He scratched his chest and sat on the end of the bed. I wanted to shove his hand aside and scratch it for him, but the dark circles under his eyes reminded me that whatever he was, he'd only had a few hours sleep.
"I'm really sorry about this," I said, filled with remorse at allowing Roxy to drag me into the idiotic scheme. "It's just that last night…"
He covered his mouth as he yawned. "What about last night?"
"Well, last night… that is, I need to make sure that you're who you say you are." His back stiffened at my words. I hurried on to try to explain. "Not that I don't believe you, but as Roxy pointed out, it's better to be sure so i can eliminate you from the list, and… well… I can't do that unless you let me open the blinds."
He shook his head and rubbed a weary hand over his eyes. "I'm not following any of this, not the least of which is who you think I am, so if you could explain why it was so important that you go to the trouble of breaking into my trailer to talk to me, I'd appreciate it."
I sidled along the two-foot space at the end of the bed toward the window. "Can I just open this?"
He looked at the window. "Why? Do you have a camera crew out there? Are you part of one of those shows on the telly where they film people unawares? Is a man in a gorilla suit going to jump out of my closet?"
"No, no, honestly, it's nothing at all like that, I just want to open the blind. Is that OK?"
He rubbed his eyes again. "Please yourself."
I put my hand on the blind cords. "Are you sure? It won't… uh… hurt you in any way?"
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Hurt me? Woman, you are steadily going from confusing to incomprehensible."
I waited.
"No," he said. "It won't hurt me."
I yanked on the cord and let the pale sunlight wash into the tiny bedroom, covering him in a golden haze. He raised his eyebrows.
"Wahoo!" I shouted, jumping up and down and spinning around with the joy of it all. "You're not a vampire! You're a nice, normal man with nice, normal eating habits and no ability to merge your mind with mine!"
Raphael shook his adorable curls. "I think, for my sanity's sake, I'm going to stop trying to understand you and just go with the flow."
He grabbed me as I twirled around again, and pulled me down onto the bed, leaning over me so his chest was pressed against mine, his lips perfectly placed for kissing.
"Nice," I said, unable to keep from smiling as I stroked his chest. "I like a man with a hairy chest."
"Oddly enough," he grinned back at me, "I like a woman who likes a man with a hairy chest. And speaking of chests…" His head dipped as he nuzzled aside the lace collar of my blouse.
"Hey! You guys can't do that while I'm here! I can see everything, you know!"
"Rats. I forgot about Roxy."
He pulled his head up from my chest and put it back into kissing position. "I find it difficult to believe anyone could forget about Roxy."
"I heard that!"
I smiled at his smile and willingly gave myself up as he nipped at my mouth, parting my lips when his tongue demanded entrance. His skin was warm and soft as I stroked my hands down his chest, trailing my fingers over his ribs so I could wrap my arms around his back, pulling him on top of me. His tongue danced a tango for two, sending my senses whirling and dipping with each stroke. He groaned in the back of his throat as I suckled his tongue, twining my own around it as I attempted to merge myself with him. He tasted hot and exotic and male. My fingers danced over the muscles of his back, sweeping upward until they stroked along the contours of his shoulders.
His kisses were everything I wanted, but suddenly they weren't enough. I wanted more; I wanted all of him.
"You know, we hardly know one another at all," I gasped as his mouth left mine and did some exploring in the sensitive area beneath my ear.
"That's true," he said just before he sucked my earlobe in for a little quality time. His fingers splayed over my left breast, cupping it through the heavy wool of my sweater. "Your heart is racing."
"A lot of stuff on me is racing," I purred as he sucked a line down to my collarbone, while I slid my hands down the wonderful landscape of his back to the curve of his behind. Even in jeans it was a very nice behind. "But the truth is, we just met a few days ago, so someone might say that we were rushing things a bit."
"Mmm." He kissed up the opposite side of my neck, starting little fires of desire all over my body. "Do you think we're rushing things?"
"I do!" Roxy called from the other end of the trailer.
"Ignore her; she liked you better as a vampire."
He stopped kissing me, a faint line of puzzlement between the two delicious chocolate brows. I gave in to temptation and kissed along each one. He waited until I was through to say, "First things first. Am I rushing you?"
I smiled. "No. It's true we don't know each other awfully well, but that just adds a little zip to the whole thing, don't you think? Uncovering each other's likes and dislikes and finding out who we are and exposing secrets…"
He stiffened as I said the last word, pulling back from me, propping himself up on one elbow, a full-fledged frown on his face now. I reached my hand up to smooth away the lines, but he caught my fingers before I could touch him.
"That's the third time you've mentioned secrets to me. I can only assume that by your constant reference to that, you have some information you'd like to discuss with me."
"Information? What sort of information? You mean the secret you accused me of knowing last night? I know now you're not a Dark One, so that can't be it. What are you hiding?"
He stared at me for a second, then pushed himself up into a sitting position. I gave myself a moment to admire the sight of his back, then sat up as well.
"Don't try to confuse the issue with all this Dark One talk. What do you know about me, and what do you intend to do about it?"
He was looking irate now, not something that pleased either of us. "I'm confusing the issue? How about you? Raphael, I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about when you accuse me of knowing something about you. Other than knowing you've obviously studied kissing with the best, and you have stupendous… um… physical endowments, I don't know anything about you other than I really like you and I want to be with you. There. I admitted it first. Are you happy now?"
His eyes searched my face; then he looked away and rubbed his jaw. "I must be mad—that's the only explanation for it. I've gone mad and no one bothered to tell me, and now I'm living a madman's life where beautiful women think I'm a vampire and speak in riddles and try to seduce me at every turn."
"Beautiful women?" I asked, pushing his arm. "What women? I realize we just met and all, and it's not like I'm asking you to marry me or anything, but I must insist on exclusive rights I never did learn to share my toys with others."
"I was talking about you," he said with an odd look to his eyes.
"Oh Well, then, that's OK, although I would like to point out that I haven't tried to seduce you at every turn."
"No," he agreed, still looking at me oddly. "You haven't. I stand corrected." He hesitated a minute before making an embarrassed little grimace. "You really thought I was a vampire?"
It was my turn to look embarrassed. "It seemed like the only explanation at the time," I mumbled. He lifted my chin and leaned forward to look into my eyes.
"And that's why you asked me to bite you last night?"
I nodded, my face flaming. I was an idiot, truly an idiot not to have figured out the truth earlier, but Raphael was enough to make any girl's senses swim.
His lips twitched, then smiled a slow, sexy smile. "I thought you were just into deviant sexual practices."
I had a hard time pretending to scowl under the influence of that smile. "Me? You thought I was into the kinky stuff? Lord, no, I'm strictly a white-bread sort of girl when it comes to sex. Most of the time, anyway."