to be Celluci. "The man throws his life out like a challenge," Henry muttered. He wasn't at all surprised Stuart had attacked the detective - dominant males usually came to blows. His continuing presence probably hadn't helped. Although he had a special status within the family, while he was around Stuart remained on edge, instincts demanding that one of them submit. It was the alpha male's responsibility to protect the pack and his frustration at having to call in outside help had no doubt destabilized Stuart further.
Given Celluci's attitude and Stuart's state of mind, a fight had been inevitable. Storm's intervention, on the other hand, had been a complete surprise to everyone involved, including Storm. Cloud must be getting very close for her twin to be behaving so irrationally.
Which brought them back around, more or less, to Vicki.
Henry grinned. If Celluci was a wer, he'd piss a circle around her, telling the world, This is mine! And then Vicki would get up and walk out of it.
"I'm not jealous of him," he told the night, aware as he spoke that it was almost a lie.
"Can we love?" The process had begun although the final change had not yet been made.
Christina turned to him, dark eyes veiled behind the ebony fan of her lashes.
"Do you doubt it?" she asked, and came into his arms.
He had loved half a dozen times in the centuries since and each time it had shone like a beacon in the long darkness of his life.
Was it happening again? He wasn't sure. He only knew he wanted to tell Mike Celluci, "The day is yours, but the night is mine. "
Celluci would be as unlikely to agree to such a division as Vicki would.
"You cannot resent what they do in the daylight hours." Christina laid his head upon her breast and lightly stroked his hair. "For if you do, it will fester in your heart and twist your nature and you will become one of those creatures of darkness they are right to fear. Fear is what kills us,"
Perhaps, when the wer were safe, he would ask her, "Will you give me your nights?" Perhaps.
He wanted to touch her, hold her... no... he wanted to catch her up and throw her down and reestablish his claim on her. The intensity of his desire frightened him, stopped him. Confused, he sat on the edge of his bed, watching her sleep, listening to the soft sound of her breathing play a counterpoint to the helicopter roar of cheap air-conditioning.
They'd never had an exclusive relationship. They'd both had other lovers. She'd had other lovers.
Mike Celluci forced his hands to relax against his bare thighs and took a deep breath of the chilled air. Nothing had changed between him and Vicki since Henry Fitzroy came on the scene.
Suddenly, he couldn't stop thinking about the first eight months after she'd left the force. They'd had one last bitter fight and then no contact at all as the days dragged into weeks and the world had become more and more impossible to deal with. Until she was gone, he hadn't realized how important a part of his life she'd been. And it wasn't the sex he'd missed. He'd missed conversations and arguments - even considering that most of their conversations became arguments - and just having someone around who'd get the joke. He'd lost his best friend and had barely learned to live with the loss when fate had thrown them together again.
No one should have to go through that twice.
But Fitzroy wasn't taking her anywhere.
Was he?
"Look, if you think that after last night I'm going meekly back to Toronto, think again. I'm driving you back to the farm. Get in the car."
Vicki sighed and surrendered. She recognized Celluci's "There's more going on here than meets the eye and I'm going to get to the bottom of it regardless of how you feel" tone, and it was just too hot to keep arguing. Besides, if he didn't drive her, someone would have to come out from the farm to get her and that didn't seem entirely fair.
And he already knew about the wer, so what harm would it do with Henry safely locked away?
"So," he started the engine and flipped the air-conditioning on full, "what are the odds your furry friend is going to go for my throat again?"
"Depends. What are the odds you're going to act like a jackass?"
He frowned. "Did I?"
Vicki shook her head. Just when you think he has no