Читать книгу Be Mine Forever - Rosemary Laurey - Страница 9

Angela squinted at the sunbeams lighting up the room. She’d been so tired, she hadn’t drawn the curtains before falling asleep and had slept late. She was light-headed and weak, and the phone ringing inches from her ear made her brain hurt. Darn it! She’d intended to call Stella last night. It had to be her, frantic with worry.

“Angela!” Heaven help her, it was Tom! She tried hard to concentrate on what he was saying, but the general impression that he was complaining was lost between the fuzziness in her brain and the aroma of glorious, raw meat. The last of the loot from the butcher’s practically sang to her to consume it. Fast.

“Okay, Tom,” she said and hung up, with no idea what she could possibility have agreed to. She leaped out of bed and across the room, chewing through the wrapping in her need to devour. She ended up on her knees on the carpet, tearing at the chops with her teeth and swallowing as if famished. When she sat up, her brain had cleared, and she made a mental note never to let herself go that long without feeding. Heck, at Tom’s she’d grazed almost all day, nibbling and tasting the fresh meat he kept in the spare refrigerator, the one with the blood bags for emergencies.

Darn it, she’d left drops of blood on the carpet. She shocked herself by sucking them up. She really had to make sure she never starved herself again, or be darn certain the door was locked before she started licking the carpet. The Royal Oak was a relaxed, easy-going, comfortable sort of hotel, but guests gnawing on the broadloom might be more than they could handle.

Showered and with hair washed, she was ready to face the day. She’d first find this Mr. Lee, then go back to Meg Merchant’s shop. Her comments about holes and blackness in Angela’s aura seemed worrying on a satisfied stomach. Eating breakfast like a mortal guest might be a good move for a ghoul determined to blend in. Especially after the disappointed comments yesterday when she’d declined booking for dinner.

Besides, even cooked meat satisfied her need for flesh.

The smells of bacon and fresh coffee wafted from the dining room. Times like this, ghouls had the edge over vampires. How Stella and the rest of them didn’t get bored to bellyache with their liquid diet she’d never know.

“You’re looking remarkably chipper this morning!”

Tom! Angela stared across the lobby. He looked anything but chipper. Scowling, surly, downright pissed off would all describe the vampire leaning against the oak paneling. Sexy and bedworthy were pretty good, too, but now wasn’t the time to think in that direction. Not after their argument in London. “It’s a lovely morning, and I feel great!” Perhaps not the most tactful thing to say, but drat it!

The creases between his eyebrows as good as matched the linenfold paneling. “Where are you going?”

“To have breakfast.” She nodded toward the open dining-room doors.

“Fair enough.” He stepped forward. “I’ll come with you, and then as soon as you finish, you’ll get packed. I’m taking you back to town.”

Good luck, Tom! “What makes you think I want to go to London with you?”

“Look here, Angela!”

“Good morning, Miss Ryan!” It was Sarah, the clerk who’d spent ages yesterday trying to find Mariposa in shopping guides and tourist pamphlets. “This gentleman was asking for you.” Her tone suggested Tom might look and dress like a gentleman, but she wasn’t too sure.

“Thanks, Sarah. Tom’s joining me for breakfast.” He could hardly cut up rough in a public place, and what she was about to tell him wouldn’t improve his attitude. She was tempted to ask for a sunny table by the leaded-light windows, but outright provocation was not the best way to open negotiations, and Tom was going to have to shift from his you’re-coming-back-to-London-right-now position.

He was charming to the waitress, refusing breakfast but asking for black coffee. Seemed he saved the snipping and snapping for her. But if he was prepared to act civilized, they might possibly have a conversation without arguing. She reached for the cream. “Did you have a good trip down? Did you fly?”

“Knowing you lack the ability to transmogrify, I drove down, so I could drive you back.”

He was single-minded this morning. “Before you, or I, go anywhere, I need to tell you what I discovered yesterday.”

“That you came here on a wild goose chase?”

For that she was half-tempted not to tell him anything. But he was strong enough to carry her off physically, and if he tried his vampire mind-control stuff…. She smiled as sweetly as she knew how. “Not in the least. I got a lead on someone who might know where Mariposa is, and I made a couple of interesting discoveries.”

“You did?”

He didn’t need to sound so blandly disbelieving. “Yes, I did. I’ll tell you about them after breakfast.”

And damn the man! He didn’t even ask! Just drank two cups of coffee while she wolfed down bacon and sausage.

Angela was just about bursting by the time she did tell Tom, which was most likely his intention. Vampires could drive you crazy with their blasted self-control.

They left the Royal Oak behind and were walking along the river. The water ran high from the winter rains, and the island opposite was half-inundated. The overcast sky only added to the mood. They were going the opposite direction from Mr. Lee’s shop on High Street, but Angela wasn’t sure she wanted to go there with Tom anyway. If he was so dismissive of her efforts, she’d manage on her own.

“What did you find out?” Tom asked, looking across the river. The winter bare trees were obviously a lot more interesting than anything she’d discovered.

“There’s an old man, a shoe repairer, who’s been in business for years and knows all the leather places around,” she paused. “Plus, I can read cards.” That got a flicker of an eyebrow. “And when I get angry, my face changes.”

That got his full attention. “How?”

She told him.

He was more annoyed than impressed. “You were reckless to do that to a group of mortals.”

“Not as reckless as standing there and letting them have a go at me!”

“If you’d stayed with me, you’d never have run this risk.”

“You’re trying to tell me that a big city like London is safer than a small town like this?” She had her hands on her hips, and they were getting dangerously close to nose to nose.

“You’d be safer because I’d see you were!”

“Right, by locking me up!”

“I never locked you up.”

Okay, he hadn’t but…“Tom, you wanted to keep me in your house twenty-four hours a day, unless you went out with me.”

“Angela, you have no idea what dangers lurk.”

“I have a pretty darn good idea of danger after three nights on the streets of Chicago…” She broke off, her mind snapping in shock as it always did with these sudden memory flashes, but this time she shuddered with a cold wave of dread. “Tom!” Her voice came thin with fear. “How do I know it was three nights? And why is it so bad?” Remembered terror sent her shuddering, as his arms closed around her. Her tremors intensified before easing. It was the same fear that fueled the nightmares and woke her screaming.

Tom tightened his hold, pulling her against him as he fought to brush her mind with reassurance. The horrors were stronger than last time. He tried to read what evoked such fears, but all he found was blind emotion.

He wanted to kill by slow torture the creature who’d done this to her. He held her closer, willing calm into her fright-fuddled mind. Her sobs eased, and he handed her his handkerchief. She wiped her eyes, sniffed a few times, and looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “Sorry, Tom.”

He kissed her forehead, savoring the sweetness off her skin, but now was no time to indulge those appetites, not when she was halfway to falling apart. “Sorry for what? Ruining my shirt? Not to worry, the laundry can take care of that.” He tried for lightness, but missed.

“Tom!” Her voice threatened to break.

“Come on, love.” He moved so they stood side by side. “You need to sit down.”

A few yards along the riverbank he found an empty bench. The day was far too cold for any but the hardiest mortals, but neither he nor Angela noticed.

“Can you get any handle on the fear?” he asked after he tucked a wet and crumpled hanky back in his pocket.

She shook her head. “I wish the hell I could. Just now it came stronger than ever.”

His arm tightened around her shoulders. He wanted to wipe away her nightmare and sweep her up in his arms and carry her away where no one would ever harm her again.

He remembered Justin’s words the previous evening. “What can I do to help, Angela?”

That dried up her tears. “What do you mean?”

He laced his fingers with hers. It wasn’t quite as reassuring as hauling her over his shoulder and taking her home, but under the circumstances it was probably more politic. “You’re hell-bent and determined on digging to the bottom of your past, no matter what. So why not do it together?” As she stared at him with reddened eyes, he added, “Having a vampire alongside might help. We have a few handy tricks up our sleeves.”

A weak little chuckle curved the corners of her mouth. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

“The realization you are going to do this and if I want to see you safe, I’d better tag along.”

The smile widened. “You mean no more ‘me big, strong vampire; you puny, little ghoul’ act?”

“I can’t promise never, but I’ll do my darndest.”

She nestled close, her shoulders relaxing as pent-up tension seeped away. “Oh Tom!” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

“The feeling is mutual, my dear.”

She seemed, for the moment, to have forgotten her mission. Might as well encourage that.

He tilted her chin up. Her lips parted. Her eyes widened with expectation. He had no intention of disappointing her. “Angela,” he whispered and lowered his head. Their lips brushed. Twice. The third time, he pressed his lips against hers until she opened for him. She sighed and gave herself to him as his tongue met hers. Then she took him, her mouth working his, her tongue exploring, taking as much as he gave and returning the wild heat of her need. She pressed closer, molding herself against him. Her hips shifted as she nestled into the circle of his arms.

She said something. It could have been his name, an endearment, or the height of the trees around them. He didn’t give a tinker’s cuss. Nothing mattered but Angela’s warmth in his arms and the passion in her lips. He tried to retake the lead, pressing harder and closing his hand over her breast. He felt pleasure ripple through her, as she pulled his head closer and deepened their kiss. Their need coalesced into a wild frenzy of mutual desire. Her legs parted, one thigh easing over his and…

Tom’s vampire senses alerted to a mortal nearby. No point in shocking the populace!

“Angela,” he whispered, “we’d better find somewhere less public.”

A few yards away, a old woman was walking her spaniel along the river and from the opposite direction came a pair of young mothers complete with baby buggies and toddlers.

Angela turned as pink as a Bourbon rose. “Tom!” She stood up, smoothing her sweater down. “Let’s walk a bit.” She held out her hand.

He wasn’t turning down the invitation.

“I missed you,” Angela said after a few yards. “I’m glad you came down.”

“That’s a bit of a change from your greeting at breakfast time.”

“At breakfast I was braced for your big, bossy vampire act.”

Good thing he’d abandoned that angle. It hadn’t worked anyway. “Was I really a big, bossy vampire when we were together in town?”

“What else do you call, ‘Don’t look at those books, they’re mine!’ ‘Don’t leave the house without me!’ ‘You don’t need to do that, it’s not safe.’ ‘Why do you want to ferret out all that stuff?’”

Had it really seemed that bad to her? “I wanted to keep you safe. We don’t know anything about the vampire or vampires who made you and Jane.”

“Ignorance isn’t synonymous with safety.” She had a point there. “I need to know who I am.”

Fair enough but…“Aside from the renegade vamp, I have this hideous fear when you do uncover your identity, you’ll discover you have a husband and five children somewhere.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t speak to the husband, but I don’t feel as if I’ve been married. And I can vouch for no offspring.”

“How do you know?”

“Justin told me.”

“How the hades did he know?” Justin’s centuries of existence meant certain powers but…

“He gave me a complete physical. I’ve never given birth.”

The full import of that hit him like a blow in the chest. “You mean you let Justin…!”

She tugged his hand. His fingers clenched hers. “Lighten up, Tom! Justin is a physician. Remember?”

He was doing his best, but it wasn’t easy. No one was touching Angela but him. “Of course I do! I just don’t see why you had to…Was it his idea?”

“Of course not!” Her glare suggested their new-found amity might be very short lived. “I asked him. I wanted to know as much about my ghoul’s body as possible. I could hardly knock on the door of the local National Health doctor, now could I?” He conceded the point with a grudging nod. “Justin was the only choice, and as I happened to be under the same roof, I took advantage of it. I was relieved to find I hadn’t abandoned a baby somewhere back during the lost time in my life.”

They should have shared worries. “What else did he find out?”

“That I have blood pressure so low I’d be unconscious if I were mortal. That my digestive system and metabolism operate at five or six times mortal rate. I’m physically much stronger than most women, and my heart rate barely alters on a tread-mill. Oh, and I have an extraordinarily high red blood cell count.”

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much. He’s going to do some memory and IQ tests later on. He’s got to borrow the protocols from a psychologist friend.”

“Tell him not to bother. You’re sharp enough to beat anything he can try.”

She gave him an odd look. “You really mean that?”

“Love, you outwitted two vampires, three if you count Stella, but she abetted, didn’t she?”

“After she tried like the dickens to talk me out of it.” He owed Stella an apology.

“What have you discovered so far? You can read fortunes in cards, you might have someone who can tell you where the leather shop moved to, and you can terrify thugs.”

“And Jane and I wandered for three days before Vlad rescued us.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“Yes. I don’t know what help it is, but I’m sure.”

“Right, then. Let’s follow up that leather shop lead.” If it turned out to be a dead end, so much the better. He could convince her to leave. Just knowing he was deep into the West Country gave him the willies. Who knew where a witch might lurk? Angela would no doubt smile if he spoke of his worries. She hadn’t seen what witches did to Kit Marlowe and had no idea how risky it was just being here. But now he was here. And staying as long as she was. “Where’s this shop then?”

“You really want to come with me?”

His hand closed over hers. “Why not? You never know when a vampire might come in handy.”

Angela couldn’t be more pleased if she tried. Tom was seeing reason and agreeing to help. She kissed him. Hard. Darn the passersby. “Thanks, Tom.” They were just a few yards from the small butcher’s shop she’d found yesterday. “I’d better get something to eat. This is hungry work. I almost ate the carpet this morning.”

“Having a party, then?” The aproned assistant asked as he rolled steaks, chops, and three chickens in layers of white paper. “You were in here yesterday, if I remember rightly.”

She’d better find another shop or her level of consumption would soon get noticed. “Your meat was so good, I decided to come back and stock up.”

Tom insisted on carrying the three packages. She let him. Might as well pick her battles. “Where next?” he asked as they stood on the narrow sidewalk.

“Mr. Lee’s. The place Meg Merchant told me about. I found it yesterday but it was closed.”

“Lead on.” He grinned. “Might as well get this sorted out so we can go home.”

He was a whole lot more optimistic than she was. But she kept that to herself. Tom was a welcome ally, and maybe today she would find a clue to whom she was. “Come on.” They meshed fingers and crossed the street.

Tom paused only just long enough to shove a pack of chops in his raincoat pocket—who knew when she might need them to keep her strength up—and stash the rest of her raw meat in the trunk of his car and together they walked up Fore Street. Angela wanted to look for leather shops; he’d humor her. He was convinced this quaint little town was a hotbed of witches, but surely for just one day, they’d remain unnoticed and stay out of trouble.