he had on his mind.
"Are you sure you feel up to it?" she teased. "After all, it's almost sunup. Maybe you're too tired to make love?"
John gathered her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. Then he nuzzled the side of her neck and whispered in her ear, "I'll never be
that
tired."
Robin T. Popp
grew up watching
Star Trek
and reading Nancy Drew, Robert Heinlein, Sharon Green, and Piers Anthony. She loved the daring and romantic exploits of heroic characters on grand adventures in otherworldly places. It wasn't long before she wanted to write such tales to share with others. Though she was forced to take a thirty-year detour through the real world—which certainly wasn't without its share of adventures—armed now with two master's degrees, a full-time job, and a family, she has taken the first steps toward realizing her original dream of becoming an author.
Too
Close
to the Sun
, a futuristic romance published in July 2003, was her first novel.
Out of the Night
was her second novel and represents her first foray into another of her
favorite
alternate realities—the realm of vampires.
Robin lives southwest of
Houston
,
If you hunger for more
Robin T. Popp, turn this page for a preview of her next Night Slayer novel
Lord of the Night
available
in mass market