Real Vampires Have More to Love (28 page)

“Yeah, I get it. He made you. You two have been off and on for centuries. Blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard all this before.” Rafe stayed rigid, not even relaxing when I ran my hands up and down his back. “You forget that when I was at your feet, wearing a fur overcoat, I heard all your excuses, all your reasons why you couldn’t give up on old Jer.” He backed away, throwing my hands off of him. “Guess nothing’s changed. Except that I got to enjoy your bed
and
your body for a change.” He looked me up and down, like he was wondering if it had been worth the wait.

I smacked him right across his handsome face, then stared at my hand like it was an alien being. Inside, Alesa laughed like a wild thing. Damn her.

“You really shouldn’t have done that.” Rafe grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, the look in his eyes warning me that I had started something dangerous.

“Rafe.” I slipped a button free on my blouse. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. Things
have
changed. I swear it. I’m confused, that’s all. I can’t just throw away those centuries with Jerry if this isn’t ...”

“What? The real deal?” Rafe shook his head. “What’s real and what’s not? I sure as hell don’t know. I’ve heard you lie to people and never blink. I can do the same. It’s how we survive. Damn it, every time you block your thoughts”—he gave me a hard look—“like you’re doing now, I figure you’re lying about something, and it’s killing me.”

“Back at you, Rafael.” I understood. I eased closer. I sent him a mental message about what I wasn’t wearing under my skirt. That hard look heated up. Progress.

“Quit trying to play me, Glory. I thought I meant more to you than that.” He pulled me closer. “I won’t sneak around with you and then watch you go hit it with Blade when he gets back. I did that for too damn long, and it hurt too damn bad.”

“Rafe, I’m not going to treat you like that. You do mean more to me ...” But I didn’t want to hurt Jerry either. I looked around and realized this was a hell of a place for this kind of conversation “Can you leave? Can we go back to our place?”

“Not till Nadia gets back. There’s too much to do before the opening.” Rafe dropped my hand and whistled to a man behind the bar. “Jimmy, take Ms. St. Clair home. Make sure she’s inside her apartment with the door locked before you leave.”

“Got it, boss.” Jimmy nodded. He was a shifter I’d met in here once before, when Rafe had first rented the place.

“I don’t want—”

“Just go, Glory. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rafe waved me away, then strode over to talk to the men with the sound equipment.

I watched him, so strong and confident and so damned right. I guess I was a coward, afraid to make a choice. Afraid to come clean with Jerry. Modern women managed more than one man well enough, or seemed to on the TV shows I’d seen. Problem was, I couldn’t seem to get the hang of modern ways. I dressed modern, talked modern, but I was obviously still stuck back in the 1600s in some ways. Stupid. Because that was the very thing that bugged me about Jerry. He always treated me like that ancient female he’d met back in the day, helpless and in need of a keeper. Damn, I’d hate to think he’d been right about me all along.

No. Ancient males were possessive and wouldn’t change. Unfortunate it was the ancient ones that attracted me—Jerry and Rafe. Ray wasn’t ancient, but I’d like to have a go at him too. Why couldn’t I have them all?

“You can, you should. The more men, the merrier.”
Alesa was all for it. But I knew better than to think that would work. Who did I want? Rafe or Blade? Both of them meant so much to me. And I didn’t have to choose yet. Rafe was here. Blade wasn’t.

I locked the apartment door and waited until Jimmy clomped down the stairs. Did Rafe really think he could just send me to my room? No freakin’ way. Sure he had work to do, but I was going back to that night club and talking to him. I had a point to make and knew just how I’d do it. I changed clothes, then unlocked the door, stuffing my cell phone in one pocket of my jeans and my keys in the other.

I was going to try a different approach, a surprise attack that would catch Rafe off guard and hopefully make him listen to reason. I slipped down the stairs and out the front door. I looked both ways, hugging the shadows next to the building. I didn’t want anyone to see what I did next.

It was really late, almost four in the morning now, and the street was deserted. Fine. I shifted and headed toward Rafe’s club. It wasn’t far, just a few blocks. Even if Simon had surveillance on the front of my apartment building, I doubt he’d have noticed my change. I picked up the pace. Rafe was going to be so amazed, he was bound to soften toward me. I was counting on it.

The back door of the club was locked of course, but I waited until a delivery truck pulled up at the loading dock and the driver got out. I hid in the shadows as he rang a bell. Nadia must have paid a premium to get tables delivered this late.

The steel door swung open and there was conversation, then the huge garage door came up with a groan and a crash. I darted inside while three men stepped into the truck. I kept to the shadows, slipping into the main room and looking for Rafe. He was behind the bar, and he’d pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a glass. Great. I’d driven him to drink.

“What the hell?”

Oops. I’d been spotted by the human truck driver. I ran across the empty dance floor to the bar.

“Ignore her.” The shifter carrying two tables laughed. “One of the owner’s pets if I’m not mistaken.”

Rafe’s head came up, and he stared at me. He shook his head and drained his glass. I just sat down in front of the bar.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Rafe poured another drink and knocked it back.

Several of the men had stopped working to watch. A few of them laughed.

“Hey, boss,” one of them called. “Who’s the bitch?”

Rafe leaped over the bar and was on him in a heartbeat. “You want to ask me that again?” He had a fistful of the man’s shirt. “Maybe you don’t need this work.”

“No, man. Sorry.” The man glanced at me, then at the rest of the gang who all got really quiet, then busy with hammers and electric drills and saws.

“That’s it for tonight. Clear out.” Rafe grabbed the clipboard the delivery man thrust at him and signed. “All the tables inside?”

“Yes, sir.” The delivery man was confused as the work crew packed up their tools with quiet efficiency and exited the building in record time.

“Out.” Rafe followed him to the door, and I heard the garage door come down with a noisy clang.

I just sat there, not so sure this had been a good idea. If he’d just smiled . . .

“So what’s this about?”

I didn’t say anything, just laid down and looked at him with big eyes. What had he done to show he was sorry in the past? Oh, yeah. I rolled over and showed him my tummy.

Finally, he smiled with just a hint of dimple. “A golden retriever?”

“It matched my hair.”
I wiggled and thumped my tail against the floor. Mental messaging seemed to be the way to talk to him.

“So I see.” Rafe knelt down and rubbed the fur under my chin. “Soft. How does it feel? To be a dog when I’m human.”

I didn’t like it one damned bit to tell the truth. I rolled over again. The tummy up position had been way more vulnerable than I could deal with for more than a minute at a time.

“I’m a shifter, not a vampire, for one thing. We look at these things differently. And I was getting a big paycheck for the inconvenience.” Rafe sat on the floor beside me. He put his hand on my head. “Seriously. I want you to remember this feeling. I had to live with it a long damn time. Watch you go about your business, and see you as a desirable woman while I knew you never saw me as a man.”

“It’s okay. It’s over. I’m not doing that again.” He looked around the club. “But this has to be a success. I’m through with the bodyguard thing. When I cut myself off from my family’s wealth, I had to take some jobs that weren’t so great. Like dancing in Nadia’s clubs. And doing dog duty for Blade. And those were the best of the lot.” He turned to stare into my eyes. “Never again.”

“Why’d you cut yourself off?”
I wondered if I should change back but felt maybe Rafe would share more about himself if I stayed in this dog persona. I wasn’t physically uncomfortable. I didn’t have fleas or anything. And the concrete floor wasn’t cold. But I was definitely in a subservient position, and I didn’t like that at all. Alesa hated it, and I was hot again. Guess that was my punishment when she was displeased. I mentally shot her the finger, then sucked it up and stayed put.

“Granddad is head of the family. Because my branch has the demon taint, we have to be model citizens to be accepted in the shifter community. We’re supposed to marry the right women, have the perfect children, always be above reproach. My brother pretends to go along with it, but I wanted to do things my way. So I took off.” Rafe stroked my head like I used to do when I was upset.

“What do you mean, your brother ‘pretends’ to go along?”
I sighed. His hand felt good on me. Warm, soothing.

“We do have demon blood. It makes us enjoy being a little, okay, a lot wild at times.” Rafe’s eyes gleamed. “Ethan keeps his stunts on the down low. I never bothered. It caused my family some grief. I haven’t shown you that side of me yet, Glory. Because it would probably be too much for you. Like now.”

I stiffened, reading his mind.
“No, I won’t do that. You just veered into ick territory.”

He grinned. “Thought so. Brittany was up for it, but then she’s a shifter. Like I said. Different point of view.”

“Yeah. I’ve got a few dark powers. Trust me, you don’t want to see me go there. But if I need them, I can call on the forces of evil.” Rafe lifted his hand from my head. “Payback’s a bitch, though.” He frowned. “Do you hear that?”

“Rafe, your dog is ringing.” Nadia walked into the room, her high heels tapping on the concrete floor. “And why the hell is the crew gone early?”

“They got enough done. The sound system and lighting are installed. The tables arrived. I let them go. The vamps needed to feed before dawn and the shifters ...” Rafe shrugged, then jumped up and faced her. “They’d earned a break. The second crew will be here in a few hours. I’ll come back and supervise.” He frowned down at me. “Glory, shift and answer your damned phone.”

I hated to. Blade? Simon? And shifting in front of the sophisticated Nadia made me feel awkward and vulnerable.

Rafe grinned. “What? You naked inside that dog body?” He’d done his guard duty clothing optional.

Damn, I should have thought of that. But Nadia being here would have ruined that scenario anyway. I gave up and stood. The phone had stopped ringing, but I heard the sound that meant I had a voice mail. I trotted behind the bar, then shifted.

“I’m not naked, just felt a little weird about shifting again.” I straightened, then walked around to face both of them. “Not my usual thing.”

Nadia shook her head. “I don’t care what games you two play on your own time as long as the club gets ready.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I see Ray’s men were here and set up his special sound equipment. Now we’ve got to rent a grand piano.”

“That’s a little much, don’t you think?” Rafe walked with her toward the stage while I dug my cell out of my pocket.

Uh-oh. Missed call from an unknown caller. I had a feeling that meant Greg, Simon or Westwood. I pressed a button and listened to the voice mail while at the other end of the room Rafe and Nadia argued over Ray’s performance and the expense.

“Gloriana, we think we’ve got the right location for the video shoot. Meet Kaplan behind your shop in ten minutes, and he’ll lead you there. We want your input.” Simon’s voice. A command, not a request. I glanced at Rafe. He wasn’t going to like this, but I had to go. I owed it to Rafe to tell him about it. No secrets. Our relationship was hanging by a thread already.

“Rafe?” I eased up behind him.

“One minute.” Rafe put his hand on Nadia’s arm. “Go ahead with the piano. It’ll be like his Grammy performance. Right, Glory?”

“Sure. It was sensational. Ray really gets the crowd going when he sits at a keyboard.” I forced a smile.

“Exactly.” Nadia laughed, clearly pleased to have won the round with Rafe. “Run along and enjoy the rest of the evening. I’ll tell Ray. He’s staying at my house.” She gave me an inquiring look. “I know you two used to be together, Glory. I hope that doesn’t cause a problem.”

“No, have fun.” I even managed a smile.

“Oh, I’m sure we will.” Nadia laughed. “As I told you, there are no safe hotels for a vampire here in Austin. It will be so much better for Ray at my house than having his shifter keep housekeeping out of the room during the day.” She nodded at me. “You understand.”

“Perfectly.” I understood that Ray was putting his plan into motion at warp speed. Nadia would give him an up close and personal lesson in how ancient vampires played.

“Sounds like a winner.” Rafe didn’t bother to hide his satisfaction at the news. He picked up a paper. “Here’s the invoice for the tables. I’ll lock up. Ray’s already moved in?”

“He was getting his luggage.” Nadia frowned. “Glory, he said you’d left him a message. For some reason he didn’t seem inclined to call you back. Was it important?”

I gritted my teeth at the slam. “Ray and I had a misunderstanding earlier, but I still care about him. There’s been a threat against some of my friends. Rafe talked to Brittany, Ray’s bodyguard, so she knows all about it.” I smiled. “I think I’ve got it handled now, but Ray should still be careful. I assume you have excellent security.”

“Of course. No vampire can sleep during the day without it.” Nadia picked up the purse she’d dropped on a table and slung the strap over her shoulder. “Don’t you worry, I’ll keep an eye on Ray.” She winked. “Sorry about the fight, but seems you and Ray have both moved on. Rafe, I’ll talk to you tomorrow night. Have fun, you two.” She left without a backward glance.