Fall of Night The Morganville Vampires - By Rachel Caine Page 0,77
and he left her feeling joyous and sated and utterly, utterly calm. They had plenty to worry about, but not here. Not between them. She made a sleepy, happy sound and pressed herself closer to him; his arms were around her waist, and he made a solid, hot blanket that pressed against her back. Sometime during the afternoon they’d managed to pull the covers up over them, which was good, because their clothes were somewhere scattered on the floor in entirely random order.
Shane kissed the back of her neck, drawing a delighted shiver. ‘I missed you,’ he whispered.
She giggled a little. ‘I could tell. That first time was a little bit fast.’
He groaned. ‘You’re killing me.’
‘Only a little. The second was much better.’
He licked her ear, which made her let out a little shriek of protest, and she twisted around to face him. He propped up on one elbow, looking down at her. His hair was a mess, and she pushed it out of his eyes. ‘I love you.’
‘I know.’ He took her hand in his, and kissed the palm; his lips felt warm and damp and soft on her skin. ‘And I let you down. I know that. I’m not saying I won’t make mistakes; I will. But I promise that I won’t make that particular one again.’
‘Fair enough,’ she said. ‘I make plenty of mistakes, too, you know.’
‘You mean, besides getting involved with me?’
She shook her head and kissed him. It was a drowsy, lazy kiss this time, full of honey and joy. ‘I wish it could be like this. Just … this. All the time.’
‘Life doesn’t work that way, you know that.’
‘What if it did?’
‘We’d be living in a cardboard box and starving to death?’
‘Wow, you really know how to take the sexy away, don’t you?’
‘It’s a gift.’ Shane’s fingers stroked down her back, then up, in a mesmerisingly random pattern. ‘We should probably get up and make some dinner. Plus, I guess we should wash the sheets before Pete comes back. Seems like good manners.’
‘I’m amazed you even thought of it.’
‘I’m on my best behaviour.’
‘Mmm, I could easily argue with that. Oh …’ She caught her breath, suddenly, because he tried to prove her right. He kissed her shoulder, then her neck, then her mouth, and then the lazy peace turned intense again, for a while. This time, though, they were truly exhausted, and it took at least another half an hour of sleepily murmuring to each other before Claire finally managed to convince him to get up, dress, and help her strip the sheets and pillowcases from the bed. Pete had one of those tiny little washer/dryer combo units tucked in the corner, and she put everything in with detergent, then showered and left her hair wet as Shane squeezed in after she stepped out. There wasn’t room for two, which was probably good, considering how sore her muscles already felt. A good kind of sore, but still.
They were both dressed, if just barely, when the door rattled, the lock turned, and Pete stepped inside. He flipped the deadbolt behind him, and stopped dead at the end of the hall. Claire and Shane were sitting innocently on the couch; she was reading one of Pete’s books, a science fiction classic by Isaac Asimov she’d been meaning to find, and Shane was flipping channels on the TV.
Pete said, ‘Why are the sheets off my bed?’
‘Just trying to help you out, do a little housework,’ Shane said blandly. ‘Hey, man. Thanks for letting us stay for a while.’
‘If by a while you mean until dawn, then yeah, cheers,’ Pete said. ‘You’ve got serious heat on you, man. I’m not just talking about the cops. Scary suit-wearing types, you know the ones, Claire. You’ve seen them before. They were looking for you, and they came looking for Shane, too. Whatever you’re in, you’re in deep. About my bed, did you two—?’
‘Look at it this way, we did laundry,’ Shane said. ‘If it was the couch …’
‘This is why I hate house guests,’ Pete said. ‘So. Pizza okay?’
They both nodded. Claire said, ‘I’m sorry about the bed, Pete. Thanks.’
‘I’m just messing with you. Hell, that’s the most fun that bed’s had in ages. If you’re about to ask if I’ve heard from Jesse, no, I haven’t. She never showed for her shift, which bugged the crap out of Mick, believe me; he was already stressed enough about you and your big bag of fun illegal weapons you were keeping