She opened her eyes and smiled as he sat across from her.
“A toast?” he suggested, lifting his glass.
“All right.” She lifted hers as well. “What shall we drink to?”
“New beginnings?”
“New beginnings,” she repeated, and touched her glass to his.
Her scent tantalized him, as did the steady beat of her heart, the sight of the pulse throbbing in the hollow of her slender throat. He clenched his hands when his fangs brushed his tongue. Damn. He needed to get away from her, needed to feed now, before he did something reckless.
“Will you be here tomorrow night?” he asked, his voice tight.
“Are you leaving?”
He forced a note of humor into his voice. “It’s feeding time.”
“Oh, of course,” she replied, playing along.
“Tomorrow night.” He had intended to return to his own home in Sacramento sometime tomorrow, but that could wait a few days. Pushing away from the table, he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. “Ten o’clock.”
Before she could answer, he was moving toward the exit.
Sheree stared after him, then shook her head. She was either drunk or seeing things, but she could have sworn she’d seen a faint red glow in his eyes.
Chapter Three
Mara sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, reminiscing about the past. She told herself she wasn’t waiting up for Derek. He was a grown man. He no longer needed her to look out for him, nor would he appreciate it. But she waited anyway.
It was an hour before dawn when he entered the house. He scowled when he saw her.
“Dammit,” he hissed. “I’m a big boy now. I don’t need my mother waiting up for me.”
Mara lifted her head, nostrils flaring, but said nothing.
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
She smiled faintly. “All things considered, I could hardly condemn you if you did.” How could she? She had killed more than her share of mortals in the long centuries of her existence.
Derek dropped into his favorite chair and stretched his legs out in front of him.
“You smell of perfume and alcohol,” she remarked.
“I met a woman. I didn’t feed on her.”
“But you wanted to.”
He didn’t deny it. “Do you mind if I stay here for another few days?”
“Of course not. The others are all going home tomorrow night.”
There had been a time when the DeLongpres and the Cordovas had maintained homes in Oregon, but they had all moved shortly after Derek’s birth. Now, they lived in California, though not all in the same town. Derek made his home in Sacramento. Roshan, Brenna, Vince and Cara had homes in San Jose. Rane and Savannah owned a ranch-style house located on several acres near Auburn, while Rafe and Kathy lived in Red Bluff. Mara owned a home in Northern California, but this house in the Hollywood Hills was her favorite.
“Where’s Logan?” Derek asked.
“He went out for a run.”
Derek nodded. Long ago, Logan had been known as Hektor. Mara had turned him over nine hundred years ago. Derek knew of no other vampires who had lived as long, or possessed such strength and power. His own preternatural abilities were almost as strong, bequeathed to him through his mother’s ancient blood.