again. “Could you get between my shoulders now?”
“You ass!” She laughed and slapped at him with the washcloth, happy that he seemed to be coming out of his mood. She pressed against his back and let one hand trail down his stomach as she dipped into the basin again. “Between your shoulders, huh?”
His breath hitched at the feel of her fingers. “Among other places.”
She smiled against his back. His skin was alive. The hair on her arm rose simply by touching him.
“You’re a good man,” she whispered. “I won’t believe otherwise.”
“Natalie—”
“Shhh.” She saw his head fall forward and heard him groan as her hand slid beneath his waistband. “Let me take care of you for once.”
Natalie was lying in his arms, drifting off to sleep after their very long night, when she heard him.
“Natalie?”
Her eyes were closed, but she answered, “Hmm?”
“Talk to me about your job.”
She pulled away from the hypnotic feel of his skin and rubbed her eyes. “Well, I’m going to run out of personal days soon. I was supposed to be following this story on my own time, with the backing of the paper, but still on my own time. I have court cases to report on. Regular crimes. Local politics. Stuff like that. I’m sure Kristy’s probably pissed at me, but she can’t do anything about it because I have so much personal time saved up.”
He trailed a finger up and down her arm. “And what about when it runs out?”
She had a feeling he wasn’t really all that interested in her job. “What do you really want to know, Baojia?”
He reached for her and pulled her to lie on his chest. “You are under my personal aegis,” he said quietly. “But I cannot stay in Southern California. Not while my sire rules here.”
She froze. Natalie knew he had quit his position in his father’s business, or organization, or whatever it was. But she hadn’t realized he would have to leave.
“So what does that mean? Explain it to me.”
“It means I am responsible for you. Both for your actions and your safety. But you live here. And I cannot stay here.”
“You’re saying if I did something any vampire considered a threat that you would be the one responsible?” She looked away. “That’s… medieval.”
“Yes.” He pressed gentle fingers to her face so that fa
Natalie forced back the tears. She didn’t want to cry while she was looking at him, but the crushing sense of loss was almost overwhelming. Once again, she felt like she was losing everything. “What are you asking me, Baojia?”
The insistent fingers on her cheek turned soft and soothing. “You have family in Northern California. Could you—”
“I don’t talk to my dad. Maybe once a year.”
“Why?”
She rolled away from him. He tried to grab her, but she pushed him away. “Don’t.”
His voice held an irritated edge. “What do you want to know about my life that I haven’t told you? Ask me, right now, and I’ll answer.”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He was right. As many questions as she had asked, he had been forthcoming about his past. And he knew nothing about her.
“Your father is a police officer.”
Her eyes flew to his. “How did you—”
“Guesswork, mostly. At the bar, the way the retired officers talked to you… It made sense.”
“Yeah.” Somehow, it made it easier that he already knew part of it. “He was a detective in Oakland. That’s where I grew up.”
“I remember. And your mother?”
“My mom was not a cop.” She took a deep breath and forced out a rueful laugh. “She was a mom, mostly. And a writer. A poet. She’d been published a few times. She and my dad were complete opposites. He was the strict cop, she was the hippy poet who did yoga and wore caftans to PTA meetings.”
His voice softened and he moved closer. “You loved her.”
“We both adored her.” She tried not to tense when he touched her shoulder. “My parents had a great marriage. We had a good life.”
“What happened? Your mother is dead?”
“There was… this homeless man in our neighborhood. Well, there were lots of homeless people, but she always took Oscar food because he usually stayed around our corner. She helped him find a shelter when it got cold. Tried to help him find work here and there. He was a vet, I think.” Natalie frowned. “He had a lot of… issues he never got the right help for. But Mom always said we were all someone’s child