cheeks. “But sometimes immortals—and I assume vampires—can be a little rough in their, ahem, exuberance during sex. You know, preternatural strength and all that. I’m immortal now, so any bruises that form fade just as quickly. But you aren’t immortal, and I worry Cliff might…”
“Panic if he thinks he hurt me?” Emma glanced down at her arms. She hadn’t noticed any bruises earlier and saw none now.
“Yes.” Melanie’s look turned thoughtful. She narrowed her eyes as though she might be mentally hatching something. “You know, Linda recently started seeing Alleck. Linda is the other doctor who works closely with the vampires at the network. And Alleck is a German immortal who sometimes helps us with our research. Linda is still mortal and does sometimes sport bruises after bouts of loveplay. Maybe I could arrange to have a”—she made air quotes with her fingers—“spontaneous discussion with her regarding how she got the bruises and how she feels about them while Bastien hangs out in Cliff’s apartment and makes sure he overhears it.” She nodded. “Yes. I’ll do that. And I’ll have Bastien mention he bruised me a bit before I transformed.”
“Did he?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really remember.” She smiled wryly. “A lot was happening at the time. I nearly died twice.”
“Sheesh.”
“Yeah.” They chatted a little longer, then Melanie headed out to her car. “You should probably open the windows and let a breeze flow through the house. I don’t want Cliff to know I was here.”
“Why?”
“Because I want him to feel free to visit you without looking over his shoulder, wondering if we’re there, scrutinizing everything he does. I want him to be happy.”
Emma nodded. “I do, too.”
As she watched Melanie’s car creep back down the driveway and reviewed everything the woman had told her, Emma wondered how long that happiness would last.
Chapter Fourteen
When Cliff awoke the next afternoon, his mind was wonderfully quiet and his body rested after the best night’s sleep he’d had in months.
A smile stretched his lips.
Emma.
He couldn’t wait to see her again tonight. Couldn’t wait to hold her and talk to her. He’d grab his phone right now and call her if all outgoing and incoming calls to his cell weren’t monitored.
Oh well. He could wait. He felt great!
Unfortunately, Cliff’s mental reprieve proved to be a temporary one. He was hanging out with Melanie and Linda in the lab shortly before the dinner hour when the whispers began. Not those carried to his ears by the multitude of employees who inhabited the building but the whispers in his head.
Damn it. His mood soured. What had he expected? That one night with the woman he loved would banish the voices forever and miraculously heal the brain damage he’d suffered?
If Melanie and the other doctors here at the network found a cure for the virus that wouldn’t kill him, they didn’t even know if the brain damage could be reversed or if the voices and violent impulses would continue to plague him for the rest of his mortal life.
Just give up, they taunted. Give in. No point fighting it when you know we’ll win.
Never. He would never give in. He had something more than his own sanity to fight for now. If he could beat this, he might have a future with Emma.
And what he wouldn’t give for that, to have a storybook happily-ever-after with her. Marriage. Kids. A dog and a white picket fence. The works.
Perfect, a voice taunted. Then you could yank a slat off the fence and impale the dog with it. They’re so nice and pointy.
Closing his eyes, Cliff rejected the words and abhorrent images they inspired and focused on thoughts of Emma.
She doesn’t want you. You’re just a novelty to her, the voice continued.
A bad boy, another joined in. You know how much women love bad boys.
And a taste of the forbidden.
Once she realizes how fucked up in the head you really are, she’ll run—not walk—into the arms of another.
Fury tore through Cliff, so violent he nearly shook with it, but he resolutely tamped it down and headed for one of the specially designed treadmills the lab boasted.
Emma loved him. He wouldn’t let the madness take that from him.
Determination fueling him, Cliff ran at speeds that would wreck a normal treadmill, as if by doing so he could outrun the insanity that loomed. Melanie and Linda chatted as they studied whatever medical data the vampires’ latest scans provided. One desk had two large desktop computers set up side by side with the