Vampire - Deep Midnight Part 12

"Not in Venice."

"Jared .. . you're freezing."

"I know," he said, almost as if he were confused by that fact.

"Come back to bed, I'll warm you up."

He turned with a sudden fervor that startled her. "Will you? I am cold, so very, very cold."

There was something about him . ..

They'd been married for years. Good years, because they were good together. She loved him, liked him, enjoyed his company, and very much enjoyed their s.e.x life. They had been together for years. Still, tonight. . .

His arms seemed stronger. The tension in him seemed to leap through his flesh, no matter how cold he seemed. The simple touch of his hands upon her shoulders felt erotic.

They'd made love that evening. Coming up from the espresso they had shared downstairs, they'd been warm and familiar and had fallen easily into bed, kissing, petting, slipping naturally into the act of love.

This ... suddenly seemed almost illicit Erotic, exciting ... and it was just the feel of his body beneath her fingers, and the way his hands felt on her shoulders ... and the way he looked at her, something in his eyes ...

The window remained open. Cold air was sweeping in. He leaned down and kissed her with hard, wet, opened mouth, pa.s.sion that belied the ice of his flesh. She felt his teeth graze hers, the length of his tongue seemed to sweep to her gullet, and it was like shooting a lightning rod straight down to every erotic zone in her body. A second later he was lifting her. When she hit the bed, her nightgown was already halfway ripped from her body.

Small loss . ..

His lips, his tongue were everywhere. Along her throat, her collarbone. Electric. She started shaking, not from the cold but from the eagerness aroused within her.

"My G.o.d, what were we drinking tonight?" she murmured.

He didn't reply. He was between her thighs. She went into spasms of ecstasy, trying to throw off everything around her, she was so on fire. She felt the graze of his teeth. He was growing too forceful ... almost painful... in his ardor. She wanted to whisper a protest. She couldn't; her voice wouldn't come, and she was shaking violently as o.r.g.a.s.ms pounded through her system. He rose above her, and she could wrap her limbs around him quickly enough. Dimly, she wondered if the whole of the bed was shaking, if the people in the room beneath wouldn't waken, and think that the roof above them was about to fall in ...

Later, she didn't know how much later-if the pa.s.sion they shared had raged through the night or lasted no more than a few volatile minutes-she felt the cold again. By then, Jared was crushed to her side, still panting.

"The window," she murmured.

"Um."

"The window. It's freezing."

He still didn't move. She leaped up, stark naked, and rushed over to the window, drawing in the shutters first and securing them, then closing the heavy gla.s.s window.

s.h.i.+vering and bare, she wrapped her arms around herself, then decided to make a pit stop before flying back into the warmth of the bed. She closed herself into the bathroom- never being one to a.s.sume that such necessary things needed to be shared in marriage- and when she was done she washed her hands and doused her face with water. Looking into the mirror above the sink, she was startled to see thin scratches on her neck, and the slightest trickle of blood from one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. There was a streak of the stuff on one of her thighs as well.

She washed up quickly. The little cuts were nothing at all.

Turning off the light, she scampered across the room and flew back into the bed, wrapping the covers around her. She slipped her arms around her husband again. For a moment, he didn't move. He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, or with his eyes closed, she wasn't even sure, it was so dark to her since she'd been in the bright light of the bathroom.

"Jared?"

At last he moved again, his fingers easing through her hair.

"Um."

"That was ... wow."

"Well, you know, I try."

He sounded as if he were making an effort to speak lightly.

"Definitely different; I'm not sure I want to try it every night."

"Why not?"

"You bit me."

"Bit you?"

"Well, you know ..."

"Love nibbles."

She didn't want to mention the fact that love nibbles didn't usually draw blood. After all, it had been ...

Spectacular.

"Jared?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

It seemed he was a long time answering. But then he turned, drawing her very close to him, holding her tenderly.

He was shaking.

"Jared, what's the matter?"

"Nothing ... I'm just cold. Whoa, so cold!"

"Well, you silly man, you were standing in front of an open window watching snow."

His lips brushed her forehead with a kiss. So different. Now, a touch as tender as a breath of sweet, warm air.

He was still shaking.

"I'm getting another blanket."

She got out of bed, stumbled over something in the dark, banged her toe against the bedstead, and swore.

"Jared ... a light would be nice."

"Cindy, just come back to bed," he told her.

"I'm trying to get you a blanket," she informed him.

"Just come back to bed." He let out an impatient sigh. A second later, he was up, drawing her into his arms. "You're all the warmth I need."

She smiled, wondering if he could see at all in the darkness how he had touched her.

But when they were back in bed, huddled together as close as two peas in a pod, he was still shaking. She said no more, though; she just tried very hard to give him all her warmth.

She wished Jordan could see just how sweet he could be at times. He really was a beautiful man.

And to think ... There had been times lately when she had thought that she was becoming a monster herself.

A green-eyed monster. She'd harbored such doubts! But tonight... she was simply ashamed of herself. He loved her. Completely, she thought Cindy slept with a smile curving her lips throughout the night.

Little cuts ... a few drops of blood. They meant nothing. Nothing at all.

CHAPTER 6.

Cindy and Jared were not at the breakfast table in the morning.

Jordan thought wryly of the way they had been the night before. Good for them.

Jared must have left her room and jumped his wife for the second time that evening. So much for romance fading with time and marriage!

At the rooftop restaurant, Jordan ordered coffee and a croissant, remembering that she was to head off to see Tiff's rented palazzo soon. She studied the advanced reading copy she had of the vampire book and jotted down notes on a few of the comments she wanted to make in her review. When she'd finished a second cup of coffee, it was still early. She headed back to her room, calculating the time in the States.

One in the morning.

Due to the fact that her work was heavily syndicated, she got her a.s.signments through an agent, rather than an editor. And Liz Schultz, her agent, was a night owl and a close friend. She had been the one to see a book review Jordan had written for a magazine and taken her into syndication. Liz had been new at her job; they had each taken a chance on the other. Their struggles, frustrations, rejections and triumphs had created a solid bond between them.

Liz wouldn't mind a call at home at this hour.

Jordan dialed the number through her phone card and was surprised when Liz answered almost immediately, sounding as if she were no more than a room away.

"Hey, Liz. It's Jordan."

"Jordan! Hey kid, it's great to hear from you. Wait, never mind. You're going to tell me that you're having too much fun, that you don't want to do any work."

Jordan laughed. "No, I wasn't going to say that at all. I was going to tell you that the director's vampire book is great. I'm going to fax the review to you soon, I've got all my notes. I'm just going to type 'em up this morning, and then the review will be there."

"Gory stuff, huh? But tell me, how is Venice?"

"Great. I'm having a wonderful time. I've always loved the city. This is different, though. You should see some of these costumes up close and personal. They're amazing."

"And the parties? Any good men?"

Jordan hesitated, thinking about the contessa's ball.

"Oh, Jordan, I'm sorry, maybe it's still too soon-" "No, no, Liz, nothing like that. No, I was just thinking that having the vampire book with me was kind of strange-"

Liz let out a gasp. "I should never have given you that book!"

"Liz, no, wait, just listen. Do you remember me telling you that Jared was mainly concerned about one ball-"

"The one given by the princess or the d.u.c.h.ess or whatever?"

"Contessa. Contessa della Trieste."

"I remember you telling me about it, yes. To Jared, it was like being invited to the White House or something. Was it spectacular?"

"No, it was horrible. And bizarre. I was in an upstairs ballroom, dancing, having a fine old time, then this storyteller started a tale about a horrible man who killed his wives. He grabbed people and they started falling ... then all these other people in the room grabbed one another and where one woman fell, I saw this huge pool of blood."

"Oh, my G.o.d, Jordan!"

"Anyway, a wolf got me out of the ballroom-"

"A wolf?"

"A man in a wolf's costume. He put me in a boat and disappeared."

"Oh, my G.o.d! Did you get the police, what happened? I didn't read anything about it in the papers, and you know how many international newspapers I take-"

"As it happened, it was the contessa's idea of fun. And by the way, I did make the local papers."

"What?"

"I went to the police, the police went to the palazzo, they got the contessa, and Jared and Cindy, and they all explained to me that the entire tiling was a show. Naturally, it was written up in the papers the next day that an American woman had gone a little crazy over the evening's entertainment."

"Entertainment?"

"I thought it was awful, but-"

"But she's a contessa, so whatever, is that the thinking?"

"I guess. But the next morning, I read the vampire book, and it was even more fascinating."

On the other end of the line, Liz hesitated. "I don't know, Jordan. Maybe I was wrong, sending you that particular book. Maybe you should come right home. That book must have just made it all worse."

"No, Liz, honestly, I was glad to have the book. And you'll like my review."