"You know, if you were a werewolf, you could almost be the perfect man."

"There's no 'almost' about it, woman."

I grinned. "I'll be waiting near the gate."

I hung up, then hurriedly got dressed, unable to stop the silly grin that kept playing about my lips. Quinn might not be a werewolf, and therefore not a contender to be the mate my wolf soul had been longing for, but there was no denying how good he made me feel. Or how much I looked forward to being with him. And as much as I had loved Kellen, our relationship hadn't been like this. Hadn't made me feel like this. Which maybe meant that I'd been in love with the idea of him being a werewolf and therefore a real mate prospect more than I'd actually been in love.

He'd been right in walking away. I could see that now, even if it hurt like h.e.l.l at the time.

Once dressed, I walked over to the tangled pile that was Rhoan and Liander, and gently toed Liander's side. The angry redness of his scars had long faded, but he'd always wear the puckered reminders of the day a madman decided to gut him. It still made me shiver when I remembered how close we'd come to losing him.

He didn't respond so I nudged him again. This time, he groaned softly and opened a bleary eye. "This is not what I call a decent hour to get up. Wake me in another five hours."

"Quinn's picking me up and we're going to breakfast. I've left the car keys in your coat pocket.""Have fun," he muttered as his eyes drifted closed.

Making me wonder if he'd even remember me talking to him when he eventually woke up properly. I shook my head and made my way through the trees, sucking in the clean mountain air and the delicious scent of eucalyptus and pine. The more time I spent up here, the more I appreciated the gift Misha had given me. This place was freedom-and it would also have been the perfect place to bring up a family.

I thrust the thought-and the resulting angst the knowledge that I might never have the one thing I'd always dreamed of-away, and climbed the old metal gate, sitting on top of it as I waited for my vampire and his flashy red Ferrari.

I leaned back in my chair with a contented sigh and gave Quinn a smile. "That definitely hit the spot."

He glanced down at the three plates that I'd all but licked clean, then said, with a smile touching his luscious lips, "If there's one thing I've always admired about werewolves, it's their appet.i.te."

A smile teased my lips. "And here I was thinking you were all darkly disapproving of a werewolf's appet.i.te."

"Only when that appet.i.te isn't aimed in the right direction."

I leaned forward again and crossed my arms on the table. I was wearing a low cut, V-necked T-shirt, so the action exposed not only the blue lace of my bra, but a rather large amount of breast. "The right direction being you, and only you?"

"In your case, yes." His gaze slithered downward briefly before rising, and the smile became full blown. The heat of it just about blew my socks off. "And you surely can't blame me for wanting to keep your luscious body all to myself. Any man with any sense would want to do the same."

Which left me with the perfect opening to bring up the problem of his feeding. I blew out a breath, then said, "That's something we need to talk about."

His warm smile faded as he studied me for a moment, and part of me mourned its loss.

"This sounds serious."

"It is."

"Then wait a moment while I grab a coffee to fortify myself." He signaled to the waiter, who bought over the coffee pot and filled up his mug. Quinn picked it up and took a sip, then his dark gaze met mine. "Okay, fire away."

I blew out another breath. "Several people over the last couple of days have commented on how pale I look."

He raised a dark eyebrow. "You have a vampire feeding on you nightly. It's natural that you're going to look a little paler."

"Yeah, but the problem is that it's not just the paleness. I've been dizzy on several occasions, and I've been lucky that it hasn't had disastrous consequences." I hesitated, then added, "Now, I'm not entirely convinced it's your feeding causing this, because my psychic talents seem to be rapidly developing new and interesting twists right now, but I still think it's something we need to discuss."

He frowned. "If it is the feeding, then I'm sorry. I didn't realize-"

"It's not your fault," I interrupted quickly. "Not entirely. I should have said something the minute I realized the feedings might be affecting me."

"I didn't think they would." He took another sip of coffee, his expression as neutral as I'd ever seen it, then said, "Generally, a werewolf's quick recuperation powers enable them to recover more quickly than mortals."

"And it does." I gave him a lopsided smile. "I'm gathering there are not many mortals who could take a vampire feeding off them three or four times a night for several nights on end."

"No." He put down his coffee then reached forward and wrapped his hands around mine. His fingers were warm, filled with a strength that was comforting. "Trouble is, when I have s.e.x, I feed. I can't not feed. It's a part of the whole equation for me."

"And you reckon we werewolves are addicted to s.e.x."

He smiled, but the seriousness in his eyes stopped my lips from echoing his. "It's not an addiction, but a necessity. You're currently my only partner, Riley, so therefore my only source of food."

"And therein lies our problem, I think." I gave his hands a squeeze, then pulled mine away and picked up my coffee. Despite the need to talk about this, my hands were shaking. Part of me feared his reaction to what I was about to say. We'd been in this sort of situation so often before-even if the reasons had been completely different-and it had always ended with one or the other of us storming off in anger. I'd like to say we'd both grown since then, but the truth was, I doubted it. Ingrained reactions never really changed-not when there were emotions involved.

And there were definitely emotions involved here-his and mine.

"I don't want to take other partners, Riley." He studied me for a minute, then added, "Do you?"

I raised an eyebrow, and pretended not to understand the intent behind that question. "Do I want you to take other partners? I wouldn't be suggesting it if I thought it was a bad thing."

Something flickered in his eyes. Annoyance, and just a touch of hurt. "So there'd be no feeling of jealously? No feeling of hurt if I was with another woman?"

I opened my mouth to say no, of course not, then actually thought about it. And the truth is, I just didn't know. My wolf soul might have free and easy att.i.tudes when it came to s.e.x, but I'd had Quinn to myself for a few weeks now, and the truth was, I liked it. More than I'd ever thought I would.

"I've never really been in that situation with you," I said. "You've been something of a steamroller in your seduction attempts, and I've always been busy turning a blind eye to what lay between us. We never had what could be termed a normal courtship, so I've never had to face the situation of seeing you with someone else. But I am a wolf, above all else, and no matter what else you might be to me, you will never be that!"

The smile that touched his lips held a slightly bitter edge. "That's the second time today you've mentioned that."

"Because it is important. It's what I am." I hesitated, then added softly, "And it's what I desire, above everything else."

He leaned back in his chair. "So we're back to that old chestnut."

Annoyance surged, but I didn't say anything. I really didn't want to get into another argument-and I would, if I opened my mouth at that particular moment.

He stared at me for several long minutes, his face showing nothing but blankness. Yet his dark eyes fairly burned with emotion.

Or maybe it just seemed that way to me because I was so in tune with the man.

"So what is it you're actually suggesting?"

"That you take other lovers when you're up in Sydney, and that you supplement your feedings with synth blood when you're here in Melbourne with me. I can't afford to get dizzy and weak in my line of work, Quinn. We both know that would be fatal." "And you?" he said, voice tight.

"I've never promised to remain in a monogamous relationship with you, just as I've made no secret of the fact I want to find my soul mate." I held up my hand as his anger surged around me and he opened his mouth to speak. "By the same token, I don't want to f.u.c.k every wolf in sight-as you're undoubtedly about to accuse me of."

"I wasn't, actually," he said, more mildly than I'd thought possible.

"Well, it is your usual line of attack," I said, with a slight smile. I leaned forward and caught his hands in mine again. "Look, I love being with you. I love being in your bed. Right now, I don't want anyone else, physically or emotionally. But that's not saying it won't ever happen. As we both keep noting, I am a wolf, and sometimes situations happen."

"And if it does, you don't want me acting like an enraged and jealous husband."

"Well, yes."

He sighed. "I don't know, Riley-"

"You have the reputation of a playboy, so don't tell me finding other women to seduce will be a problem."

His smile sent a warm shiver across my skin. "Oh, that's never been a problem. Well, until I met you."

"What, my wild and wicked ways have turned you off women?"

"Not quite," he said, raising my hand and kissing my fingertips. "Your wild and wicked ways have made me want only you."

"Which is not saying you can't be turned on by other women."

"Indeed."

"Then there's no real problem."

"Not a physical one," he agreed.

He was still kissing my fingers, and it was making my toes curl in delight. "Then you will take other women to your bed when necessary?"

"I don't want to see you dead, Riley, nor do I want to be the possible cause of it. So if you insist on other women and the revolting synth blood-"

"And I do, because it's better for the both of us."

"That is yet to be determined." He gave me a wry sort of smile. "Okay, agreed. But only if you promise not to tell me about your own conquests. It may happen, Riley, but I don't want to know about it."

"I've never gloated about my other partners to you," I said. "And just because our situation forces us to take other partners doesn't mean we can't be the most important person in each other's life."

"Unless you find your soul mate."

I snorted softly. "You and I both know that may never happen. h.e.l.l, fate has done a pretty good job of crushing my dreams of a pack of kids. The whole soul mate thing is probably next in line."

"It's still something I worry about. As I said, I don't want to lose you.""I'm not immortal, Quinn. You're going to lose me sooner or later anyway."

"You, my annoying beautiful redhead, are both werewolf and vampire. The only thing anyone can say with any sort of accuracy about your life span is that it will be longer than a regular werewolf's."

"Oh, G.o.d," I said, pretending horror. "Does that mean I have to listen to you nagging about my s.e.x life for half of eternity?"

He smiled, then rose and leaned across the table, kissing me gently. "I'm afraid it does, my girl."

I smiled into his gaze. "Good. Now, I have one other vital question."

"I should have known." He sighed wearily, but the effect was spoiled by the twinkle in his eyes. "Hit me with it, then."

"Have you ever had s.e.x in a flashy red Ferrari?"

His smile dissolved into a look that was all heat, all desire. "No, but I'm willing to give anything a go once."

"That's what I love about you." I kissed him lightly then rose. "Ready to go?"

"With you, dear werewolf, always."

I grinned, caught his hand, and led him outside.

Okay, so s.e.x in a Ferrari wasn't exactly comfortable, but man, uncomfortable could still be so much fun if you were with the right person. I was still grinning in delight as I headed over to the house of the woman who was going to teach me some of the finer techniques of being a club dancer.

Which turned out to be a whole lot of fun, too. The woman Ben had recommended was a towering amazon with honey-colored skin and amazingly large b.r.e.a.s.t.s. And she sure could move her booty.

Over the next few hours she taught me that dancing naked well was harder than it seemed, but by the end she'd declared I'd pa.s.s general muster and get employed at any of the upmarket clubs.

Meaning, I gather, than the down-market ones employed anyone with b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

I thanked her and handed her a hundred for her time, after which she'd declared I was welcome back anytime for lessons.

Once back in the car, I rang Jack. "Hey boss, just had my dancing lesson, so I'm ready to go undercover if you need me to."

"We will need it," he said grimly. "Kade reckons there's something going on behind the scenes at the club. There's several areas that are overly protected by guards, who get rather nasty if the uninvited go near them."

"I gather he tried."

"Yeah. Got thrown out for his trouble. So you'll have to go in."

"There's one problem. If the woman who was chasing Joe either owns or works at this joint, she might well recognize me." I didn't think she'd gotten a good look at my human form-it had been pitch black in that warehouse, after all-but she was a sorcerer and a shapeshifter, and I had no idea how good a crow's sight was at night. We couldn't afford to take the risk.

"Which is why Liander's waiting for you at home. He's going to adjust your look."I groaned. "Boss, I really do like my 'look' as it is."

"Too bad. After he's finished, get down to the club. As of yesterday, they're two strippers down. They advertised today for workers. You've got a six o'clock appointment."

I glanced at my watch. It was nearing three now, so we were cutting things close. "Isn't it a little odd to be going in for an interview? I thought you just showed up, flaunted your stuff, and you were hired." Or not.

"This place advertises themselves as a 'cla.s.sy' men's club. They don't just have strippers, although that is their main business.

Word is that any woman caught shooting up or prost.i.tuting herself on the premises is escorted straight to a police station."

Meaning they couldn't do it while on duty, but could go home with clients? Because it seemed likely that all our vamp victims had met lovers there. "The cops wouldn't charge them, not on secondhand evidence."

"They apparently hand over the security tapes, as well. There's been one incidence there before, and the woman was fined."

"I bet the club had been clean since." Knowing the owners would follow through with the threat of legal action if anyone broke the rules would surely be warning enough to most. "And my profile?"

"Liander has it already. And Riley? Keep the tracker on this time."

"Will do." I hung up and headed home.

Liander was waiting for me, an array of bottles and other goodies laid out over the kitchen table. I'd barely walked in the door when he pointed an imperious finger in the direction of the bathroom. "Shower first."

I frowned and sniffed. "I don't smell that bad."