Here Comes the Vampire (2 page)

A small sound bubbled past my lips. Part cry. Part scream. Part
holy shit
.

He turned then. A pair of vivid green eyes met mine and I found myself staring at one of Connecticut’s finest.

The small vial suspended around his neck glittered in the bathroom light and stirred an even bigger wave of dread.

No. Nuh, uh. No way.

I tried to push away the crazy notion swimming in my head, but then Remy Tremaine, Fairfield police chief and my mother’s current BV pick, opened his mouth and voiced my biggest fear out loud. “There’s my beautiful eternity mate.”

“But...” I wanted to talk. To tell him he was crazy. To tell him I’d had way too many drinks.

Oh, hell no.

Not him.

Not me.

Not
us
.

But suddenly, the only thing I could do was stand there, my heart pounding, my mind racing.

And then the truth weighed down, my legs gave out and I fainted dead-away.

CHAPTER TWO

“...knew she was drunk last night, but I didn’t think she was
that
drunk.” Remy’s deep drawl dove into the thick blackness that surrounded me and pulled me toward the surface.

“She’s dead,” Nina One’s frantic voice echoed in my ears. “My best friend in the entire world is
dead
.”

“She’s not dead,” Mandy offered. Dr. Mandy Dupree Marchette was married to my youngest brother Jack whom she’d met while doing her forensic pathology residency at Bellevue. She’d come this close to carving him up before she’d realized he was the vampire of her dreams. It had been love at first bite and my mother’s worst nightmare because Mandy was human. “I mean, technically, she
is
legally dead according to American Medical Association standards. But she’s still a thriving vampire. She’s got a pulse.”

“She could still be brain dead, right?” Nina One’s voice echoed again. Nina One aka Nina Lancaster was the blonde shopaholic half of my duo of ultimate born vamp BFFs--The Ninas. Nina Two, the brunette half who loved to pinch pennies—no, really--was currently living with the born vamp of her dreams back in Jersey. She and her significant other were doing their best to procreate the species, meanwhile Nina One had just recently found out she was already pregos courtesy of her commitment mate—my big brother Rob. Hence she’d come to Vegas on holiday with the family.

“I knew she had one too many screaming orgasms,” Nina went on. “They short-circuited her brain cells and now she’s toast.”

“Or maybe she just had too many margaritas.” The comment came from my big bro Rob. “I saw her drinking those too.”

“Or too many Cosmos,” Mandy offered.

“Or too many Appletinis.” The comments bounced around the room.

“Or too many mimosas.”

“Or too much dating.”

What?

“I knew that business of hers was a bad idea,” Jacqueline Marchette ig Nadded. “Everyone knows vampires do not
date
. We merge.”

“And, in some rare cases, stage a corporate takeover,” my father’s voice chimed in. “Remember great Uncle Phillipe and Aunt Josephine? She was sinking fast with that toy manufacturing business back in the old country. What was it she called that vampire doll? Batty Bonnie?”

“Bloodsucking Bella,” my mother corrected. “She had fangs that could suck real blood and piercing red eyes. She also came with an exclusive pair of doll-sized Gucci pumps and a matching shoulder bag. Loralei bought a set for her great grand twins for their birthdays last year. They loved them,” my mother added. “Superb product.”

“For an extremely limited market with zero visibility. Talk about an advertising nightmare.”

“There was no advertising, dear.”

“Exactly. If you can’t advertise, you can’t make money. Lucky for her she had Phillipe to bail her out. He gave her 2.6 million and a diverse portfolio, she gave him controlling interest and a vial of her blood. It was the perfect match.”

“That doesn’t sound very romantic,” Mandy remarked.

“Exactly,” my mother said. “Vampires are not romantic. We’re practical. Level-headed. Ambitious.”

“Narcissistic,” I added, cracking open one eye.

“I was going to say self-aware.” My mother spared me a glance. “But that works, too.” Her gaze found my sister-in-law. “If you were a vampire, Maggie, you’d know that.”

“The name’s Mandy and I have to say Jack’s pretty romantic and he’s a vampire. Last night he gave me a foot rub and filled a bathtub with rose petals and champagne and—“

“I think I need a drink.” My mother went visibly pale. No small feat for a vampire who was already as white as a sheet. “And a Xanax. Speaking of which, we have just enough time to toast the happy couple before we leave for the airport.” She held up a bottle of champagne. “Come now, Lilliana. It’s obvious you haven’t staked yourself despite that fiasco you call a vampire dating service.”

Fiasco? I cracked open eyelid number two. “First of all, my dating service isn’t a fiasco. I don’t just hook up vamps. I hook up weres and warlocks, too. And second, my business has nothing to do with the fact that I’m lying here catatonic. I’m practically a vegetable because I’m married to Remy.” As the words rolled out of my mouth, my mind registered the truth and my stomach hollowed out. My gaze zig-zagged to the tall, scrumptious police chief standing a few feet away. I stared into his green eyes and my stomach hollowed out. “We are, aren’t we? We’re,” I cleared my suddenly dry throat, “we’re actually
married?
”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” my mother piped in. The
poppppp
of the champagne cork punctuated her statement and sent a bolt of pain right between my eyes. “Born vampires don’t get married.”

Relief spiraled through me.

“You’re committed.” She poured herself a glass of bubbly liquid. “Marriage is a human term. We born vampires
commit
to one another.” She held up her champagne in salute. “For eternity.”

The room started to spin again. “I think I’m going to throw up.” I forced a deep breath. Not that I needed to breathe, but desperate times called for desperate measures and I needed all the help I could get. “This is definitely the worst night ever.”

“Nonsense.” My mom set the bottle aside and took a sip from her glass. “I’ve waited for this night my entire afterlife. I finally have the perfect son-in-law. Priscilla Farquois will rip out her eyes when she hears the news. She just knew her darling Beatrice would pledge her loyalty first, but we beat her to the punch. I can’t wait to get back and startdthck and planning the party. I’ve talked with Remy’s mother and she’s thrilled. She’s already called the Fairfield Country Club about the reception and set up a meeting with their special events coordinator...”

My mother ranted on between swigs of champagne and I closed my eyes again and tried to get a grip.

Committed.

I was freakin’
committed
.

Not that I had anything against pledging my undying loyalty to another vampire. I’d always pictured myself getting hitched and settling down one day. But not with Remy.

Not that he wasn’t hot. He was tall with green eyes and a smokin’ body. And he knew his Gucci from his Gap.
And
he had a big enough bank account that I wouldn’t have to worry over a credit card bill ever again.

But the thing was, we were friends. I’d seen him with marbles up his nose and he’d seen me in bloomers and buckled shoes. We grew up together in the old country (i.e. the French countryside). He threw spiders at me like an annoying older brother and I nailed him with rocks
a la
the typical pain-in-the-ass kid sister. The point—we’re practically
family
. Minus the DNA, of course. And the guilt. While I can tolerate a conversation every now and then, I wouldn’t want to get hot and naked with him.

Not that sex was everything in a relationship.

Okay, so sex
was
everything for us born
vamperes.
Our entire existence revolved around the big S. We were conceived via sex. We stopped aging when we lost our virginity. Even our value as vampires was based on the ability to do the deed. A male BV’s attractiveness was measured by his fertility rating. Meanwhile, a female BV boasted a little digit called the Orgasm Quotient. The higher the number, the more fertile the female, and therefore, the more sought after. Sex was everything to us.

But sex with
Remy
?

We’re talking major ick.

Even more, I already had a significant other. I’d come out of the coffin with Ty and introduced him to my parents just a few weeks ago (hence the Xanax). My folks were still in denial, but that didn’t make the truth any less true.

Ty and I were officially together.

A bonafide C-O-U-P-L-E.

And I’d had sex with someone else.

I think
.

My brain did a quick skid and shifted into reverse until I was back at the hotel bar where it had all started. I remembered the first screaming orgasm. The second. The third. A few rounds at the roulette table. A fourth drink. A fifth drink. Things got really blurry after that and I saw only bits and pieces. A fat man in a white jump suit. A woman playing an organ. My mother looking deliriously smug from her spot on the front row. Mandy checking my head for a fever. Nina crying hysterically thanks to her raging hormones. Remy carrying me into the elevator. My top coming off. My pants sliding down.

And?

And that was it. No shouting his name or clawing his back or bursting into a thousand tiny pieces. The next thing I knew I’d opened my eyes to find a naked Remy in my bathroom and the worst hangover of my life.

I’d cheated and I couldn’t even remember it.

If
I’d cheated.

Hope blossomed. Crazy I knew considering the odds were soooo stacked against me. But hey, I loved Ty. And while I’m not the nicest person at times (think a half-off sale at Nordstrom’s and me wielding a Louis Vuitton), I wasn’t a two-timing cheat.

Was I?

Panic bolted through me and I sat up. My head pounded and the bed seemed to shake. My watery gaze scrambled around the room. “I need to talk to Remy.”

“Of course you do.” Nina gave me a wink. “We’ll get out of here so you guys can have a few minutes to
talkti>.”

“No, really. I just want to talk to him.”

“You
talk
away.” My mother set her glass aside and gave Remy a nudge. “My daughter wants to
talk
to her new eternity mate and finally end the lonely, grandchild-less hell that has been my existence for the past several hundred years.” She swept a glance around the room. “Everybody out.
Now
.”

A split second later blessed silence settled in and I found myself alone with Remy.

He sank down on the edge of the bed beside me and started unbuttoning his shirt.

I scrambled backward. “What are you doing?”

“I thought you wanted to talk?”

“I do. That means I say something. You say something. I say something else. You tell me this was all a mistake.
Talk
.”

“Oh.” He started re-buttoning. “I just figured you wanted a repeat of last night.”

My stomach dropped a good two feet. “So we really did it?”

“Of course we did it.” He seemed to think. “I mean, I’m pretty sure we did it. You were naked. I was naked. We got naked together.” His gaze met mine. “We had to have done it, right?”

“Not necessarily.” I gave him a hopeful smile. “Maybe all we did was get naked.”

“We’re vampires, Lil. Do you honestly think we got naked and didn’t do anything?”

He had a point. BVs lived to do the nasty.

At the same time, I was sinking fast. I needed a lifeline. “It
is
possible. Maybe you passed out and I passed out before we really got to the good stuff. Maybe that’s why we can’t remember doing it. Maybe there’s nothing to remember.” My gaze collided with his. “You have to have sex to seal the deal. If we didn’t consummate, then the whole thing is null and void. No sex. No deal.”

“Is the thought of spending eternity with me really that bad?” Before I could shout an enthusiastic
hell, yeah
! he rushed on, “Come on, we’re perfect for each other. You know it. I know it. Our families know it. It’s always been just a matter of time before we stopped fighting the inevitable. Let’s end all the controversy and just accept the fact that we belong together. It’s our destiny.”

I eyeballed him. “You’re scared shitless of your mother, aren’t you?” I finally asked.

He nodded. “And yours. But even if I wasn’t afraid to throw a wrench into their party plans, I’d still want to go through with this. I’m through with the endless stream of women. It’s time for me to settle down. To do my duty and carry on the Tremaine name. Why not with you?”

Because you don’t love me and I don’t love you
. It was there on the tip of my tongue, but I held it back because a)Remy wasn’t exactly his usual brotherly self at the moment(I could tell by the hard gleam in his eyes and the crazed way he was looking at me—as if I were the last Krispy Kreme and he was running a quart low on insulin) and b) my throat was suddenly too tight to talk.

I was
committed
to Remy.

Worse, Remy
wanted
to be committed to me which meant that he wasn’t about to deny what happened last night.

If
it had, indeed, happened.

The doubt held on tight, refusing to let go despite the fact that Remy patted my ass as if he’d gotten to know it extremely well over the past twenty-four hours. “We’d better get going. We’ve got a plane to catch, otherwise we’ll be stuck in this godforsaken town another night.” He pushed to his feet. “You get dressed and I’ll take care of checkout. Meet me downstairs in ten.”

I nodded and watched him leave. And then I did what any new bride would do under the circumstances—I reached for the newly opened bottle of champagne and guzzlb) ne and ed as fast as I could.

CHAPTER THREE