"Wlodek, I wouldn't count too heavily on your being able to strong-arm that one," Merrill observed. "She is new, now, and somewhat afraid. If her confidence improves, she may not only surprise you with her abilities but with her defiance as well. Do not play with her, Wlodek."
* * *
"Lissa, I am a little hungry," Gavin informed me when we reached the house. Merrill had showed me where the key was kept outside so I pulled it out of its hidden brick and opened the door.
"I have some blood in my fridge," I said, returning the key and locking the door behind us. Gavin followed me upstairs and looked around my bedroom while I handed the unit of blood to him. It was after four and he drank almost the entire pint of blood.
"Want what's left?" he asked. I took it and drained the rest. Some days I couldn't believe how easily this came to me now. Once, in my human life, I'd not been able to watch while they drew blood from my husband's arm. Now I didn't even bat an eyelash. The empty blood bags were destroyed once we were finished with them. Merrill or Franklin dropped them off somewhere; we kept separate covered wastebins just for that. Probably one of the things I was destined to learn.
"Now, how about cuddling with me so I can watch the news?" Gavin reached for my hand and kissed it. I led him to my sitting area, which held a sofa, a chair and a chaise. Gavin opted for the sofa; it was directly in front of the flat screen that hung on the wall. Grabbing the remote, he turned the television on, pulling me down onto the sofa with him. Gavin stroked my neck and cheek absently while listening to an early news program; I was tuning all of it out until a journalist announced breaking news.
"The Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara and the Spencer family tiara have both been returned anonymously," the journalist said. I stiffened in Gavin's arms. "There were no fingerprints on the tiaras or the packaging and they were mailed from a facility in Wales," the correspondent went on. "The employees at the shipping business have no recollection of the mailing and no recording of the incident was made."
"Cripes," I muttered.
"Nice work, ma petite ange," Gavin bent down to kiss me.
You're not going to teach me Russian, are you?"
"No immediate plans."
"Good."
Chapter 4
Merrill was back before dawn and chased Gavin out of my bedroom. He'd been content to watch television there until he fell asleep, I think. I managed to get out of my pricy gown and diamonds before I went to bed, wondering briefly if Merrill wanted the diamonds back. I'll have to ask, I thought, as I set them on my dresser.
A quick shower followed; I shampooed all the hairspray and mousse out of my hair before going to bed. I was engaged. How the hell had that happened? And to Gavin, on top of that. It was probably better than the alternatives I'd been offered. There wasn't much time to worry over the whole, confusing mess; I dropped off the moment dawn arrived.
"Gavin said to tell you he'd be back—he went to trade cars and run another errand or two," Franklin advised when I made my way downstairs. I'd dressed in black fleece pants and a pink top, with a black fleece jacket. I'd been thinking about going to the roof. The night before still hadn't settled well, leaving me adrift on uncharted waters. "Merrill has already left for the meeting," Franklin went on.
"Are you doing all right?" I asked, giving Franklin a hug. "If you didn't belong to Greg, I might take you for myself."
"You're welcome to whatever Greg doesn't want," he hugged me back. "I understand that Mr. Gavin has a prior claim, now."
"Oh, yeah. That," I grumped. "Nothing like getting strong-armed into an engagement so the dogs won't come sniffing around. Is it too late to get a sex change operation?"
"More than likely," Franklin laughed. "And I wouldn't want to be the one to break the news to Gavin."
"He'd be pissed all right," I agreed.
"Merrill gave him a key," Franklin said soberly.
"He did what? I don't even have a key." I was upset, now.
"And the bedroom down the hall from yours, where he slept last night," Franklin added.
"He's going to be staying here?" My voice squeaked.
"At times, it appears," Franklin said.
"Well, this just gets better as it goes along," I grumbled. "I'm going to the roof. Tell Mr. I can just waltz in and get whatever I want that he can float up if he wants, I can't stop him."
"I wouldn't imagine that you could. I can take the broom to him," Franklin offered with a grin.
"Franklin, that is a vampire and an Assassin on top of that. Get Merrill to take a broom to him if he needs it," I said.
"Fair enough," Franklin nodded.
Gavin did float up after a while but I was expecting him. I'd heard his Mercedes in the driveway minutes before. "I brought a swimsuit and some clothing," he said as he settled his tall frame beside me. "I was thinking about soaking in the hot tub. Might you consider joining me?"
"Maybe." I hadn't been in the hot tub in days. "How did you get out of providing security for the meeting?"
"Wlodek gave me two weeks off to celebrate my engagement," Gavin leaned over and nuzzled my neck. "And sent someone else to finish my assignment in Madrid."
"Lucky you," I said.
"Yes. I am lucky. Quite lucky. I think you may be able to hear my cousin's angry shout when he learns I made away with you," Gavin was now kissing my neck. "Do you know how fine your skin is?"
"How did both of you get turned at nearly the same time?" I asked, trying to distract him. He was doing a little nipping with the kissing.
"We were both fighting in the Roman army and were defeated by the Goths," he mumbled against my skin before pulling back a little. "I was turned first; René was turned three days later by the same sire. Of course, our names were different then but we adopted France as our country after a time. René still lives there, as you know," he hugged me. "Both of us are nearly seventeen hundred years old."
"That's not scary or anything," I muttered, hunching into my fleece jacket a little. Gavin was more than sixteen centuries older than I.
"Lissa, your lifespan is no more than a blink to us," Gavin confirmed my thoughts as he pulled me into his lap. "But a very important blink. To me, anyway." It was so nice to know that even at my age, I was considered a vampire infant.
The night around us was crisp and cold. It was October in Kent and Gavin was hugging me tightly as if that might warm me or something. Vampire bodies are cool; blood doesn't pump through our veins as it does in humans. Considering that I might ask Merrill what our normal body temperature was, I lifted my head to ask Gavin about it first when I received mindspeech from Robert, one of two other known vampires with the talent.