"What about?"

"I want to get something to eat, and I want to talk to him about the mortality thing." He shrugged. "No decisions yet. Just information."

He reached toward her, plucking shyly at her sleeve. "I'll stay down there all night. So you don't have to worry about me. That way you can get some sleep."

Tara smiled. "I'll do that. But first, I'll walk you to the entrance."

The entrance to the Underground wasn't far, making an escort seem unnecessary, but he tolerated her company. She watched him disappear through the entryway and wished somebody down there had a phone, so she could call and check on him later. At least she knew where he would be, which was better than most nights.

By the time she made her way to her apartment, she had decided to follow Daniel's advice and get a good night's sleep. It would be the first she'd had since she'd agreed to take him in, and God knows, she needed it.

By nine o'clock, relieved of the burden of worrying about Daniel, she could no longer hold her eyes open. She crawled into her pajamas, then into bed, and dropped off before she could wonder how long it would take her to fall asleep.

"Felicity, it is not my habit to take advantage of a lady."

She twisted her fingers in the neck of his white shirt. "You are not taking advantage, and I daresay I am not a lady."

He dipped his head toward her, kissing her, his mouth hard and hot. She tangled her tongue with his, glorying in the sensation.

The evening's adventures had driven her to a place she knew well, where she craved the slide of skin against skin, the catharsis of relentless climax.

He drew back, looking into her face, the familiar heat smoldering in his eyes. "You most certainly are a lady, and I would put a stake through the heart of anyone who said otherwise." His hands slid up from her waist to pull at the hooks at the back of her dress, loosening them.

"Let's save the stakes for the vampires," she whispered, and grabbed him by the hair and kissed him again.

It was furious between them-it always was. Especially on nights like this, when their passion was fueled by the aftermath of shared danger. Tonight they had barely escaped death at the teeth of a gang of vampires, but they'd managed to kill two of them before they'd been forced to flee. Nearly losing Liam had made her want him desperately, so desperately she'd barely been able to wait until they returned to their small tenement house.

Now she pulled eagerly at his clothes, pulled him down onto the narrow bed. His mouth left her mouth and found her breasts as he peeled her bodice open. She arched into him, crying out at the tug of his mouth on her breast, the press of his tongue against her nipple. He pushed and pulled at her skirts until they fell to the floor. She tugged at the fastenings of his trousers until her fingers found his sex, thick and hot and ready. She cupped him, luxuriating in the velvety skin and the heat that filled her hand.

She had never been shy with him-she had never needed to be. She trusted him implicitly with her life, with her body. When his hand slid between her thighs, she shifted to allow him easier access.

His fingers slid inside her, his thumb finding the center of her pleasure, and she gasped as he rolled and pressed her there, until she shuddered over him, her body melting into fire and ecstasy.

He pressed his fingers deeper into her as she pulsed against him; then he shifted her body, bringing her down onto the heat of his ready erection. He slid deep into her, and she moved on him, drawing him in as far as she could. She loved the way he felt inside her, loved possessing him and being possessed by him, the slide and the heat and the friction as he slaked his thirst for her body. When he finished she had ridden the wave again, and plummeted back down with him Tara sat up in bed, shuddering. Not with fear, but with the aftershocks of powerful orgasm. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she hugged herself tight and closed her eyes as the pulsing faded.

That had been too damned real. Not a dream or even a memory, but something deeper, something stored in her cells. She was hot and wet and achy, exactly as if she'd actually experienced the events of the dream.

She should have been able to enjoy it. Under other circumstances, she probably would have. Knowing what she knew about Gray, though, she couldn't help but feel mortified at the thought that he might be having similar dreams about her.

She slept late the next morning, recovering from the sleep she'd lost in the middle of the night. The sun was up when she finally woke, and she jolted out of bed, rushing to Daniel's room.

He was there, curled up in bed exactly like a little boy, except he was deathly still and didn't appear to be breathing. Weak with relief, she took a moment to lean against the doorframe and collect herself.

Of course he'd made it home safely. He always did.

It was frustrating, though, knowing she couldn't talk to him about what he'd done last night. She was curious to know what he'd said to Dr. Greene and what the doctor had said to him. She wondered if he'd made his decision about whether to be mortal again. But at the moment, she couldn't ask him any of those questions.

Julian might know, though. And she needed to see him, anyway.

So she went to get her morning coffee, intending to head for the Underground afterward.

Gray was at the coffee shop. Standing in line behind two other customers, staring at the menu board. Tara froze in the doorway, seeing him. The polite thing to do would be to go in, say hi, maybe share her coffee ritual with him, if he had the time. Yesterday morning she would have done exactly that. Today her brain burned with the memory of Liam and Felicity, Felicity crazed with wanting, Liam hot and hard inside her.

She turned around and walked the other way. There were plenty of coffee shops on her way to the Underground.

Julian didn't seem particularly surprised at her recounting of Daniel's last therapy session. Or, she noted, of Gray's dream. Again, she had the feeling he was holding something back.

"We knew it would come to this, or something like it, sooner or later," he said. "Daniel's subconscious is going to determine what he needs to know, in order to make the adjustment successfully, and if he needs to remember feeding, that's what this doctor's likely to find in his head."

"But he's freaking out and wants to call in a specialist."

"So make the arrangements. Then don't go."

"Gray will find out."

Julian looked at her, eyes narrowing. "Gray? He's not Dr.

DeAngelo anymore?"

Tara looked at her hands, sheepish. "It doesn't mean anything.

Not really."

"Are you dating him or something?"

"No." Defensive, she crossed her arms over her chest. "We had a cup of coffee and discussed Daniel's case."

"No more dreams?"

She didn't want to say anything. Didn't want to tell him at all.

"Yes. More dreams. I don't know what to do about it, Julian."

"Sex dreams?"

"None of your damned business."

He laughed. "That's what I thought." The humor fled from his face as he lapsed back into thought. "Look, you just deal with the therapy thing the way you think you need to do it. If you need my help, let me know. We'll handle things as they come."

"And what am I supposed to do about Gray? He knows vampires are real-he fought them in a previous life. What if he figures out what's going on and decides to come after Daniel?"

"I think you're overreacting." He paused, studying her face. When he spoke again, his voice was gentler. "Dom was careless."

To Tara's surprise, she felt tears prickle her eyes. "Don't talk about Dom."

She'd spent a long time trying to forget about Dom. She'd cared a great deal about him, enough to accept him for what he was. When he had died at the hands of a gang of overzealous vampire hunters, she had been devastated. His friends-the vampire ones-had sensed her willingness to accept their world and had brought her to the Senior.

Julian's expression gentled. "Dom was killed by self-styled vampire hunters. Gray DeAngelo was a hunter in a previous life. You don't think the connection is what's upsetting you?"

She blinked until the tears had withdrawn. "I'm just afraid for Daniel. I don't want anything to happen to him."

"Daniel will be all right. I'll see to that."

Something in his voice made her look up. His gaze was hard and resolute, but it gentled as she met it with her own.

"It'll be okay," he said. "Just do what you have to do."

She nodded. "I'll let you know."

Six.

When she got home, there was a message on her answering machine from Gray. Listening to it, she tipped her head back, stared at the ceiling with her lips in a thin line and reflected on the stubbornness of men in general and medical professionals in particular.

"Tara, I got the impression when you left last night that you didn't want to involve Daniel's father in this situation. But I think it's very important that he know what's going on, especially given the seriousness of Daniel's experience. He needs to know Daniel was abused, and I think a strong male presence, someone he can trust, will be important to Daniel's recovery, especially since his abuser was male.

Please call me and tell me when the four of us can get together for a consultation." The slightly scratchy, recorded voice paused. "I really can't stress enough the importance of this, from a therapeutic standpoint.

I'm going to have to turn Daniel's case over to someone with more experience in these matters, but I need to know everything's in order with your family before I do that. Call me. Please."

There was another pause before the recording ended, as if he'd thought about saying something else and had changed his mind. Tara pushed the button angrily, saving the message. "'I really can't stress enough the importance of this,'" she repeated in a mocking tone. Wonderful.

Now she was going to have to traipse all the way back down to the Underground to talk to Julian. Again, she slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door.

Her hand was on the knob when the phone rang. Figuring it was Gray, she almost ignored it and continued out the door, but then decided to at least check the Caller ID. It was a pay phone. Curious, she picked it up. "Hello?"

"It's Julian. Did that doctor of yours call?"

"Thank God," Tara said. "Yes, he did, and I was about to drag myself down to your office again. You know, you really should get a cell phone or something."

"They don't work down there. And try telling the phone company you need a phone line miles under the city and partially in an alternate dimension."

"Yeah, I see the problem." She scrubbed her forehead. She was getting a headache. "Are you very far away? I think it'd be a good idea if you came over. We need to talk."

"I'll see you in a few minutes. I'm not far."

True to his word, Julian buzzed for her to let him into the building within fifteen minutes of hanging up.

"What's going on?" he said when she opened the door.

Tara peered at him. "Are you okay? You look flushed."

"It's the sun. I can't just traipse around in it willy-nilly like Lucien can. I've been out a little too much this week." He waved it off. "Don't worry about it. I'm not going to burst into flames."

"Yeah, but how will you get home?"

"I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll crash on your couch for a few hours, until I fade a little or the sun starts going down."

Tara wasn't sure she liked the sound of that, but decided to let it go for now. She went to the answering machine and played back the message. "This is what we're dealing with."

As he listened, Julian sucked his teeth. Fleetingly, Tara wondered if he could still produce fangs.

"Okay, I think we should do the consultation," he said when Gray's message ended. "I'll deal with it from there."

"But what if-"

He waved off her protest. "I'll play the money card-tell him I have a particular doctor I feel we should work with, and act like I was never very keen on using him in the first place. Hey, maybe we could argue about it."

Tara rolled her eyes. "You're enjoying this far too much."

"We do what we have to. If we manage to enjoy it, so much the better. Do you think we could see him tonight, after Daniel's up and around? I'd just as soon get it over with." "Julian, what if he-"

Again, he cut her off. "Whatever happens, we'll deal with it."

She shook her head and sighed. "All right." She picked up the phone. "I'll call and find out if we can get an appointment."

As she'd suspected, Gray was not only willing but eager to meet with them that evening, in their usual time slot. Julian, deciding not to return to the Underground, stretched out on her couch and slept away several of the intervening hours.

"Won't Lorelei be worried?" she asked him when he woke, just before dinnertime. Daniel had awakened about a half-hour before, at sunset, and had left the apartment without a word. He'd looked grim.

And hungry.

"I told her I might not be home until late. She's been sleeping a lot lately, so she'll barely miss me. And I asked Dina and Nick to look in on her."

"How's she doing?"

"Fine, as far as anyone can tell. Dr. Greene helped us find an OB, and that doctor hasn't found anything unusual about the pregnancy so far. Except that Lorelei's carrying twins."

Tara grinned. "Neat. I guess maybe that explains why she's been so sick." She paused. "Has it ever happened before? I mean, a human woman bearing a vampire child?"

"Not really. True vampires are sterile. Lucien and his brothers can father children, and have, but none of the rest of us can. Except me, because I'm special." He smiled smugly.

"You're also not exactly a vampire anymore," she reminded him.

"True. Which reminds me. Do you have anything around here I can eat?"

She had raw steak in the freezer, but she couldn't stand to watch him eat it. Obligingly, he went out on the balcony while she prepared her own dinner. She opted for a salad. Anything even remotely carnivorous made her stomach turn after watching Julian tear into his chunk of bloody sirloin.

Daniel came in the front door as they were finishing.

"Do we have an appointment tonight?" he asked, then blinked at Julian. "When did you get here? Are you going with us?"

"Yes, we have an appointment," said Tara. "It's at the usual time, and yes, Julian's going with us."