When she got a good look at him and his wicked fangs, fear gripped her. Holy c.r.a.p! This dude's a vampire! Julie staggered back.

Hadn't he said his name was Luke? She'd thought his blond hair and red eyes looked familiar. Kinda like the last face she saw before she'd been turned to a- "You!" As quickly as her shock faded, anger surged through her chest and she launched herself at him, doing what any self-righteous woman would do and dug her nails into that frightening face. "You son of a b.i.t.c.h! You did this to me! You made me-"

Luke grabbed her hands and flung her away like a dirty towel. "Stop, woman!"

Before Julie could spin around and attack again, Roger stepped in front of her and faced Luke. "Leave her alone. Or I'll-"

"Or you'll what, human?" Luke lifted Roger by the collar of his shirt and hurled him to the side. "She's mine."

As Roger dropped to the ground, groaning, any fear Julie might have felt for her own safety disappeared. Her visions of a night of pa.s.sion were quickly fading into her dreams, soon to be lost if she didn't do something to stop Luke. "Look, Bubba. You're not very bright are you? No one owns me. Got that?" She poked a finger at his chest like a child would poke at a hot iron. "I don't belong to anyone and I didn't ask for you to do what you did. So get lost before I lose my temper."

Tall-dangerous-and-dense s.n.a.t.c.hed at her wrist and yanked her into his arms. "You belong to me."

"Like h.e.l.l, I do!" Julie planted her hands against his chest and channeled all her anger and frustration into one mighty shove. After Roger's two attacks on the man, she didn't expect her little display of annoyance to have much impact.

But Luke flew backward and slammed against a car, his body hitting so hard, the metal crumpled behind him, leaving a b.u.t.t-sized dent six inches deep in the door panel.

Julie pressed her hand against her mouth. Holy c.r.a.p! Did I do that? She stared at her hands as if they belonged to someone else.

William had mentioned she'd have speed, but he didn't say anything about strength. Roger hadn't been able to move the mountain of a vampire and she'd thrown him with nothing more than a little display of feminine PMS.

Roger.

She ran back to the man she'd been l.u.s.ting after for days, sure he'd have a question or two after her little demonstration of testosterone-like strength. "Are you all right?" She extended a hand to help him up.

"I'm fine." He accepted her a.s.sistance, pulling himself to his feet. "But this guy isn't through with us." Roger straightened and reached for the pistol beneath his jacket, thankful he carried at all times. Luke was less than a yard from him when he unloaded five rounds directly into the man's heart.

"Bullets?" Luke laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

"That was five rounds." Roger glanced from his Glock to the man's chest where the bullets had entered. Other than the tears in his shirt, the blond-haired man didn't show any of the normal signs of mortal wounds like falling over and dying. "What's it take to kill you?"

"A lot more than bullets," Luke said. "On the other hand, I could snap you in two. So why don't you get out of my way?"

"No." Roger held his pistol out again. "Julie's my girl and you can't have her."

Almost melting at Roger's words, Julie had to pull herself together and think through the consequences of Roger's stand against a being at least twice as strong as him. "Uh, Roger?" Julie tapped Roger's shoulder. If he didn't move out of the way really quick- like, her evening of romance and s.e.x was definitely going to be out of the question. Most likely, Roger would end up in the hospital with multiple fractures.

"Not now, Julie. I'm going to kick some major b.u.t.t." He pushed his sleeves up his arms, a menacing scowl pushing his brows toward his nose.

"You?" The big guy's eyes widened. "You think you can take me?"

"Uh, Roger?" Julie tapped his shoulder again. "Luke isn't human. He could kill you." "Not now, Jul-" He shot a glance her way. "What do you mean, he's not human? And how do you know his name?"

"He just told me his name is Luke. And believe me when I tell you he's not human," she repeated. "If you'll allow me...I'll explain later." She stepped around him and stood toe-to-toe with Luke. "Get lost, Luke."

The vampire bared all his teeth. "I'm not leaving without you."

"Then you'll be here a long time." Julie narrowed her eyes and gave Luke a determined look, hoping "that" look would make him back down and leave them alone. Otherwise, she'd be forced to kick his a.s.s. "Get the truck, Roger."

"Not without you," he said, standing beside her.

"Think of your truck as a battering ram and just do it. I'll be okay, really." She didn't look around to see if he complied. Certain her last attack had been dumb luck, Julie wasn't so sure she'd be able to hold Luke off for long. Surprise was her best weapon against an older vampire.

Here's to toppling the big guy. She ducked her shoulder and plowed into Luke's midsection, wondering if her best dress would be toast after she kicked the man's a.s.s for ruining her date. Right now, she didn't care.

Luke flew backward into another vehicle as Roger's truck revved in the background. While the vampire struggled to pull himself together, Julie raced for the truck, yanking the door open and hopping in. She didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they were out of the parking lot and two blocks away from the restaurant.

Roger dug his cell phone from the clip on his belt. "I'm calling the department. That man needs to be apprehended before he hurts someone."

Julie shot a look in Roger's direction. If he called the police, they'd have to make a report of the incident. "I'm okay, you're okay.

Let's call it even and go to my place."

"Are you crazy? The Houston P.D. needs to lock that guy up."

And what would they do to her if they discovered she was a vampire too? "Okay, but don't promise to go in until the morning.

Unless the words 'whipped cream' don't mean anything to you anymore."

After a short call to the department, Roger pressed his foot to the accelerator. "I hope they catch him. I should have gone after him."

"How often do we have the same night off?" Julie slid across the bench seat and snuggled up to Roger. "I'm not letting some jacka.s.s ruin my evening with you."

His arm draped around her shoulders and he pulled her close. "No way. Whipped cream sounds good. And maybe some of that chocolate pudding."

Throw the dog a bone and he'll go after it. Julie smiled at her a.n.a.logy, imagining doing it with Roger "doggie style". h.e.l.l, she'd do it standing on her head if he wanted to.

Now that the bad guy was long behind them, Julie could concentrate on Roger and making him want her just as much as she wanted him. And right at that moment, that was a lot.

Her hand slid up the lean muscles of his thigh to the ridge beneath his zipper. "Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Julie tugged at the low neckline of her dress and blew a stream of air down between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Roger's glance dropped to the V of her cleavage. "It's definitely hot in here." When he looked up, he swerved to avoid hitting a stop sign. "Definitely hot in here," he muttered. Julie sat up straight. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that while you're driving."

"No, you shouldn't if you want to get to your place in one piece." He drew in a shaky breath and blew it out. "And by the way.

Where did you learn that linebacker move? When I hit that guy he didn't even budge. But you..." With a shake of his head.

"What do they teach you in nursing school, anyway?"

"Oh, that?" Julie swallowed the wad of guilt lodged in her throat and forced a shrug. "I took a course in Tae Kwon Do once."

She didn't volunteer that she'd quit when it came to sparring because she didn't want to hurt anyone. Funny how a little change like being turned to a vampire, erased all her reservations about fighting. Or did she only want to fight the ugly nonhumans she didn't know existed before last night? Whatever. All she knew was that she could taste desire like a fine sip of wine swirling around on the back of her tongue and she had to clench her hands in her lap to keep them from straying back to Roger. If they didn't get to her apartment soon, she'd force Roger to stop on the side of the road for a little s.e.xual snack to tide her over.

An innate sense of honesty niggled at Julie's conscience and surfaced. "Roger?"

"Um-hm?" Roger slowed to turn onto the street where she lived.

Don't tell him! Julie hesitated, her brain turning to whipped cream and chocolate pudding. "Oh, nothing." Chicken!

Roger pulled his truck up to the curb outside the old apartment house and shifted into park. Then he turned his beautiful and very s.e.xy brown eyes toward her and smiled. "What's wrong, Julie? Having second thoughts? Because, if you are. I'll be fine-after a long cold shower-but I'll be fine."

"No way. I haven't changed my mind. It's just..." I'm a vampire. She couldn't make the words come out of her mouth and spoil the rest of an already crazy evening with the man she wanted to make love with.

"What, Julie?" He took her hands in his. "You can tell me anything."

Chapter Five.

Julie's eyes widened and she stared up at him, her mouth poised to say something.

Roger held his breath. If she said she didn't want to make love with him, he'd die a thousand deaths before he could get to his house and that cold shower. His d.i.c.k strained against the confines of his slacks and briefs, begging to be released.

After an excruciatingly long, drawn-out pause, Julie's eyes softened into a s.e.xy droop and she smiled. "It's just...last one in gets the leftovers. I call dibs on the chocolate pudding!" She laughed out loud and grabbed for the door handle. Before he could reach out and kiss her, she was out of the truck and racing for the entrance to the apartment house.

A good two lengths behind, Roger chased after her, laughter bubbling up in his throat. Julie made him feel young and carefree. He loved that about the s.e.xy, sa.s.sy nurse and wanted to be with her more often. She was helping to heal his wounds from his first marriage, and for that he would be forever grateful.

Grat.i.tude wasn't what he had on his mind as they crossed the threshold of her apartment, clothes flying off before the door had time to latch behind them.

Julie reached down and slipped the strap from the back of her heels and kicked her sandals into a corner.

As Julie ran to the small kitchen, Roger unb.u.t.toned the second b.u.t.ton of his shirt, suddenly unsure of his role in the rest of the evening. One minute Julie has her hands in his lap, the next, she's hesitating over what to say. Despite her words to the contrary, was she having second thoughts?

With a squirt can of whipped cream and a two plastic cups of fat-free chocolate pudding, Julie rounded the corner of the fridge, smiling. "Choose your poison."

"I'll take the whipped cream. I like something I can point an aim."

"You're such a cop. Must be a guy thing to have something to point and shoot." She shot him a wicked grin and glanced at his crotch.

The look she gave him sent blood rocketing through his veins and the room grew increasingly hotter. He loosened another b.u.t.ton on his shirt.

Her gaze followed the movement. "That's more like it."

"Are you going to keep that whipped cream or am I going to have to take it from you?" He reached for the can.

Instead of placing the can in his hand, Julie pressed the nozzle and squirted a small stream of the white fluffy concoction into his outstretched palm.

"Two can play that game." He scooped a finger full of the cream and drew a white line from the base of her throat down to the shadow of her cleavage.

Her eyes closed and she inhaled deeply. "Careful not to get it on my dress," she said, her voice like a breathy whisper.

"Let me take care of it," he traced another line of the white cream over her lips and down her chin to connect with the one at her throat.

She laughed a shaky, forced laugh, her eyes a pool of emerald green. "Pretty soon, I'll be covered with this stuff."

"Not if I have my way with you." He licked the rest of the cream from his hand, then gripped her shoulders and pulled her close enough to taste her sweet lips.

A bare calf climbed up the back of his leg and her arms lifted toward him.

"Uh-uh. Not yet." With his lips pressed to hers, he lapped at the cream and delved between her teeth, his tongue coating hers with the tasty treat. "Umm, good enough to eat."

When he pulled away to tackle the rest of the whipped cream, she followed him. Roger held up a finger. "We don't want to get cream on your dress, now do we?"

"To h.e.l.l with the dress," she said and wrapped her arms around his neck, the can colliding with the plastic snack cups of pudding.

She couldn't seem to get close enough as waves of desire swept over her like a tsunami, engulfing her, consuming her and taking her to the darker side of l.u.s.t. She couldn't stop the rising need any more than she could change what she'd become. If she didn't have Roger that night, she'd expire from a totally different type of starvation.

"Wait." Roger pushed her away.

"I can't wait." Dropping the can of cream and the tubs of pudding, she reached for his shirt and struggled with the b.u.t.tons, too impatient to maneuver them out of the holes.

Roger laughed. "Let me, or I won't have any-"

Beyond caring, Julie grabbed each side of his shirt and ripped it open. b.u.t.tons popped off bouncing off her chest.

"b.u.t.tons left. Well, that's one way to do it."

What was wrong with her? She was destroying his clothes! Yet, she couldn't stop. Her fingers shoved the shirt over his broad shoulders and down his arms, following the fabric down his arm until the shirt fell to the floor. She reached behind him and cupped his a.s.s, pulling him close enough the heat of his c.o.c.k pressed into her belly.

"I didn't like that shirt anyway. It had whipped cream all over it." Roger cupped her face and kissed her long and hard. His lips broke free and he licked the cream from her chin, his tongue lapping at the trail down her neck to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He reached behind her and slid her zipper down the middle of her back.

Pushing the straps from her shoulders was all it took and the simple black sheath floated to a filmy puddle at her feet. The feathery stroke of the fabric ignited nerve endings all the way from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to her toes. Naked except for the black lace thong, she stood ready for his next move. And if he didn't make it fast, she'd do it.

She wasn't disappointed when Roger's hands circled her waist and climbed upward to cup her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Aren't you hot in all those clothes?" Was that her voice-that high-pitched, breathless sound? Her body was on fire and Roger stoked the furnace. "And where's that whipped cream and pudding?" She could use something to cool her off. What better way than chocolate pudding on her skin?

Roger flicked the b.u.t.ton at his waist and unzipped his pants, his c.o.c.k pushing outward, still encased in snowy white briefs.

Julie reached for him and skimmed her hand over the cotton fabric and down inside his trousers to cup his b.a.l.l.s.

Grabbing her hands, Roger pulled her out of his pants. "How about I get the whipped cream and we take this in the bedroom?"

"Why waste time?" She tugged against his hands and he let go.

"Good point." He slipped off his shoes as Julie pushed his pants and briefs down his legs, dropping to her knees to complete the job.

From her position on the floor, Julie had a great view of Roger's magnificent p.e.n.i.s. Free of clothing, he was wonderful to look at all over. His body was lean and muscular with dark hair sprinkled across his chest narrowing to a line down to the nest between his legs. She cupped his s.c.r.o.t.u.m and ma.s.saged the sac between her fingers.

Groaning, Roger leaned his head back and breathed deeply, his fingers threading through her hair, tugging her mouth close to his c.o.c.k. As enticing as his engorged c.o.c.k was with the artery pulsing in his groin, inches from her teeth, Julie was torn between taking him full into her mouth and chomping into his groin. Her mind engaged enough to let her follow the more humanly correct urge. Opening her mouth wide, she wrapped her lips around him and pulled his hips forward until his p.e.n.i.s b.u.mped against the back of her throat.

Roger's hand fisted in her hair and he held her against him, his b.u.t.tocks tight beneath her hands. Then he pulled her back by the hair. "I won't last four seconds at this rate. Give me the d.a.m.ned pudding." He pulled her up his body and kissed her, then bent to retrieve the fallen can of whipped cream and plastic snack puddings. "Come on."

In a l.u.s.ty haze, Julie let Roger lead her to the kitchen table where he lifted her to sit on the edge.