by Nina Bangs
“Hmmph.” Donna the Noncommittal.
“And Sparkle?” He shrugged. “I’m not too clear on what she does, but whatever it is, it has to do with sex. From what she told me, I got the idea that she was some kind of demented matchmaker.”
“Matchmaker?” Scary concept. Donna still had dozens of things she wanted to know about Sparkle, but she’d take her questions directly to the sneaky source. Time to talk about her pirate fantasy.
“About what happened on the pirate ship. If I didn’t experience it, I never would’ve believed that you could do what you did without once touching me.” Donna fidgeted with the sleeve of her nightshirt. She never fidgeted. “I guess after eight hundred years you’ve had lots of practice.” Fishingfishingfishing.
His smile was sleepy, as well it should be. Not only was it almost dawn, but last night he’d given new meaning to the term multitasking.
“What I did was bring you to orgasm. Never avoid the word. An orgasm is one of the greatest pleasures any being can experience.” His smile faded. “And last night was the first time I’ve ever tried to project my image over a distance.” He met her gaze, challenging her. “I’ve never wanted to be with a woman as much as I wanted to be with you on that ship, even if I had to leave my physical body in the castle.” His intense stare let her know the exact degree of wanting he was talking about. “So I tried it.”
She must be glowing. She could probably rent herself out as a pink neon sign blinking HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY. Woohoo! Uh, can we say overreaction? “This was your first time? Maybe you should wear the white nightie.”
He grinned. “Now it’s my turn to dig. Could any other man you’ve known bring you satisfaction without touching you?” His smile was easy, but his eyes said dead serious.
“No.” There were some answers that didn’t need elaboration.
She watched satisfaction flare in his eyes before he looked away. “I’d like you to know a little more about me.”
“Uh-huh. All ears here.” She was as greedy for information about him as she was for those cherries still sitting on her night table.
“Eight hundred years of existence taught me a few lessons. While I was still human, I fought for my life first as a Viking and later as a Highlander. But I always knew my enemy. Now it’s different. Living with one foot in the human world and the other in the nonhuman realm presents a whole new set of dangers. Humans who find out about me react the same way they would if a T. Rex showed up on their doorstep—kill it.”
Donna thought of all her open-minded listeners, of herself. “Not all humans.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Well, most. And different entities don’t usually have friendly relationships with each other. My friendship with Brynn and Conall is the exception rather than the norm.”
Sure, she wanted to hear more about his world and the many entities she’d never known existed, but there was something else at the top of her to-know list, and its placement there scared her.
She leaned back against the headboard and tried for a casually interested—but not too interested—expression. “I guess in between all that fighting for your existence you’ve known lots of women.” Tell me everything. In detail. I’m taking names, dates, and other pertinent facts.
She wasn’t jealous, just curious. Trish was the jealous one in her family. Donna had spent her whole adult life reminding Trish that jealousy was petty and counterproductive. Nope, wasn’t jealous.
Donna tried to ignore the nasty little voice in her mind—no doubt inherited from a bitchy ancestor—that pointed out how long ago most of Eric’s women had lived. Most likely they all had bad hair and were in desperate need of an orthodontist. She was feeling smugly superior until the same nasty voice admitted that the women he had now probably went to trendy hairdressers with only one name and had perfect teeth thanks to childhood braces. Rats.
Eric shrugged. “Female vampires never attracted me. Too predatory. Hey, I like strong women, just not the kind that might rip out my throat if I forgot their birthdays.” He smiled. “Come to think of it, human females might do the same thing.”
“Guess you must be good with birthdays. You’ve lasted eight hundred years.” Donna felt like screaming. He knew what she wanted to know.
His sensual lips tilted up. “But you want to know about the human women I’ve known.” He paused.
It was a pause that warned, “You might not like what I’m going to tell you.” She swallowed hard.
“I’ve enjoyed many human women.”
She had mixed feelings about that. He liked human women. Good. He’d liked many human women. Bad.
He hesitated as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to say anything else and then continued. “I’ve survived so many years because I never took chances with women or sex. Spending more than one night with a woman has always been dangerous. You get too comfortable in the relationship, do or say something to give yourself away, and the next thing you know you’re fending off a wild woman with a wooden stake.”
Donna tried to comprehend this level of distrust. “It can’t be that bad.”
“Live as a vampire for eight hundred years, then come back and we’ll discuss how bad it can be.” Eric watched her thoughtfully. “The few women who discovered what I was could never accept me. You’re the first one who has. Oh, I don’t mean sexually. You still haven’t accepted that.”
Donna lifted one brow. “And what was last night? Felt pretty sexual to me.”
“I was in human form for your fantasy.”
Right. “So you’ve spent eight centuries having one-night stands. I didn’t know there were that many women in the world.”
“It’s kept me alive. Besides, I never cared enough to try to stretch it into a relationship.” His expression said he knew he was revealing more than he should. “But that’s for the best. I’ve seen what happened to other members of my clan who fell in love with humans. They watched their mates grow old and die. How many times can you lose the one you love before it destroys you?”
He met her gaze, and she understood. “I get it. You never take a chance so you never get hurt.” Trish had accused her of the same thing, never taking a chance. “Can’t you turn the woman you choose into a vampire?”
Eric glanced at Sweetie Pie and Jessica. Their leaves were all tipped toward him. Listening. This week must be the most fun they’d had since they were seedlings. “My clan doesn’t have that power. Most marry within the clan and have children before they change. Afterward they stay mated for life. All vampire clans aren’t the same, though. The night feeders have the power to turn humans. That’s one of the reasons they’re so dangerous. They don’t particularly care if the humans are willing.”
He radiated tension as he glanced at his watch. “Guess I’d better be going. Looks like dawn has officially arrived.” He stood.
Donna blinked. He was leaving? “Wait.”
He paused to look at her.
“I mean, uh, I thought you were going to stay here and uh, protect me from Taurin and all.” Wow, was she the golden-voiced queen of the airwaves or what?
“You don’t need me to protect you from Taurin anymore. I put a shield around his bed to go with the one across his door.” He yanked open the door with controlled violence. “Here’s the thing, talk-show lady. Only one of us had an orgasm on that ship, and the one who didn’t needs his sleep.”
“Sure. I guess when you get up there in years, it’s hard to maintain your sexual energy level. They have several reliable products on the market to help with that.” Donna hoped her snotty attitude challenged his manhood enough to make him stay. The simple truth? She wanted him. You want him sans fangs. Yeah, that, too.
Eric kept his back to her. “If I stayed here now, we’d have sex. And because I’d want it so badly, I’d do it on your terms—strictly human form, no scary biting. But if you’ve been counting, and I know you have, you’ve noticed that we’ve gone beyond the one-night-stand limit.”
She really reall
y wanted to think of something funny to say so he’d understand that what was happening between them was nothing more than a one-night stand times three, or four, or . . . But this whole thing didn’t feel funny.
“I’ve compromised with other women. I’ve held back the change during sex, and I’ve kept my teeth to myself. But I’ve found that I don’t want sex between us to be a lie anymore. If you decide you want me enough to accept everything I am, let me know.” He snared her with his heated gaze. “And I promise you that nothing you’ll ever experience in your life will be more erotic.” He quietly closed the door behind him.
Okay, huge life-altering decision closing fast in her rearview mirror. Everything I am. Love bites could be cool, but the whole concept of vampire fangs was so not a turn on. Eric had promised a sensual happening of colossal proportions. The bottom line. Did she believe him? Did she trust him? Donna didn’t know. One thing she did know, she’d be lonely in bed. Sighing, she reached out to turn off her bedside lamp.
“Don’t you dare turn off that light, dearie. We have some sexual strategy to work out before tonight’s Vampire Ball.” Lola shimmered into view, her sweet grandmotherly smile firmly in place.
“You are so lucky to have me as your adviser, Donna. Normally you’d pay a fortune for my level of expertise. It’s like having your very own personal sensual trainer.” Asima leaped onto the foot of the bed.
Lola and Asima spotted each other at the same time.
Lola plunked the basket of fruit she’d brought with her onto the bureau—Random thought. How did a ghost tote around physical objects?—and glared at Asima. “What’re you doing here?”
Asima crouched on the bed and hissed at Lola. “I’m going to make sure that Donna goes to the Vampire Ball tonight sexually armed and dangerous. Now that I’m here, you can leave.”
“Whoa, guys.” Donna held up her hand. “How do you know I’m sticking around to go to the Vampire Ball? I’m supposed to fly back to New York in a few hours.”
Lola pursed her lips at Sweetie Pie and Jessica. “I don’t like to tattle, but the girls can never keep a secret.”
“Count me in on that excuse.” Asima yawned, exposing her sharp little teeth along with her boredom with having to explain herself.
“Those plants didn’t tell you anything. Besides, I wasn’t even in the castle when I told Eric I was staying. Don’t either of you have anything better to do than spy on me?”
“No. At least nothing that’s more fun.” Lola looked militant about her right to spy.
“No. I mean, I will have something better to do soon, but right now I’m kind of at loose ends.” Asima batted at a piece of fluff that dared to float into her airspace.
“Look, I appreciate your offer to help, but I can take care of the Vampire Ball and my sex life all by myself.” Which wasn’t completely true. She wasn’t sure where she was going with Eric’s need for her to love both of his forms, one of which included biting as part of its mating ritual. Love? She hadn’t meant love. Exhaustion was messing with her mind.
“Well, dearie, I certainly don’t want to hurt your feelings, but your progress with that beautiful vampire really sucks so far.” She put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Sucks. What a wonderfully descriptive modern word.”
Asima’s gaze slid between Donna and Lola. “Exaggerating as usual, Lola.” She focused her attention on Donna. “You’ve done a so-so job with Eric, but I’d like you to bring him to his knees tonight.”
Donna bit her lip, but she had to say it. “He can’t dance on his knees.”
Lola chuckled.
Asima narrowed her cat eyes. “Do I look amused?” Her expression said she’d continue trying to help Donna in spite of provocation. “A man on his knees is in a prime position to do so many interesting things.”
Lola stopped chuckling and looked impressed.
Donna did some mental eye rolls. “Let’s not play word games. I don’t think there’s one thing you can do to make the Vampire Ball more of a wow than it’s going to be. Eric and I will work out our sexual destinies just fine without your help, Asima.”
Lola smirked at Asima. “That means you can go away.” She didn’t look sweet and grandmotherly now.
Donna sighed. “That means you, too, Lola.”
“Oh.” Lola glanced down at her bowl of fruit and then picked up a large peach. “Males are so impressed with appearances. My girls at the Cock Crows at Dawn were the most beautiful in all of Texas. But natural beauty wasn’t enough. There was lots of competition out there. So I taught my girls the subtle art of physical enhancement.”
Asima snorted. “Subtle? You?”
Lola flicked her an irritated glance and forged onward. “Men flocked to my little bordello, and I made lots of money. Men aren’t attracted to inner beauty, dearie. Not at first. They look at the pretty wrapping and figure they don’t need to know what’s inside.”
Donna had always thought of herself as realistic where men were concerned—yeah, so Eric was the exception—but Lola’s cynical attitude bothered her. “You can’t generalize, Lola. All men aren’t that way. Looks aren’t everything.”
“I hate to agree with Ms. Sensitivity, but men are shallow, Donna. If you don’t believe me, go to the ball tonight with no makeup, hair pinned back in a bun, and wearing something long, straight, and brown.” Asima widened her eyes. “No. Don’t listen to me. Don’t even think about trying that.”
Lola didn’t give Donna a chance to speak. “Let’s look at this peach—perfectly round, a perfectly peachy color, and it looks perfectly ripe. Now suppose I had another peach—not perfectly round, not a perfectly peachy color, but perfectly ripe and sweet inside. Which would you buy, Donna?” She saved Donna the effort of answering. “You’d buy the one that looked perfect on the outside, because you wouldn’t know how wonderful the other one was until you bit into it.”
Bit into it. Donna winced. “Not fair. You can’t compare people with peaches.” Where was she going with this argument? She glanced at her clock. Nowhere. The only place she wanted to go was to sleep.
“If you agree to let me get you ready for the ball tonight, I’ll leave so you can go to sleep.” Asima played dirty.
Donna was tired and getting more ticked off by the minute. “Is there any way I can keep you out of my mind?”
Asima’s expression was pure feline sneakiness. “Work with me on the ball, and I’ll show you how to shield your thoughts.”
Donna didn’t have to think about it long. She was tired of everyone tramping through her brain. “Fine. You have fifteen minutes.”
Asima turned a triumphant gaze on Lola. “She wants me. Go back to your candy store and suck on some sour balls.”
“Candy store?” Donna widened her eyes as a horrible possibility grew. “Lola? Explain.” But Lola obviously wasn’t in an explaining mood, because her figure slowly faded away.
“Good. Now that we’re alone, you can show me what you’re going to wear—”
Asima got no further because the door was suddenly flung open as if by a giant invisible hand, and Sparkle strode into the room. She looked ready to breathe fire. Donna wouldn’t be surprised if Sparkle had a dragon or two in her ancestry. Why not? Everything else was here.
Sparkle glared at Asima. “You are such a . . . cat. Sneaky, underhanded, and with a big mouth.”
Asima blinked her big blue eyes at Sparkle. “And that’s bad, why?”
“Shut up! Both of you!” Donna needed another plate of quesadillas. She scowled at Sparkle. “Explain yourself.” She knew she had murder in her eyes, and she hoped Sparkle recognized it.
Sparkle shrugged, smoothed her hands over her black silk pants, and checked her purple nails for breakage. “Humans trust old women. I guess it’s like a grandmother syndrome. And if the old woman ran a bordello, then humans would believe everything she said about sex, because she was, well, like their grandmother.” She shrugged. “It’s all perfectly logical.”
“My grandmothe
r knows squat about sex. And I can’t believe you tricked me like that.” Donna was furious, but she had to admit that Sparkle was good. It was weird, but something inside mourned the loss of Lola.
“You accepted Lola because you thought she was a ghost. It was easier to get my sexual message across that way.” She didn’t sound repentant. “Until Loose Lips over there blew my cover.”
Asima looked unconcerned. “I thought Donna knew. It never occurred to me that anyone would be fooled by that stupid disguise.”
Great. Now Asima was insulting her intelligence. “You’ve used five of your minutes, Asima. Ten left, and then you’re out of here.”
Asima slanted Sparkle a slitty-eyed warning, but Sparkle didn’t budge. So she turned back to Donna. “Let’s see what you’re going to wear to the ball.”
Donna glanced at the clock. Only nine more minutes. Sighing, she climbed out of bed and padded over to the closet. She pulled her red dress out and held it up. “This okay?”
Sparkle took it from her and looked at it from all angles. “No good. It needs to be shorter, tighter, and plunge a lot lower in the front and back.”
Asima screwed her face up in what Donna assumed was a cat sneer. “Why not have her just wear a red napkin. It needs to be longer and flowing with a smooth dip in front that teases but doesn’t really reveal anything. Very classic.”
“Very boring. We want Eric crazy with lust for you, and lots of bare skin drives men to lust, even vampires.” She wrinkled her nose at the dress. “And after I alter your dress, I’ll get you some genuine slut shoes to go with it.”
“Alter it? You?” Asima’s eyes grew wider if possible. “I think not. You’ll make her look like one of those women in that Cock Crows at Dawn place you made up. I’ll make sure it gets to someone who can make it elegant and unique.”
