I sighed.
"What is wrong, ma petite?"
Asher was a vampire. How much more dangerous could he be with a gun? But I couldn't do it. "Let me test my understanding. Is Asher going to ride in the car with us to the meeting?"
"I must, to give you directions," Asher said.
"Then lean against the Jeep."
He frowned at me in an amused, condescending sort of way. "Excuse me?"
"I don't care if you're the second coming of the Antichrist, you can't sit behind me in my own car until I know you're not carrying a weapon."
"Ma petite, he is a vampire. If he is sitting behind you in a car, he is close enough to kill you without a gun."
I shook my head. "You're right. I know you're right, but the point isn't logic, Jean-Claude. The point is that I simply can't let him in the car behind me without knowing what's under the coat. I just can't." It was true. Paranoid, but still true.
Jean-Claude knew me better than to argue. "Very well, ma petite. Asher would you be so kind as to face towards the Jeep."
Asher smiled brilliantly at both of us, flashing fang. "You want to pat me down? I could rip you into pieces with my bare hands, and you're worried I have a gun?" He chuckled, a low, skin-prickling sound. "That is so very cute."
Cute? Me? "Just do it, please."
He turned to face the Jeep, still laughing softly.
"Hands on the hood, feet apart." I got out the gun one more time. Maybe I should just carry it on a chain around my neck. I pressed the barrel into his spine. I felt him stiffen under my hands.
"You are serious about this."
"Absolutely," I said. "Feet further apart."
He shifted, but it wasn't enough.
I kicked his feet apart until his balance was off-center and started searching him one-handed.
"Dominant, very dominant. Does she like to be on top?"
I ignored him. More surprising, so did Jean-Claude.
"Slower, slower. Hasn't Jean-Claude taught you not to rush?" He drew in a breath at the appropriate moment. "Oooh, that's nice."
Yes, it was embarrassing, but I searched him top to bottom. There wasn't a damn thing to find. But I felt better. I stepped back until I was out of reach and put the gun up.
He was watching over his shoulder. "Do the panties match the bra?"
I shook my head. "You can stand up now."
He stayed against the car. "Don't you need to strip-search me?"
"In your dreams," I said.
He stood, smoothing his coat back into place. "You have no idea what I dream, Anita." I couldn't read the look on his face, but the look was enough. I didn't want to know what Asher saw when he closed his eyes at the break of day.
"Shall we go?" Jean-Claude said.
"Are you so eager to throw your life away?" Asher asked. The anger returned with a rush, chasing out the amused teasing gallant.
"The council will not kill me tonight," Jean-Claude said.