Real Vampires Know Hips Happen (21 page)

Jerry stared after him. “So I killed Darren MacDonald.” He shook his head. “How can I not remember something that important?”

“I don’t know, Jerry, but you’re bleeding.” As soon as we were inside I tore open his shirt. He had a slice in his chest from that damned stake.

“It’s nothing. I was lucky he didn’t take me down. I still don’t have my strength back, Gloriana. It took everything in me to fight him off. Damn it.” Then Jerry looked me over. “Well not everything. I’ve been thinking about you all night, lass, watching you bounce around in the dance.”

“Now, Jerry, you said you were weak.” I smiled as he pulled me to his bedroom.

“Then feed me first, there’s a good lass. Tell me, do you
have one of those torture things on your breasts? The black one? I’d like to see if I could get it off of you myself this time. Got to learn these things, you know.”

And that quickly, his mood turned again. He was cheerful as he led me to his bedroom, his humiliation obviously soothed by what he considered his revenge for his brother’s death. I hated his taunt to Douglas. It wasn’t like my Jerry, the man who knew when to cry peace and when to keep his mouth shut. This angry man…I had to blame it on his frustration with the memory loss. Of course it had affected his personality.

But it hadn’t bothered his lovemaking. Once we shut the door to his bedroom, he slid his hand up under my skirt to discover that, afraid I might show the crowd too much skin, I’d worn my black granny panties under my mini. Then he puzzled over the front clasp of my bra, crowing when he managed it. Maybe it was the whiskey, but, after drinking from me, he was untiring as he took me that night, over and over again. I had no complaints. So why was I still worried?

Ten

We
arrived at the Edinburgh airport just as the small private plane taxied to a stop on the tarmac. Jerry’s eyes were wild. He’d been watching the airplanes coming down since we’d arrived at the area where we’d been told to meet our friends. The noise was bad enough, but when a large jet roared overhead and then headed up into the clouds at a sharp angle right above us, I thought Jerry was going to dive under the car. Only the warrior in him kept him leaning against the hood, pretending this was business as usual. I touched his shoulder and could feel the tension vibrating through him.

“Relax, Jer. Planes have been flying people places for a hundred years. You’ll enjoy it. Much better than taking wing yourself across the Atlantic.” I slid my arm around his waist. “I honestly don’t think you have the strength for that right now.”

“Are you sure? Da said that’s how I got home before.” Jerry squeezed my shoulders. “I’d much prefer—”

“No argument.” Bart had driven us here. “You will let them take you in the plane. I think a long shift would be
too much for you. If you want to get your memory back, you need to conserve your strength.”

“So this must be part of that shock therapy you talked about.” Jerry managed a smile.

A joke? I hugged him then heard a squeal. Flo was coming down the stairs from the side of the plane.

“Gloriana! Jeremiah! You look wonderful!” She rushed toward us, arms outstretched. I met her halfway and hugged her tight, fighting tears. It was so good to see her again. I was dying to tell her everything—all about my witch of a mother, my dates, Jerry’s condition. Later. She moved past me and hugged Jerry then leaned back. He looked awkward in her embrace and it didn’t take her long to figure things out.

“
Mio Dio
, you don’t know me?” Tears filled her dark eyes. “Don’t worry. We will fix.” She sniffed and gestured like she was checking it on her to do list. “Now. Who is this handsome man?” She turned to Bart.

“Bartholomew O’Connor, Jerry’s doctor.” He held out his hand.

“And I’m Jerry’s sister Caitlin.” Caitie had been chatting with one of the flight attendants who serviced the private planes but she had hurried over as soon as Flo appeared. Now she put a proprietary arm on Bart’s. Interesting.

“Yes, please meet everyone.” I ran to pull Richard forward to introduce him too. “This is Flo’s husband, Richard Mainwaring. Jerry, do you remember him?”

Jerry smiled suddenly. “I think I do. Did we meet in Europe? Maybe it was Rome. Aren’t you the renegade priest?” He looked at Flo. “Guess not anymore.”

“No, I gave up the Church. At least as a priest.” Richard slapped Jerry on the back. “That was centuries ago. You’d just been turned and were taking a grand tour, of sorts.” He smiled as I introduced him to Bart and Caitie. “I hope to talk to you, Doctor. I’ve been doing some research of my own on Jerry’s condition.”

“Excellent. Your reputation precedes you and I could use
the help. I have some cases to wrap up here and should be in Texas by the end of the week. But here’s my card. You can call me, or we could set up a video chat.” He passed the card over then slid his arm around Cait. “I’m hoping to persuade Jeremiah’s sister to come with me to Austin. She’s never seen the Wild West.”

“Is it? Wild?” Jerry looked around the group. “Gloriana assured me it would be civilized. A big city.”

“He’s pulling your leg, Jer.” I flushed when Jerry actually looked down at his legs clad in jeans for the trip. “It’s an expression. Means he’s joking.” I glanced at Flo and saw her getting teary again. “Does the plane need to refuel or anything or are we ready to go?”

“The pilot says we’ll be here about thirty minutes before we can take off again. There’s paperwork.” Richard grinned. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll use some of my vampire mojo to clear the way there.”

“What does he mean?” Jerry looked at Flo.

“Oh, he does this all the time. He’ll mesmerize the authorities to overlook things like passports and all the little things they want to see when we land and take off. No matter. Come and get on board. CiCi, Freddy and Derek are inside. They are anxious to see you both. Best that they stay out of sight, though. These paper pushers—” Flo glanced at the airport security. “They don’t need to get excited about all the people we are taking in and out of the country.” She made a face. “Such a fuss we had in Paris until Ricardo got involved.”

“You tried to smuggle out one of their treasures, my love.” Richard was back. “Now let’s go.”

“Flo? What did you do?” I left Jerry and Richard to deal with our luggage. I saw them talking like old friends, which made me happy.

“It was nothing. A little trinket that belonged to Marie Antoinette. Some claimed it belonged to a museum. I say it belongs around my neck.” She pulled a chain from between
her breasts. She wore a to-die-for silk blouse in a deep green. The emerald on the end of the platinum chain was carved with a profile that did seem to resemble the beheaded queen.

“It’s beautiful!” And had to be worth a fortune.

“Yes, and wasn’t my Ricardo sweet to buy it for me? We got it from some shifters in the cutest little shop. But then they disappeared with our cash when the
polizia
showed up.” She shrugged, typical Flo. “I don’t care if they stole it. I won’t give it back. It’s mine now. The French, they are out of luck. Ricardo, he took care of everything.” She tucked it out of sight again.

“Hmm. I hope so.” We stepped inside the luxurious cabin of their rented jet and greeted our friends CiCi, Countess Cecilia Von Repsdorf, and her son Freddy along with his partner Derek. Then we had to reintroduce Jerry to them. Unfortunately he stared at them like they were strangers. This got CiCi upset and didn’t make Jerry too happy either.

When the hatch was closed and locked, Jerry’s mouth tightened and his eyes were wide. We all took our seats, Jerry beside me. I helped him with his seat belt, then held his hand. The whine of the engines starting made his grasp tighten.

“It will be all right, Jer. Once we’re airborne, you won’t even realize we’re flying. We’ll fall into our death sleep when it’s dawn and wake up just before we land. Great timing.” I smiled across the aisle at Flo.

“It’s true. We always arrange our long flights this way. The pilot is an old friend of Ricardo’s. He’s a shifter and we trust him completely.” She smiled at her husband and picked up his hand. “Once the seat belt sign goes off, you can get up and walk around.” She frowned. “The pilot knows we can’t be hurt when he takes off, but he insists everyone stay buckled in while he gets the plane off the ground. Says we will make the plane unstable or something. Pah!” She threw up her hands. “Stupid rule. So unnecessary.”

“Florence doesn’t like seat belts. Says they wrinkle her clothes.”
Richard smiled at her indulgently. “Are you all right, Jeremiah?”

Jerry nodded but I knew it for a lie. Flo and Richard whispered together.

“I remember my first time in an airplane.” Flo threw up her hands again. “
Madre di Dio!
I was ready to smash a window and leap off the thing.” She smiled at Jerry. “But I found that I loved it once we got off the ground. That was in the early days when airplanes were little more than sticks glued together. You remember those days, don’t you, Ricardo? Glory?”

“She’s right, Jerry. This is a five star modern jet.” Which was now absolutely roaring. We had to raise our voices to be heard. I had both hands around Jerry’s now.

“It’s very comfortable. Your seat will lie back and we have movies you can watch, Internet once we’re in the air.” Richard frowned. “Oh, hell. You won’t care about that. Glory, anything we can do?”

“I don’t think so.” I leaned against Jerry. He wasn’t saying a word, just staring panicked around the plane while the engines got even louder and the plane started moving with a lurch. It hit a bump and I saw him reach for one of his knives. “Steady. We’re not under attack.”

“You sure?” He pulled out his knife anyway and laid it across his knees.

Flo noticed. “If you are thirsty, we have every kind of synthetic blood you could want. I’ll bring you something as soon as we’re airborne.” Flo wouldn’t give up. “There’s a new one that tastes like a strawberry milk shake, Glory.”

“Interesting.” I didn’t think I could drink a thing, not with Jerry looking so freaked out. I held up my hand to let her know I was through with the chitchat. She nodded, picking up a fashion magazine and popping in earbuds, satisfied that she’d done her best as our hostess. If Jerry wanted to slit his wrists then let me drain him dry, it was our business. That was my wild imagination at work. I’m sure Flo just hoped I could calm Jerry down. I glanced over. Richard
didn’t look too keen on this experience either, his eyes closed tightly while he gripped his armrests.

“I have to get out of here.” Jerry struggled to open his seat belt with shaking hands.

“No. You can do this.” I turned his head toward me. “Look at me. This is easy compared to some of the things you’ve faced. Battles where you’ve been outnumbered. Fighting vampire hunters who had technology that put them at an advantage. You have no idea how much I admire your bravery.”

“I lost that when I lost my mind.” He gritted his teeth. “Fuck!” He almost crushed my fingers when the plane hit another bump as it taxied toward the runway. “Sorry.” He kissed my hand. “Mesmerize me, Gloriana. You know how to do it. Maybe it’s the coward’s way but make me think we’re somewhere else. Anywhere else. Spin a fantasy for us so I’ll forget I’m trapped in this metal box that, against nature, you say is going to leap above the clouds.”

“Are you sure?” I hated to do that to him. It
was
the coward’s way. So unlike him.

“Just
do
it, damn it.” He almost crushed my fingers again.

So I looked deep into his eyes and sent him a mental picture. We were in a forest as far away from here as we could get. It was very quiet. Not even the birds were chirping, asleep for the night as we walked together, hand in hand. The air was cool, leaves crackling under our footsteps. We came to a clear pond and sat down beside it. We threw off our shoes and dipped our toes into the water. It was perfect, not too hot or too cold. We kissed, taking our time to taste each other. Then we undressed, watching as clothing dropped to the forest floor until we were naked.

He pulled me into the water, swimming to where a waterfall tumbled over rocks and into the pond. The water showered us as we laughed and chased each other, our bodies brushing from hip to thigh to chest. Finally he found a flat rock behind the falls and pulled me up to lay me down.
There he kissed every inch of my body. My eyes drifted closed. We were both well into the fantasy now.

Jerry’s hands were everywhere, stroking me, finding those pleasure points he knew so well. I tasted his mouth on mine. We were all warm skin and slick heat as he entered me, his rhythm perfect as he sent me to that place where only he could take me. We rolled over, touching, kissing and pressing hard against that rock as we searched for completion. His mouth branded me his, devoured me and sent us both tumbling into the water. We kept falling, locked together, all the way to the bottom of the pond. We couldn’t breathe but didn’t need to.

He sank his fangs into my neck, his steady draw on me another pulse of fire inside me. I came again, just from the force of his pull as he drank. Finally we burst to the surface, the moonlight shining down on us as we climbed out to lie panting on the grass.