Tabitha felt uneasy for the rest of the night. She couldn't shake the notion that even the air around her was evil. Tainted. Something was out there and it was gunning for her.
She only wished she knew who or what.
Why?
Valerius didn't speak much as they patrolled and yet found no sign of any Daimon. It was less than an hour before dawn when they returned to her place on Bourbon Street.
Valerius stood back while she unlocked her door. Tabitha paused as she noticed that he didn't make any move to enter.
"You had a bad fright tonight," he said quietly as he kept his hands in his pockets. "You should get a good sleep and you'll feel better."
Tabitha watched the way the moonlight cut across his handsome features. The sincerity she saw in those tormented black eyes haunted her. "Honestly, I don't want to be alone. I would really like for you to come in."
"Tabitha-"
She placed her fingers over his warm lips to stifle his protest. "It's okay, Val. If you're not interested in sex with me, I won't take it personally. But-"
He broke her words off with a hot kiss. Tabitha moaned at the taste of Roman as he placed one hand on the back of her head and buried his fingers in her hair.
Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him inside and pinned him to the wall so that she could kiss him wildly. She pulled at his clothes, practically ripping his shirt off before she realized she hadn't even closed the door.
She slammed it shut, locked it, then returned to Valerius.
"Marla," he said huskily as she reached to undo his pants.
Tabitha cursed. Valerius was right. If Marla heard them, she'd come and investigate.
"Follow me," she whispered, taking him by the hand to lead him up the stairs to her room.
Luckily Marla's door was closed. Tabitha took him into her bedroom, then shut and locked her own door.
She should be nervous about this and yet she wasn't. It was like some part of her needed this intimacy with a man who was a total anathema to her entire family.
It didn't make sense.
Yet here she was, breaking every taboo she knew. Amanda would kill her for this. Kyrian would never forgive her.
But her heart wouldn't hear reason. Against all sanity, it wanted her Roman general.
Tabitha kissed him fiercely, needing him to drive away her fear.
Valerius growled at how good she tasted. He wasn't used to a woman taking the lead in sex and he found her lack of modesty refreshing. She broke from his lips long enough to pull her own shirt off before she seized him again.
He couldn't think as she pressed her body against his. Her lace-covered breasts were small and inviting as they brushed against his chest. She unzipped his pants, then slid her hand down to gently caress his cock..
He hissed in pleasure as she moved her hands around his hips to his butt. Slowly, seductively, she slid his pants down, baring him to her. He'd never experienced anything more erotic.
Kneeling down before him, she removed his shoes, and socks, then pulled his pants free.
He didn't understand this woman. He found it impossible to believe that she was here with him like this. It'd been so long since he'd been with a woman. As Tabitha had pointed out, most of the ones he'd met had been frigid and formal in bed.
Never passionate. Not like this.
Not like her.
She was priceless and special, a rare treat he wanted to savor. It was that fire in her that warmed him. That fire that drew him in even against his will.
Tabitha paused as she felt an odd sensation from him. "What's wrong, Valerius?" she whispered, rising to stand before him.
"I'm just trying to understand why you're with me."
"Because I like you."
"Why?"
She bit her lip seductively before she shrugged. "You're strangely amusing and you're kind."
He shook his head. "I'm not kind. I only know how to be cold."
She buried her hands in his unbound hair and let the silken strands caress her fingers. "You don't feel cold to me, General."
Tabitha ran her tongue along the edge of his bottom lip before she kissed him.
Valerius's head spun at her actions and her words. Starving for her, he reached behind her back and unhooked her bra. Without breaking her kiss, she lowered her arms to let it fall to the floor.
He pulled her up against him so that her bare breasts were flush to the heat of his chest. Her silver moon-shaped belly button ring brushed against his hip, bringing a foreign thrill to him. His groin burned in need of her.
As did his heart.
He'd never made love to a woman who really liked him. As a man, his lovers had been political alliances. Women who only sought to claim him as a well-connected, wealthy husband or lover.
As a Dark-Hunter, his liaisons had been with women who didn't even know him.
But Tabitha...
Growling low in his throat, he finished undressing her as quickly as possible. The glow from streetlights drifted in from her shades, cutting across her bare body. She was beautiful. Lean, muscled. He'd never wanted anyone more.
Valerius lifted her from the floor and pinned her against her door.
Tabitha laughed at the strength of him. At his raw, earthy passion. No, her general wasn't frigid. He was hot and exciting. Delectable.
Holding her with nothing more than the strength of his arms, he slid himself deep inside her.
Tabitha moaned deep in her throat as he filled her to capacity. "That's it, baby," she groaned. "Give me all you've got."
Valerius buried his head against her neck and inhaled her warm sweetness as he thrust against her. She had one leg wrapped around his waist. He'd never made love to a woman like this. It was animalistic and fierce.
And he loved it.
She arched her back, drawing him in even deeper as she met him stroke for stroke. She had one leg on the floor that she used for leverage against him as she raised and lowered her body on his, heightening the depth of his penetration. It was all he could do to wait on her as she took from him the same pleasure he felt with her.
Valerius cupped her breast in his hand while he savored the sleek wetness of her body welcoming his.
He watched her bite her lip as she wrapped her other leg around his waist and squeezed him tight between her thighs. She was incredible.
She licked and teased his neck as he continued to thrust for both of them.
Tabitha couldn't think past the sensation of his hard thickness inside her. Her body burned and ached for him. She could feel herself clutching him, needing him.
And when she came, she had to stifle her cry.
Valerius growled as she scoured his back with her nails and moaned in his ear. Yet it wasn't painful.
He smiled at the sight she made coming in his arms. She actually laughed and purred, then cupped his face in her hands before she kissed him blind.
That kiss drove him over the edge. He could swear he saw stars as his body released itself inside hers.
He held her tight until the last tremor shook him. His head spinning, he leaned his forehead against the door while she slid her legs slowly down his body.
"You are the wild one, aren't you?" she asked playfully, nipping at his bare shoulder.
Valerius grinned at that, taking an odd sense of satisfaction from it.
Tabitha slid out from between him and the door to head for the stereo she kept under a pile of clothes in the far corner.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Suddenly Elvis filled the air with "Can't Help Falling in Love." She turned the volume low before she came back to him and pulled him into her arms.
"Tabitha?"
"Dance with me, Val. Everyone should have at least one night of naked dancing in their lives."
"I don't dance."
"Everyone dances to Elvis."
Before he could protest further, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his chest, then started slow dancing with him.
Valerius had never been more uncertain. Yet as she led him through the song, he felt the most surreal calmness of his life. It was magical. Special.
His heart light, he brushed his hand through her hair while he silently held her and they swayed to the music.
Tabitha's soft, melodic voice sang quietly along with Elvis.
"You have a beautiful voice," he whispered.
She kissed the center of his chest. "Thank you. I was the lead singer in an all-girl heavy metal band in college."
He smiled at the thought as her breath tickled across his chest. He could just see her on stage, singing to a wild crowd. "Really?"
"Mmmm." She looked up at him with the sweetest expression he'd ever seen on a woman's face. "We thought we'd be the next Vixen. We weren't. Shelly got pregnant and Jessie decided she wanted to go out to Las Vegas and be a hotel manager."
"And you became a vampire slayer."
She twirled out of his arms, then came back flush with his chest. "Yes, and I'm damned good at it."
He looked down at the tiny scar on his chest where she'd stabbed him. "I would concur."
The song stopped, but was followed by Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion."
Tabitha let go of him to sway seductively to the music. Valerius couldn't breathe as he watched her, especially when the beat picked up and she kicked one leg over her head.
And when she used the poster of her bed like a stripper's pole, he came dangerously close to moaning.
There was nothing on the planet more erotic than watching this woman dance. She came closer, then turned her back to him and lifted her hair up to let it trail all over her as she gently ground her hips against his groin.
Valerius couldn't take any more of it. Dipping his head, he teased her shoulder with his lips as he wrapped his arms around her. He trailed his hands over her breasts, then down her stomach, over her belly ring, until he could touch the triangle of auburn curls between her legs. She was still wet from their lovemaking.
The instant he touched her, she hissed, then rubbed herself against his hand. To his amazement, she trailed her hand down his forearm and covered his hand with hers as she urged him on.
She was completely shameless in letting him know exactly what she needed and he loved every minute of it. There was no guessing if she liked his touch. She reacted to every stroke and when he sank two fingers inside her she cried out.
She turned in his arms and seized him. Before he realized what she was doing, she literally flipped him onto the bed and was on top of him, straddling his hips.
Valerius laughed. "You know, a lesser man might actually be afraid of you."
Laughing, she slung her hair over her shoulders to trail down her back. "Are you afraid of me, Val?"
"No," he said honestly. "I like that you know what you want and aren't afraid to take it."
The smile she gave him melted his heart.
She trailed one finger over the bridge of his nose, letting the nail lightly scrape his skin as she traced a path over his lips and down his throat.
Tabitha dipped her head down and suckled him. She growled at the taste of his hard nipple under her tongue. He tasted even better than she had thought he would. There was nothing better than the feel of all his lush, tawny skin underneath her.
What she liked most of all was that he didn't feel threatened by her. He had no problem with her voracious appetite for his succulent body.
It was a nice change of pace.
She trailed her lips from his chest, down that lean, hard abdomen, to his hipbone. She felt the chills spread over his body. Laughing, she raked her fingers through the crisp hairs at the center of his body. He was already hard again.
Pulling back, she examined him in the dim light of the room. He was gorgeous. She teased the tip of his cock with her fingers, letting his moisture coat her.
He watched her without comment while she explored the length of him, down to his soft sac. He arched his back.
Delighting in her power over him, Tabitha bent her head down and took the tip of him into her mouth. His entire body jerked in response, urging her on to please him more.
She took great pride in his deep moans.
Valerius lay there, cradling her head in his hands as she gently tongued him from tip to hilt. In all eternity, he'd never known this feeling that was deep down inside him. What was it about Tabitha that she was able to see past his facade?
I figure all of us misfits should hang together, that way we don't swing alone. Her words to Otto drifted through his mind.
But she wasn't a misfit. She was vivacious and wonderful.
Tabitha inhaled the rich, masculine scent of him as she took her time tasting his body. She looked up to find him watching her, his eyes glazed by desire.
Smiling, she slowly licked her way up his body until she could claim that decadent mouth that begged for her kisses. He growled and held her tight as she ran her hand over his shoulders. Tabitha broke away so that she could nip his chin. His whiskers prickled her tongue and lips, his breath caressed her cheek.
She pulled back, then slowly slid herself onto him, inch by long, luscious inch.
Valerius cupped her face as she rode him with a gentle, easy rhythm that left him even more breathless than their earlier rowdy session.
She was like a whisper as she made love to him. And it was making love. It was soft, tender. She covered his hand with hers and opened her lips to taste his fingers.
Valerius hissed as her tongue worked its magic on the pads of his fingertips. Smiling even more, she nipped his fingers playfully.
He pulled her down to capture her lips as he lifted his hips, driving himself even deeper into her.
This time when they came, it was together.
She collapsed on his chest as they both lay sweaty and panting.
Valerius cradled her gently. He never wanted to let her go. If he could, he would spend the rest of his immortality lost in this one perfect moment of them nestled together, his body spent and sated.
Closing his eyes, he felt himself drifting off to the first undisturbed sleep he'd had in over two thousand years.
After making sure no daylight would threaten Valerius, Tabitha lay quietly in Valerius's arms as she listened to him sleeping.
She still felt uneasy about the ghost they had seen. About the feeling inside her that wouldn't relent. Part of her wanted to call Acheron, but she didn't want to disturb him with something stupid. He needed to rest.
Whenever they awoke in the afternoon, she'd ask him about it.
For now, she had Valerius and he brought her a strange sense of peace.
She shouldn't feel this way, not for a man her twin would never accept into her house. Part of her felt like she was a traitor to Amanda and Kyrian and the other part of her couldn't resist the tormented gleam in Valerius's eyes.
He was a calm anchor to her chaotic life and truthfully, she liked his dry sense of humor. His ability to take things in stride without blowing a gasket. It was rare in her world to meet such a man.
He's not a man.
No, he wasn't. She knew that, just as she knew there was no hope of any kind of future for a relationship. Dark-Hunters didn't have significant others of any sort. They could never be together. Never.
Once she and Valerius left this bed, they'd have to part company. He would just be another passing friend.
And yet she didn't want to let go of him.
"Stop," she whispered to herself. She needed her rest.
Closing her eyes, she forced herself to sleep. But her dreams were far from comforting. All morning long, they haunted her with vivid, horrific images of her sister and Kyrian. Of baby Marissa crying for someone to help her.
Most of all, they haunted her with the faces of her friends who had died and with scenes of Valerius being tortured. She could see him stretched out and hear mocking laughter as he struggled not to die.
She could feel his pain, his betrayal.
Hear his scream of vengeance as it echoed throughout time.
Tabitha came awake just after noon with her entire body shaking from her dreams. She'd only been sleeping a few hours, but she was so upset that she couldn't go back to sleep.
"Tabitha?"
She looked at Valerius, who squinted at her.
"Are you all right?" he asked hoarsely.
She kissed his bare shoulder and offered him a smile. "I can't sleep. You go ahead and rest."
"But-"
She placed her finger on his lips. "Sleep, baby. I'm fine. Really."
He nibbled her finger before he rolled over, gave her a tight hug, then returned to sleep.
Tabitha lay in the shelter of his arms with her thoughts racing. She honestly didn't want to get up. But after a few minutes, when she heard Marla and Debbie chatting somewhere downstairs about inventory, she finally decided to rise.
She quickly showered and dressed, taking care not to wake the delicious guy in her bed. As soon as she went downstairs, she called Otto and asked him to bring clothes over for Valerius.
"Why didn't he come home last night?" Otto asked.
"It was too close to dawn."
"Uh-huh," Otto said as if he didn't buy it. "I'll be over in about an hour with something for him."
"Otto," she said with a warning note in her voice. "It better be something he wants to wear and not some Nick-I-want-to-piss-off-Kyrian knockoff."
"You take all the fun out of this."
Tabitha shook her head as she hung up the phone. With nothing better to do, she headed into her store, where Debbie was ringing up a customer.
Otto came about an hour later and dropped off the clothes without so much as a grimace. But Tabitha noted that he was wearing a stylish black sweater and a pair of nice jeans instead of his regular wear. He probably looked like this whenever Valerius wasn't around.
After Otto left, she took the clothes upstairs and laid them out for Valerius to see when he awoke, then crept back to her shop, where she cleaned and reworked a pasties display.
She'd just finished matching the pasties to thongs when Nick Gautier came into the store with a bright smile on his face as he whipped his sunglasses off. "Afternoon, cher," he said, walking up to her.
He kissed her lightly on the cheek.
Tabitha frowned. It'd been a long time since Nick had done something like that. "What has you in such a good mood?" she asked.
He flashed that devilish, charming grin at her. "What do you think? Man, I owe you dinner out, big-time."
She was even more confused than before. "For what?"
"That friend of yours... Simi. She was something else."
Tabitha went cold at the sound of reverence in his voice.
"I can't wait to see her again," Nick continued, increasing her sense of dread. "You wouldn't happen to have her number handy, would you? I was supposed to meet her at six tonight, but I'm going to run a little late and didn't want to leave her waiting for me."
Tabitha struggled to breathe as panic and fear consumed her. This couldn't be happening. Nick didn't do what she thought he'd done-had he?
Surely not even Nick Gautier was that stupid.
"Simi? You want Simi's number?"
"Yeah. She cut out so fast last night that I didn't have a chance to get it."
"Why did she cut out fast?"
"She said she was supposed to meet someone." He frowned at her. "What's up? Is there something I need to know? She's not married, is she?"
Tabitha felt the color drain from her face. "Tell me you didn't do anything with Simi last night, did you? You just took her into Sanctuary and-"
"I took her out for barbecue. She said it was her favorite and those bears don't know shit about mesquite."
Tabitha rubbed her head to help alleviate some of the bitter ache that was starting right between her eyes. This was so bad... "And after you two ate, you what?"
His grin turned wicked. "You know a gentleman never kisses and tells."
Tabitha covered her mouth as she felt an urge to be really sick.
Nick sobered instantly. "What?"
"You didn't happen to ask her who she was going to meet, did you?"
"No, I assumed it was a friend."
"Oh, Nick," she said, wanting to cry for him and his ignorance, "it was more than a friend. Let me put it to you this way: Her phone number is 555-562-1919."
He scowled. "That's Ash's number."
"Yes, it is."
His pallor now matched her own as the true horror of his situation dawned on him. "Not our Ash as in Parthenopaeus Ash?"
She nodded glumly.
He turned a multitude of colors as that registered. "Oh, God, Tabitha, why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought you knew her. She knows you."
"No, I never met her before last night." Nick raked a hand over his face as he set off cursing.
Tabitha shook her head. "Ash is going to kill you."
"Don't you dare tell him!" Nick snarled.
"I'm not about to. But what if Simi-"
"I'll call him and tell him I need to talk to him. I'll confess..."
"Nick, he will kill you. He loves Simi and I mean loves Simi. He'll never forgive you for this. You'll be lucky to come away with all parts attached."
Nick couldn't believe what he was hearing. There had been several times over the last few years that Ash had intimated that he had a girlfriend and Nick had taken to goofing on him for it.
The last thing he'd ever expected was to meet Ash's girlfriend in the Quarter without him.
Oh God, this couldn't be happening. How could he have slept with his best friend's girl? Why hadn't Simi told him? If, as Tabitha said, Simi knew who he was, why would she do such a thing?
"Is she fighting with Ash?" he asked, hoping, praying it was a possibility.
"No, Nick. You're not that lucky."
He cursed again. "I have to tell him," he said to Tabitha. "I'm not going to be a coward. I owe him that much."
"Then you better make sure you go over to the St. Louis Cathedral and confess before you do."
Nick crossed himself, unable to believe what he'd just gotten himself into. He should have known Simi was too good to be real. She'd been a lot of fun, and in truth, he'd been looking forward to seeing her again.
Tabitha was right. He was a dead man.
"Hey, Tabby," Marla said as she stuck her head into the shop. "Valerius is up and showering in the bathroom."
Nick gaped, then glared. "Valerius?"
"Sh," Tabitha snapped at Nick.
He didn't take the hint. "Valerius as in Valerius, dick-head Valerius? What the hell is he still doing here, Tabitha?"
"It's none of your business."
His anger snapped at that. "Oh, yeah, right. Excuse me, but between the two of us..." He paused as he thought over what he was about to say, then reconsidered it. "Okay, I'm still more screwed than you are, but you are seriously screwed blue. Amanda will tear your heart out if she finds out."
Tabitha turned on him with her eyes flashing anger. "So help me, Nick, you breathe a word of this and I'll press the speed dial on my phone straight for Ash."
He held his hands up in surrender. "Deal. But you better get that Roman prick out of here."
She pointed toward the door. "Good-bye, Mr. Gautier."
He put his sunglasses back on. "Later, Ms. Devereaux."
Tabitha rubbed her hands over her face as she contemplated what a horror this day was and that it wasn't even close to over yet.
Aggravated, she headed toward the door that led to her apartment. Upstairs, she heard Valerius in the shower.
Tabitha went ahead and called to have a pizza delivered in case he was hungry.
By the time he was finished and dressed, the pizza arrived. Tabitha paid for it and set it on the table as she waited for Valerius to come down.
She still had the sickest feeling her stomach. "There really needs to be a do-over button for days that suck this much," she muttered as she set out two paper plates.
Valerius was buttoning the last button on his shirt as he came down the stairs, looking for Tabitha. She was standing with her back to him.
He paused on the stairs to admire her there. She was leaning over the table to give him one nice view of her derriere. A small smile played at the edges of his lips as he remembered what that rear had looked like last night naked against him as she danced in her room.
He hardened instantly.
Getting a little hold on his treacherous body, he walked into the room and frowned as he saw a large white box on Tabitha's kitchen table. It smelled good, but...
"What is that?" he asked.
"Pizza," she said, turning to face him.
He scowled in revulsion.
"Oh, c'mon," she said irritably. "It's Italian."
"It's pizza."
"Have you ever had pizza?"
"No."
"Then sit down and hush while I get us some wine. You'll like it, I promise. It was handmade by an Italian named Bubba."
Valerius arched a doubtful brow at her words. "There are no Italians named Bubba."
"Sure there are," she said saucily. "It's more Italian than Valerius is. At least Bubba's name actually ends with a vowel."
Valerius opened his mouth to contradict her, then stopped. There was no reasoning with Tabitha when she was in this saucy mood. "Are you testy because you didn't get enough sleep or do you wish for me to leave?"
"I didn't get enough sleep and if you know what's good for you, you'll sit down and eat." She headed to the kitchen.
Valerius didn't listen. He went into the kitchen, picked her up, and tossed her over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her tone angry.
He sat her down in a chair and braced his hands on its arms so that she was pinned there. "Good evening, Tabitha. I'm fine tonight. How are you?"
"Irritated at you."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, lifting one hand up to caress her cheek. "I woke up to the smell of you on my skin and I have to say that it put me in a rather good mood that I don't want you to destroy."
Tabitha melted at those words and the tender look on his face. Not to mention that the fresh, clean scent of his skin could undo even the worst mood imaginable. His lips were so close to hers that she could already taste them.
And those dark eyes...
They were beguiling.
"You really know how to be aggravating, don't you?" she asked him. She forced her ire aside and offered him a smile. "Okay, I'll play nice." She pulled his head to hers so that she could kiss him.
She was just getting into that kiss when her phone rang. Cursing at the ill timing, she got up to answer it.
It was Amanda. Again.
Tabitha wasn't really paying attention to her as her sister rambled on about Marissa and Kyrian and another dream she'd had.
At least not until she mentioned Desiderius and her.
"What?" she said, forcing herself not to watch Valerius who was poking at the pizza as if it were a UFO.
"I said I'm scared, Tabby. Really scared. I dreamed during my nap that Kyrian and I were killed by Desiderius."