Real Vampires Know Hips Happen (28 page)

“Nice picture.” He hit the accelerator and drove onto the
highway. “I’m fine. Your place. I’ll face Lily tomorrow night. She needs some tough love. That temper tantrum at the airport wasn’t necessary. I do remember that. I think a job would be good for her. If Lily will listen to you, it’s a good idea for you to talk to her. If you’re willing.” He glanced at me.

“I can try.” I settled back in the leather seat, the cool wind blowing my hair, my worries safely tucked away for tomorrow too. Tonight, since Jerry was feeling so chipper, I was going to make him very happy when I took him to bed.

“Only have a half hour until dawn.” I looked up at the dark cloudless sky. My plans for a big night were slipping away with the ticktock of the clock.

“Let’s make the most of it.” He stopped at a light and pulled me to him for a kiss. His mouth on mine sent a different kind of flame licking through me. I could tell he was having the same reaction. He seemed desperate to get closer to me. When he finally drew back, his eyes were dark and shining. “God, but I didn’t think I’d survive tonight. Now…I need you, Gloriana.”

“I need you too. I’m so glad you’re back, really back, Jerry.” I ran my hand over the bulge in his jeans. “Hurry.” I glanced around. We were the only car on the road, even as we neared downtown. I slid down his zipper and eased my fingers inside to find him hard. His cock sprang free with a nudge and I bent down to run my tongue across the bead of moisture that had collected on the tip.

“God, Gloriana.” He stepped on the gas. “What are you doing?”

“Testing your recovery. Can you multitask, Jeremiah? Drive and play at the same time?” This car had automatic transmission and I pulled his right hand over to plunge it into my dress’s gaping neckline. Then I went back to work, taking his cock into my mouth and rolling my tongue around it. He pinched my nipple, his breath hitching when I squeezed his sac.

“Temptress. You realize there are traffic cams getting all this action.”

“Hmm. Giving some poor bored sap a thrill, aren’t we?” I went back to pleasing him until he slowed to make the turn into my alley. Then I sat up. Someone had replaced the lightbulbs and it was almost as bright as day. I pushed my dress back into place and zipped him closed. “I’m going to have to check on my shop sometime.”

“Not tonight.” He leaped out of the car and jerked open my car door, rushing me to the back of the building while I fumbled in my purse. “Hurry or I’ll break the bugger down.”

I laughed and held up the key. He grabbed it and made quick work of the lock while I punched in the security code. We ran up the stairs and I gasped when Jerry pushed against me from behind, unzipping my dress and opening my bra while I unlocked the apartment door with shaking hands.

As soon as we were inside he ripped off my panties, pushed up my skirt and leaned me over the couch, taking me from behind before I could do more than drop my purse on the floor. My landline was ringing. No way was I going to answer it now. Jerry pushed my dress and bra forward to bare me to the waist as he pounded into me, his hands clamped onto my breasts, two joysticks on his ride toward release.

I just held on, my fingers gripping the fabric while pleasure spiraled through me. I panted his name over and over again wanting more, more, more. I didn’t mind his rough, take-charge lovemaking. I knew I could turn the tables anytime and make Jerry mine the same way he was claiming me now. The answering machine clicked on.

“Glory girl. I just heard you’re back in town. Call me, babe. Tell me what happened with the hardheaded Scot. If he didn’t take you back, you know where to find me. Love ya.” Ray. Israel Caine. His voice was unmistakable. And just in case I didn’t recognize it, he ended the message with a chorus from his latest hit, a love song with an erotic message. “Oh, baby, do you remember what we did last night? Let me do you again.”

Jerry stopped moving. “Caine. What the hell was that about?” He pulled away, his hands sliding off my breasts.

“Tomorrow. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” I turned, refusing to give Jerry time to think, and pushed him down to the floor before I climbed on top of him. He still wore all of his clothes, only his zipper was open. I wrestled off his shirt then bit one of his nipples before I sucked it into my mouth. He growled, definitely distracted.

“Yes, we will talk about it.” He grabbed my ass and pushed into me, hard. “But right now I need to feed again, Gloriana, before this ends too quickly. Are you up to it?” He bared his fangs.

“Of course.” I leaned down, meeting his thrusts eagerly. All my senses were alive as I touched his face, felt the press of his belt buckle into my stomach, my breasts bouncing against his chest. It was wonderful to know he was actually seeing me, his longtime lover, remembering everything we’d been through together and yet still wanting me. “You need me, take me.”

He didn’t misunderstand, just brought my throat down to his lips. “I love you, Gloriana. I hope to God you haven’t made a fool of me again.” Then he sank his fangs into my vein.

•  •  •

Made
a fool of him again? I woke at sunset lying in my bed with Jerry’s words ringing in my ears. He rolled over and took his time making love to me. No words. No explanations. Neither of us seemed ready to get into it. Instead we celebrated Jerry’s return to mental health with the kind of slow, sweet loving that left me limp and barely able to stagger into the shower. There he washed my back, massaged shampoo into my hair and then pleasured me one more time.

Of course I realized Ray was the elephant in the room. I wanted to say something. Open the conversation. But how much should I tell Jerry? I couldn’t just dump my betrayal
into his lap. He’d been through so much and I really didn’t want that to be the first thing he had to deal with. Ray and I had slept together right before I’d headed for Scotland. At a low point for both of us we’d offered each other comfort. It had been easy for me to rationalize that Jerry taking off for his homeland had left me free to finally give into my fantasies about Ray.

But I’d discovered that my infatuation with a rock star was just that. Something that had no real future. Ray was kind, generous and exciting. But he was simply not Jerry and Ray’s history with loving ’em and leaving ’em didn’t recommend him as a keeper anyway. Unfortunately Ray still had hopes that he and I could work things out between us. I needed to see him to set him straight on that. I was with Jerry as long as he wanted me to be. It was that simple.

Lucky for me, unlucky for Jerry, his phone rang and all the business problems that had been put off when he’d been out of commission began to catch up with him. I had to jump in the shower again by myself when he frowned, booted up his laptop and began to scroll through what looked like a thousand unanswered e-mails. I hoped my business was in better shape as I blew my hair dry, threw on makeup and headed downstairs wearing one of the dresses my mother had given me. As I could have predicted, the expensive wrap dress got an appreciative audience in the shop. If I ever decided to sell it, I could get big bucks.

“Glory, we heard you were back.” Lacy Devereau, the were-cat who was my day manager, had hung around after her shift was over so she could meet with me. She’d been running the store while I was gone.

“Who is telling everyone that?” I led Lacy to the back room. I was dying to see the books, to see how my finances stood. I had payroll, rent, merchandise to pay for. My mind was getting an overloaded feeling when I thought of how much I had to handle.

“Jerry’s daughter, Lily, has been by on a regular basis. She
kept us updated since you haven’t exactly touched base.” Lacy smiled. “Not that we expected you to. Anyway, Lily left a few of her vintage pieces here. She wasn’t too happy with our consignment policy. Actually thought she’d get the money up front, like at a pawnshop.” Lacy sat on the worktable while I pulled out a stack of receipts. “Seems she was short of cash. Her daddy didn’t send her a check this month. What’s that about?”

“Jerry had amnesia for a while. Guess Lily didn’t share that tidbit. He’s upstairs right now trying to catch up on his business. Nice to know Lily was smart enough to come here. Did she bring anything good?” I started piles of shop bills versus income. It was going to be a tough month.

“You bet. And she goes for the Goth look so we’ve sold quite of bit of her stuff already. Corsets, vintage leather. You’ll love it. If you see her, tell her to clean out her closet again.” Lacy put her hand on mine. “Amnesia! Wow, that had to have been rough. Megan said Jerry was in here last night and looked confused. Is he okay now?”

“Yes, thank God. His memory is back and he’s good as new.” I laughed, still not sure I believed it.

“Good.” Lacy pushed a ledger closer. “Hate to bug you, boss, but here are the time cards. All of the clerks really need to be paid as soon as you can manage it. I know I have rent, car note. Living expenses.”

“Sure. I’m sorry. I had no idea I’d be gone so long or I would have put you on the checking account. If there’s a next time, you can stick to the schedule and take care of payroll yourself.” I pulled out a calculator. I’d start with Lacy’s hours.

“Good idea. You can trust me, Glory. I’d never take advantage of you.” She smiled and pointed. “These extra hours are because Becky quit. Graduated and took a job in Oklahoma. Can you believe it?”

“Good for her. But what’s she going to do with a fashion degree in Oklahoma?” I didn’t want to show her how that
total was hitting me. Lacy was getting a big check. I needed to run some numbers, check my balance, before I paid my other bills.

“She’s going to work for a big retailer up there. She was all excited about it.” Lacy chattered on about the other clerks, a new one she wanted to hire, her family, even a boyfriend she was thinking of breaking up with. I wrote her check then started in on the rest of the payroll checks. It had to be done. Fortunately there was a large deposit to be made too. I should have left better instructions. Lacy could have made these deposits sooner.

“Great.” I had no idea what she’d said. I hoped she hadn’t just called her boyfriend a loser. “Here are all the checks for the clerks. I’m going to drop this cash into the night deposit. The bank lobby is open late on Thursday nights. I’ll get things set up for you then and from now on you can deposit our cash daily.” I handed her the envelopes for the staff then zipped the bank bag closed. “We should have done this years ago.”

“Well, yeah. I didn’t want to say anything but you are a bit of a micromanager, Glo.” Lacy smiled and hopped down from the table. “No offense.”

“No, you’re right.” I picked up the bag. “I had a serious wake-up call in Scotland. My priorities have shifted now. Jerry didn’t know me and I had to start over with him. It made me realize that I wanted to put my relationship with him first. This business supports me but it’s not the center of my existence.”

Lacy hugged me. “Wow. That’s major.” She pulled open the door into the shop. “We handled things here for you. That’s why we didn’t call while you were over there.”

“And I appreciated it. My mind just wasn’t on this place.” I glanced around the store and realized that, except for that front window display, everything looked fine—stock straight and new things out for customers to see. “The store looks great, Lacy. As soon as I balance my checkbook, I’ll
see if I can squeeze out a bonus for you and the rest of the staff.”

Lacy flushed. “Thanks, Glo.” She hugged me again, unusual in a were-cat. “If you’re going to the bank now, be careful. There have been some ATM robberies lately.”

“I’m a vampire, Lacy. I think I can take care of myself against some mortal thief.” I held the bag against my chest. “No one is getting this money. It’s all that’s keeping this store afloat right now.”

“Okay then. And thanks. It’s good to know you appreciate us.” She waved the envelopes and the night clerk, Megan, came running over.

I stopped to talk to her for a few minutes then headed for the bank down the street. It was still fairly early for Sixth Street, not yet ten o’clock. I passed Rafe’s nightclub which had a line down the sidewalk. It was a Friday night and he had a popular band playing according to the poster beside the door. The shifter letting in the crowd saw me and waved. I waved back but kept walking. Of course I knew him. I knew most of the people who worked for Rafe. I should stop and talk to Rafe too. I wasn’t happy with the way he’d confronted Jerry. Maybe after I dropped off this deposit.

I passed the crowd and got closer to the financial district where the bank was located. The night deposit drawer was near the ATM and both were well lit. I held the bag tightly as I approached the building. My spidey senses told me something was up. If some desperate yahoo thought he was going to take this deposit, he was in for a surprise. He’d end up with fangs in his throat. I wouldn’t mind a little human blood for a change, though I wouldn’t kill him of course, just take a donation.

A police car drove slowly down the street. Good. I walked faster, eager to get rid of the bag and back to the nightclub. Rafe stocked blood with alcohol and I would enjoy a drink like that. Maybe I’d call Jerry and see if he was ready for a
break. That band played good dance music. Flo and Richard might come over too. I was making up a guest list when something hit me between my shoulder blades. The bag went flying across the pavement and I hit the concrete.

“What the hell?” I was up in a flash and saw a person in black running down an alley, my bag tucked in like it was a football and the perp was going for the goal line. “Oh, no, you don’t.”

I sprinted down the alley, sure I could catch up to a human in no time. But this person wasn’t jogging along at human speed. I sniffed the air and realized I was after something paranormal. Shit. I shifted and took off overhead. I could see the dark figure cutting through a parking lot, zigzagging around rows of cars like he was trying to make a trail impossible to follow. Good luck with that. I swooped down and landed in front of him. One touch and the creep was frozen. Oh, but I loved a good skill set.

I reached out and jerked off the ski mask my thief wore. Original disguise. Not. Long dark hair tumbled out. Oh, no. I knew this robber.