The warmth in his eyes was humbling. Her heart did a little flippity-flop, not just for his praise, but because no man had ever looked at her the way he did right now with appreciation, admiration and a couple other undecipherable emotions that were having a liquifying effect on her body.
She forced her attention to her wine glass and began to sip. She could not afford to let him get to her. She liked this job and needed it for Chelsie. All she had to do was stay strong. Eventually, he would grow bored and move on to some other woman who snagged his interest and her job would be secure. At least she hoped.
“Julia was telling me you’re a Missouri girl,” Dr. La Mond said.
Mia turned in her seat to face him. “Yeah. Born and raised in southwest Missouri. I lived on a farm all my life until I moved to New Orleans. I can tell your from Texas. Where?”
He chuckled. “San Antonio. So how’d a gorgeous, mid-western, country girl like you end up in good ol’ New Orleans?”
Mia laughed softly. “That’s a long story, which I’m not even sure I have an answer to. After my divorce, I just got a wild hair and needed a radical change. A long time ago I came here on vacation and just fell in love.”
“Gotcha. Sort of the same reason I settled here. Bet you like country music.” He grinned, then took a sip of wine.
“Oh, yeah. Actually, my youngest daughter plays in a country band all across the Ozarks. She’ll be giving it up for awhile though. She’ll be starting Harvard medical school this fall.”
His eyes widened with interest and he smiled. “Congratulations. That’s where I graduated. She’ll be set for life.”
“I know. I’m so proud of her.”
He was a very nice man, easy to talk to and redneck like herself at least in a social environment. However, she was sure he had a professional side since he was a fertility specialist and a Harvard graduate. Obviously, he was a brilliant man.
“Do you like to line dance? I know some really awesome clubs here in the city. I’ve been trying to get Julia and Dimitri to go with me, but neither are partial to country music.”
Mia offered him an appreciative smile. She knew he was a bit younger than her, but from first impressions, he struck her as the sort of man she’d enjoy spending time with. “Sure, but it’s been years since I’ve danced. I might be a rusty partner.”
He chuckled. “No worries. I might be a little rusty myself, but if you’re willing to give it a shot, so am I.”
Their banter was interrupted by a growl directly behind her, a sound that reverberated with the viciousness of a wolf protecting a fresh kill. She spun in her chair and saw rage boiling in Nathan’s eyes, directed at the doctor. Terrified by his fury and that sound he’d made, she started to rise, bolting the first rational thought, but a hand clamped on her wrist. She looked to her right and saw Julia leaning across the table, smiling kindly at her.
“Let me help you with the dishes, darling. The men are getting antsy to go play poker and smoke smelly cigars.” She began gathering plates.
What the heck just happened? Mia was overwhelmed and confused by the fierce looks on the men’s faces as they glanced between each other. Even Dimitri looked pissed. She grabbed Nathan and Dr. La Mond’s empty plates and rushed off to the kitchen, when what she really wanted to do was flee the nearest exit and never look back.
Chapter 5
“What in the hell is wrong with you?” Dimitri demanded once the women were gone.
Nathan shared a rigid glance between his friend and the not so good doctor. It settled on La Mond. “You know she’s human and she’s my employee. Don’t even think to mess with her.”
There was no fear in his eyes, only curiosity. He stayed in his seat, dangerous really, because Nathan was close enough to rip his throat out and he still toyed with the idea which had taken deep root when he started flirting with Mia.
Male vampires were very carnal by nature, driven by instincts bred into them from the onset of their evolution. Their need to procreate was so powerful, they would risk life and limb, even if that vampire merely suspected the female to be his life-mate. Maybe because it took so long for most male vampires to find the woman—as Julia liked to say—designed for a that vampire. Nathan had no solid answers where Mia was concerned, but he wasn’t about to stand idly by and watch her start dating another vampire. Or anyone for that matter.
“I didn’t realize she was more to you than an employee. If she could be your life-mate I won’t interfere. Julia told me Mia has no idea she’s surrounded by our kind. I hire humans, but not without them being aware of the nature of my practice because I find it unethical to do otherwise.”
The man’s self-righteous statement further fueled Nathan ire, but before he could sport a reply, Dimitri said, “Enough. Nathan, Christian has a point. You are going to have to find a way to reveal the truth to Mia if she is yours. Do you have any plans in place for that?”
He slashed a hard glare Dimitri’s way. “I will tell her in my own time and way.”
Dimitri shook his head, his expression disapproving. “Christian is correct. You must tell her.”
Nathan was starting to get pissed by this moral exercise. “We’ve discussed why I can’t,” he ground out. He knew Mia now, far better than she knew him because of those nights he’d spent with her when he’d had her enchanted.
An enchanted human generally believed they were in the midst of a dream, which allowed their true nature and desires to come out, and that had certainly been the case with Mia. She’d allowed inhibitions she’d probably held in check for years slide with him. Physical ones yes, but emotional ones too. She’d shared things with him regarding her life, desires, her children that he suspected she’d shared with few people, if any.
Nathan grit his teeth and suppressed the urge to cringe as he considered her reaction should she ever discover those dreams to be reality. He had seriously fucked up with her. It would take a miracle to make things right.
Dimitri sighed. “I understand. However, you’ve backed yourself into a corner, Nathan. You’re always ten steps ahead of everyone and every deal you’ve ever made, but this human female has sucked every sensible cell out of your brain.”
He snorted. “You’ve got room to talk. I clearly recall your stupidity when you discovered Julia was your life-mate. Your head was so far up your ass, you nearly got us both killed numerous times. It was a miracle some Nazi didn’t plant a bullet in your addled brain.”
Dimitri’s face bloomed with a sheepish grin. “Yes, you are correct. As you like to say, I was a mess back then. Be that as it may, Julia knew what I was the moment we met and I never enchanted her when I fed from her while she was still human. I pity you, my friend, if Mia is your life-mate. One day you’ll have to reveal the truth to her and I have no doubt it will be a very difficult one for both of you.”
Dr. La Mond bit out a curse. “You enchanted her and fed from her, knowing she might be your life-mate?”
He glanced at the doctor and scowled, pissed at the appalled look on his face. “This is none of your business, but no I did not. I’m still not sure if she’s my life-mate.”
He muttered something and shook his head. “No it’s not my business, but as a physician, I know a thing or two about life-mating. If she is yours, you’ve committed the unpardonable life-mate sin. If you tell her the truth and think for a second she or any woman would ever forgive you, you’re absolutely delusional.”
He knew that all too well and didn’t appreciate this morality peanut gallery. “Keep it up, you two. I’m pissed and itching to tear into someone.” His gaze slid toward the vampire of his choice, then back to Dimitri. “But at the moment I won’t be picky.”
Dimitri gave him an arched look, then stood. “Pay him no mind, Christian. He has a very short fuse, but it tends to extinguish just as quickly.” He glanced between the two of them and said, “Enough of this. Nothing will be solved here tonight. Why don’t we take Julia’s suggestion and go play poker. I have a feeling a
s fueled as you are, Nathan, I might profit from your foul mood.” His gaze cut back to Christian. “Join us? I promise to keep him from attacking you.”
Christian snorted. “I don’t need your protection from some spoiled, immoral New York City boy.”
Nathan’s ire was on a downhill trek so he took the man’s comment in stride. He had a better and more a friendly notion to stick it to both of these vampires and by midnight he’d succeeded, ridding the doctor and Dimitri each of several grand at Texas Hold `em.
***
The poker game had extended into the wee hours of the morning and it was half past ten when Nathan entered the kitchen the next morning seeking a cup of coffee.
He found Jazerra loading plates into the dishwasher, so he went to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup.
“I just cleaned up your office. Ya obviously had a late night judging from the two empty scotch bottles I found.” Reproof laced her tone.
“Dimitri and I were playing poker with that doctor of Julia’s. What’s your point?” Jazerra was always poking her nose into his business when he lodged here in New Orleans. She’d been in his employ since she was a teenager. As she grew older, she’d become treacherously bossy and nosey. A human female thing, he supposed. He’d developed a great affection for her over the years, so he put up with it. To a point.
She shut the door of the dishwasher and approached him. Her expression was chiding and he knew he was in for a lecture, the nature thereof had him clueless.
“I came down last night to get something to eat and ran into Julia and that woman ya hired to cook for ya. I’ve seen folk who knew they had a voodoo curse on them that didn’t look as scared as that girl. Whadaya do?”
Meddling old woman. “Nothing,” he lied, then took a sip of his coffee.
She harrumphed. “Nothing, hell. She’s on the verge of figuring things out, I’d say, and when she does she’ll disappear like a puff of smoke. Best be running an ad for another chef, cuz the way you’re actin’, ya ain’t gonna keep the truth from her much longer. Ya think I don’t know what ya have in store for her? Shame on you.”
Nathan knew he could lie and they would play this game the rest of the morning, but he was in no mood. He just wanted to get her out of his hair. “You’re wrong. I have nothing ill planned for her. I like and respect her. I would never use her. Happy?”
The last was a big, fat lie, but Jazerra didn’t need to know that. He had a pretty good idea the thoughts rolling around in her head regarding Mia, but he didn’t care. It was none of her business. In all the time he’d known her, he’d never dipped into the woman’s mind. There was no need. She was forever giving him a piece of it.
“Not at all. Ya know I’ve always had a great affection for your spoiled ass and I know what ya need to do to survive, but the way I’m seeing it, having this woman here with what’s going on in your head ain’t no different than buying and lotting a cow for slaughter. I saw the marks on her neck. Eventually, the chil’ is going to die by your hand or turn if that’s what’s in your mind. Either way, she don’t deserve what ya got planned for her. Never in my life have I seen ya do anything like this and it has me scared.”
Her speech had both fear and fury boiling inside of him. Anger for Jazerra’s meddling, but fear because on one level he suspected she could be right. He couldn’t be with Mia unless she turned vampire. If she was his, the day would come when that issue would have to be presented to Mia. He clenched his jaw, unable to imagine her reaction to both what he was, what he’d done and what she’d have to do to be with him.
“You’re wrong. I would never hurt her, Jazerra, and I would never turn her against her will.” That statement he meant with all his heart.
She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Hope not because it would ruin both of your lives. Ya can be selfish no doubt, but ya ain’t cruel. If ya really care about her and keep using her, it will destroy your soul.”
He knew that better than Jazerra. Since the night he’d signed that contract with Mia he’d honored it and had not fed from her again or attempted to mine her thoughts, and it had been the singularly hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. He ached to taste her again, kiss her, to know what she thought of him now that they’d spent personal time together.
His ethics could get a little slippery at times, but when he signed a contract, he always abided by its’ perimeters. The woman was smart. She’d known exactly what to put in that addendum to keep him in check.
“One thing I know for certain is I would never hurt her. I would end my own life before that happened. You have no idea the toll it’s taken on me to stay away from her since I first fed from her, but I have. You also know our kind can find a life-mate within the human population and how driven we are when we suspect we have. I’m just examining possibilities at this point. I have no solid conclusions.”
Jazerra folded her arms across her chest, the frown on her face creasing into a scowl. “Well, that’s even worse than I thought. Say ya go to courtin’ her and she does end up fallin’ for ya? Whatcha think’s gonna happen when she finds out she ain’t in love with a human man?”
Nathan faced the counter and sipped his coffee, afraid what his features might reveal. He was afraid period because he knew Jazerra was right. So was Dimitri about the fact he’d backed himself into a corner.
Once Mia’s two weeks ended at her restaurant, he would have her in his life every day. Initially, that plan sounded like a good one, but he realized it’s probable outcome would most likely blow up in his face. If he told her now what he was, she would disappear like a puff of smoke. The same outcome would occur if something happened between them, only worse once he revealed what he was, because she’d feel lied to and betrayed.
“Ya want me to fix ya some breakfast?”
Her tone had taken on concern. Nathan faced her. She looked worried. “No. I’m not hungry.” He reached for the coffee pot and refilled his cup. “I have some work I need to tend to. I’ll be in my office.”
“Ya got some thinking to tend to as well, Nathan, but I’m done lecturin’ ya. If ya change your mind about breakfast, let me know.” Jazerra turned and headed out of the kitchen.
Nathan had just finished talking with Dominic about a real estate opportunity adjacent to the sin district of Atlantic City. If he could attain the adjoining properties needed for a reasonable amount, he intended to build a casino/hotel/pleasure palace that would rival any in Monte Carlo or worldwide.
He was hanging up the phone when a knock sounded at his door. He sniffed. “Come in, Julia.”
She opened the door balancing a plate and a glass of iced tea. “I brought you some lunch, cher. Jazerra told me you skipped breakfast.”
Nathan noticed her expression to be very sober as she crossed the room and sat her offerings on his desk. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay with the baby?”
“Yes. I’m fine. We’re fine.” She sat down and crossed her legs. “You however are not. Until last night I did not realize how strong your feelings were for Mia. Nathan, Mia is far more than an intrigue to you. Dimitri told me you all but admitted to him and Christian that she is your life-mate.”
Nathan grit his teeth, sick and tired of the women in this household lecturing him about his actions regarding Mia. Aside from Dimitri, Julia and Jazerra he wouldn’t have allowed anyone to lecture him about any matter, personal or business. In general, he gave orders and advice to everyone in his life, but he wasn’t too proud to listen to the advice of those in his private, personal circle. Especially now with Mia. He was confused and clueless as hell where she was concerned. Desperate even, to discover if she was his.
Desperation was an emotion Nathan hadn’t experienced in decades and he loathed to be a captive of it presently. Maybe talking to Julia would supply him some relief. “You know she intrigues me. How could you think I wouldn’t be furious with that doctor of yours for trying to seduce her?”
Julia pursed her lips and gave him
one of her chiding, motherly looks. “Christian was not trying to seduce her. Perhaps he finds her attractive and wishes for some feminine company. You consort with human females all the time on a casual basis. All un-life-mated vampires do. Christian and Mia have similar backgrounds. Be that as it may, he is an ethical vampire. I hate to say this, Nathan, but he would never compromise her the way you did.”
Rage began to hum along his nerve endings. It was all he could do to hold a civil tongue, but he did because she was absolutely right. “And you know damned, good and well why I did.”
Julia nodded sagely. “Indeed. I am not judging you, cher. I only wish to help. You know Dimitri and I will both do whatever we can to make her feel welcome and happy here. However, you must remember she is human and does not understand the possessive nature of a vampire male.”
He frowned at the woman, then picked up the sandwich she’d brought him and took a bite. He knew she referred to that scene with Dr. La Mond. When his mouth was clear he said, “Honestly, Julia, I have no idea where things stand with Mia. Yes, I’m attracted to her, but I have no clue whether she could be my life-mate at this point.”
She reached across his desk and patted his hand. “I understand how confused you must feel, my darling. I’m sure you know as well as I do when our males suspect a human to be their life-mate, the vampire almost always recognizes the signs before the human female.”
His eyes rounded because he didn’t know there were specific ways to tell. “How?”
“Well, of course mind speaking over long distances, but she’s not vampire, so that method is out.
He knew that. “What else?”
“The sharing of emotions and feelings when you feed from that person. It does not matter if one is still human. If the bond is real, the vampire will feel it. So will the human because of the physic connection during the act of feeding, although the human most likely will not recognize the significance. I remember my own experience with Dimitri well. I did not understand until I turned. All I knew at the time was I loved him. Trust me, if you have had that same experience with Mia, you have your answer.”
Forever and a Night Page 6