“No.” Pink tinged her cheeks. “That was good. It was after that.”
“At the end?” He lifted his hand to her cheek. Her tears had dried.
“I heard it then, yes,” she rasped. “And during the rest of it.”
He stiffened. “The whole time? From just after you bit me until you were done?”
Her lips pressed together and she nodded.
He’d thought the intensity of the bloodlust had spooked her. But what she’d described sounded more painful than frightening. “Was it hurting you?”
“Ethan—” She tried to avert her face but he ducked his head and followed. He looked up at her, holding her hair away from her forehead.
“Miss Charlie.” It was gentle, but undeniably a command. “I can’t help you if I don’t know.”
She slapped her palm against his chest, gained a couple of inches until her back came up against his thighs. “It hurt. But it wasn’t me.” Her jaw clenched. “It was separate from…and I couldn’t control either one. Obviously.”
The last word carried embarrassment, bitterness, fear.
She meant the sexual response. Ethan sat up straight again, stared over her head. How could he not have recognized she was in pain? For certain, he’d never heard of anything like this—not when both parties were willing, leastwise—and hadn’t thought to watch for it. He’d been focused on fighting his own response.
“Could it just be that I was so hungry?” she asked softly.
He met her eyes, saw the hope in them—and the uncertainty. “I don’t rightly know. Next time, we’ll see if it’s the same, all right? And if it doesn’t get better, we’ll maybe ask someone.”
He saw her struggle with that before she nodded. “Okay.” She drew in a deep breath, her gaze holding his. Her fingers caressed his cheeks as she studied him. After what seemed a long while, she finally said, “I should probably get up.”
He wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere. Her titties were naked, and she had the tightest, sexiest belly he’d ever seen. Her ass was seated firmly over his pelvis; he was no longer hard, and her weight felt just fine. “I’m all right holding you like this, Charlie, until you’re steady.”
She looked down; her face flushed, and her hands flew to her waist, buttoning and zipping. “This can’t be fair. I drank your blood and came all over you, but you didn’t even get off—”
“And it’s a goddamn miracle I didn’t, Miss Charlie.” He waited for her to finish and glance back up at him. “Don’t be thinking you need to do anything about it. You were just hurting, and though you’re looking awful pretty and sweaty, I ain’t feeling so lustful right now.”
“Okay.” She watched him for a second longer. “I’m probably keeping you from work.”
“I ought to do some tonight. But if you need me to stay with you—”
“No.” She picked up her sweatshirt, held it against her breasts. “I’ll be fine.”
The swiftness of her response stabbed at his chest, but he pushed it away. She likely just needed a private moment. “All right, then. But if you need anything, don’t you fret about whether you should come downstairs and ask me for it.”
“Ethan.” Her brows drew together; she laid a soft, cool kiss against his lips before pulling away. “You’ve already given me everything I need.”
She scooted off him a second later, headed for the bathroom. He stared after her, then rapped his head one more time against the door.
He hadn’t given her a damn thing worth having.
CHAPTER 19
Charlie quickly bathed and dressed in the tiny bathroom—just a vanity sink, a shower, and a mirror—before making her way out to the common area. She didn’t want to be alone in that cell of a room; it reminded her far too much of days she’d spent wallowing in self-pity, when she hadn’t truly cared if she lived or died.
She cared now.
Only four female Guardians were chatting on the sofas—and no one was at the poker table. All four turned to look at her, and, as one, their brows rose in surprise and curiosity.
Charlie resisted the urge to touch her face, her hair. A glance in the mirror had told her that she looked better. She didn’t feel better—only sore and tired.
“Is Ethan—” Charlie broke off when two Guardians exchanged a glance. “Is Drifter here?”
One shook her head, her dark bowl-cut hair gleaming beneath the lights. Charlie thought her name was Pim. Or maybe Pam. “He’s in the tech room…” The Guardian tilted her head to the side, and she pointed at the stairs. “Actually, not anymore.”
Charlie turned; Ethan strode toward her, his gaze searching her features.
“You all right?”
“Yes. I just…” Wanted to be with him. In the same room, talking with him, seeing him, hearing him. How needy would that sound? “I was just looking for something to do, so I thought I’d work on that class project. And you have my laptop.”
It appeared instantly in his hands, but he didn’t give it to her. He darted a glance over her head, then met her eyes again. “You want to come with me? It’s a bit quieter.”
She couldn’t halt her relieved smile. “Yes.”
His own smile was slightly crooked. “All right then.” Her computer vanished again. “It ain’t nothing exciting,” he said as they walked downstairs. “Mostly, we’re just taking a look at Brandt’s financials.”
“We” was Jake and the female vampire Charlie had met in Cole’s. Savi’s black hair was short and spiky now, instead of long and straight; she sat in front of a computer in jeans and a Hello Kitty T-shirt that Charlie thought must have been purchased in the kids’ section.
Savi’s dark eyes widened. “Charlotte Newcomb?” she asked, then studied her in a way that reminded Charlie of Jane at her microscope.
With a nod that Charlie hoped didn’t appear as stiff and uncomfortable as she felt, she said, “Yes.”
“You look good,” Savi said, then narrowed her gaze on Ethan. “You didn’t tell Colin or me that you brought her down from Seattle.”
Ethan’s mouth tightened. “She’s just fine here.”
“In a hole upstairs? Did you even tell her she could stay with us while we find her a suitable partner?”
“Miss Savi, I didn’t much consider it.” An edge of steel sharpened his drawl.
Savi caught her upper lip between her teeth, looked at Charlie again. “Okay. I didn’t realize it was like that. Sorry.” She stood and extended her hand; her palm was the same temperature as Charlie’s—perhaps slightly warmer. “My partner and I look after the vampire community here in San Francisco. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come to us.”
Charlie nodded again. “All right.” Then, because an awkward silence had fallen, she added, “Your house on the lake was incredible. Thanks for letting me stay.”
Savi waved it off with a shrug that suggested she was accustomed to breathtaking views and beautiful houses. “I’m just glad it could be of some use,” she said. “Colin and I picked it up because we thought we’d be spending more time in Seattle, but we haven’t had as much success meeting with Manny as we did Vladimir and Katya.”
“Katya and Vladimir were the heads of Seattle’s vampire community,” Ethan explained when Charlie glanced at him. “But they were killed about three months ago.”
“And the new guy hasn’t been very receptive,” Savi added. “We’ve been looking at a few other ways to set up something similar to our club for the vampires in the Seattle community—actually, that theater across from Cole’s is one of them.” Smiling, she performed a little side-to-side headshake. “They were playing Dracula that night Hugh sent us to talk to you, so Colin couldn’t resist going in. And then we realized it’d make a great live theater, something like what they’ve got in Ashland, so we made an offer for it.”
Charlie narrowed her eyes, tried to think. “Why does that sound familiar?”
“Well, hell,” Ethan said. “Brandt mentioned it when he spoke with you, Charlie. If
he knows it’s Colin and Savi who’s interested in it, he might be trying to block the sale.”
“With the historical marker thing?” Savi snorted. “It won’t go through—they don’t meet half the requirements.”
Ethan nodded. “Throwing up red tape, maybe, so it’s too much a hassle and you’d move on.”
“He doesn’t know Colin,” Savi said. “Establishing a solid community in Seattle has become one of his new obsessions.” She caught her tongue briefly between her teeth, her eyes widening with amusement. “And I think it’s to spite Manny, too. The mustache offended him.”
Charlie blinked and looked to Ethan, who said, “Her partner believes that no self-respecting vampire ought to have a varmint on his lip.”
“Manny’s just a weasel all around,” Savi said as she walked back to her computer. “The community could do a lot better. But I guess it was easy for him to just move in and take over everything of Vladimir’s…like his car renovation shop. Charlie, you knew Mark Brandt?”
“Yes, a little,” she said, and because it seemed she was going to be included in this, she followed the other vampire to the desk.
“Did he strike you as the type to spend a substantial amount of time and money having a ’65 Ford Mustang restored?”
“No,” Charlie said immediately. “Not unless the restoration included exchanging the engine for something that ran on batteries instead of gas.”
“Which would be a waste of a damn good car,” Jake muttered from his desk. “I used to have one. She was the sweetest little machine. The chicks loved it.”
Charlie lifted a brow at the back of his head, then glanced down to see Savi in the middle of an eye roll.
“I had myself a real fine mustang once,” Ethan drawled. Charlie turned, found him watching her with amusement fanning from the corners of his eyes. “I took awful good care of her. Fed her, brushed her, and carried her across the desert after she threw a shoe.”
“And, once again, Drifter wins the I’m a Man, Not a Pig contest,” Savi said.
Jake grumbled, and a five-dollar bill appeared in Ethan’s hand.
“Thank you kindly, Jake. And to you, Miss Savi, for judging so well.” The money vanished. Ethan held Charlie’s gaze, the amusement fading from his expression. “You sure about Mark Brandt and his car?”
Charlie nodded. “Pretty sure. He was very passionate about it—and convincing. He’s one of the reasons Jane got a hybrid. Why?”
“Because Savi found out that young Brandt had some work done at Vladimir’s shop—or rather, there was a transfer from his accounts to the shop. But we’re wondering if this was money for something else, and what, because the numbers don’t add up—and we ain’t got a record of any flights from D.C. around the same time, though his father had plenty.” Ethan shook his head. “I’ll have to see what I can get out of Manny.”
Jake swiveled in his chair. “Are you going up tonight?”
“You plan on teleporting me? How about you try to get over there first?” Ethan gestured to the opposite side of the room.
Jake set his jaw; a low, wavering thrum slipped through Charlie’s body, similar to what she’d felt when Ethan had used his Gift, though not as strong or as steady.
Ethan grinned. “Should I ask Miss Savi to scare you real bad?”
Charlie might have thought that a joke if Jake hadn’t begun eyeing the small woman warily.
“Boo,” Savi said without glancing away from her computer. “Do you need me to set up a new identity for you, Charlie? Identification, education, background? Or do you plan to keep living as yourself?”
Charlie’s brow furrowed. “You can do that?”
Savi nodded. “A clean slate, if you want one. About half of us do; after the transformation, some have to completely start over, because they can’t keep their old lives.”
Charlie’s life would be different. Was there any reason not to make it as easy as possible to slip into a new one? Never having to check the “convicted” box when she applied for a job or an apartment; not killing herself working toward a degree she wanted.
But at least what she had was hers. It wasn’t much, and it wasn’t all flattering, but she’d earned it.
“I don’t think so,” she said finally. “Except maybe a driver’s license.”
“Done,” Savi said. “Washington or California?”
“Washington,” Charlie responded, then paused. She’d answered automatically—but was it an indication that she was clinging too hard to her life in Seattle, just because it was familiar? Or was some part of her hoping that she’d go back, return to what she’d been?
But she didn’t change her answer; she was distracted by the stiffness in Ethan’s shoulders as he moved away from her and set her laptop on a table in the middle of the room.
“You ought to be able to get something done here, Miss Charlie.” He pulled up two chairs, swung one around and straddled it. Whatever tension had been in him seemed to disappear with that lazy posture. “And I’ll sit a spell with you. Otherwise, I’ll just be hovering over them while they work. Computers and I ain’t exactly bosom friends.”
“Why?” Charlie opened the laptop, booted it up.
“Passwords,” Ethan said in an intimate tone, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table. His thigh brushed hers. “It seems such a hassle to type them out or remember them. So I use my Gift.”
Charlie blinked. “Does it work?”
“Well, it works all right with locks and such, telling a security system that I’m feeding it the correct code. Computers aren’t quite so accommodating. More often than not, they quit working altogether.”
“Even through a security system is basically a computer program?”
Ethan dropped his chin in a slow nod, his gaze holding hers. “And then there’s this.” He lifted his hand, spread his fingers wide. “I just ain’t made for them tiny keyboards.”
Which immediately made her think of what those big hands could have been made for. Charlie squeezed her legs together, focused on her computer, and Ethan’s soft chuckle filled the air beside her.
“I’m awful sorry, Miss Charlie.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m awful sorry I ain’t showing you what else they can do.”
“Oh. Well, me, too.” She bit her lip as soon as she said it, looked past his shoulder. They’d been speaking in low tones, and neither Jake nor Savi were giving any indication that they were listening, but they must have been able to hear.
Ethan shook his head, lowered his face into her line of sight. “We block, Charlie. You listen for certain things—a partner’s voice, your name—but the rest is just background noise.”
“Okay.” She turned back to her computer. That explained how he’d gotten upstairs so fast—listening for his name. She thought if he was in her range, she’d always hear him, as well. And not just his voice; her body seemed attuned to his presence on every level.
She shifted in her seat. At least she could be certain that it wasn’t just his blood in her; it had been this way before she was transformed.
“Are you uncomfortable here, Charlie?”
She quickly met his eyes again, was surprised by the troubled expression in them. “No. Not because of the people—everyone seems nice.” And obviously like family to him; she hoped her discomfort hadn’t suggested they were lacking in any way. “I’m just not sure of my place yet, or how everything works. It’s a little unsettling.”
“All right.” His features relaxed into a smile. “Then I’ll just sit and watch you settle. Ain’t nothing in the world like watching a pretty woman study.”
Her face felt hot. Even a vampire’s cold cheeks could blush, apparently. “I’ve heard that before,” she said, and opened her browser.
From the corner of her vision, she saw his grin, broad and white. “You got a story for me, Miss Charlie? Can you talk and work?”
“I do it all of the time—” She clicked her tongue when an error m
essage popped up on her screen instead of the university login. “Okay, just a second. How do I connect to the wireless?”
Ethan sat up. “Savi?”
Almost instantly, the slim vampire was leaning between their shoulders, clicking and typing. “This is a great little system,” Savi said. “I almost got one of these a year or so ago.”
A wry smile curved Charlie’s mouth. By the time Charlie could have saved up enough to buy it, it would have been beyond obsolete. “It was Jane’s. She gave it to me when she upgraded—”
Savi’s fingers froze above the keyboard. “Jane’s? As in, your sister who is employed by Legion? Did she use this for work?”
Charlie hesitated until she met Ethan’s eyes over Savi’s arms. “Yes. Sometimes. It was her backup system for when she forgot her other computer at the lab.”
“Oh my god.” Savi’s fangs were gleaming with her enormous, laughing smile. “Can I have it? I’ll take off all of your files and settings and put them in a new one. A better one.”
“But Jane deleted all of her…” Charlie trailed off when Savi shook her head.
“There’s a chance I can recover some of it.”
“Oh. Well, okay then, I guess—”
“Yes!” Savi grabbed Charlie’s face and smashed their lips together in a quick, cool kiss. Stunned, Charlie watched the computer disappear from the table and the other woman practically dance back to her desk.
Jake looked from Charlie to Savi, who was already plugging wires into the laptop. “Can you do that again, please? I’m sure her contribution deserves more than one kiss.”
Ethan took her hand, tugged her to her feet. “As Charlie apparently can’t do her work tonight, I reckon I’ll show her how grateful we are by familiarizing her with the warehouse,” he said. “And maybe taking her for a ride over the city before I head back on up to Seattle.”
“And Drifter wins again,” Savi chuckled.
By the time Charlie had finished brushing the wind out of her hair, Ethan had switched the small bed for the one from her apartment, set up her stereo on the desk, and placed her shelves of CDs along the wall.
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