Because I want to go for a walk and see if I can sense the presence of the other vamp, and I have no intention of leaving you in the hotel alone.
He's nowhere near. I'd feel him if he was.
I'd still like to check, just in case.
He caught the sweater and pulled it on. It smelled faintly of cinnamon and vanilla. He smiled and hoped she was right. Hoped they didn't find the scent, just so he could walk hand in hand with her. They'd spent too little time simply being lovers of late.
More clothes tumbled down to the pavement. Be there in five .
Wait. Catch this rifle and tuck it safely under our mattress.
She appeared in the window again. He checked to ensure the safety was on then tossed the rifle up to her. She caught it deftly, if a little gingerly, and disappeared. He quickly dressed then walked down to the hotel entrance to wait for her.
She bounced out four minutes later, wearing a short black skirt that showcased her wonderful legs, and a dark red sweater that clung to her breasts and highlighted the fact she wasn't wearing a bra.
"You look entirely too energetic for someone who has had so little sleep," he commented, wrapping his hand around her waist and pulling her close. "Are you going to be warm enough in those clothes?"
"The look in your eyes will keep me hot enough, believe me." Her grin was pure cheek. "And we can always find a secluded foggy spot in which to warm each other up."
Thatdefinitely sounded more enticing that hunting a vampire. He kissed her, long and tender. Her pulse was doing a double-time dance, and with the heat of her body pressed against him so wantonly, he really didn't want to go anywhere but back to the hotel room. Which was obviously the effect she'd been after when she'd donned these clothes. "You're incorrigible," he said eventually.
Her eyes twinkled with amusement and desire. "I try hard. Are we walking, or do you have something else in mind?"
"Walking."
Her sigh was dramatic. "Such a spoil sport."
He smiled and led her down the street. The fog was a blanket of white dampness that swirled sluggishly around them, muffling the noise of passing traffic and the late night laughter of partygoers. Street lights twinkled like forlorn stars in the distance, and from the direction of the bay came the haunting cry of fog horns. The night was peaceful, untainted by the touch of evil. It was doubtful he'd find any hint of the other vampire, but he kept walking anyway. He was enjoying the night. Enjoying doing something semi-normal with Nikki.
"Why do you think this vamp wants to meet you?" she said.
He shrugged. "Loneliness. The night can be a desolate place after a few years."
Her expression was curious. "Was it for you?"
He nodded. "You asked why I stayed so long with Elizabeth. Perhaps there lies your answer."
"Yet you survived it. And her."
He smiled at the slight emphasis she placed on her . "Thanks in part to the friendships I formed. But the lifestyle of many vampires does not allow them to form true friendships."
"Because they drink human blood?"
"Yes."
"Can two vampires ever become truly good friends?"
He hesitated. "There are a number of vampires in the Circle, and I would call them friends. But not close. It is never truly comfortable for us."
She raised her eyebrows. "Why?"
"It's the nature of the beast." He shrugged. "Vampires are hunters. Hunters tend to be territorial."
"And no true hunter likes another in his territory?"
"Yes."
"Then why is this vampire inviting you to dinner?" She hesitated, and amusement spun through the link, warm and sexy. "Maybe he's taken a fancy to you."
"Wouldn't be the first time it's happened."
She pulled him to a stop, her expression slightly shocked. "What?"
He grinned and kissed her nose. "Both sexes seem attracted by my natural good looks and charm."
She snorted softly and whacked him lightly on the arm. "Yeah, right."
He raised his eyebrows. "It's true. I've been propositioned by many a male, both before and after death."
She stared at him for a moment. "Before death?"
"Not all our English landlords were as straight as they claimed." He tugged her across the intersection and continued on up Hyde Street hill. "I was barely twelve at the time."
"What did you do?"
"Kept well out of his way, and hid whenever he came to our farm." He shrugged. "He found other sport to chase after a week or so."
"Good grief."
He chuckled softly. "You spent quite a few years on the streets as a teenager. Surely you saw more shocking sights than old men chasing young boys."
"Well, yeah. It's just I never figured you were one of those young boys."
"I ran very fast," he said solemnly. "Believe me, he never caught me."
"And after death?"
"They quickly found their attention directed elsewhere."
She raised an eyebrow, amusement touching her full lips. "Including the females?"
"Of course. How could you think otherwise?"
"Something to do with the expertise you show in certain fields," she said dryly. "What if this vampire intends to lure you into a trap?"
"I doubt he'd do anything in a crowded café."
"What if he's seizing the opportunity to size up the opposition?"
"Then that'll make two of us, won't it?" He studied her for a moment. "What is it about this meeting that worries you?"
"I don't know. He doesn't sound anything like Jasper or Cordell. He sounds normal, and he's very obviously not." She bit her lip for a moment, her gaze sweeping the fog-enshrouded darkness around them. "I think it's going to be a lot harder to stop him than it was either of them."
"Which is why—" Anger flared through the link, singeing his senses. "Don't say it," she warned, pulling her fingers from his.
"Not unless you want an all-out argument right here on the street."
He didn't want to argue at all, here or anywhere else. You keep complaining I don't listen to you, and yet you refuse to consider my reasons.
Her gaze searched his, expression annoyed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe you should fully explain your reasons."
He reached out, brushing the moisture from the tip of her nose. "Not out here. It's too wet."
"The fog may be damp, but the night isn't really cold." She shrugged. "I want you to talk to me, Michael."
He didn't want to talk. He just wanted to enjoy the night and her company in this brief window of peace they'd been given. But her determined expression suggested this time she would not let it go. He twined his fingers through hers again and kept walking. On a clear night, the bay would have stretched out before them. Tonight, there was little more to be seen than fog muffled lights.
"I have been with the Circle since its beginning," he said. "In that time, both the Circle and I have gained a fair number of enemies. There are some alive today who would stop at nothing to destroy either of us."
"I'd think that would be a natural fallout from the type of work you do," she said, voice flat. "You can't run around killing bad guys without the bad guys' friends and relatives getting a little pissed about it."
He smiled, despite his annoyance. "True. The point is, these people will do all in their power to destroy me and everything I hold dear. That has never worried me because, until you, I had no one in my life whose destruction would destroy me."
She stopped, her gaze searching his, eyes glittering liquid gold in the damp night. "Then you know precisely how I feel when you go off on one of your missions and leave me behind."
He brushed his fingers against her cheek. "You're stronger than I am. You would survive my death. But I have spent over three and a half centuries alone, and I could not survive another three if I lost you."