He cast a look down the front of me. "Do you regret making love to me?"

I hadn't expected that. "Why would you... What...?"

"Simple yes or no, Catherine," he said, gripping my shoulders and giving me that unblinking gaze.

"No! I mean, I regret what happened afterward with the cops, but... Why, do you?"

"Of course not." He let go. "Then why did you wash as though I'd fouled you?"

He was offended that I'd cleaned up? Okay, that was new.

"Because it's tacky to walk around like that! I know how well vampires can smell, and there's a bunch of them waiting back at the house. Grant me a little dignity, will you?"

"Tacky?" Bones appeared to mull the word. "We have a difference of opinion. I'm in no hurry to wash your scent from me. In fact, I can't wait until it's all over every inch of me."

Whoa. Guess Annette had been right about suggestion number two!

A low laugh escaped him. "You're blushing again. I'm finished holding back-you are absolutely stunning. Do you know why I laughed the first time I saw you? Because I still half thought it was a prank. Charles tells me a lurid tale about an archenemy, a forgotten marriage, and a spell to induce amnesia, then in walks this exquisite girl who's supposed to be my wife. It didn't even seem possible."

He kissed me then, quick and fervent. I didn't even have a chance to respond before he ended it.

"Let's go. It seems I don't have any willpower when I kiss you. Later I'll kiss and taste every inch of you. I won't be able to think about anything else until then."

With far more unsteadiness than before, I got into the car. No, it wasn't a good idea for him to kiss me. I wanted more when he did that too, and there were only so many gas stations between here and the house.

Thankfully, no one batted an eye when we arrived in our different attire. Bones gave me his coat to wear, so I was decently covered, at least. He only wore his torn pants and shoes, but there wasn't time for winks and nudges. Mencheres drew him aside as soon as we crossed the threshold, and I went straight to my bedroom to change. Denise and Spade were loading up the car from what I overheard, and Annette was chatting with Fabian, so someone else must be collecting her bags. From the bustle of activity, we'd be leaving soon.

I threw some things into a suitcase that had been laid out on the bed. Already, most of my other things were packed, judging from the empty drawers and the suitcases by the door. A glance in Bones's room showed a freckle-faced teenager hefting some bags toward the door. He smiled at me and told me he'd be back to get mine. Okay, so we were leaving very soon.

Spade came to get me ten minutes later. "Come with me, Cat. I'll show you to your car."

"Where's Bones?"

He gave me a jaded smile. "Still with Mencheres, I expect."

That sounded faintly ominous. "It's not his fault," I said at once. "I'm the one who didn't shut my eyes in the parking lot-"

"Quite." Spade interrupted me with a laugh. "Crispin knew when he took you out that you might discover your location. He chose to do it anyway, and now he's being held to task for it. Don't fret. Mencheres is just giving him the rough edge of his opinion."

Spade's demeanor was far friendlier. Ever since Vlad had torched his house, he'd been a little prickly around me.

"Why are you in such a good mood? Happy about a change of scenery?"

"My best friend is happier," he responded instantly. "Come now, Cat. If Denise were the one who'd unwittingly cheated on me and I treated her with cool judgment, how would you respond? Especially if she was truly regretful? You'd be skinning off pieces of my arse and we both know it, so can you blame me for wanting to do likewise?"

Well, that was honest. Put in those terms, he also had a point. I'd julienne him if he hurt Denise. Guess he'd fought similar compulsions.

"If I didn't love him so much, I'd be more logical," I said at last.

Spade smiled. "I know." Then he chuckled and gave my ass a quick smack. "That's why this is still intact, without my boot stuffed up there."

I slapped at his hand, but he'd already moved it away. Then he took my suitcases, using one to gesture with.

"Come along, Reaper. Let's get lost again."

An unknown human was at the wheel of the car Spade led me to. He hadn't bothered to introduce us. That no-name policy, I guessed. As soon as Bones got in, we left. A whole caravan of vehicles was going also, from the sound of it. I had my eyes closed. No need to give Gregor a mental image of things. Wait until he peeked into my mind and found out that I'd had sex with Bones. The thought almost made me smile.

Cool arms settled around me as Bones repositioned me until my head was on his chest. Then something light was placed over me.

"Go on, luv. Open your eyes."

I did and saw a dark sheet covering both of us. It felt like we were kids paying tent, and I bit back the urge to ask if he'd brought a flashlight.

Bones smiled. "Now at least we can look at each other while we speak. We'll be driving round two hours before we switch transportation modes. I know you're tired, but don't sleep until after that."

"I'm not that tired. I usually don't sleep until dawn, anyway."

A dark brow rose. "You've been abed before midnight all week. That's not your normal routine?"

I decided on an honest answer. "I was avoiding you. First it was because I was mad, and then when I was around you, I'd either babble or do something completely embarrassing. Hiding in my room felt like the lesser of two evils."

Bones caught my hand in his. "You're not hiding any longer, right?"

It didn't escape my notice that he held the same hand he'd used for our blood oath.

"No," I said quietly. "Not anymore."

It also didn't escape my notice that the last time we'd been reclined in a car, it had been under very different circumstances. I shifted, finding a more comfortable position, and the movement caused a twinge of soreness down below. Good thing we weren't going over unpaved roads.

Bones stared at me while his other hand slid down until it rested below my navel. "I was too rough before. Let me heal you."

His voice was soft, and with the radio blaring, the human driving the car couldn't overhear us. It made our conversation feel private even if our circumstances weren't.

"No," I whispered. "I like feeling you there. You said my scent was comforting? Well, this is to me, and you weren't too rough. I loved it. This is what I usually feel afterward, but it isn't pain, believe me."

I was telling the truth. This was a pleasant sort of ache, and it increased when his eyes began turning green.

"You deserve so much better than a backseat, but I couldn't help myself. I felt so much while touching you that it broke my will. Gregor might have stolen you from my mind, but it's clear you went deeper than that. You're beneath my skin, Catherine, and now I know that no person or spell can take you away from me."

Happiness coursed through me. "Well, if it helps your progress... I guess we'll have to do it every night."

He let out an amused snort. "Believe me, you're not keeping me from your bed any longer. You only succeeded before because I didn't know any better. I'd have been howling outside your door like a mangy dog if I had."

"That would have been the last straw for Spade. He'd have slugged me."

His arms curled around me. The feel of him was like therapy, soothing away my prior hurts.

"Tell me how we met. I want to know everything about it."

I settled back with a contented sigh. "You were on a job, and you'd tracked your mark to a bar in Ohio. I was there too, just itching to kill any vampire I could get alone. I saw you, came over and asked if you wanted to fuck..."

The new house didn't have a barn, horses, or a large, pasture-like backyard. It was in the woods, nothing but trees all around. The interior also wasn't as upscale as the last few places. In fact, it was kind of rustic. Spade wrinkled his nose in mild distaste. I loved it.

We'd flown the past few hours, then switched back to cars for the past forty minutes. It was well after dawn, and I just wanted to shower, brush my teeth, and go to bed wrapped up in Bones's arms. Mencheres, however, had other ideas.

"No, because he's coming with me," was Mencheres's immediate response when I asked Bones if he'd be right up.

"Huh?" I stopped on the stairs, my suitcase still in hand.

"I'm afraid I won't see you until tonight." Bones nearly sighed the words. "Training. We're already a bit late."

"But you haven't slept," I protested, starting back down.

"That does not excuse him," Mencheres stated.

Now I was mad. "Aren't you a little too old for spitefulness by, oh, a few thousand years?"

Bones came forward to rest a soothing hand on my arm. "I already knew this was my penalty. Think I'd change my actions because of lost sleep? You just get plenty of rest yourself. After all"-he brushed his lips next to my ear-"you'll need it."

Short of throwing a fit, there didn't seem to be much I could do. I contented myself with mentally informing Mencheres that he was a coldhearted, nasty shit and turned back around. Guess it was just shower, brush my teeth, and go to bed alone for me.

"I'll be waiting for you," I said as I headed back up the stairs.

Bones gave a short laugh. "You'd better be."

I picked the bedroom on the farthest corner of the second floor. Not the largest, but it was farther away from the others. The privacy was an illusion, but it was the best I could do. It would be so nice to have actual privacy again and not just its counterfeit.

After my bath, I slept for a few hours. Not as many as I should have, but I kept waking up and reaching across the empty space. Eventually I gave up and went downstairs.

Annette was watching TV, giving instructions to the actress on the screen. "Don't run up the stairs, fool. The killer's right there!"

Ah, a horror movie. Then I sniffed in confusion. "Are you wearing perfume?"

Annette glanced up and laughed. "Are you blind? Look around, Cat."

At that, I finally took in the rest of my surroundings. Jeez, she was right. If these had been enemy forces, I'd be dead. Roses were on almost every available tabletop. Long-stemmed, gorgeous, crimson roses.

"Bones had these delivered?"

"No, the juice boxes picked them up," she replied, turning her attention back to the movie. "They're in a house up the road."

I wanted to tell her that calling the live-in blood donors juice boxes wasn't polite, but I didn't bother. All I did was mutter, "You'll never be normal," and headed back upstairs.

"Neither will you, darling!" Annette sang out.

Uppity English tart. And yet when she was right, she was right.

Denise set down her cards after Spade nudged her.

"No fair," I protested. "Each player for themselves."

The three of us had been playing poker. Denise was better at bluffing, but her other skills hadn't matured as fast. She and Spade partnered up shamelessly.

"It's not that. We're going out," Spade said, setting down his hand.

"Oh." I dropped my cards. "Well, don't get freaky in a parking lot. Cops don't like that."

Denise burst out laughing. "Is that what happened last night?"

"Let's just say we disturbed the peace and leave it at that."

Spade didn't laugh, but his lips twitched. "It's a wonder Crispin didn't kill them."

I wasn't about to explain more. Should have just zipped it to begin with. "He might have wanted to. I didn't ask."

"Indeed." His mouth quirked again. "Appears he's taking precautions this time. We're going out, Mencheres is leaving, Annette will be staying overnight in the other residence, and Fabian will be floating elsewhere. You'll have the house to yourselves."

A slow flush crept its way up my face. "Bones arranged that?"

Now Spade did laugh. "What do you think?"

Well, what indeed? No fewer than six dozen roses were around the house, plus I'd also gotten a box of new lingerie. That had cracked me up though, because of the note inside: Now you needn't fret about wearing someone else's knickers.

Whatever Mencheres had Bones doing, he'd clearly allowed him some time to make arrangements. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Bones had intentions about tonight, lack of sleep or no lack of sleep.

"Um, have a nice time," I said, trying to play it cool.

Spade didn't say, "You too!" with a knowing wink. He only smiled and took Denise by the hand. "We'll be back before dawn."

They left, and shortly after, Annette followed suit. Since it was after dark, Bones would be here soon. I cleaned up the poker debris and then went in my room.

A lot of women have a ritual for a planned sexual encounter. In a way, it was the pre-foreplay foreplay. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth. I'd already shaved from my earlier bath, so that was done. Then I applied unscented lotion, further smoothing my skin. After a quick blow-dry, I put a few curls into my hair to make it messily full. Finally, I applied a hint of makeup with matte lipstick.

I'd just finished when I heard the car pull up. I went downstairs, wanting to be semi-posed. As the car stopped, I positioned myself on the couch, then thought, What if he wasn't alone? I jumped up, starting back up the stairs, but relaxed a second later. I'd only heard one car door shut, so Mencheres must not have returned with Bones.

The key turned in the lock, making it too late for me to repeat my former pose. I only had time to turn around as Bones came in. Instead of the sultry hello I'd prepared, all that came out was a breathy, "Hi."

Bones didn't say anything as his eyes moved over me. I was wearing the long, tonally dyed slip that had come with the new bras and panties. At the top it was the palest pink, with whisper-thin straps and a deep neckline. As it went past my hips, it darkened in color until the bottom was a deep rose. I wasn't wearing anything under it, and since it revealed far more than it hid, his gaze didn't miss an inch.

"Catherine."