Affliction (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter) - Laurell K. Hamilton Page 0,208

to hold all the weapons, there was really no way to carry them all except piled in my arms like firewood, which made them useless as actual weapons, so I left most of them in the bathroom and just kept my Browning. Yes, I was in a room with Nicky, surrounded by our bodyguards, but there was still a window and this vampire had broken every rule so far. Sometimes I felt paranoid, sometimes I just felt careful.

Nicky slung his AR over one shoulder on its tactical strap. I felt less paranoid, and it was an interesting look with him buck naked. It made me smile.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘I was feeling paranoid until I saw you were toting your AR.’

‘You said it yourself: This vampire is breaking all the rules. I like to be prepared.’

I started to ask if he’d ever been a Boy Scout, but then realized I’d never been one and I liked to be prepared, too.

Nicky made me let him open the bathroom door and check the room. ‘There are guards in the hallway,’ I said.

‘There’s still a window,’ he said.

Since I’d already thought the same thing it was hard to bitch about it, so I didn’t.

He opened the door quietly, and when he’d looked around the room enough he moved to one side and held the door for me as if we were in public and he was on guard. I walked out into the hush of the room, and the pile of covers moved on the bed.

Nathaniel’s voice came thick with sleep. ‘Hey, was it as bad as it smelled?’

‘Almost,’ Nicky said.

‘Hey, Nicky,’ Nathaniel said.

‘Hey,’ he said with a smile.

I smiled; I couldn’t help it and went to the bed, where I still couldn’t see any of Nathaniel, just his voice from the nest of covers. I started to sit down on the edge of the bed, and he wiggled enough to make room. One arm came out of the covers first, and then his face peered up at me. He blinked at me, his face haloed by the sheets; it made him look younger than he was, like a glimpse into some little boy who must still be in there somewhere. He leaned upward, the covers spilling down to reveal the muscled shoulders and upper chest, the illusion of childhood vanished as the very adult body sat up to kiss me.

He was unbelievably warm straight from his nest of blankets as he stretched to kiss me, his hand on the side of my face, tracing the edge of my wet hair. He murmured as he pulled back from the kiss, ‘Come take a nap with me.’

‘Is this the first sleep you’ve had in what, twenty-four hours?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ he said, and wrapped his arms around me, trying to drag me under the covers.

I moved so he couldn’t do it, and he lay back against the bed, pouting at me. His hair in its thick braid curled around him like an auburn-haired Rapunzel. He kept my hand. ‘Come to bed.’

‘I have to get dressed and go be a cop,’ I said. ‘We only came back to shower and change.’

Nicky was already rummaging in his own luggage, getting clothes.

‘You can both come take a nap,’ he said.

‘No, we have to catch bad guys,’ I said.

‘I have to follow her around and pretend I’m not the bad guy,’ Nicky said.

‘Then you have to eat solid food, before you go back to work,’ Nathaniel said.

‘There’s no time for food,’ I said.

He sat up enough so that the covers pooled into his lap. ‘Make time, Anita; the reason I had to leave Micah at the hospital is that you’re draining energy from me. Dev started getting tired, too. You can’t ignore your physical body without affecting all of your animals to call, and Damian your vampire servant.’

‘I’m sorry, you’re right. How is Micah holding up?’

‘He won’t let himself cry. He’s just holding it inside. He holds my hand, lets me hold him, but he’s trying to be strong for his family and me. Sometimes it’s hard to take care of the two of you.’

‘I’m sorry we’re difficult,’ I said, ‘and doubly sorry I’m a pain in the ass.’

‘Want me to order room service?’ Nicky asked.

‘Go tell Edward we’re getting food and see if he wants anything.’

‘Have one of the other guards order the food and have it delivered to the conference room on this floor,’ Nathaniel said.

‘Conference room?’ I said.

‘Yeah, it’s got this huge oval table almost big enough for