The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires

You don't have to say it, sweetling. Just as you know what I feel for you, so I can read your emotions.

Good, because it's a bit embarrassing falling in love so quickly with a man who I wanted to see in jail just a few days ago.

Theo chuckled in my mind as his tongue continued a lazy exploration of my mouth. Kismet, perhaps? We were meant to be together.

Do we have time for this? I asked as his mouth moved to my neck, kissing a hot trail down to my collarbone. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it, but if someone is bringing us food, and you said you thought there was a person whom we could talk to about the murders before the hearing, will we have time for…er…

Wild, unbridled lovemaking?

Exactly.

He froze for a moment, his head lifted and slightly tipped to the side, as if he was listening.

"We will in a moment," he said, sighing a little as he climbed off me.

Someone knocked on the door. I leaped off the bed and straightened my shirt, hoping I didn't look like we were about to do what we were about to do.

"Your meal," an elderly woman said, giving Theo a tray of covered plates. He thanked her as she left, setting down the tray on the table and lifting the lids off the plates. The scent of roasted meat and garlic filled the room.

He sighed again. "Roast beef. One of my favorites. I miss it already."

"You can't eat any normal food anymore?"

"I can, but Christian cautioned against it until I became more comfortable with the vampirism. Evidently it takes some doing to digest food, and is not recommended for new…erm…inductees."

Guilt pinged sharply. "I'm sorry—"

"Don't," he interrupted, and pulled me into an embrace. His eyes were shining with a warmth that heated me to my toenails. "I insist that you stop feeling guilty about it."

"Well, the least you can do is let me feed you," I said, tipping my head so my neck was presented to him. "Soup's on!"

"No, you eat first." He pulled away and waved me to a chair in front of the table.

"You're hungry. We'll take care of you, then I'll eat."

"You're hungry as well. You first."

The stubborn look on his face made me smile. I waggled my eyebrows at him, and summoned up my best leer. "Ah, but I'm hungry for more than just roast beef."

A speculative glint dawned in his eyes. He looked down at the tray of food. I looked as well. The tray bore two plates of roast beef, potatoes, and assorted steamed vegetables. There was also bread, and something blobby that I remembered from a previous dinner at the pub was Yorkshire pudding. To the side sat a plate with two pieces of cake, lavishly frosted.

"You wouldn't be one of those people who eats her dessert first?" Theo asked as I smiled and picked up the plate of cake.

"Not normally, but I'm willing to break the rules now and again." I carried the cake to the nightstand, dipping my finger in the frosting before popping it in my mouth and licking it off with exaggerated laps of my tongue. "Mmm. Cream cheese frosting, my favorite." I raised my eyebrows, and waited to see if Theo wanted to play.

He looked at the bed, looked at the cake, then at me. Before you could say "frosted nephilim," he was naked, lying on the bed, his arms open for me.

"You're sure we have time?" I asked, glancing at the clock.

"For this? Oh, yes. And if we don't, we'll make time."

I laughed as I started removing my clothing, my heart swelling with love. How could life be so topsy-turvy, such a mess of confusion, and yet so wonderful?

Go with the flow, my brain reminded me. Just go with the flow.

Chapter 14

"Still with me, sweetling?"

"Barely. It was a close thing there when you turned the frosting on me."

Theo, lying on his back, a sated and very smug look on his face, waggled his eyebrows and hummed a happy little song about frosting-covered nether parts. "You certainly did seem to enjoy it."

"That, my adorable fanged one, is the understatement of the year. Are you sure you're full? You seemed to spend more time in action, to be euphemistic, rather than dining."

"I am full. I am well-pleasured. I am physically exhausted," Theo said, waving a languid hand. His eyes were closed, his face relaxed as he lay next to me on the bed, delightfully naked. I trailed a finger down one of his biceps, making him smile a drowsy smile.

"You take a nap then, handsome. You certainly worked hard enough."

"I did indeed, although it was a labor of love. And, I will admit, you helped a little." He yawned.

"A little, huh?" I pinched his nipple. He pretended to snore.