Stake and Dust (Stake and Dust series, Book I) (20 page)

She swallowed hard. "You are?"

"I would hope I am, or I need to brush up on
my flirting techniques." He leaned in and kissed her, making her
forget anything else. When they came up for air, he asked, "Well,
am I taken or not?"

She threw her arms around his neck. "I think
I need more convincing."

His devilish grin made her heart leap in
response. His head dipped and her lips met his.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"It's less than a week until Christmas, sis,"
Derek said into the phone. "The case is finally closed."

"Thanks, Mr. Obvious. I got the update." The
hold up had been Tremayne's sister who kept insisting her brother
hadn't returned her calls, but Cassandra had been there when
Tremayne phoned. He'd spoken to his sister at length. The woman
obviously had some serious issues. No wonder Tremayne had no desire
to return home. His sister had to be a nut if she thought Tremayne
wanted to rekindle a relationship with his ex-wife. The woman had a
temper and broke things when she didn't get her way.

"There is no pleasing her," Tremayne had told
her about his ex. "She doesn't want me. I can assure you. She just
doesn't like that I've moved on."

"Sis? Are you there?" Derek's voice broke
through her reverie.

"I'm here."

"When are you coming home?"

"I don't know." Axel had called her earlier
in the week, Wade yesterday, and now Derek.

"Are you in love with this hunter?" he
asked.

"I haven't known him long enough."

"Not an answer."

She gently pushed the curtain away from the
window and glanced outside her hotel room that overlooked the
parking lot. It was well lit with parking lights. She hadn't rented
the place for the view, but for the price and the strategic
placement. She could see who was coming and going without being
compromised, a must in a hunter's world.

Tremayne was going to pick her up in a few
minutes for an early dinner. …
And
there he was. She spotted
his car pulling into the lot. He pulled into an empty space and cut
the lights.

"I gotta go," she told her brother, not
leaving any room for negotiation. She slipped her phone into her
coat pocket as she opened the door.

Tremayne stood there with a smile and his
dimple winked. How could a mere smile make her stomach flip-flop
and her heart speed up a notch?

Are you in love with the hunter?
Her
brother's words echoed inside her head.

"Hi," she said and wished her voice would
stop sounding as if she were a sex-phone operator.

"Hi," he said back. "Are you ready?"

She stepped outside and closed the door to
her room. "Yep."

They'd seen each other every day for the last
week and a half, and always the gentleman. Like now… He opened the
car door for her, waited for her to slide in before he shut the
door again and jogged to the other side of the car.

A perfect gentleman
… Sure he'd kissed
her until she couldn't see straight, but he hadn't taken their
relationship any further. He always put a stop to their foreplay
before they ended up in the bedroom. As much as she loved being
with Tremayne and as much as she enjoyed their card games and late
night chats, she wanted more. Thought he did, too, but for some
reason when things became too heated, he backed off. Heck, she
still lived in a hotel room. He didn't even ask her to stay at his
place, and he had plenty of rooms. Was she out of line? Too
forward?

She could count on one hand how many
relationships she had, and none of them lasted more than a month.
Work always got in the way, but she hadn't cared. With Tremayne,
she did.

Are you in love with the hunter?

Why oh why had Derek asked her such a
question when in the end it wouldn't matter? She couldn't stay here
forever.

She glanced at Tremayne with his chiseled
jaw, dark hair and killer smile. She loved being with him and
wanted the full romance before she had to say goodbye.

"Where is this going?" she blurted out,
making Tremayne turn in his seat to look at her. He hadn't started
the car, but he left the keys in the ignition.

"What do you mean?"

"Us?" She waived a hand at him then to her,
in a back and forth motion. "Do you see us…together?"

"We are together."

She shook her head. "No, we're not."

"I thought you wanted to take things
slow."

"Slow yes, but not as if time stood still.
Geez Tremayne, don't you want to take me to bed?" She felt the heat
in her cheeks and she glanced away. "This conversation sounded so
much better in my head. Forget I said anything." She was out the
door before he could answer her. Maybe she didn't want to know the
answer.

The cool breeze hit her, cooling her burning
cheeks as she raced back to her room.

"Cassandra, hold up," Tremayne called after
her, but she didn't turn around.

Reaching her room, she fumbled for the
keycard, and then he was there. His arms were around her, his body
shielding her from the cold.

His hands stilled her actions. "Stop," he
said, his breath at her ear as he leaned against her.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Oh, Cassandra," he said and she could hear
anguish in his voice. "You have no idea what you do to me…"

"And that's the problem," she said.

"Look at me." he pleaded.

"No."

"Please, I… You have to," he said and gently
turned her to face him. She met his gaze as she crossed her arms
against her chest. Did he have to stand so close?

"I care so much about you," he told her.

She wanted to roll her eyes at his speech.
Sounded like a brush off. Maybe she should go home for Christmas
after all.

"I love you."

She could book a flight, and be out of here
in— "What did you say?" 'Cause before he rambled on about
relationships and such, it sounded like he said he loved her.

"I don't want to make a muck of the
relationship," Tremayne repeated.

"No, before that."

His brows furrowed, but then he must have
realized what she was asking. "I love you," he told her. "I'm in
love with you."

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed
him. "I love you, too." She said between kisses, and realized it
was true. How had it happened? When had it happened?

"Oh, Cassandra…" His words were muffled
beneath their lips.

He managed to keep his mouth on hers as he
opened the door to her room, ushering her in before slamming it
closed behind them.

They ended up on the bed. A slow moan slipped
past her lips, a husky sound of want, but she didn't care. She
loved him. He loved her. "You have too many clothes on," she told
him.

"So do you," he countered.

It took them less than a minute to remove
them, jackets, scarves, jeans and shirts were scattered in every
direction. Underclothes were next.

She took a breath as she feasted her eyes on
Tremayne in all his natural beauty.

"You're beautiful," they both said at the
same time and chuckled.

"You are," he said and took her in his arms,
his mouth ravishing her with sweet caresses. The man knew how to
kiss and his hands… oh his hands were quite clever too. He molded
his hard rock body to hers, and she did a little caressing of her
own. She smiled as she heard his groan of pleasure. Luscious
anticipation and the slow burn of desire curled through her. She
never wanted anyone so much.

His mouth moved down her throat, his tongue
hot and wet. He nipped lightly at her earlobe making her shudder.
She'd never experienced such chemistry with anyone. She clung to
him desperately as he did her. The first time making love with
someone could be clumsy, but not with Tremayne. It was as if they
were meant to be together, meant to love each other, and when they
both tumbled over the abyss of pleasure she knew she would never
have enough of this man.

Afterwards, he held her close. A smile was
plastered to her face as she played with her necklace and basked in
the afterglow.

"Interesting piece of jewelry," he
commented.

"It was my grandmother's."

"I wager you have strong family ties," he
said as a fact, as if he knew. Maybe he did.

"The Hayes clan has always been close.
Hunters who hunt together stay together."

"Hmm…"

She felt a change in him as if what she said
had saddened him. She didn't want anything to ruin this moment. She
turned toward him and kissed his lips. "Hunting isn't all there
is," she said. "And I rather like the other things in life."

"What other things?" he asked with a quirked
eyebrow.

She leaned up on her elbow and whispered in
his ear. A low growl escaped him and he rolled her onto her back.
She squealed in delight.

"I like how you think, Cassandra Hayes." And
then he captured her lips and took her soaring higher than she'd
ever been. She may have made the suggestions, but Tremayne
fulfilled each and every one and more.

Well-loved and happy, sleep finally found her
and she didn't wake again until the sun shone bright in her room,
but she felt chilled. She sat up and realized Tremayne had slipped
away sometime in the night. She couldn't help but feel a little
disappointed that he hadn't stayed, but then she saw the rose and
the note on the pillow next to her.

She sniffed the rose as she read the note.
Great penmanship she thought.

To my sweet. I had a meeting this morning
with my distributors. Will call you later.

Love you, need you... Hope you'll join me for
dinner tonight.

I'm forever at your service,

Tremayne

She sniffed the rose again. She loved and
needed him too. Maybe they could order in. She was more interested
in dessert anyway.

* * * * *

After their lovemaking, Tremayne had held
Cassandra as he watched her sleep. The satisfied curve of her lips
made him smile. He hadn't meant to take her to bed, not yet anyway.
He had wanted to tell her the truth about him.

He pursed his lips. She wouldn't be thrilled
she'd fallen for a vampire and slept with him, too. This is why
they hadn't had the conversation. A hunter didn't fall for a
vampire. An Oiche Sith didn't fall in love with a hunter either.
And yet here they were.

He wished he could have stayed with her the
rest of the night and woke up next to her, but he hadn't taken any
of Sheerin's concoction. He wasn't sure if he should again. It took
him days to recover and feel like his old self from the last dose
he'd taken.

He liked to be in control, and he didn't like
how the formula made him crave blood as if he were going through
the blooding ritual of his youth. He didn't want Cassandra to be
around if he finally did loose control.

Sheerin was aware of the side effects. He'd
taken so many vials of his blood, he felt like a pincushion,
apparently pain was also another side effect, which Sheerin
explained as the human syndrome, where he healed slower or rather
at the speed a human would heal. He had a newfound respect for the
humans.

His mobile buzzed. He was pleased to see a
text from Cassandra. He'd hoped she wouldn't be angry when she
awoke and he wasn't there beside her. The flower and the note must
have done the trick. Her text read:
Dinner is nice. Dessert is
better.

He texted her with:
Will there be whip
cream?

Seconds ticked by and he was relieved when
the mobile chimed again. Her text:
Kinky. I'm game if you
are.

His lips curved. Dessert would be
heavenly.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The night air felt cool, but Cassandra
bundled up warm with a scarf, wool jacket and boots when she met
Tremayne at the pub. Their time together had been wonderful before
they made love, but it proved even better now. Three days of
lovemaking, three days of pure bliss, and she wanted more. She
looked forward to the pub being closed on Christmas day, and then
she'd have Tremayne all to herself. Perhaps they could spend the
whole day together...the whole night and wake up in the morning in
each other's arms without Tremayne having to run off to meet with a
distributor, or whatever else was required in running a
business.

They walked arm and arm down the walkway. No
words were needed as they admired the shops decorated with
Christmas lights and holly, but as they came to the crosswalk,
Cassandra spotted the Christmas tree lot. "Let's check it out." She
ushered Tremayne forward and he let her drag him along.

Her face lit up as she went down the rows and
rows of trees. "When do you put up your tree?" she asked as her
gloved hand lightly caressed the tree that had been flocked to
imitate snow. She'd stopped to admire it. "We usually set ours up
around the first week of December," she told him. "Doesn't seem
like Christmas without one?" She sighed.

"Uh…that's nice," he said and she glanced at
him with a chuckle.

"Nice? Don't you celebrate Christmas? You
aren't one of those guys who waits until the last minute to admit
Christmas has arrived?"

"I don't celebrate," he told her.

Her smile slipped. "Oh…sorry. I just assumed…
I guess I assumed you did since your pub is decorated for the
holiday."

"Morris and Georgina's doing." He shrugged.
They're in charge of making the pub festive. Christmas and
Halloween seem to be their favorite times of the year."

"So you don't celebrate Christmas. Are you
Jewish? An atheist? I can't believe I've never asked you."

"Neither," he said. "It's been a long time
since I partook in any celebration, but at one time my family and I
thought of Yule as a time to take stock of the past, and plan for
the future. We never decorated the house with frivolous items."

"But you aren't against Christmas, are you?"
she asked and frowned. This was the part of the relationship where
the starry eyes cleared and the real getting to know one another
came into play. She could respect his beliefs as long as he didn't
condemn her traditions. "I mean, you wouldn't mind me dragging home
a tree and setting it up in your living room, would you?" She
looped her hand through his again and they continued to walk.