by HELEN HARDT
Not if Dante wasn’t there waiting for me.
Normally on a day like this, I’d get Lucy and go to breakfast. But Lucy was in the main hospital, recovering from a stab wound—a stab wound she suffered while trying to help Dante and River.
God!
Logan walked toward me. “Breakfast, Erin?”
Dante would hate it. But I had questions for Logan, not the least of which was what had happened to him while he was gone. He claimed not to remember, but now he was back at work as if nothing had happened. Hadn’t the administration had questions? The physicians? Dr. Bonneville was on vacation, but I couldn’t see Dr. Thomas and the others letting his absence slide without some explanation.
Still, I couldn’t be long. Dante would need to feed, especially after the night he’d had.
“Maybe just a coffee in the cafeteria,” I said. “I need to be somewhere soon.”
“Sure. My treat.”
We walked to the cafeteria, which was pretty vacant at seven a.m. Logan brought two coffees to the table where I sat.
I took a sip. “How are you doing? I mean, how are you dealing with everything?”
“I’ve had physicals by two physicians, and both have declared me fine physically. I’m seeing a psychiatrist. Trying to figure out where I was and what I did. They want me to try hypnosis, which I think is beyond crap.”
Hypnosis. I’d once echoed Logan’s sentiment, but no longer. Hypnosis was similar to glamouring. Julian Gabriel’s ghostly face popped up in my mind. He’d helped me remember my dream. Could he—or any vampire who knew how to glamour—help Logan?
“Maybe you should try it.”
He scoffed, nearly spitting coffee on the table before swallowing. “Seriously, Erin? What are they teaching in nursing school these days?”
With some fortitude, I managed to ignore his nursing school comment. “What can it hurt? If it’s crap, nothing will happen, and you’ll be no worse off than you are now.”
He shook his head. “Sorry. Not going there.”
Okay, then. “Why are you back at work so soon? Didn’t the admin want to know what happened?”
Again, he shook his head. “Weird, I know. But they’re shorthanded, and after two docs declared me okay, that was good enough. Probably helps that Bonneville’s off right now. No way would she have agreed to my coming back.”
I nodded. That was certain. “Are you sure you’re up to it?”
“Have you seen me make a mistake yet?” His tone was short and defensive.
“No, it’s just—”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I need to work, Erin. If I don’t, my mind will just go places I’m not sure I want to revisit.”
“Is that why you’re saying no to hypnosis?” I asked, knowing it was the wrong thing to say.
He chuckled. “Not really. I do think hypnosis is bullshit. But it’s frustrating. I get fragments and images, but I can’t make sense of them.” He moved his hand forward and touched mine. “It helps to talk to you.”
His touch burned me, and not in a good way. The feel of his flesh felt all wrong against mine. I snatched my hand away.
“Erin, I’m not coming on to you.”
“I know that.” Warmth flooded my cheeks.
“I just need a friend right now. If you only knew…” He closed his eyes and sighed.
But something niggled at me, prickling my neck. If I only knew what? Everything he’d said indicated he didn’t know what had happened. Sure, he had a few fragments of memories, but no sense of what really had happened.
Was he lying to me? Did he actually know what had happened to him but was feigning memory loss?
Chills coursed through me. Something wasn’t right. I needed to go.
I stood. “Thank you for the coffee, but I have an appointment I need to get to.”
“You’re not leaving yet.”
My eyes shot open. “I assure you I am. We’re off duty. I don’t have to follow your orders, Dr. Crown.”
“Sit down, Erin.”
Without knowing why, I sat. I didn’t want to, tried not to. But somehow my ass ended back down on the hard cafeteria chair.
“Thank you,” he said. “I won’t take much more of your time. You’re just…so easy to talk to.”
An hour later, I was driving home, my conversation with Logan a haze in my mind. He hadn’t told me anything important, and he hadn’t tried to touch me again. I had no idea why he was so adamant that I stay, or why I’d been so compelled to.
The whole thing was a puzzle, but for some reason it didn’t bother me all that much. What concerned me now was getting home to Dante.
I hadn’t heard a word from him, not even a short text. Had they been successful? Surely he’d have let me know. But there was so much I still didn’t know about Dante and his kind.
His kind…
Logan…
Why didn’t I recall anything of importance from our conversation over coffee? Why didn’t…?
I pulled over to the side of the road and stopped with a screech. Squirming, I pulled my sweats and underwear over my hips, spreading my legs to examine my thighs.
I heaved a sigh of relief.
No fresh puncture wounds.
What had I been thinking? Logan was no more a vampire than I was. Dante had completely overpowered him that morning at my place.
But I hadn’t had any new wounds since he’d been gone. It was a logical—relatively speaking—assumption.
I hastily made myself right before someone could look into my car and see me with my pants down.
My mind needed to settle down. Now that I knew what was out in the world, I had to reel in my imagination. These other creatures—and I hated using that word for Dante and Lucy and their kinds, but what other word was there?—were rare, probably didn’t even exist in places other than New Orleans. Maybe Transylvania.
They weren’t everywhere.
I pulled into my parking space at my townhome and walked briskly to my door, hoping Dante would be inside.
He wasn’t.
Chapter Fourteen
Dante
As soon as the city offices opened at eight a.m., River and I took my father’s body to the coroner, and River worked his magic. With the death certificate for Julian Gabriel in hand, we went to a nearby mortuary—River again glamouring the technician not to notice my father’s extensive injuries—and arranged for his cremation. Though the process usually took five to ten business days, River arranged it so we could pick up my father’s remains later the same day.
Still clutching my father’s death certificate, I headed to Erin’s—rather my and Erin’s—place. I hadn’t moved what little I owned to her home yet, but I would as soon as possible. Right now, I needed her.
Not just her blood.
I needed her.
I’d already known my father was dead, but seeing his battered body, holding his death certificate, had slammed it home in my mind.
River dropped me off, and I raced to the door, unlocking it with my new key.
And there she was, on the other side of the door, launching herself into my arms.
“Thank God! I was so worried about you.”
“I’m okay, baby.”
But I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t even close to okay.
I bent my face to her neck, but instead of puncturing her sweet flesh, I simply inhaled.
Inhaled the goodness that was Erin.
“Go ahead,” she said. “I know you must be hungry.”
I was, so I released my fangs and took just a sip, and then I licked her wounds closed. “I need you,” I said gruffly.
“You have me.”
“I mean I need you. I want to savor you. I want to savor life.”
“Did you find—”
“Later. Please. I’ll tell you everything later. Right now, I need to be with you, inside you. I need you to chase away the demons, make me whole again. Then I’ll finish feeding.”
“I’m here f
or you. Whatever you need. Always.” She pressed her lips to mine in a soft kiss.
I swooped her into my arms. I was hard as a rock and my teeth remained elongated, but a quick fuck up against the wall wasn’t what I craved right now.
I craved life—its very essence. Normally that would mean blood, but now? After witnessing my father’s body brutalized and violated almost beyond recognition?
I needed to embed myself in Erin and remind myself that I was full of life.
I had escaped her, and I was alive.
I walked swiftly up the stairs and deposited her on her unmade bed. “Undress for me.”
She was wearing the standard uniform she wore to and from work—sweat pants, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, a few strands hanging loose around her face.
She kicked off her shoes and removed her socks quickly.
“Slow down,” I said. “I want to savor this. I want to celebrate as each new inch of your flesh comes into my view.”
“Are you sure?”
She was reasonably confused. Usually at feeding time I was ravenous, couldn’t wait. The small taste downstairs had given me the strength I needed, and now…
“I want to savor every moment this morning. I want to make love to you slowly and sweetly and then quickly and furiously. I want to run my tongue over every part of your body, feast on you. I want to make you feel alive, and I want to feel alive, Erin. Totally alive.”
A soft smile emerged on her beautiful face, her peridot eyes sparkling.
She understood. In that split second, she got it.
She lifted the T-shirt over her head, baring her milky shoulders, her creamy chest and cleavage. Then she unhooked her bra in the back, letting those gorgeous globes fall into my view. Her areolas were already puckered, her nipples hard in their centers.
I inhaled. Sweet musky arousal…plus the undeniable scent that was pure Erin. Erin, who I’d never be able to get enough of. Blackberries, chocolate, earthy truffles. All of it plus more today. My senses were on high alert, and I planned to use every single one of them when I made Erin mine.
Slowly she slid her sweat pants over her hips, and when they lay in a puddle on the floor, her scent wafted toward me once more, so much thicker in the room when she was covered only by her lacy thong.
She pushed her thumbs under the silky elastic, and—
“No. I’ll do it.” I ripped it off her with one finger.
She gasped. “I never knew underwear was so disposable. How many is this now that you’ve destroyed?”
I didn’t answer her. Instead, I threw the torn silk on the floor next to the rest of her clothes.
Then I simply looked at her.
Her hair was still bound, and her lovely milky neck beckoned. I stayed back though, simply drinking in the sight of her. Her full breasts were swollen already, her nipples deep pink and hard like currants. Her flat tummy, with just a touch of feminine roundness, and the swell of her hips. Her trimmed black bush, and then her luscious thighs and strong calves. Even her feet were beautiful, her toenails painted a dark reddish black.
My cock was stiff inside my jeans. I’d come here straight from the mortuary, and I hadn’t had time to shower. Erin deserved me clean.
I quickly stripped off my clothes. Then I gently grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the bathroom. “I need a shower,” I said, my voice husky.
“All right. But you were looking at me like I was dessert.”
“You’re way more than dessert, love. But I’ve been out all night, digging in the dirt.”
“You look amazing to me.”
“Just like you always look amazing to me,” I said. “But for what I have planned for both of us, I want to be free from dirt. Free from the tarnish of last night.”
She opened her mouth, but I placed two fingers over her lips.
“I know you want to ask me. I will tell you. But not just yet. Let me have these few hours with you. Let me feel alive again.”
She smiled, stood on her toes, and kissed my stubbly cheek. “Whatever you say. I’m here for you.”
She opened the door to the shower and turned the water on. When the room became steamy, she led me in.
I inhaled the soothing steam infused with Erin’s scent. I breathed in again and again, letting it pulse through my body. Then I stood in the gentle rain of the showerhead and brought Erin against me, lowering my head and kissing her sweet lips. She opened for me, and it was a gentle kiss. The fire and passion we always shared was still there, but this was a kiss of love. Of life.
As the water washed the tainted night off my body and I became clean, at least physically, I began to feel better. I broke the kiss and pulled Erin’s beautiful long black hair free from the band that held her ponytail. I turned around, letting her stand at the stream and wet her hair. Then I squeezed some shampoo into my palm, and when I massaged it into her scalp, she giggled.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“Nothing. I just thought you were going to wash your own hair.”
“Why would I want to wash my own hair when I have your beautiful hair just waiting for me to run my fingers through it? Everything about you is beautiful, Erin. From the top of your head all the way down to your pretty little toes.”
“Your words. They always make me feel so, so…”
“Turned on?”
“Well, yes, but I was going to say loved.”
“You are loved. More than I’ll ever be able to express.”
She closed her eyes, sighing again.
“Do you like having your hair washed?”
“No. I like having my hair washed by you.”
I was enjoying it as well. When I had all of her locks sufficiently lathered, I gently bent her head back so the shower could stream over them. When the last bit of bubbles had gone down the drain, I brought her to me again and kissed her sweet lips.
Again, it began as a gentle kiss, but as my cock burned even harder between my legs, I deepened it, taking her tongue into my mouth, swirling my own around it, sucking on it.
This time she broke the kiss. “Let me take care of you. I’ll wash your hair too. Then I’ll wash your whole body. I’ll cleanse this night away for you, Dante, so that all that’s left is just the two of us. Just our bodies.”
Exactly the words I needed to hear. Her fingers caressing my scalp as she shampooed me flooded me with warmth, with love. The act wasn’t important. It was the closeness, the touching. And while my cock would find its home and root itself deeply within Erin’s body, that wasn’t what this morning was ultimately about.
This woman had saved me in so many more ways than I could count. This morning she was saving me once again, cleansing me of the impurities of the night. Of the impurities of my life.
So much I still hadn’t shared with her, hadn’t even fully shared with myself.
This morning in the shower, as she washed my body, she gave me some of the absolution I longed for. If only I had been strong enough, brave enough. If only I hadn’t been so stupid as to disobey my father and grandfather and go to Bourbon Street that fateful night.
Erin knew nothing of this yet, but still she granted me mercy. This shower baptized me, eradicating all wrongdoing, embracing me with forgiveness.
The feeling wouldn’t last. One shower with the woman I adored could never cleanse me of all the horrors I’d endured, all the horrors I’d caused to happen to my father and uncle. But right now, the warmth and tenderness she showed me meant everything.
When we were both rinsed clean, our skin and hair squeaky, she pulled me close for a hug. No kiss this time. Just our warm bodies clamped together, no air between us, as the warm water flowed over us.
Heaven.
Just for this moment. Heaven.
Just for this moment, I was clean again.
My cock was hard and ready, and even in the shower, the fragrance of her arousal clung to the steamy air.
I was tempted to ta
ke her now, to move away from her just slightly and create the angle I needed to enter. But I couldn’t. I had every intention of savoring every moment this morning. I didn’t want to climax yet.
I reached behind her and turned off the shower water. Then I opened the door and stepped out onto the bathmat, bringing her with me. She grabbed a giant towel off her rack and wrapped it around both of us. When we were sufficiently dried off, she led me back into her bedroom.
I had every intention of kissing her entire body. I still would. But the smell of her arousal was too much.
“Get on the bed,” I commanded. “Lie on your back and spread those pretty legs for me.”
The depth of my own voice surprised even me. I knew she wouldn’t dare disobey me.
She didn’t.
“Put your arms over your head and grab the rungs of your headboard.” I hadn’t brought the synthetic rope with me. Not something I took to a cemetery in the middle of the night—not when my purpose was to dig up a body and leave as quickly as possible.
She obeyed again, grasping two of the rungs, her knuckles whitening.
“Don’t move. Don’t move those hands no matter how much you want to. Pretend rope is binding you. Invisible rope formed only of my will to keep your hands in place.”
She closed her eyes, and her chest moved up and down with her rapid breaths. Her nipples stuck out like hard berries, and a pink flush covered every inch of her milky-white flesh. Her blood was near the surface, warming her. It rustled softly beneath her skin.
I inhaled. Yes, her blood. I licked my lips. The scent of her arousal was stronger than ever. Her musk permeated the air around me, coating me in a cloud of fragrance. Her pussy was pink and swollen, full of blood and already glistening. She arched her back slightly.
“What are you going to do to me?” she asked, her voice low with desire.
“I’m going to eat you, baby. I’m going to suck every ounce of cream out of that pussy.”
A sensual moan left her throat, swirling around the room and landing in my cock. So hard, it was. As hard as it had ever been. Maybe the hardest ever.