I stepped back, and my fingers went to my own zipper. "Race you." I yanked it down as he reached for the hem of his shirt.

I beat him. I usually did, even when I wasn't ahead by a T-shirt.

He kicked away his jeans, and I held up my hand to keep him from tackling me. I wanted to look at him for just a minute. Who knew if I'd ever get to look at him this way again.

Sanducci had a beautiful face. His body, long and lean, a runner's body, glistened like copper beneath the moon. Because he was a breed and could heal most everything, there wasn't a single scar to mar his perfect flesh.

Soft, dark curls dusted his legs; an equally dark trail led from the matt of hair between his thighs to his navel. I let my gaze wander higher, across his toned chest and biceps. His shoulders were broader than his hips, but not by much, his muscles taut not bulky.

The only thing that tarnished his perfection was his vampire control-a c.o.c.k ring-which, in comparison, made my dog collar seem like a gift from Tiffany's.

I'd had to employ a fairy G.o.d with enough magic to override Summer's s.e.x spell. That fairy G.o.d, known as the Dagda, had possessed a slightly sick sense of humor, and he hadn't much cared for Jimmy. Hence the c.o.c.k ring. At least Sanducci's was hidden from view most of the time, unlike mine.

A c.o.c.k ring was supposed to increase the amount of time a man could maintain an erection. Not that Jimmy'd ever had any problem. Nevertheless, I bet he couldn't wait to get it off, and I couldn't blame him. He had to hate it even more than I hated my poodley neckwear.

Every time my eyes brushed his erection, it leaped. When I licked my lips, caught my breath, his p.e.n.i.s darkened as even more blood raced there.

"Lizzy." His voice was choked, a little desperate. If he didn't lie down soon, he'd probably faint.

I held out my hand and tugged him with me onto the bed. He lay nestled between my thighs; I felt the beat of his heart both there and against my chest. When he kissed me, the rhythm echoed in his lips. I closed my eyes and became caught up in the music. Time slowed as we relearned every dip and curve with lips and tongue and teeth.

Tangling our legs, I flipped him onto his back, rising above, taking control. His eyes glittered in the candlelight, for an instant reminding me of the red that would glow there if his demon took the wheel.

But the glow was gold; the eyes were Jimmy's. I cupped his cheek, slid my thumb over his cheekbone, and it came away wet. I frowned.

"Sweat," he said, his voice rough with arousal. "You're a lot of work, Lizzy."

Then he smiled, and my heart tumbled slowly toward my stomach. I was going to love him until the day that I died. I just couldn't help myself.

Afraid I might cry, though I never cried, I leaned forward and kissed him again. He let me. But not for long.

I straddled his hips; his erection rode my b.u.t.tocks. The c.o.c.k ring pressed in interesting, innovative places. Very nice, but not quite nice enough.

I wiggled, trying to find a way to make the frantic need abate. Jimmy cursed and dumped me onto my back. Before I could complain, he slid inside me, and that frantic need turned into a frantic pace.

"Okay," he said, pressing his forehead to mine, even as he pressed himself deep within. "Listen."

"Shhh," I hissed sharply, concentrating on the beat down below.

"Lizzy!" He pulled almost all the way out, leaving only his tip perched at the edge.

So I arched, reaching for him with my body, clutching his b.u.t.tocks. He captured my wrists, yanked them above my head, and held them there with one hand. I could have gotten away, but I really didn't want to.

"Focus, baby."

The word baby made my eyes snap open. I'd never liked it when he called me that. Once he'd stopped, I'd only wanted him to start again.

Our eyes so close I felt his eyelashes brush mine when he blinked, our breath mingled as our bodies yearned.

"We have to say the words as we-" He paused, then blurted, "We should come together. You understand?"

"o.r.g.a.s.m," I managed. "At the same time."

"Right."

"That's part of the spell?"

"There's power in it."

"I'll say," I muttered. I'd been here before, though not with Jimmy. Sawyer had said nearly the same thing the night he'd given me the power to shape-shift. I decided to keep that tidbit to myself.

"We'll have to stay right on the verge, say the words, then-" He thrust forward just enough to make my eyes cross.

"Not going to be easy," I managed.

"Name something that is. Ready?"

I nodded, and he started again, slow and steady, in and out. Our gazes remained locked. In his I saw echoes of our past. No one knew me like he did. No one could.

"Faster," I whispered.

"Touch me," he begged, and let go of my hands.

My palms skimmed his back, showed him the rhythm. Every time he slid in, our lips met, when he slid out, they parted. I'd never had s.e.x with my eyes wide open. It was interesting. Where before I'd always known he was close by the slowing of his hips, the racing of his breath, the slight but telltale swelling within, now I saw the future in his eyes.

He stilled. I squirmed. He nipped my lip. "Don't," he managed, then licked the swell. I saw blood on his tongue, and my d.a.m.nable demon awoke. It didn't want to be confined and began to promise all sorts of tempting things.

"I order the vampire within to live only beneath the fullest of moons," Jimmy stated.

I was busy trying to ignore my demon's promise to give me anything, anyone, at any time that I wished.

"Say it!"

His urgency got through and I repeated his words. As the word moons slipped from my lips, the demon's whisper faded.

Jimmy rewarded me with a slow, single stroke. All the way out then a deep plunge home. I moaned.

"I banish you from my soul, my body and mind."

I wanted another stroke like that so bad, I'd have said just about anything. So I repeated his words and was again rewarded.

"Give me protection; give me peace."

I asked for the same, though I had little hope of actually getting it. I thought that was the end and lifted my hips, drawing him ever deeper. Jimmy cursed.

"Hold on. One. More. Thing." Sweat dripped from his forehead onto mine. "Ci e niente che possiate fare che mi rendera l'arresto che lo ama."

"Latin?" I asked. "Since when-?"

"Just say it," he managed between clenched teeth. "Hurry."

The o.r.g.a.s.m rolled between us like a thunderstorm across the horizon. He tried to stop it, but it was too late. I felt him pulse, and I tightened around him. As the winds broke over us, I whispered: "Ci e niente che possiate fare che mi rendera l'arresto che lo ama."

The last word left my lips, and the candles died with an audible puff. Silence fell like a cool dark sea. We were both damp with sweat-the scent salty yet somehow sweet.

"Is that good?" I asked. "Or bad."

He rolled to the side, keeping hold of my hand as he always used to, and we both stared at the ceiling where the light of the moon now flickered and danced all alone.

"I don't know," he said.

Jimmy turned his head; I turned mine. Our noses brushed, and I was nearly overcome with the urge to kiss him and not stop kissing him until we made love for real, though what had just happened had felt more real than anything had for a long, long time.

"The only way to know if the spell worked is to take off-" With one finger, Jimmy traced my neck just above the collar.

The urge to kiss him, the warm, fuzzy, maybe-he-still-loves-me feeling vanished in a wash of cold sweat.

"You want to go first?" he asked.

"Why don't we take them off together?"

"No," he said quickly. "If the spell didn't work, one of us has to stay sane enough to wrestle the control back on."

I swallowed, discovered I suddenly couldn't talk, and settled for a nod.

Jimmy sat up. "You first or me?"

I sat up, too. The moon cast just enough light to see the glow of his eyes but only the shadow of the rest of him.

I held out a hand. "Two out of three? Rock, paper, scissors?"

"Sure."

We began to count-one, two-swinging our fists up and down.

"Wait!" Jimmy stopped mid-three and so did I. "Does the winner go first or does the loser?"

That was a toughie. Being the first to know you were free-partially-of a bloodsucking evil thing was good. Then again, being the first to go bugf.u.c.k and try to kill the other, only to be forcibly latched back in to an embarra.s.sing, bespelled control, was bad.

"I can't decide," I admitted.

"Okay." Jimmy bit his lip for a second, scowling-a little boy faced with an impossible problem-then shrugged. "Winner should always go first."

"Works for me." This was basically the toss of a coin. Fate would decide. Or G.o.d, depending on what you believed. Either way, it was out of my hands.

We played the game as we had when children-fast and furious, no time to think, to reason, to plan a strategy.

One, two, three-I won. One, two, three-he did. One, two, three- Jimmy's eyes met mine, and his lips quirked. "Congratulations."

"a.s.s," I muttered.

"Sticks and stones," he returned. "You still have to go first."

"Fine." I tugged on the catch. After a minor struggle-for obvious reasons the thing wasn't easy to remove-the collar loosened and tumbled free.

I watched it fall to the bed, the paste jewels catching the moonlight and turning every color of night. The control bounced on the mattress and lay still.

I waited for the change to rush over me.

CHAPTER 28.

"Wanna tear out my throat?" Jimmy asked. "Bathe in the blood? Drink me so dry I blow away on the next stiff breeze?"

"Not right now," I said. "Maybe later."

He reached for his c.o.c.k ring.

"Hold on."

"You wanna do it?" He lay back on the bed, putting his arms behind his head. "Be my guest."

"Don't screw with me now, Sanducci. I am in no mood."

He sighed and sat up. "Figures."

"Shhh." I tilted my head, listening, waiting for the voice of evil to whisper . . . something. I didn't think it was there, yet still I . . . "Sense it," I said.

Jimmy's temporary lightness fled. "We'll never be free of the vampire, Lizzy. I told you that when you insisted on becoming one. We can put it beneath the moon"-he met my gaze, holding it-"but you know what that means."

"We'll be even more bloodthirsty on that single night." If such a thing were possible. "I wish there were a way to know for sure."

"Know what?"

"That it's gone." I waved my hand before he could correct me. "Or contained beneath the moon and not just hiding in here"-I rapped my skull with my knuckles-"waiting for you to take your control off, and then we can party."

"I know a way." He got off the bed and started rooting through my duffel.

"Hey!" I said, but he ignored me. Since there really wasn't anything secret in there, I let him.

Jimmy pulled out a small plastic bag, reached in, and held up Ruthie's crucifix. The sight of it made my eyes sting. I'd missed wearing that almost as much as I missed hearing her voice.