by Jenna Black
Carolyn crumpled the application into a tight wad and tossed it at the trash can. She missed. She unfolded her legs from under her and walked over to dispose of the botched application, her teeth worrying at her lower lip.
Okay, so her subconscious was trying to tell her—none-too-subtly—that she didn’t want to join the Feebies. And Hannah was trying to tell her—even less subtly—that she didn’t want to be a PI anymore. What did that leave her? She paced the length of her dining room, then threw up her hands in frustration.
Nothing! It left her with freaking nothing!
“What do you want to be when you grow up, Carolyn?” she muttered under her breath.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. She frowned. She wasn’t expecting anyone. But even talking to a wandering Jehovah’s Witness might be better than being alone with her muddled thoughts, so she went to the door and peeked out.
Her heart did a strange flip-flop when she saw Gray standing on her doorstep. He reached out to ring the bell again, and she wiped suddenly sweaty palms on her pants legs. Then she opened the door.
He reminded her somewhat of a turtle, ready to retreat into its shell at the slightest hint of danger. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket, his shoulders were hunched, and uncertainty bordering on fear shone in his eyes. Her heart did another of its roller-coaster dips, and she opened the door wider.
“Come in out of the cold,” she said, although the temperature outside was comfortable enough.
He stepped through the doorway and headed for the living room. He sat down on the edge of the couch, but didn’t take off his jacket. His posture was still defensive, and he looked poised for flight. Carolyn sat in a chair across from him and leaned back. The devil in her made it impossible to resist teasing him.
“You can relax, Gray. I promise I don’t bite.”
That brought a reluctant smile to his lips and he eased back into the couch a little more comfortably. “Well, you have shot at me in the past.”
She grinned. “If I’d been shooting at you, I would have hit you.”
He managed a small laugh, but it was a strained sound. He cleared his throat. “So. How’ve you been?” He had the grace to blush at his inane question.
A tense, uncomfortable silence descended. Carolyn broke it by asking, “Why are you here?”
Gray winced, although she’d kept her voice carefully neutral so it wouldn’t sound like some kind of accusation.
He sighed. “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get around to it. But I need to at least … apologize to you. For what I did.”
Carolyn rose from her chair and went to sit beside him on the couch. He looked so miserable that her heart went out to him. “You couldn’t help it,” she said softly, putting her hand on his back and rubbing the supple leather, suddenly wishing he’d taken the jacket off so she could feel the warmth of his body. “I hope you don’t think I’ve spent these weeks cursing you or anything.”
The memory of his attack haunted her at times, but after the initial shock had worn off, her emotions had run more to sadness than to fear. Sadness that this man she loved had to live with that specter hanging over his head, sadness that she hadn’t found a way to push that specter away.
“So, you and Hannah don’t spend your evenings sticking pins in a Gray doll?” he asked.
She laughed. “I can’t speak for Hannah, but I don’t.” She sighed and couldn’t resist resting her head against his shoulder. She inhaled deeply the scent of leather, touched with a hint of Cool Water and a dash of Gray. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered, and damn if her eyes didn’t start to tear up.
Gray slid his arm around her shoulder, and she gratefully snuggled closer. Despite the affectionate gesture, his voice when he spoke was tight with strain. “You could have come to see me. Or called.”
She grasped the zipper on his jacket and slid it down, then rested her hand against his chest. “I was afraid you’d slam the door in my face.”
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face so he could look into her eyes. “Why on earth would you think that?”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know, Gray. Maybe it’s because you’ve done it a few times in the past. You practically threw me down your front steps once, if you remember.” She sat up, though her body screamed in protest, wanting to lean into his warmth once more. “The only reason I’d been able to break down your defenses was because of the Banger’s threats. If it hadn’t been for that, you would have washed your hands of me. After … what happened, I knew the truce was over. I couldn’t have borne to have you shut me out again. So I didn’t give you the chance.”
His eyes were wide with shock as he stared at her. “So you weren’t avoiding me because of … what I did?”
Almost, she allowed herself to answer glibly. But Gray deserved total honesty, so she gave it to him. “I won’t say I wasn’t disturbed by it. And I won’t say it didn’t scare me. But no, that’s not the reason I stayed away. Please believe me—I’m not angry with you.”
He was silent for so long she almost thought he wasn’t planning to speak to her anymore. Then he smiled grimly. “I think I can remedy that.”
“Huh?”
“Do you have your gun on you?”
“I repeat, huh?”
He grinned, but it was a decidedly forced expression. “I’m just wondering how much bodily harm I’m risking by pissing you off right now.”
She shook her head. “Whatever it is, just spit it out.”
Still he struggled with it for a while. Three times he opened his mouth as though about to speak, and three times he swallowed his words. When he did it the third time, she punched his upper arm.
“Now you really are risking bodily harm!” she said. “What is it?”
He raised his chin defiantly, though who he thought he was defying, she couldn’t guess. “I was faking it,” he blurted.
She blinked, not instantly understanding what he meant “Faking it?” He nodded, and her brain snapped all the pieces into place. “Faking it?” she cried, remembering the feral glow in his eyes when he’d gone for her throat, the brutal strength of his hands, the glint of his fangs. She delivered another punch to his arm. “You bastard!”
He winced, whether at her words or at the blow she didn’t know. She wanted to grab his shoulders and shake him until his teeth rattled.
“Why the f—” She cut herself off, for she’d never been as fond of vulgarity as Hannah. “Why the hell did you do a stupid thing like that?”
He rubbed his hands up and down his pants legs and grinned sheepishly. “Because in some things I haven’t changed. I’m still an opinionated, old-fashioned, caveman-like Neanderthal who thinks he has the right to call all the shots and make all the decisions in a relationship. I decided for like the third or fourth time that you were better off without me, and I was going to prove it to you.”
“And you call Jules a prick!”
He winced again. “You really know how to hit a man when he’s down. Comparing me to Jules is a low blow.” He was trying for humor, but the uncertainty in his voice destroyed the attempt.
She was still furious, and her instincts urged her to shout at him until she was hoarse. But he looked so miserable she couldn’t help throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly. “You’re an idiot,” she told him, her voice muffled against his shoulder.
“No doubt about it,” he agreed, wrapping his arms around her. “A moron.”
“A bastard.”
“A jerk.”
“A trou d’cul.”
He pulled away and raised an eyebrow at her. “Excuse me?”
She grinned. “I heard Jules call you that once. I looked it up on the Internet.”
“Let me guess, he was calling me an all-around great guy.”
“Asshole, actually, but then who cares what he thinks.”
Gray’s eyes softened and he brushed his fingers down the side of h
er face. “I care what you think.”
She turned her head to kiss his fingers. “I love you,” she said simply. “I never stopped.”
He closed his eyes as if the words hurt him. “Carolyn, we live in different worlds. I’m a creature of the night, and you’re a creature of the day. We’ll—”
“We’ll work around it. Maybe I can cut back my hours at work, or—” An idea struck her, and suddenly she was filled with an almost overwhelming sense of hope.
“Or what?” Gray asked, his head tilted to one side.
“Would you agree that I was instrumental in hunting down the Banger?”
“Of course! If it hadn’t been for you, he might have won. The Guardians are still reeling from the poisonous influence he had on them through Deirdre.”
“And do you think I might be instrumental on other cases?”
He looked doubtful, his protective instincts no doubt triggered once again. “I don’t know …”
“Yes you do. I can do things the Guardians can’t. There are loads of records in courthouses that Guardians would never be able to get to because they can’t go out during the day.”
“Carolyn—”
“And I have contacts they don’t have, like my friend at the fingerprint lab.”
“But—”
“Of course, if I was working for the Guardians and trying to get stuff done in the daylight, I’d have to shift my sleep schedule around a bit. But there are lots of people who work night shifts and get along just fine.”
Gray grabbed her shoulders and stopped her babbling with a firm kiss. She would have melted under his lips, but he pulled away too soon, his eyes boring into hers. “Think about what you’re saying, Carolyn. You weren’t willing to give up your career three years ago. Why would you be willing to do it now?”
She smiled and raised her hand to his hair, running her fingers through it until her hand was cupped behind his head. “Don’t you see?” she murmured. “I wouldn’t be giving it up. I’d be helping the Guardians root out Killers like Archer Montgomery.” She tried to pull his head toward her for another kiss, eager to drop the more mundane topic of her employment, but he resisted.
“Eli might not go for it,” Gray warned. “He’s very protective of mortals.”
“If he’s protective of mortals, then he should be willing to accept any help he can get. Especially if the Guardians are in the kind of disarray you’ve suggested.”
Gray shrugged out of his leather jacket, letting it fall casually to the floor. “It won’t be easy,” he said, but his voice was growing noticeably husky. “All our issues won’t heal overnight.”
“I know,” she murmured as she slid onto his lap and wrapped both arms around his neck. His erection was a prominent lump under her bottom, and her body flushed with desire.
“Hannah will castrate me when she finds out!” he said, tugging the tail of her shirt out of her jeans.
Carolyn straddled him, squeezing her thighs around his hardness. “Just let her try!”
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR WATCHERS IN THE NIGHT
“Jenna Black has crafted a fine story with Watchers in the Night. She supplies deft handling of plot, characters, and genre, and I enjoyed the novel tremendously. I see many more fascinating novels coming from this author in the future!”
—Heather Graham, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
“You’ll want to bare your throat to Jenna Black’s enthralling heroes. This cleverly plotted romantic tale will leave you hungry for more!”
—Sabrina Jeffries, New York Times bestselling author of One Night With a Prince
“Mystery, magic, and vampires! In Watchers in the Night, Jenna Black has created a fresh and fascinating vampire universe. What more could any lover of the paranormal ask for?”
—Lori Handeland
“Jenna Black’s Watchers in the Night is sexy, suspenseful, and what a great read! Vampire Gray James hits the top of my Hot-O-Meter from the moment he comes back from the dead to save his girlfriend, Carolyn Mathers—who just happens to be a kick-ass PI able to take care of herself. Just the right mix of mystery, vampires, romance, great characters, and underworld shenanigans to keep me happy. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the world of the Guardians!”
—Tess Mallory
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
WATCHERS IN THE NIGHT
Copyright © 2006 by Jenna Black
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
eISBN 9781466810488
First eBook Edition : January 2012
ISBN-13: 978-0-765-35451-8
ISBN-10: 0-765-35451-9
First Edition: November 2006