by Myln Hurn
“Unka Simon is sleeping there. He’s a party animal.” Blue smiled around the bite of apple in her mouth, obviously proud of her announcement.
Hunter frowned in spite of Blue’s pleasure. “Simon. Simon who? The only Simon I know of is Ruthven, but he is in Europe…shit!” Hunter spun on his heel and took off running. This time he took the stairs.
Chapter 14
Tatiana entered her aunt’s apartment using the key she always carried. Her aunt might enjoy opening all locked doors without the aid of “metal devices” as she termed them, but she preferred the usual method to enter other people’s homes. Listening as she closed the door, she was surprised that she didn’t hear Blue. She was never this quiet when she was with her.
“Lamenta? Blue?” She was just stuffing the keys back into the pocket of her shorts when she realized they weren’t there. Hating the feeling in her stomach, she strained her hearing to listen for any clues as to their location before she wigged out and got totally crazy. Then she heard the water running. Of course! Blue had probably gotten into another mess and Lamenta was getting her cleaned up. Smiling, she walked across the room to the bathroom. The door wasn’t completely closed so pushing it a little caused it to open wide.
It took Tatiana a minute to realize there was no wild-haired aunt or red-haired little girl in the small room. Instead there was a naked man, shaving. He turned quite casually and grinned at her. Tatiana didn’t want to but her eyes traveled down. Yes, indeed. He was definitely naked. Belatedly she turned away and walked back out of the bathroom.
“I am so sorry. But where is Lamenta?” She spoke at the man over her shoulder. “Who are you?”
“Well, considering I am the one in possession of the apartment, I do believe it is my right to be asking the questions.”
Tatiana turned angrily and saw that the dark-haired man was standing in the bathroom doorway, still naked. His forearms were lifted over his head and resting on each side of the doorjambs. The lower half of his face was obscured by white foam. It was impossible to not notice his body, which was really quite nice. She couldn’t tell how old he was, but his fit body attested to his being younger than Fauster, at least. Tatiana wondered if this was one of her aunt’s “friends.” Immediately she shook her negatively. Lamenta would never do that with Blue in the apartment. When she looked back up at his face he was grinning broadly.
“Thanks. You’ve just done wonders for my ego. I haven’t had a pretty little chit look at me like that for longer than I care to remember. So, you are looking for Lamenta, are you?”
Tatiana turned away again in embarrassment. She had just gotten caught gawking at a good male body. She did admit that while he was attractive, she did not feel the same rush of arousal that she got looking at Hunter naked. Taking a quick breath, she told him quickly. “Would you please put something on?”
“Aww. Now I don’t know whether to feel insulted that you want me to cover my body, which I am quite happy exposing to you, or if I should insist on learning what you are doing in Lamenta’s apartment, and I know the door was locked.”
“I have a key.” Glancing back and seeing he still hadn’t moved she made a disgusted sound.
“Keep this up and I just might have to give you the key to my heart. God! I can just imagine Fauster’s reaction if I moved to the States.”
Tatiana picked up one of the smaller pillows and backed toward the man, holding the pillow out behind her. “Take this, please!”
Simon chuckled as he took the pillow, placing it appropriately and holding it with one hand. “All right. All decent here. But I would still be more than happy to be a little indecent with you, lovely lady.”
Tatiana watched him take a few steps toward her. At least he was covered there. “Now, where is my aunt and who are you?”
“Lamenta is across the street with a red-headed pixie. So she is your aunt. How interesting.” Simon paused and his eyes moved slowly over her, from head to toe.
Tatiana shivered under his gaze. “Why are you here?” she asked hurriedly, hoping to distract him from further survey of her body.
“I came to visit. Lamenta was nice enough to offer me her place, since I wanted to hit a few of the city’s more interesting night spots.” Simon shifted hands on the pillow. A moment later he reached out and touched the side of her neck. “Who has been nibbling on your lovely neck? I am quite envious because I am sure it was a virgin feast.”
Tatiana flushed brightly, but before she could answer the sound of the stairway door banging open distracted her. She wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Hunter come barreling down the hall a few seconds later. Starting to smile at him, she welcomed him.
“Hello, Hunter! I was coming there—”
“What the fuck is going on here?” Hunter glared at the naked man standing less than two feet from Tatiana.
Simon lowered his hand from her neck. “This must be your nibbler.”
“Damn it all, Ruthven! Put some fucking clothes on!”
“And who might you be? The beautiful lady is related to Lamenta. Are you with her or someone else?”
Hunter had gotten close enough to reach out and pull Tatiana away from Simon. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a decidedly proprietary way. Simon Ruthven was well known to all vampire hunters, and Hunter had made a particularly close study of him after he learned who he was from Fauster. Before he could say anything else, Simon spoke.
“I have a feeling that I should know who you are. Hunter Blue, isn’t it?”
Hunter nodded slowly. “Look, Tatiana and I are going back to Fauster’s. Come over when you are dressed.”
“Aah, thank you, but no. I do avoid the sun as much as possible, unlike many of my modern compatriots. While it was lovely meeting you, Tatiana, any further sharing of knowledge between us will have to wait until sunset.”
Hunter turned Tatiana and pushed her gently toward the hall. “Too bad then, for we will be tied up. Enjoy your stay. Come on, honey.”
Without waiting for a reply, Hunter took Tatiana’s hand and pulled her briskly out of the loft apartment. In the elevator he avoided meeting her gaze. Finally he couldn’t contain his emotions any longer, even though he knew his words most likely would not be well received.
“Was he naked for long before I walked in on you two?”
When she didn’t answer him he turned to look at her. She was staring down at her sneakers, but her posture told him that she had most certainly heard him. As soon as he opened the elevator doors, she walked right past him. Hunter needed to hurry to catch up with her as she ran across the street and then up the stairs. Inside Fauster’s loft she crossed to Blue, picking her up.
“Hello, sweetheart. We need to be leaving now. Lamenta? May we borrow your car?”
“Of course, dear. But what about—”
Tatiana looked around for Blue’s overnight bag. “Where is your case, Blue?”
“My room.” Blue pointed to Fauster’s guest room.
Tatiana started for the room but Hunter was already there, picking up the light blue case with a blue dog on it.
“What about your spell pumpkin?” Tatiana asked, trying to keep her frustration out of her voice.
“I’m sorry, dear. It’s still over at my place,” Lamenta called out from the kitchen. “With Simon showing up as he did, we didn’t have time to practice on her magic spells, so I left the pumpkin there.”
“It’s all right. We’ll get it next time. Oh, by the way, Hunter will be staying here tonight.” She didn’t wait. On the elevator, she absently listened to Blue chatter about the fun she’d had with “Lam.”
Hunter looked from Lamenta to Fauster, who had the audacity to be smiling. “I will not be staying the night here.” He spoke tersely, shooting a glare at the older man. He ran down the hall to use the stairs to get to the ground floor before Tatiana. Lamenta’s voice as she spoke to Fauster carried until the door closed behind him.
“Isn’t young love grand, Fauster?”
* * * * *
Tatiana tapped her foot impatiently by Hunter’s car. She had forgotten that she would have to get Blue’s car seat out of his car before she could take her home in Lamenta’s vehicle. Blue clapping her hands clued her in that Hunter had followed them down. A moment later he was taking Blue from her arms and giving her the small blue bag to hold. Unlocking the car, he put Blue into her seat. Straightening back up, he saw that Tatiana was still standing outside the car. He took the case from her and walked around to the driver’s side, putting the case behind him on the floor.
Her arms were folded and she watched him through her narrowed eyelids. If he thought it was going to be this easy…well then he had another thing coming! Testily she got into the passenger front seat. Once her belt was fastened, Hunter started the car and they were off.
* * * * *
Hunter was seated at the kitchen table with Blue when Tatiana came back downstairs. He had been listening to Blue telling him about her evening with Lamenta and Fauster. There was enough chatter in her recounting that he had time to replay his comments in the elevator. He knew he had been stupid, but he had also reacted on a gut level. Seeing Tatiana with a naked man had made him jealous as hell and he wanted to quite literally beat the crap out of him, in spite of who he was. There was a good chance that if push came to shove, Simon would be powerful enough to kill him. Rumors of his strength and abilities circulated freely throughout the vampire communities in the larger European cities.
But something had snapped inside him. Maybe it was the fact that she had still been standing there with a naked man after obviously having been in the apartment for several minutes. At the time he couldn’t understand why she had stayed once she had discovered that Lamenta and Blue were not there. Logic now told him that she had mostly been shocked, especially since they had received Fauster’s call earlier. He doubted that she had had any idea who he was, either. And she certainly would not have been aware of the man’s reputation, both as a killer and as a lady-killer. The man’s reputation as a seducer of maidens was legendary. He could just imagine how tempting Tatiana might have appeared to him.
Closing his eyes, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Seeing a naked man with his fingers on her neck—the very place that he had bitten her—had been too potent for him to deal with. He had cut himself off from real emotions for so long. Being around Tatiana and Blue the last few days had opened him up and made him feel so good, that seeing another man touching her had brought the bad feelings in a rush. Jealousy, anger and blame had boggled his senses and he had lashed out at her.
“It’s okay, Blue. Your uncle is just thinking about something else. I’m sure he would love to take you to the park.”
Hunter jerked his head around. The look on her face dared him to deny it and disappoint the happily clapping and singing child. He glared at her but acceded to her more clever abilities for now. He opened his mouth to insist she join them when she continued.
“While you two are off having fun, I will go to the grocery store and restock the refrigerator with all the healthy stuff your daddy likes, Blue Belle. Come tomorrow it is back to soybeans and sprouts for us all!”
Hunter watched the two females grinning and exchanging funny expressions. Yup, as if he needed reassurance. He was now, officially, head over heels in love with his niece’s nanny. Somehow he felt sure that no one in particular was going to be happy about this set of occurrences, especially his converting her. And that reminded him…
“You feel all right, Tat? No cravings…or sensitivities?”
From the look on her face, Hunter knew that she understood exactly what he had meant. She shook her head negatively. In fact, she smiled at him.
“I feel wonderful. Nothing at all is bothering me. Now I will grab my purse since I want to use Iain’s car. Blue sweetheart, please go potty before we leave for the park.” Turning slightly she looked at Hunter. “You’ll need to take a juice with you.”
“I can always buy her something there. Are you sure you don’t want to join us? We could all go to the store afterward.”
Tatiana shook her head decisively. “No. After two hours in the park, Blue will be ready for a nice long nap after she eats her lunch.”
She turned briskly and walked out of the kitchen. Hunter couldn’t help but notice the way her shorts cupped her rounded ass. It made him ache for his hands to be curving around those luscious plump globes and squeezing them. Damn! His only hope was to go with Blue, and hopefully during her nap he could beg and plead for Tatiana’s forgiveness.
Chapter 15
Tatiana was seated on the front porch waiting impatiently for Hunter to return with Blue. It had taken her almost two hours to shop at the market, return home and put everything away. She was tired and sweaty, and had been contemplating the conversation she knew Hunter was going to insist they have once Blue was in bed.
In the elevator she had overreacted. Hearing him accuse her through innuendo was almost worse than if he had come right out and accused her of fucking the man with her eyes. That is almost what she had done. Something about Simon had seemed to be drawing her into him. There had been an almost irresistible lure to go into his arms for more excitement.
She was not the kind of woman to do things like that, or things like what she’d been doing the last few days and nights with Hunter. Just recalling them now had her blushing brightly. His hands were like two artists stroking across the canvas of her body at times. And Hunter had walked in to find her standing with a nearly naked stranger. Putting herself in his shoes, she probably would not be as calm as he had been. No, indeed. If she had seen a naked woman, covered by a pillow of equal size, she had no doubt whatsoever that she would either have been pummeling him or the woman with a much larger pillow.
There was every possibility that she would have revealed to him the power she worked quite hard to keep hidden from everyone, including Lamenta. From a small child at the age of three, and most likely younger, she had been using a power no one fully understood. Only in recent years, since coming to live with Lamenta, had she begun to get a handle on it. Lamenta was revealing to her the full extent of her powers and how to use them. She was also teaching her how to combine her mystical psychic powers with those of spell casting using strange mixes of herbs and other interesting by-products. Knowing her parents would not like all this witchcraft, she had kept it all quite secret. Now it had gotten to the point where Lamenta would bet her to get a spell out of her.
Shaking her head at her own nonsensical and inexplicable behavior, she felt her soft hair brushing her cheeks. Just feeling the gentle touch brought so many sexy and arousing thoughts rushing through her. Like when Hunter rubbed a finger up and down the back of her head. Good Lord! She got wet now, just thinking about it. As she wiggled her bottom on the step, she felt heat rising from the cement and it only aided her body’s erotic responses. She was going to forgive him or apologize for her stupidity, whichever came out first, she realized. They only had one more night together before this all ended. One of them, and it most likely would be Hunter, would either sleep on the sofa or stay with Fauster or Lamenta.
How could she not grab one more night in his arms? She knew there was no way that she could deliberately choose not to be with him. Even if all she had was the chance to hold his hand, then that is what she would choose. And if Blue seemed really tired, they might arrange a little fooling around for the time the child slept. Perhaps the three of them could have a fun dinner and watch a movie until Blue fell asleep. Hunter would carry her up the stairs… Tatiana’s breath caught in her throat at the mental picture. It was almost too easy to visualize him carrying a black-haired baby to bed. In that moment, she felt the pang of need, an ache to be a mother.
Logically she knew that she had lots of time for getting pregnant. But for her to be pregnant with Hunter’s baby, and be able to look down at her swollen belly while Hunter’s hand stroked and caressed it, was enough to make her dizzy with desire. When h
e looked into her face, she would see his joy at knowing his baby rested inside her body, being nourished and cherished. Closing her eyes, she visualized an auburn haired baby suckling at her breast eagerly. In her wishful imaginings, one tiny fist was curled around his daddy’s finger, both pressed against her swollen flesh.
“Oh God!” Tatiana whispered sharply. She curled her body forward, leaning onto her thighs. It felt as if something, or someone, had suddenly moved deep inside her body. The reality was that her intricate system of female organs jerked in a muscle spasm just then. It wasn’t exactly painful, but enough to get her attention. A moment later she heard laughter and looked up.
Walking toward her was Hunter, carrying his niece on his shoulders. Both of them were smiling and she could hear Blue’s laughter as they walked along. The sunlight glinted off the little girl’s curls and she was such a child of the daylight it struck Tatiana in realization. There was a good chance that Blue possessed some of the same powers such as she had, but only time would tell about that.
“Tat! Tat! I saw a ‘kagroo!’ And a ‘wallbe’ and a…and a…”
“A koala.”
Tatiana stood as they reached the bottom of the steps. “Sounds like you two went to the far end of the park. How was the zoo?”
Blue, having just been set down by her uncle, made her way up the steps to where Tatiana was waiting. “Fun! We had hot dogs, and ice cream and—”
“So you ate lunch, huh?”
Hunter shrugged as he came up the steps as well. “Sort of. She was hungry so I did the fatherly and fed her.”
“Well, so long as all of us don’t tell Iain we’ll be fine.”
“Don’t tell Daddy what, Tat?”
Hunter scooped the child up in his arms. “I think it is close to nap time, if I can still tell time on this side of the world.” He walked inside the house.
Tatiana followed with Blue smiling at her over her uncle’s shoulder. “I saw where Oz is, Tat. Hunner stands on his head all the time. He’s upside down.” Blue found that rather funny and giggled uproariously as Hunter turned her around a second later in his arms.