“Has anyone laid a hand on her?” Parker’s beast rumbled, ready to shed blood for her.
Brian bit his lip. “Not that I’m aware of.” He sighed. “Look, I just thought you should know you might encounter some problems when you go out tonight.”
Parker smiled viciously. “No. I won’t.” He’d make sure Amara had the best time possible tonight, even if he had to bang a few heads together.
“If you say so.” Brian hit Liquefy, stifling any further conversation until the loud sounds of the blender died down. Brian poured the concoction into a mug and handed it to him with a flourish. “Drink up.”
Parker took the first sip. “It’s good.” He swallowed some more, enjoying the energy that raced through him. “Thank you.” Brian flushed with pleasure. “You’ve done something like this before.”
Brian smiled. “Usually they want my neck, not my blender skills. But yeah, I was a Renfield for another vamp, however he decided he’d rather have someone else.”
“Why?”
Brian cupped his hands in front of his chest. “My tits weren’t big enough.”
“Ah.” Parker finished off his drink and rinsed out the mug. “Will you be at MM Night?”
“I certainly will. I promised to show Greg around town afterward if you don’t need us.”
Parker blinked. “Really?”
Was Brian…blushing? “Really.”
“All right, then.” Parker hoped his astonishment wasn’t written all over his face. “I’m off to pick up Amara. Do me a favor and put the blender in the dishwasher before you go, and I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Parker.”
“Have a good time. I know I will.”
Once again he’d swear Brian was blushing. “Oh dear.” Parker left and headed toward Amara’s, determined to put the vision of Brian making out with thin air out of his head. He didn’t understand how a relationship between them would work. Greg was completely dead, not mostly dead like Parker. They couldn’t hold each other or make love to each other.
Greg’s heart was going to get broken, and Parker didn’t know how to prevent it.
Hell. Greg would have to figure it out for himself. If Greg had met someone who was willing to overlook his handicap, who was Parker to interfere?
Maybe he’d even met that one he’d spent his whole life looking for and never found. If that turned out to be true, Parker would happily live with comments about his ass for the rest of his days. Hell, he’d turn the Renfield so both men would be with him for eternity. He grinned, pleased with the thought that he’d never have to go through losing Greg again.
He walked up to Amara’s door and paused. If he were capable of it, his palms would have been sweating. “I have a date.” An entire herd of moose stampeded through his stomach. For a moment he wondered if Brian had slipped some cactus into his nightly meal.
He checked around, using all his senses. He had to keep Amara safe, which meant doubling his efforts to keep Terri away from her. If Terri found out how much he wanted Amara, she’d find a way to make the woman suffer.
Instant rage, familiar and deadly, filled him at the thought of Terri touching her. His beast would rip the witch limb from limb if anything happened to her.
He rapped on the door and did his best to ignore the disturbing urge to hunt Terri down and keep her from ever placing a cursed hand on Amara.
Amara jumped at the sound of the knock. Parker was here.
She had a date.
She was going to hyperventilate. What the hell was she thinking? These things never worked out, not once her dates found out who Amara really was. Few people fully accepted her, and the ones who did were outcasts of one kind or another. Rock was an earth elemental who rarely left the mountains and his quiet home. Brian was a sensitive who could sense, see and touch ghosts, an ability that freaked out even the most powerful psychics. And she couldn’t begin to describe Selena’s freaky powers or Dragos’s unique issues.
How could she expect Parker, a normal, average vampire, to understand her special needs? She should send him home. Or better yet, find some other female to amuse him for a while. Hell, maybe he’d fall in love with that other female. Maybe they’d bond, forming that unique, magical vampire marriage that was so rare and special.
And maybe Amara would find that female and bury her where she’d never be found. She knew lots of places to stash a body.
She bit her lip, shocked at her thoughts. There was something more than just a simple date going on here.
The knock came again, more insistent this time. Parker wouldn’t wait forever.
Did she open the door, deal with the man on the other side and wait to get her heart broken? Or did she let him think she wasn’t home, let him leave for the movie, maybe even commune with her tree once more until he forgot all about her and found someone else?
Her fists clenched without conscious thought. No way could she let Parker find someone else. She didn’t know why, but the thought brought out the same instincts those fucking tree-choking weeds did. She’d obliterate anyone who laid hands on her Parker.
She stepped back, thoroughly scared. Her Parker?
The front door opened, and Parker stepped inside, incredibly sexy in a red silk shirt and dark-washed jeans. His eyes gleamed, and his lips curled in a sensuous smile as his heated gaze drifted down her body like a caress. “Your door was unlocked.”
No, it wasn’t. She distinctly remembered locking it before taking her shower. She didn’t know who might decide to drop in. Both Rock and Dragos had the disturbing habit of showing up on her couch unannounced. If she didn’t know them so well, she’d have thought they were interested in her, but Rock was in love with a shy water elemental, and Dragos was involved with a bitch Amara couldn’t stand. “That door was locked, Parker.”
He blinked, the innocence he strove for completely lacking, thanks to the grin that threatened to overwhelm him. “Was it?”
She bit her lip. Somehow she knew he wasn’t there to hurt her. If Glinda could hear Amara’s thoughts, she would have her hide, but on this one she was going to go on instinct. “Don’t I have to invite you in?”
He chuckled and shut the door. “Monster Movie Night, remember? We mock how much Hollywood gets wrong. That’s one you should definitely giggle at.” He stood before her, touching his chest to hers, curling his fingers around hers. “You look exquisite.”
She was trembling. Why was she trembling? “So do you.”
She’d swear he was laughing at her, but when she started to glare up at him, his expression was solemn. “Thank you.” He lifted first one hand, then the other, placing soft kisses on her fingertips, and her knees damn near gave out. “Are you ready, my sweet?”
She nodded before she could stop herself.
“Good. I look forward to seeing the movie. Do you know what’s playing tonight?” He reached over to her coatrack and wrapped her favorite sweater around her shoulders.
“The Howling. The weres insisted, since last month was The Haunting of Hill House and the month before that was The Craft. Next month we’re probably going to do The Guardian again, although my vote is for The Day of the Triffids.”
“What about Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?”
“The theater won’t show it anymore. It took forever to get the stains out.”
He paused before pulling her door shut. He took the keys from her and locked it. “Stains?”