"Yes. And I really should be going," Brenna said. "Thank you for the coffee."
"My pleasure." He rose when she did. "I'll walk you to the door."
With a nod, Brenna left the coffee shop, conscious of Anthony Loken walking at her side. She stopped at the door that led to the street. "It was nice to meet you, Mr. Loken."
"Please, call me Anthony," he said. "I'd like very much to see you again. Perhaps I could take you out to dinner one evening next week?"
"Thank you, but I cannot."
"I see. Who is he?"
"He?"
"My competition."
"I do not understand."
"I'm assuming the reason you can't go out with me is because you have a steady boyfriend."
She started to deny it and then decided it would be easier to let him think just that. "Yes," she said, "and he can be very jealous."
Loken laughed good-naturedly. "Well, perhaps we can have coffee together again."
"Yes, perhaps. Good day to you, sir."
She left the shop, conscious of Anthony Loken's gaze on her back. She didn't relax until she was in the car and headed back to the relative safety of Roshan DeLongpre's house.
CHAPTER 12
Roshan woke as the setting sun slipped behind the horizon. One minute he was caught in the web of the death-like sleep of his kind, the next he was fully awake and alert. He knew, with his first in-drawn breath, that he was alone in the house.
Throwing back the quilt on his bed, he sat up. A moment later, the overhead lights which were hooked up to an automatic timer came on, illuminating his lair. It was a large rectangular room, usually furnished with little more than his bed and a comfortable chair. However, since Brenna's arrival, he had moved his clothing down here. At the moment, his entire wardrobe was arranged in several neat piles on the floor. Since it looked like Brenna was here to stay for awhile, perhaps it was time to think about furnishing one of the empty bedrooms upstairs so he wouldn't have to carry his clothes back and forth from his lair to the shower.
On the other hand, he might be wise to wait. She had taken his car and left the house. Who was to say she would return? And if she didn't, who could blame her? Even though she had said she wasn't afraid of him, what woman in her right mind would want to live here, with a creature like him?
Rising, he collected a change of underwear, a pair of slacks, a sweater, and a pair of black leather boots. Unlocking the door, he made his way up the winding staircase to the portal that opened onto the first floor.
He unlocked that door, as well, ducked into the hallway, then locked the door behind him. Bent on a shower, he bypassed the small half bath on the main floor and went up the stairs to the master bathroom, noting, as he passed by, that the door to Brenna's bedroom was closed.
He thought about her as he turned on the water in the shower and stepped under the spray, surprised at how empty the house felt without her. How empty he felt without her. He hadn't shared a dwelling with anyone since he became a vampire and yet, in a matter of weeks, Brenna Flanagan had moved into his house and into his heart.
Stepping out of the shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist, ran a comb through his hair, brushed his teeth.
He knew the moment she entered the house. Moments later, he heard a gasp from the doorway. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Brenna standing there, gaping at him. She wore a pair of jeans that outlined the sweet curve of her hips and a white sweater that clung to the swell of her breasts. No one, looking at her, would ever guess that she had been born in another time and place.
"I… I'm sorry," she stammered, her eyes wide, her cheeks rosy. "I… I didn't know you were in here. I was just… "
Her gaze moved over him, her cheeks growing redder by the minute. Looking up, she met his eyes, then turned and fled.
Roshan stared after her, his emotions tumbling over themselves as he listened to her footsteps hurrying down the hall to the bedroom.
So, she had come back after all.
The thought brought a smile to his lips.
Brenna shut the bedroom door, then leaned back against it. Seeing Roshan wearing nothing but a towel was as close as she had ever come to seeing a naked man. It was an image she would not soon forget. Placing her hand over her heart, she took a deep, calming breath. She had never known a man's body could be so beautiful or so finely sculpted. And he was beautiful, from his broad shoulders and stomach ridged with muscle to his long legs.
She jumped when she heard a knock at the door. It could only be Roshan.
"Brenna?"
She felt the heat climb in her cheeks again. Was he dressed now, or still clad in nothing but a towel? "Yes?"
"Are you all right?"
"Yes, of course, why do you ask?"
There was a moment of taut silence. She pictured him standing on the other side of the door, his long black hair damp from his shower, drops of water glistening like dewdrops in the curly black hair on his chest.
"I'm going downstairs," he said quietly. "Will you join me?"
"Yes, if you like."
"I'll be waiting."
Sitting on the bed, she removed her boots and socks, then paced the floor for a few minutes. Finally, after taking several deep breaths, she opened the door. Her heart was pounding as she made her way down the stairs.
She found Roshan in the living room, standing in front of the fireplace. A cheery blaze crackled in the hearth. It provided the only light in the room. Soft music filled the air.
"It's going to storm," he remarked as she sat down on the sofa.
"How do you know?"
"I feel it coming." And even as he spoke the words, lightning flashed across the skies, closely followed by the low rumble of distant thunder. "So," he said, sitting down on the other end of the sofa, "how did you spend your day?"
"I went into the city."
He nodded, his gaze intent upon her face as he waited for her to go on.
"I did not go to the mall," she said. "Instead, I explored some of the shops along the street. There are so many of them! And I had a chocolate malt," she said, grinning.
Roshan smiled at her, pleased by her excitement, and by her courage to go exploring in a new city on her own.
"And then," she went on, her green eyes sparkling, "I went into a bookstore. But not just any bookstore. It was for witches!"
"Imagine that," he said, a smile evident in his tone.
She nodded vigorously. "Imagine! It was right out there in the open. Oh! And I met a warlock."
Roshan sat up straighten "Go on."
"He was very nice. He bought me a cup of coffee. Never have I tasted anything like it."
"Indeed?"
She frowned. "I do not remember what the coffee was called, but it was quite good. I think I shall have to go back and see if I can buy some to bring home."
"Perhaps the warlock will be there."
She shrugged, as if it was of no consequence. "Perhaps. Wait until you taste— Oh! I am sorry. I forgot."
He dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand. "Do you want to see him again?" he asked, his voice gruff.
"No, though he did ask if I would."
Roshan clenched his jaw, startled by the tidal wave of jealousy that swept through him at the idea of Brenna going out with another man.
Brenna seemed totally unaware of his agitation. "So," she said, curling one leg beneath her, "tell me more about you. I know so little. You live in this large house. What manner of work do you do?"
He shrugged. "I have no need to work."
"Did someone leave you a great deal of money, then?"
"In a way," he said with a wry grin. "When I was first made vampire, I robbed the homes of the rich to provide for my material needs, which were few."
"Where did you live?"
"I had no home. I slept in my coffin, and sometimes in the earth."
Her eyes widened. "You mean… under the ground?" She shuddered at the mere idea. "How awful."
He grunted softly. "It wasn't as bad as you might think. In truth, the earth makes quite a comfortable bed. In those days, I didn't trust myself to mingle with mortals, so trying to earn a living was out of the question. And so I robbed from the rich, saving what I didn't spend."
"Were you never caught?"
"No. It was ridiculously easy to slip into their homes and help myself to whatever caught my fancy. I'm not proud of what I did, but at the time it was necessary. After awhile, it became a game. As time passed, I saved enough to buy a small house, and then a larger one, and then a larger one, still. I made a profit each time I sold one of the houses. I saved the money, and later, when I had gained a little more knowledge of the world and how it worked, I began to invest in one thing and another until… " He shrugged. "Today I have enough money to allow me to live quite comfortably."
She nodded. Leaning back, she gazed into the fire, then blushed when her stomach growled. "I guess I should go fix something to eat."
"I could take you out, if you don't feel like cooking, and then, if you'd like, we could go dancing."
"I do not know how to dance."
"That's all right. I do. What do you say?"
"Should I change my clothes?"
"It's up to you."
She glanced down at her jeans, then looked at Roshan, who was wearing black slacks and a black sweater. "I think I should change."
"Take your time. I need to go out."
"Oh." The tone of her voice said it all.
"I am what I am," he reminded her quietly.
"Does it hurt your… what do you call them, the people you… um… you know?"
"I think prey is the word you're looking for. And no, it doesn't hurt them, any more than it hurt you."
"But you take more from them, do you not? You said you took only a little from me."