by Lynsay Sands
“So turn me and stop the pai—” Her raspy voice died as she was claimed by a coughing fit.
Thomas barely noticed that Rachel had stopped in the doorway and turned around wide-eyed. His heart had leapt in his chest and his gaze was fixed on the woman in his arms. He simply stared at her until her fit eased and she fell against his chest exhausted, then lunged to his feet and held her close as he headed for the door. “You heard her. She gave permission.”
“Just a minute,” Etienne said sharply hurrying after him and catching his arm to stop him.
Thomas paused reluctantly between Rachel and Etienne and turned so that he could see both of them. Eyeing his cousin impatiently, he asked, “What now?”
Etienne hesitated and then glanced at Inez and said, “Do you know what you’re agreeing to here?”
She nodded solemnly.
“Vampires are forever, Inez,” he said quietly. “Or long enough that it seems like forever.”
“Thank you very much,” Rachel said from the doorway in dry tones.
Etienne scowled at his wife. “You know what I mean.”
When Rachel nodded slightly, he turned back to Inez. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
She nodded again.
“You realize you’ll be his lifemate? Forever?” Etienne persisted.
Inez nodded once more, but when Etienne opened his mouth to speak again, Rachel tsked impatiently. “Just ask her what you really want to know.”
Thomas raised his eyebrows as Rachel now moved in front of them and peered solemnly at Inez.
“I’m sorry, but I have to ask this. We love Thomas. He’s a great guy and deserves to be loved. Do you love him? Is that love strong enough to last for centuries?”
Thomas glanced down at Inez, and despite the fact that he was almost positive she’d been trying to tell him she loved him down by the river, her found himself holding his breath. She didn’t simply nod this time, but gave the question the consideration Rachel was demanding. She took a moment, her expression thoughtful, and then she turned a solemn gaze on him for another moment before turning back to Rachel and nodding.
Letting his breath out on a gust of relief, Thomas turned to head out the door. “You heard her. I’m turning her.”
“Dammit Thomas, wait a minute,” Etienne snapped, rushing after him as he started up the stairs. “You can’t do this.”
“The hell I can’t. I can and am doing it right now.”
“Stop thinking with your dick and use your head,” Etienne snarled. “Do we have enough blood here for her to turn? And what about the pain?”
It was the second question that brought him to a halt at the top of the stairs. Frowning, he glanced at Etienne as the man squeezed past to get in front of them on the landing. Rachel followed, and Thomas couldn’t help noticing she was biting her lip and looking worried now.
“It’s painful,” Etienne said grimly, his gaze focused on Inez’s face as he spoke.
Noting the trepidation now growing on Inez’s face, Thomas scowled. “Stop trying to scare her out of it.”
“I’m not, but she should know it’s not all happy, happy, joy, joy,” Etienne said firmly and then turned to Inez again. “I’m not talking toothache pain here. I’m talking unbearable agony, drowning in a vat of acid that’s eating you up inside and out, horrible, nightmare ridden, desperate pain that will make you wish someone would just put a bullet in your brain and end it all…or cut off your head since you’ll be immortal and a bullet wouldn’t kill you.”
Thomas felt Inez shrink against him and snapped, “Shut up, Etienne. How would you know anything about it? You were born one and slept through Rachel’s turning.”
“I was unconscious,” Etienne quickly corrected and then challenged, “And I know you were there for Greg’s turning. Tell her it isn’t true, if you can.”
When Inez turned to him in question, Thomas sighed unhappily. He couldn’t lie to her. From what he’d seen and been told it was a slow ride through hell.
“I’m sorry, “he said finally. “It is very bad. I wish I could go through it for you, but…” He shook his head.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Etienne said quietly. “Despite what you think I’m not trying to stop you, I’m simply trying to slow you down. Rather than do it now, why not call Bastien and have him arrange for blood and drugs to be sent here so that she can turn with at least a little less pain?” He glanced to Inez then and said apologetically, “The drugs don’t stop the pain, but they ease it a little, enough, at least, that it won’t leave you insane at the end of it.”
When her eyes went round, Thomas grimaced. He’d forgotten about that little detail. There had been recorded occasions when turns had come out of it quite mad, their minds snapped by the endless agony. Sure she wouldn’t want to be turned after this, and no longer sure himself that he could endure her suffering so, Thomas turned and started back downstairs, growling, “Call Bastien, then, and get on it. In the meantime, I’m getting her some honey for her throat.”
“You can put me down,” Inez whispered when Thomas carried her into the kitchen and tried to open the cupboard door without releasing her.
“No. I almost lost you. I’m not putting you anywhere. You’re staying with me until we catch this bastard. And stop trying to talk,” he muttered, finally settling her rump on the counter and keeping one arm around her waist as he opened cupboards and rifled through them with his free hand.
Much to his relief, a jar of honey had been in the groceries ordered and delivered to the townhouse. Closing his fingers around it, Thomas slid his arm under her legs, carried her out to the living room and settled on the couch with her. Reaching his arms around her to get both hands on the jar, he unscrewed the cap and then hesitated as he realized he’d forgotten a spoon.
A glance at Inez showed her biting her lip, amusement twinkling in her eyes.
Thomas felt a laugh bubble up in his own chest at his ridiculous behavior and then sighed. “I’m going to set you on the couch and go get you a spoon.”
Inez nodded. “You could do that,” she whispered. “Or you could use your fingers.”
Thomas eyed the challenge in her eyes, and then dipped one finger in the honey jar and scooped up some to hold out before her. Inez leaned forward, opened her mouth and closed it around his finger, slowly drawing her lips the length of the digit, her eyes meeting his the whole time.
“Damn,” Thomas breathed as Little Thomas stirred to life beneath her bottom.
When his finger slid free of her warm, wet mouth, Inez smiled like a satisfied cat and licked her lips. Thomas watched her little pink tongue slide over those soft, full lips and felt Little Thomas come to gasping life. When she finished and raised an eyebrow, he quickly scooped up more honey and held it out.
“For heaven’s sake, Thomas. Use a spoon.”
Little Thomas fell into a faint as Thomas turned sharply to see Rachel standing in the door shaking her head.
“I’ll get you one.” Still shaking her head, Rachel headed off up the hall in search of a spoon.
“I used to like her,” Thomas said sadly, staring at the empty doorway after she’d gone and then glanced quickly at Inez as she fell against him making alarming noises.
Promptly dropping the honey, Thomas caught her by the arms and urged her upper body away from his chest to see her face and figure out what to do to help her, but paused in surprise when he realized that she was laughing.
“What’s so funny?” he asked with confusion, which just brought another round of the rather horrible honking sounds from her.
“Here. You can——” Rachel had started into the room, holding a spoon out before her, but suddenly stopped, her eyes going wide before she hurried forward. “Gees, Thomas, you’ve spilled the honey everywhere!”
He glanced down as she snatched the jar out of Inez’s lap and noted that he had indeed spilled the honey. It was all over her lap, glistening on her bare thighs where the shirt had slid up,
not to mention other delightful places that were still mostly covered.
“So I have,” Thomas murmured and stood abruptly to carry Inez around Rachel and out of the room.
“Where are you going?” Rachel asked with surprise, trailing them to the doorway.
“I’m just going to see her cleaned up,” Thomas called as he hurried up the stairs, bouncing Inez around in his arms. “We’ll be back to hear what Bastien said later…Maybe a lot later. Inez is tired and needs a nap.”
He’d reached the top of the stairs by then and hurried quickly into the bedroom with twin beds, kicking the door closed behind him. Inez was making those horrible raspy, honking sounds again, her body trembling with laughter in his arms, but Thomas didn’t order her to stop laughing to save her voice. Instead, he simply kissed her to shut her up and didn’t stop until the laughter died and a broken moan slid into his mouth.
Satisfied, he lifted his head to peer at her.
Inez opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow and said in a whisper, “I thought you were going to clean me up? Shouldn’t you have taken me to the bathroom for that?”
“Oh no,” Thomas assured her, moving toward the bed. “We don’t need the bathroom for this.”
Inez smiled quizzically. “You’ll need at least a damp washcloth and towel, Thomas, I’m soaked with honey. It started on my upper legs but your bouncing me about sent it running in every direction.”
“I know.” He grinned. “And I will remove every last drop, I promise. I’m in the mood for sweets.”
“Oh,” Inez breathed, her eyes going wide as he laid her on the bed and turned his attention to keeping his promise.
“Good morning, Inez. I hope you’re feeling better this morning.”
Inez stopped just inside the kitchen door, her head turning sharply to find the man seated at the breakfast table. Her eyes widened with surprise as she spotted Bastien Argeneau, seated at the table looking thoughtful. He wore jeans and a T-shirt that made him look no more than twenty-six or -seven. She’d never seen the big boss of Argeneau Enterprises look so casual. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable in the dark slacks and red blouse she’d donned on waking. Inez didn’t usually wear bright colors, but she’d dressed in the dark to avoid waking Thomas and had chosen her clothes by feel rather than color.
“Good morning, Bas—Mr. Argeneau,” she corrected herself quickly. While Thomas, and now Etienne and Rachel, kept referring to him as Bastien, and she’d started to think of him that way, he was still her boss and as such was Mr. Argeneau to her.
“You can call me Bastien,” he said with a smile. “From what I hear, we’re to be in-laws.”
Inez blushed, but didn’t know what to say. No one had said anything about marriage to her. All Thomas had said was that he wanted to turn her and that she was his lifemate. Marriage hadn’t come into it.
Forcing a smile for Bastien, she shuffled her feet, and then asked, “Would you like some tea?”
“Thank you,” Bastien murmured and then added, “I see you still have a bit of a scratchy throat. Did the honey not help?”
Inez’s eyes went round with mortification at the question and she scrambled quickly to the teakettle on the counter, her mind racing. What had Rachel and Etienne told the man? She wondered as she retrieved the jug, removed the lid, and set it on the counter, and then moved to the sink to fill it with water.
“Is there something wrong?” Bastien asked, sounding concerned.
“No,” she squeaked out as she shut off the water. Inez then turned to move back to the kettle, coming to an abrupt halt when she found Bastien there. They both gasped as the water in the jug sloshed over the lip and down his front.
“Oh!” Inez cried in alarm and hurriedly put the jug on the counter to snatch up a dish towel and mop up the liquid. Jabbering away in Portuguese, she pressed the cloth to his chest, patting him with it and following the large wet spot downward.
“Good morning.”
Inez glanced, red-faced, to the door to see a lovely woman with long chestnut hair, an impish smile and wide, amused eyes. Bastien’s fiancée, Terri Simpson. She was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt that said, “I vant to suck your blooood,” Inez noted, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She’d met the woman in New York and liked her then. Knowing about their kind and seeing the T-shirt she now wore just made her like her more.
Continuing to mop at Bastien, Inez smiled and said, “Hello, Ms. Simpson, I was just—Oh!” Inez snatched away the hand holding the towel as she glanced back and saw that she’d continued blindly mopping at the water all the way to the man’s groin.
Flushing with mortification, she stared down at the towel in her hand, afraid to lift her head and see the expression on her boss’s face…or his fiancée’s for that matter. Stupid hand, Inez thought with despair. How could she be so competent in business and so incompetent in social situations? For heaven’s sake! She’d never done anything so foolish at work. Thank God for that. Surely, Bastien never would have agreed to her becoming vice president if he’d known what a twit she was when away from work. She was forever tripping over her own feet. He was probably going to fire her now that he knew what an idiot she was. He’d—
“Inez?” Bastien said gently, taking the towel from her hand. “It’s all right. I don’t think you’re an idiot.”
She glanced up warily to see amusement twinkling in his eyes as he peered down at her.
“No. He wouldn’t ever think that,” Terri assured her, suddenly at her side, slipping her arm around her to steer her toward the breakfast table. “And we know you aren’t a twit. Bastien has been ranting for days about your being the best damned employee he has in England and cursing Thomas for taking you away from him.”
“He has?” she asked with surprise.
Terri nodded. “Now, you just sit down and relax. You had enough excitement last night. I’ll make the tea while Bastien mops himself up.”
“Thank you,” Inez murmured as she sat down. She then sat watching the couple putter around the kitchen, moving in what almost seemed a choreographed dance around and near each other in the kitchen.
They worked together well, Inez noted. Terri refilled the jug while Bastien finished mopping himself up, then Terri slid by him, their bodies brushing and smiles exchanged as she set the jug back on the electric kettle’s base while he spread the dish towel on the counter to dry. They then encountered each other again exchanging smiles and brushing against each other as she moved to retrieve cups and Bastien found the tea bags. He had the container open by the time Terri set the cups down, and then dropped the bags in each cup and resealed the container while she fetched sugar from the cupboard. And, finally, they brushed bodies again in passing as she headed to the drawer to retrieve spoons and he walked to the refrigerator to retrieve a carton of milk
A little sigh slid from Inez’s lips as she wondered if she and Thomas would work as well together.
“I’m sure you will,” Terri said as she carried the spoons to the table.
Inez stiffened as she realized the woman had read her mind, and then her eyebrows rose as she realized that both of them must have read her mind earlier to know she’d thought the words twit and idiot. They were poking in her head, she thought with dismay and not a little anger.
“We aren’t poking,” Bastien assured her as he set the cream and sugar on the table. “I’m afraid you’re broadcasting your thoughts.”
“He’s right,” Terri agreed as she returned to the counter to wait for the water to boil. “I haven’t quite got the hang of reading thoughts yet unless they are broadcast like yours. It’s because you’re upset,” she informed her kindly. “You’re uncomfortable and flustered because you aren’t sure how to act around Bastien now that you’re involved with Thomas, and embarrassed by the whole drying-his-lap thing, so—in your upset—you’re broadcasting your thoughts.”
“Oh.” Inez sat back in her seat with a sigh. She wasn’t sure what broadcasting was,
but believed she probably was doing it anyway.
“And just for the record,” Terri added, picking up the jug as it began to boil and automatically shut off. “I liked you too when we met in New York, and still do, even if you aren’t wearing a cool T-shirt.”
Inez blinked at this easy announcement and then glanced to her boss as he chuckled softly.
“Isn’t she wonderful?” Bastien asked when he noticed her looking his way.
Inez nodded at once, her eyes wide. She’d never seen this side of him before. At work, he was always cool and efficient as far as she knew. But the man obviously adored his fiancée…and was adored right back, she decided when Terri brought the three teas to the table and then kissed him. It started out a tender, affectionate brush of lips, but then started to heat up and Inez bit her lip and glanced away, wondering if she should leave the room. Also wondering if she and Thomas were this bad.
“I’m sure you and Thomas are just as bad,” Bastien said wryly as he and Terri broke apart and took seats at the table. “And there’s no need to leave the room. In fact, I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh.” Inez sat up a little straighter in her seat, trying to present a businesslike front. Oddly enough, it was difficult. She hadn’t even thought of work since Thomas had arrived in England and felt out of practice.
“It’s not business,” Bastien said solemnly.
“Okay.” Inez relaxed a little, but then frowned and said. “I didn’t realize the two of you were here last night too. I thought it was just Etienne and Rachel.”
“It was.” Terri raised her teacup to blow on the hot liquid lightly, before adding, “We arrived just before midday.”
Inez nodded, but was surprised they had traveled during daylight. Thomas had gone through scads of blood the day they’d toured Amsterdam before leaving.
“We stocked up on blood,” Bastien assured her, reading her thoughts again. “I brought enough on the plane with us to manage the journey and see to your turning too.”
“Etienne got up and let us in,” Terri added.
“Yes, and then we stayed up a while and talked before going to sleep.”