"Yeah. Like I didn't notice," I grumbled. Gavin backed me against the wall in the tiny kitchen, grinding his hips against my belly. Gavin isn't small and his suit pants did nothing to hide his cravings. I knew right away what he really wanted for Christmas. A claw slid out on his right index finger and he slowly and casually ripped through every bit of clothing I wore, until the ragged strips of it dropped to the floor around me. His clothes were removed in a similar fashion shortly after. Then, cupping my bu**ocks in his hands, he lifted me up and held me against the wall before settling my body over his. I was screaming Gavin's name, along with a few other things before it was over. Yep, God sure knew I was having sex that night.
Gavin's arms were around me and his body was leaning halfway over mine when I woke the evening after Christmas. Of course, we were completely naked—Gavin had seen to that. "You are such a sleepyhead," he mumbled against my hair.
"Well, why didn't you wake me up?" I turned in his arms so I could face him.
"I did try. New ones are this way," he said. "They sleep longer."
"Oh, so the big, tough, older vampires wake up quicker?"
"Yes. And go to sleep later, much of the time," he kissed me, then sucked and nibbled on my lower lip. I didn't get the shower I wanted until long after that.
"I think you did get your wish, your hair is definitely growing out," I ran my hands through it; it was nearly an inch in length, now. "Charles told me that hair grows about half an inch a year."
"For the younger ones, perhaps," he said. "Would you like to go out? We can go to the West End, if you like."
"You want to go to the West End? That's so unlike you," I smiled. "What are we wearing?"
"Casual, I think," he smiled back, his dark eyes twinkling a little. They should twinkle; he'd gotten sex nearly a dozen times since he'd shown up without warning. Gavin dressed in nice jeans after his shower but he still didn't have a shirt on.
I wore my short cashmere coat over a nice top, jeans and boots when we went out. Gavin had a long sleeved dress shirt on but it was a button down in (gasp) a light blue. He also wore the leather jacket he sometimes used with a more casual outfit. We parked where we could find a space and walked down the sidewalk. Plenty of people were out and wandering—Christmas had fallen on a Friday so this was Saturday night in Dallas. With all the time Gavin and I spent there earlier in the year, we hadn't gotten to see much of it at all.
Gavin pulled me closer to him when we saw a group of young people coming toward us. All were dressed in long black leather coats, their hair dyed black, fingernails black, lipstick, if they wore it—black. They were harmless, only out to have some fun, I think. Gavin, in his usual, overprotective way, was making sure. I wondered if those kids would ever realize they'd walked right past an Assassin for the Vampire Council.
Nowadays I looked at everything with different eyes. None of the vampires I'd met appeared to be anything other than human. Why would they want to stick out? That was just an indication to someone of what they might be. Vampires are hidden for a reason, Merrill said. The race had to be protected. I'd learned the hard way just how vulnerable we were during the day—I didn't wake until nightfall and had no way of knowing how long Gap and his werewolves stood over me, waiting for sunset to come. I slid an arm around Gavin's waist at the thought and he tightened his arm about my shoulders.
We sat and had a glass of wine at a bar after a while, watching people come and go. There were all sorts there, some of them coming from the basketball game down the street. The West End isn't what it once was, but it still draws plenty of people.
The week I spent with Gavin at the safe house was almost perfect. He didn't lose his temper and he took me shopping several times, helping me choose a dress to go dancing in and then appropriate shoes. The dress was a deep blue so I could wear my sapphires. On New Year's Eve, we crashed a party in a hotel. Gavin employed compulsion to get us in and we looked as if we belonged with that crowd, all of whom were wealthy. I think the Dallas Mayor was there, plus some state representatives or senators. It was a black tie affair and Gavin had come prepared, let me tell you. I don't know how many women stared at him over the course of the evening. Gavin was there to dance, though, and we did.
Strangely enough, we ran into Winkler and Weldon at the party. Winkler had an invite, of course. We only talked for a little while. Well, I talked, Gavin glared. And then, Gavin pulled me away before Weldon or Winkler could ask me for a dance. Winkler did tell me to be at the house the evening of the second; they were flying out the morning of the third. I must have frowned because Gavin asked me about it later.
"I think I hate that stupid body bag, even though they get me out right at sunset," I grumbled, taking off my jewelry.
"Better that than getting burned, Cara," Gavin kissed my bare shoulder. The dress had narrow straps and he'd slipped them down for better access.
Gavin kept me in bed most of the first, making love to me one last time before I had to clean up and go back to Winkler's on the second.
* * *
We did a whirlwind trip back to the east coast; the werewolves of the now defunct Sugar Grove Pack had cost us time and several visits had to be postponed so Weldon, Winkler and Kelvin could recuperate. Before our trip back east, Weldon carefully leaked information regarding the fact that vampires were now cooperating with werewolves. He hoped to avoid further incidents. I wasn't sure what Wlodek might think about that but I couldn't blame Weldon. I was a little sick of the problems myself and I sure didn't want a Sugar Grove repeat.
We were in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas and Florida during that trip, some states having more than one Pack to visit. It was while we were in Florida however, that something happened to worry me and raise my suspicions.
At his request, I'd been lending my mystery books to Kelvin after reading them. He hadn't returned any of them to me, though. Some people are very lax about that sort of thing, but I couldn't see that he was lugging books around in his bags. Maybe he was one of those people who left things behind in hotel rooms. Maybe. One night in Sarasota Springs, after we were returning from dinner with yet another Packmaster and his human wife, Kelvin stopped at the front desk of our hotel. Handing an envelope off to the desk clerk, he asked her to mail it for him. Weldon and Winkler didn't pay it any mind but my skin itched. I tapped Winkler on the shoulder when Kelvin wasn't looking and told him I wanted to go outside for some air. The werewolves rode the elevator to the third floor without me.