you, Gil,” Katrina offered with an amused nod from where she stood, not wanting to remove her hand from Caleb’s. It felt like it had taken so long finally to get back to that point with him.
“Same here,” Gil replied as he raised his beer bottle in salute and drank.
The four of them stayed up visiting, learning more about Gil and how Paige and he had met while she was out on the town club-roving. Around midnight it was obvious that both men had grown tired, though Gil’s response might have been due to the volume of beers he had consumed. And while Katrina and Paige were both night dwellers by nature, a silent signal between them prompted a mutual herding of their partners to their respective bedrooms.
In the sublevel room, Katrina showered first and lay on top of the king-sized bed reading a novel. Caleb stifled a yawn as he exited the bathroom wearing a pair of dark sweatpants and the pendant Katrina had given him at Christmas. He paused for a moment to admire her in her satin pajama pants and form-fitted sleeveless top. Her long red hair was combed out smoothly and draped across her shoulders like a flowing mantle. She’s a vision of beauty, he resolved, feeling affirmation that despite their recent differences she was undoubtedly the love of his life.
Katrina glanced up from her book and smiled at him before returning to read again. She uncrossed her legs at the ankles and stretched her bare feet out before her. He walked to the end of the bed and began massaging her feet gently.
“Ooh, that feels wonderful,” she purred. “But you don’t have to do that. I know how tired you are.”
“Eh,” he replied. “I want to do something nice for you.”
She smirked and returned to reading her novel. That certainly works for me.
After a few minutes of ministrations, he said, “Kat, I’ve been thinking about Paige’s active night life. I mean, I feel bad enough you have to spend your days cooped up here in the estate. Then in the evenings you rarely go out unless you and I do something together. Don’t vampires need to roam through the night to exercise or something?”
“I work out in the home gym,” she replied off-handedly. “Besides, our stamina and constitution don’t require exercise in the same way humans do.”
Must be nice. He considered the topic from another perspective. “Aren’t you bored, though? I mean, if you wanted to roam around town all night I’d understand.”
She frowned and glanced up at him from over her book. “Do you honestly want me to spend my nights away from you?” she asked.
He massaged one foot at length while mulling that over. “Well, maybe not every night. But I feel guilty that I may be keeping you from enjoying life while you wait around for me. And even then, I can’t stay up all night with you because I need at least five or six hours of sleep so I can make it through work the next day. Half the time, you spend the night lying in bed next to me, and you don’t even need more than two or three hours of sleep every few days.”
“I like watching you sleep. It’s soothing to me to listen to the rhythm of your heartbeat, my love,” she replied simply. “It’s a meditative experience, really.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and instead just continued to massage her other foot and ankle. “But if you wanted to go out --” he began.
“Prowling around town? Skulking in the shadows for victims?” she offered in an amused tone.
“Well...”
She nodded as she turned a page in her novel and only glanced up at him briefly. “Thanks so much to Hollywood once again. Caleb, do you think for a moment I miss ’the old days’ when much of my time was spent scoping out blood sources? Some of the best developments to our kind include large refrigerators and regular blood deliveries. I’m just like any other human you know, for the most part. I like reading, Internet surfing, watching television and films, shopping, and a host of other diversions. Sometimes I even like pursuing business interests or part-time careers. For the most part, I’m very content with things.”
“For the most part?” he asked as he ran his hands up and down both of her calves.
She paused from reading, relishing the feeling of his firm fingertips. “Well, I have enjoyed our Find Caleb sessions, despite the most