Full-Figured Vampire 1 - Real Vampires Have Curves

by Gerry Bartlett

  "If you need my help with a credit card or anything, my cell phone number is by the register." I patted my pocket. Yep, I had it with me. "Any real problems, there's a panic button under the counter near the register. The police promise to respond in five minutes or less."

  "Now you're scaring me." Derek grinned, leaned closer and showed his fangs. "You really think I need the police to protect me?"

  I shook my head. "Behave. And, Derek, the customers are off limits if you know what I mean."

  Derek straightened. "I'll be a good boy. I want this job."

  "You got it. Back in a few."

  Derek waved and strolled over to chat with the customer. The man snapped the phone shut and put on some tinted glasses to read the price tag I'd pinned on the sleeve. He'd probably want a discount. Most customers at vintage stores seemed to think we liked to bargain. And I wasn't above it. Derek could call me if he needed a price check.

  I headed upstairs. No sign of Lacy or Freddy inside the apartment, but Flo sat on the love seat, looking tragic and beautiful in black, her hair pulled back in a chignon. Blade and Damian were talking in the kitchen. No blood in sight unless you counted the cans of Bloody Merry sitting on the counter next to them.

  The white-haired vampire sat in a club chair staring at Flo. I didn't have to read minds to know things weren't going well between the two of them. Which was fine with me. This yahoo had two strikes against him in my book.

  "Where's Freddy?" I sat next to Flo.

  "He left. Something about an appointment." Flo wasn't exactly exuding enthusiasm. "He probably didn't like all this tension." She glanced at the man sitting across from us. "Or the company."

  "Company, right." I met white-haired guy's bright blue gaze. Hmm. He had some serious mojo going on. I blinked when I felt like smiling at him. He had a lot of nerve trying to whammy me in my own home.

  "We didn't get introduced earlier. I'm Flo's roommate, Glory St. Clair."

  The man leaped to his feet. "Richard Mainwaring. Sorry I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you." He glanced at Flo. "Maybe I should leave."

  "Maybe you should. Especially if you're going to be rude to my roomie." Flo sniffed and lifted a white lace handkerchief to her eyes.

  "Sorry, Glory." He didn't look sorry. Then he turned back to Flo. "I never should have let you leave last night."

  "You couldn't have stopped me." Flo rose to stalk to the door. She flung it open. "Leave. Austin. Texas. The United States. The world." She laughed. "Oops, sorry, you'd have to die to do that and we all know that's not going to happen."

  "You're not as sorry as I am." Mainwaring glanced toward the kitchen. Blade and Damian had stopped talking to give him the evil eye.

  "I guess someone explained how we do things here, Mainwaring. You're welcome to hunt, but you must erase fang marks and memory. We want to keep a low profile. It's safer for all of us." I glanced at Blade. "We've got enough danger around us without attracting more hunters."

  "I get it. Though I don't know why you think I'd do a thing like that. You've got the wrong vampire." Mainwaring stepped into the hall. "Good-bye, Florence."

  "Ciao, Ricardo. Have a nice life. Or not." She flounced back to the love seat and sat, crossing her legs so that her short skirt displayed a good bit of thigh.

  Mainwaring was headed down the hall when an orange and white cat strolled past him. Thinking of Valdez and his cat hatred, I slammed the door then remembered I'd left the dog downstairs.

  "Who's minding the store?" Damian handed his sister a can of Bloody Merry.

  "Would you believe Derek? He wanted a job. To earn his own money. I could relate to his need for independence." I felt Blade's eyes on me. At least he wasn't trying to send me mental messages.

  The fact that he was still here, though, meant he and Damian had come to terms. What kind of terms? Was Blade really staying in Austin? Or had he handed me off to Damian? Like little Glory couldn't survive without a male protector. I glared at both men.

  "I hope at least one of you tore a strip off of Mainwaring for sending Flo out alone last night."

  "Of course." Damian sat next to his sister. "Though Florence is notorious for ignoring good sense."

  "Hah! You almost wept you were so worried about me." She patted his knee. "I think our men are sweet to want to protect us."

  Jerry walked over to stand beside me. I could smell him. Okay, I'm still susceptible. And, with his knees showing in his plaid, he was a Highland hunk.

  "Sweet? I don't think so." I eased away from Blade, but I could still smell him, that combination of old wool and male that had turned me on for centuries. A knee-jerk reaction on my part. I didn't want to go down that road again. I really didn't. But sometimes enhanced senses can be a curse instead of a blessing.

  Damian grinned. "I can be sweet. If that means I care what you think. Tell me anything, Gloriana. Order me to do anything. I am yours to command." He looked at Blade. "Not the other way around."

  "That's a terrific offer, Damian. I'll think about it." I put my hand on Flo's shoulder. "You okay?"

  Flo covered my hand with hers. "I'm fine. I know you're anxious to get back to the shop."

  "I am. So if the knife throwing is over, I'll get back downstairs. Valdez is down there with Derek."

  "I'll walk you back down." Blade opened the door. He was smiling. Of course he'd picked up on my sensory overload. He leaned down and sniffed. "New shampoo, Gloriana? I like."

  "Mango and grapefruit. I can't eat but I can smell." I was babbling.

  "Good night, Gloriana. Or would you like for me to wait for you here?" Damian laughed when Blade threw him a dirty look.

  I ignored him. "Flo, are you sure you're going to be all right?"

  "Of course. I'll have a new lover by this time next week." She sipped her Bloody Merry.

  "It's not your love life I'm worried about." I walked over to stand in front of her. "Look at me, Flo." I waited until she did. "You had a near miss last night. You're bound to be shook up."

  Flo laughed. "I love your English. I must watch more TV. Glory, I'm not shook up or down. I'm fine. Go, work. Have a good night."

  "You could come down with me."

  "No, thank you. I have my brother here. And there is still something he and I have not discussed." She quit smiling. "With Ricardo here, I forgot. But now I remember that I must kill my brother." Flo gave Damian a look, reminding me of how mad she'd been the night before.

  I squeezed my eyes shut. Block, damn it. I had to shield my thoughts from Blade. If he knew Damian had bit me without permission…

  I looked up, a giant headache settling between my eyes. Blade didn't react except to give me a searching look. Hah! I'd blocked, but wasn't sure it had been worth it. The pain stabbed me again, the vamp version of a migraine. Damian jumped up and started edging toward the door. He probably deserved Blade's wrath, but I really didn't feel up to a resumption of hostilities right now.

  "My sister exaggerates. A slight disagreement, nothing more. There will be no killing, but maybe I should hit the road."

  "You hit nothing, Damian, until Gloriana and Jeremiah have left and you and I have a talk." For a little woman, Flo had a seriously dangerous look. Thank God she and Damian both blocked everyone as a matter of course. Blade was giving off the frustration vibe again and I could almost feel him trying to slip inside my brain. Boy, was my head killing me. But the block held.

  "Fine. I only obey you now because you have had a near miss and you are shook as Glory says." Damian looked resigned as he walked over to sit in a club chair again.

  "Flo, don't you think it would be better if we just forgot about last night? I'm fine. You're fine. Right?" I don't know why I cared what she did or said to Damian. He grinned at me and Blade's hand on my elbow tightened. Okay, so I kind of liked being in the middle of a handsome-man turf war.

  Flo gave me a tight smile and nodded. "Of course you're fine. Men are nothing to us. But Damian must listen to his sister's"—she gave him another m
urderous look, "concerns."

  "Right. But no killing, Florence. You'll mess up the apartment. See you later." I glanced at Blade. His hand was firm on my arm as he guided me out the door.

  "I'd like to know why Valdez let you leave without him."

  "I had to shut him in the stockroom. Some of the customers get nervous when he's around. He is a big dog. Not everybody's a dog lover."

  "Damn it to hell, Gloriana. How can he protect you from a storeroom?" Blade threw open the door at the bottom of the stairs. "He must be by your side. At all times."

  Valdez and Derek met us at the door. The dog bared his teeth and Derek held on to the dog's collar like that was the only thing holding him up.

  "What's happened?" I looked around the shop. No customers. Derek had a card in his hand.

  "This." His hand was shaking as he held out the card. "I didn't find it until the man left. He'd stuck it in the breast pocket of Freddy's gold suit."

  "This is big, boss. If Glory had let me out of the back room—" Valdez gave me a withering look—"I could have torn him apart and ended this thing here and now."

  Blade snatched the card before I could take it. "Bloody hell!"

  I looked down. A business card. Expensive. Gold lettering. With a bold black signature at the bottom.

  "The hunt is on. Westwood."

  "My God. Westwood was here?" I felt Blade's arm go around me and didn't object. It kept me from falling to the floor in a heap.

  "You saw him, Glory. The man looking at suits. That was Brent Westwood."

  Chapter Nine

  "We need a mortal to help us."

  Everyone stared at me like I'd uttered blasphemy. Have I mentioned that vamp men think they can handle anything?

  "Why would we involve a mortal in our business?"

  Blade really needed to change into different clothes. The plaid thing was like a red flag saying "I'm weird, check me out." And of course Westwood had seen him before. My stomach knotted. No more talk. We needed action.

  "A mortal might be able to figure out how Westwood is IDing us." It seemed I had to spell out everything. "Maybe someone who could infiltrate Westwood's organization."

  "Glory's got a point. If we knew how Westwood made us as vampires, that would help us avoid detection." Derek was still shaking and I led him to a chair.

  Damian strode over to the door, flipped the dead bolts and turned the sign to Closed. He'd stopped on his way out of the building when he'd seen us gathered around Derek.

  "We need a plan. Now that we know he's on to Derek, we can use him as bait."

  "Thanks a lot, Damian." Derek put his head between his knees. "I think I'm going to throw up."

  I rushed into the back room and wet a cloth. I laid it on the back of his neck. "Relax, Derek. No one is going to use you as bait." I gave my macho vamps a stern look. "And that guy saw both of us. Maybe he knows I'm vamp too."

  "Exactly. Discussion is closed, Gloriana. You're coming home with me now." Blade grabbed my arm.

  Would he ever learn that ordering me around never got him what he wanted? Probably not. And it made me sad. Because we, as a couple, were definitely over in that case.

  "I'm not going anywhere. This Westwood character isn't going to ruin the best move I ever made." I gestured around the shop. "Vintage Vamp's is my creation and a success so far. I'm not about to tuck my tail between my legs and skulk off into the night."

  "Blade's right, Glory. You should get out of here." Derek sat up and put the cloth on his forehead. "Westwood aimed that camera phone at both of us. He has our pictures."

  Damian cursed in Italian. "You can move into my castle, Gloriana. I'll hire guards. They can escort you to and from the shop and stay with you—"

  "She's not your responsibility, Sabatini." Blade still held my arm. Like I was shackled to him.

  Valdez barked just before someone knocked on the door. Blade dropped my arm and whipped out his broadsword.

  Damian looked through the glass. "It's Diana Marchand. She runs the coffee shop next door. I'm going to let her in. She knows a lot of mortals. Glory's right. Only a mortal is going to get close enough to Westwood to figure out how he's identifying us."

  Glory's right. Beautiful words and all too rare in my lifetime. Damian flipped open the locks and let Diana in. I'd met her while I was setting up the shop. I'd been way too busy to do much more than say hi and wave, but I liked her. For one thing, she was vamp like me. Turned on a day when she should have been at a Weight Watchers meeting. Plump, short and with a southern belle thing going on.

  She called her place Mugs and Muffins. I'd heard more than one customer call it Jugs and Muffins. One look at Diana and you know why.

  "What're y'all doing over here?" Diana's wide-eyed gaze was fixed on Blade. Well, he did stand out. He slid his broadsword back in its scabbard and bowed in her direction.

  "Jeremy Blade, madam, at your service." He looked around the room. "Do you know everyone else here?"

  I really wanted to smack him. For being here. For looking like a Highland throwback. For moving closer to Di and eyeing her "jugs" appreciatively.

  Diana knew a great marketing tool when she saw one. She and her waitresses wore low-cut spandex tops over lacy edged bras in contrasting colors. I had to admire her entrepreneurial spirit. And hate her Dolly Parton—sized attributes. Tonight they were showcased in black lycra with just a hint of pink lace.

  "Gee, Jerry, this isn't a soiree at the castle." I think I could have stripped naked and Blade wouldn't have been able to tear his gaze from Di's assets.

  "She's got you there, Blade." Damian laughed as he flipped the deadbolts again. Of course he'd read my mind. Men love female rivalry and pray for a cat fight. Can you tell I'm down on men?

  "Be nice, Damian." Diana looked around. "Sure, I know everyone else here. So what's up, Glory? I have customers who are waiting to get into this shop. Not that I'm complaining. They're drinking my coffee while they wait for y'all to open again."

  "An incident, Diana. You know about Brent Westwood?" Damian slung his arm around her.

  "Hands off, hot stuff." Diana lifted Damian's hand off her shoulder and smiled sweetly. There was obviously a story there.

  Damian frowned and moved closer to me. I shook my head and he stuck his hands in his pockets.

  "Sure I know about Westwood. I've got that vampire-killin' lowlife's picture right next to my cash register." She looked at me and ignored Damian. "Why? What about him?"

  "He was here. He left this." Blade handed her Westwood's card.

  "Oh, my God!" She leaned against Blade and fanned her cheeks with the card. "So close!"

  I swear, if Diana swooned, I was leaving her on the floor. She rallied and winked at me as Blade helped her into a chair.

  "Are you all right?" Damian moved in until she put up her hand like a stop sign.

  "I'm fine, sugar. As you would see if you checked a little higher." Diana looked at me and rolled her eyes. Of course Blade stayed close, positioned for a good view of that pink lace bra. He'd always had an appreciation for a full-figured woman. Diana was just his type. Fine. I did not care.

  "But what I don't understand"—Diana looked at the card again—"is why he would warn whoever his target was that he was hunting them."

  "Me, Diana, he left the card for me." Derek shot to his feet. "I've got to call Freddy. Maybe it's time for us to move on. Blade's right. Running is the answer. If this guy got MacTavish, screw it. I don't stand a chance." Derek pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial. He moved to the back of the store and started talking rapidly.

  "Running is not the answer. I never said that." Blade ground out the words.

  "No, that would be cowardly." Damian jingled the change in his pockets. "Does Blade look cowardly to you, Diana?"

  "No, indeed." Di smiled and gave Blade a look that made him puff out his chest. You had to give the girl credit, she had both men eating out of the palm of her hand. I should take lessons. Not.

  "H
e probably left the card to put us on the alert. Westwood likes the hunt. Here, we're sitting ducks. No sport in that." I saw Blade nod, his face solemn. He was probably reliving the night he'd lost Mac. I started to move closer when Damian stepped between us.

  "You should close this shop, Gloriana. Why present such an easy target?" Damian put his hand on my shoulder.

  "This shop pays my bills, Damian." I shrugged and he moved his hand. "Can we get back to Westwood?"

  "But if this sorry so-and-so's got some kind of new technology, how are we going to fight that?" Diana said this to me.

  "Mortals." I was getting really tired of men. Was everything a competition? This danger should unite us. Vamps against Westwood. Damian nodded and even Blade looked thoughtful.

  "Mortals?" Diana looked puzzled. Could she actually be a vamp who didn't read minds? I suddenly wanted to hug her.

  "We need mortals to get close to Westwood and find out how he can tell if we're vampire. Then we can try to counteract whatever he's got." Not all vamps are comfortable around mortals, but Diana's coffee shop swarmed with them. "You know any who might help us?"

  "I've got some mortals I do business with from time to time." Diana glanced toward her shop. "Tony Crapetta is over there right now drinking one of my special grande triple mocha lattes. You know him, Damian."

  "How is a man who likes sissy drinks going to be of help in this situation?" Blade had just stepped in it, big time.

  "Sissy drinks?" Diana looked him up and down. "If you weren't a freak prehistoric vampire, you'd probably kill to taste my triple mocha latte."

  Well, that love affair was over. And if Blade didn't get rid of that broadsword, I was going to find a wooden hanger and test my vamp strength.

  "She's right, Blade. I do know Tony Crapetta. He's got connections that could help us." Damian moved out of the way when Diana stood and walked toward the door.

  "I don't like using mortals." Blade frowned.

  Damian sneered. "Quit being all muscle and no brain, Blade."

  "By God!" There went the hand to the broadsword again.