Desire the Night

by Amanda Ashley

  She tapped her fingertips on the arm of the sofa, wondering if Gideon kept any money in the house, and if so, where? She spent several useless minutes trying to imagine where a vampire might keep a few dollars stashed and then went looking—there was nothing in the dresser but T-shirts, socks, and underwear, and nothing in the closet but pants and shirts and shoes.

  When she looked in the nightstand beside the bed, she found a brown leather wallet. Hunger overrode guilt, and she looked inside, hoping to find a few dollars. What she found was several hundred in twenties and fifties.

  Taking two twenties, she put the wallet back, closed the drawer, and headed for the front door, only to pause, her hand on the knob.

  She didn’t have a key. If she went out, and the door locked behind her, she wouldn’t be able to get back in.

  If she left the door open … she bit down on the inside of her lower lip. She couldn’t expose Gideon to a risk like that. It was unlikely that anyone was looking for him, or would expect him to be here after being away for so long. Still … she chewed on her thumbnail, her stomach growling loudly all the while. It would be hours until he woke. Darn it. She was stuck in here until sundown.

  With a sigh of exasperation, she plucked a book from the shelf and blew off the dust, thinking it was too bad she couldn’t eat the pages.

  Gideon woke with the setting of the sun. A glance to the left showed he was alone in bed. So, where was Kay? Sitting up, he sniffed the air, felt himself relaxing when he heard the faint sound of her breathing from the other room.

  Throwing back the covers, he got out of bed and padded barefooted into the living room to find his houseguest curled up on the sofa. She looked incredibly young lying there, her lips slightly parted, her cheek pillowed on her hand, her hair spread around her face like a cloud of ebony silk.

  When he took a step toward her, she jerked upright.

  “I thought you were asleep,” he said.

  “I’m starving.”

  “Sorry. Come on, I’ll take you out to dinner.”

  “I don’t have anything to wear.”

  His gaze moved over her. With her hair falling loose over her shoulders and clad in his T-shirt and sweats, she looked like a little girl playing dress-up in her father’s clothes. “We’ll stop on the way and buy you something.”

  “I can’t go out looking like this.”

  “Sure you can. Let me put on a pair of jeans and we’ll go. There’s a mall down the street.”

  Huffing a sigh of exasperation, she muttered, “Sure, you get to change,” but he was already gone.

  He returned a few minutes later wearing a pair of jeans, boots, and a leather jacket over a T-shirt. “Ready?”

  She glanced at her bare feet, grimaced, and said, “Let’s just go.”

  He sketched a bow. “After you.”

  With a shake of her head, she preceded him out of the apartment.

  She was too hungry to spend much time shopping. In the department store, she picked out a pair of jeans, a yellow sweater, and a pair of flip-flops, quickly changed clothes in the dressing room, and was ready to go.

  Passing through the shoe department, Gideon insisted Kay try on a pair of black suede Gucci boots to replace the ones Verah had taken.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Kay said. “It’s not your fault that witch is a thief.”

  “But it’s my fault you were there.”

  She couldn’t argue with that. She sat down while the clerk went to get the boots in her size.

  Kay gasped when she saw the price tag. Seven hundred dollars. “These are way too expensive,” she said. They were far nicer and considerably more costly than the ones Verah had stolen.

  “I can afford it,” Gideon said. “If you don’t like these, pick out something else.”

  “These are fine,” Kay said. How could you go wrong with Gucci?

  He nodded at a display table, then told the clerk, “We’ll take that matching bag, too.”

  When she started to protest, Gideon shushed her with a look.

  After they left the store, he stuffed a handful of greenbacks into her new purse. “Mad money,” he muttered. “Just in case. So, what are you in the mood for?”

  “A steak and fries.”

  “I like a woman who knows what she wants,” Gideon said, grinning.

  Twenty minutes later, she was sitting across from Gideon in a swanky steakhouse.

  “I think we’re a little underdressed,” Kay remarked, glancing around. Most of the men wore suits or sports jackets, the majority of the women wore dresses and heels.

  “Are you kidding? Your boots probably cost more than most of the dresses these women are wearing.”

  She couldn’t argue with that.

  When the waitress came, Kay ordered the biggest steak the place had to offer—rare, please—fries, and a glass of iced tea. Gideon ordered a glass of dry red wine.

  “Do you ever miss eating?” Kay asked when the waitress left to turn in their order.

  “Not anymore.” He leaned back, one arm draped over the back of the booth. “So, what are you gonna do now?”

  “I don’t know. Go home, I guess.”

  “Where’s home?”

  “Custer, South Dakota.”

  “Are you serious? What the hell are you doing there?” He shook his head, and then laughed. “Couldn’t you find a smaller town?”

  She looked at him as if he wasn’t too bright. “I like it because it is a small town. Not a lot of people. And it’s close to the Black Hills.”

  “Ah. Lots of game and plenty of wide-open spaces.”

  “You’ve been there?”

  “Honey, I’ve been everywhere.”

  Of course he had, she thought. “So, where are we now?”

  “Phoenix.”

  “Phoenix!” How did she get so far from home? “What are we doing here?”

  “I maintain a couple of residences around the country. This one was the closest to Verah’s place.”

  Kay considered that a moment. “So, where does the witch live?”

  “Some little no-name town in New Mexico.”

  “New Mexico!” Kay exclaimed. She knew she had been drugged when she went nightclubbing with Wanda, but she’d had no idea her kidnapper had taken her so far away from home.

  Gideon leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table. “I don’t think I thanked you for getting me out of that hellhole.”

  “My pleasure. So, what are you going to do now?”

  “Stay away from witches,” he answered with a wry grin.

  “Me, too.” She spread her napkin in her lap, her expression thoughtful. “My boss must be wondering where I am. I’ve never missed a day without calling in. Which reminds me, I’m going to have to get a new cell phone. Wanda’s probably worried sick, and angry because I haven’t shown up at work.”

  “What kind of work do you do?”

  “I’m a veterinary assistant and part-time receptionist.”

  “Makes sense. Who better to work with the fanged and furry than a werewolf?”

  “Very funny.” Kay sat back when the waitress arrived with their order. It took all her self-control to keep from pouncing on the thick slice of prime rib.

  “You sure that’s dead?” Gideon asked, gesturing at her steak. “Wouldn’t surprise me if it got up and walked away.”

  Kay stuck her tongue out at him.

  Smiling, Gideon sipped his wine.

  In no time at all, she had devoured the steak and fries.

  “Do you want another one?” he asked, wondering where she had put that enormous slab of meat. To look at her, you’d think she hardly ate at all.

  “I was hungry,” she replied defensively. “After all, I haven’t had a decent meal in days.”

  “I know. So, do you want another one?”

  When she nodded, Gideon waved the waitress over.

  “Yes, sir,” she said. “What can I get for you?”

  “I’d like another glass of wine,
” he said. “And another steak for the lady.” He grinned at the astonished expression on the waitress’s face as she jotted it down.

  “Right away, sir,” she said, and hurried away.

  “She must think I’m a … a … I don’t know what,” Kay muttered.

  “The way she took off, I’m thinking she was afraid she might be the next course.”

  Kay glared at him.

  Gideon laughed softly, amused by her embarrassment. She was something else, he thought—a werewolf who blushed like a schoolgirl. He hadn’t been this enchanted by a woman in a long time, nor wanted one as badly. It surprised him to realize he was going to miss her when she was gone.

  When they left the restaurant, Gideon suggested they take a walk, and Kay agreed.

  She took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh clear air. Even though she had been imprisoned for only a few days, it seemed much longer.

  They walked in silence for a few minutes before Gideon said, “I guess you’re in a hurry to go home.”

  “Well, sure,” she said. “I mean, I have a job and … why do you ask?”

  “I was kinda hoping you’d stick around for a while.”

  Kay’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh?”

  He shrugged. “I feel like I owe you a good time, you know? Or at least a new cell phone.”

  “You don’t have to buy me anything else.”

  “Didn’t we already have this conversation?”

  She arched one brow. “Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean I want you spending your money on me.”

  “Listen, Kiya, money’s the least of my problems. What do you say? Can you hang around for a few days?”

  “I don’t know,” she said with a saucy grin. “When you buy me that new phone, I’ll call my boss and see what he says.”

  As it turned out, Kay had three weeks vacation coming. It took some fancy footwork on her part to explain why she hadn’t come in to work or called. In the end, she wasn’t sure Dr. Saltzman believed she’d been in a car accident and spent the missing days in a hospital with amnesia. The tone of his voice seemed to imply that he suspected her of indulging in a casual fling, but he finally agreed she could take her vacation early, minus the days she had missed.

  Kay’s second call was to Wanda.

  “So, where have you been?” Wanda asked. “Last time I saw you, you were dancing with that good-looking guy at the club. Have you been with him all this time? And why didn’t you call me?”

  Kay took a deep breath. What on earth was she going to say? She looked at Gideon, and then she knew.

  “I’ve been with a good-looking guy, but not the one you saw me with. Listen, I’m taking my vacation now. Would you water my plants and collect my mail until I get home?”

  “Sure, but …”

  “I have to go. He’s waiting for me. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you,” she promised, and hung up before Wanda could ask any more questions.

  “Is that other ‘good-looking guy’ me?” Gideon asked with a wicked grin.

  “Oh, get over yourself,” Kay said. She slipped her new iPhone—apparently Gideon bought nothing but the best, whether it was boots, bags, or phones—into her new handbag, then looked up at him. “So, you’ve got me for two weeks, give or take a day,” she said with a saucy grin. “Now what?”

  Gideon rubbed a hand across his jaw as he considered her question. Two weeks. Not a vast amount of time in his world, he mused. Nevertheless, she was lovely. She was desirable. And he wanted her.

  “Now what?” he drawled. “How about this?” And so saying, he drew her into his arms and covered her mouth with his.

  There was nothing tentative about his kiss, nothing gentle, or tender. It was a bold declaration of his intentions. He figured if she was willing, she would kiss him back, and if she wasn’t, he was prepared for a good hard slap.

  She tensed in his arms and for a moment, Gideon thought he had misjudged the undeniably potent attraction between them, but then, with a little sigh, she wrapped her arms around his waist and melted into his embrace.

  Holding her close, Gideon willed them to his lair in New York City, which was located in a renovated loft on the top floor of a ballet studio.

  Still enfolded in Gideon’s arms, Kay looked up at him, her brow furrowed. “What just happened? Where are we?”

  “My lair in the Big Apple.”

  “New York?” She glanced around, her eyes widening as she took in her surroundings.

  If his place in Phoenix had been sparse, this one was magnificent—from the polished parquet floors to the luxurious velvet draperies at the barred windows. A pair of deep burgundy sofas faced each other across a glass-topped coffee table in front of a large white marble fireplace. Abstract paintings adorned two of the walls, a flat-screen TV took up most of the third. A narrow curio cabinet held an assortment of antique weapons.

  “This place is amazing.”

  “It should be, for what I paid for it.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Wanna see the rest?”

  “Sure.”

  Setting her on her feet, he led the way into a room paneled in dark oak. A forest-green carpet covered the floor, matching drapes hung at the barred, single window. A pair of floor-to-ceiling bookcases stood on either side of the window. Brass figurines of mounted knights and dragons were scattered among the numerous volumes on the shelves. A life-sized wooden Indian, complete with warbonnet and lance, stood in the far corner. A large desk, which held only a laptop computer, dominated the room. She noted the small white refrigerator located beside the desk. No need to ask what that was for.

  “I take it you read a lot,” Kay remarked, glancing at the bookcases.

  Gideon nodded. “You could say that.”

  “And the wooden Indian?”

  “I picked it up cheap at an antique store that was going out of business. Are you offended by it?”

  “No, just curious.”

  “Guess I’ve always had a thing for Indians,” he said with a wink.

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “No. I spent a couple of months with a small tribe of Cherokee back in the late 1700s. Nice people.”

  “Hmm.” Her gaze drifted back to the bookcases. His taste was eclectic, she thought as she perused the titles. There were several plays by Shakespeare, poetry by Blake and Yeats, novels by Tolstoy and Kipling, King and Koontz and Clancy, and, to her amusement, the works of Stephenie Meyer.

  Grinning inwardly, she followed him down a carpeted hallway that ended in a bedroom that would have held her entire apartment. The walls were a clean, crisp white, the bedspread and drapes a deep wine red. Carpet that must have been two inches thick muffled her footsteps as she moved around the room. The biggest bed she had ever seen stood against the far wall, flanked by a pair of ebony nightstands. A matching entertainment center held a TV and dozens of DVDs. Most of the wall across from the bed was taken up by a fireplace with a raised marble hearth.

  A bathroom appointed in marble and gold-veined tile adjoined the bedroom.

  Kay shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Did you decorate the place yourself?”

  He snorted. “Hardly. I hired a fancy decorator who charged me a ridiculous amount of money for this layout.”

  “Well, it was worth it.”

  Coming up behind her, Gideon slid his arms around Kay’s waist and nuzzled the side of her neck. “How would you like to try out the bed?”

  “Not on our first date,” she answered primly. “I’d like to be romanced first.”

  “Romanced, huh?” He nipped the tender skin just beneath her earlobe. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  * * *

  Chapter 12

  Later that night, after Kay had gone to bed, Gideon left the house to go hunting. New York City was one of his favorite hunting grounds. No matter the time of night, prey was never hard to find, whether it was some drunken bum down on his luck, a world-weary hooker trolling for one last trick before calling it a
night, or some small-town tourist foolish enough to go out alone after midnight.

  Gideon strolled along Broadway, past Times Square. In the early sixties and seventies, this part of the city had been a red light district, but these days it was more family-oriented. Moving on, he came to that part of Broadway known as the Great White Way, so named for the millions of lights of theater marquees and billboards. Most of the theaters were dark now. He glanced at the marquees—The Lion King, Wicked, and the ubiquitous Phantom of the Opera, which he had seen perhaps a dozen times.

  His hunger quickened when he spied a young couple looking at the posters in front of a theater. On cat-quiet feet, he moved up behind them. Speaking to their minds, he commanded them to follow him.

  Faces slack, expressions blank, they trailed behind him as he moved toward the deep shadows near the theater doors. He took the male quickly, the female more slowly, his whole being focused on the woman in his arms, the scent of her hair and skin, the warmth of her blood quenching his thirst. Her blood was sweeter than Kay’s. Even so, he wished it was Kay he held in his embrace, Kay’s blood easing his hunger.

  After satisfying his thirst, he wiped the incident from the couple’s minds and sent them, none the wiser, on their way.

  Hands shoved in his pockets, Gideon turned for home. So, Kiya the werewolf wanted to be romanced, did she? He grinned at the idea and then, with that thought in mind, he headed for the mall located in the heart of the city. It was closed at this hour, but that wasn’t a problem for him. The owner was a friend. And a vampire.

  On waking, Kay stretched her arms over her head, and then froze as she realized she was in a strange bed in a strange room, and that she wasn’t alone. It took her a moment to remember where she was, and who was lying beside her.

  Turning onto her side, she regarded the sleeping vampire. He was bare to the waist, revealing a broad chest, wide shoulders, and six-pack abs that would have made any male model jealous. She realized, abruptly, that he wasn’t breathing. When she touched his arm, he didn’t move. She worried her lower lip with her teeth. Maybe vampires really were dead when they slept. A creepy thought, that, sharing a bed with a dead man, even one as roguishly handsome and sexy as Gideon Marquet.