this. Too worthy to endure a
stranger's rutting.
Christ. What a mess.
Phury let the silence go on, hoping she'd get used to his presence while he figured out what to do
next.
Sex was not going to be it, that was for sure.
Jane was not big on The Sound of Music, but she was totally Julie Andrews-ing it up as she lay in
bed and watched V try to find his clothes. Man, being in love really did make you want to throw
out your arms and spin in the sunshine with a big, sappy, happy grin on your face. Plus she had
the short blond hair to pull it off. Although she was drawing the line at lederhosen.
There was just one little problem.
«Tell me you aren't going to hurt him,» she said as V pulled his leathers up his thighs. «Tell me
my boss is not going to end up with a pair of broken legs.»
«Not at all.» V drew on a black shirt that stretched tight over his pecs. «I'm just going to make
sure that he's good and clean and that picture of my ticker is iced.»
«You'll let me know how it goes?»
He looked at her from under his brows, an evil little smile on his face. «Don't trust me with lover
boy?»
«Not as far as I can throw you.»
«Smart woman.» V came over and sat down on the edge of the bed, his diamond eyes still
glowing from the sex. «When it comes to you, that surgeon needs to watch it.»
She took his bare hand, knowing that he hated her getting anywhere near the gloved one.
«Manny knows where he stands with me.»
«Does he?»
«I told him. Right after the weekend. Even though I couldn't remember you, it just felt… wrong.»
V leaned in and kissed her. «I'll come back after I leave him, okay? That way you can look into
my eyes and know the guy's still breathing. And, listen, I want to get real here. I'd like to send
Fritz over this coming afternoon with some supplies so I can wire this place up. Do you have an
extra garage door opener?»
«Yeah, in the kitchen. Drawer under the phone.»
«Good. I'm taking it.» He ran a finger down her neck and circled his newest bite mark. «Every
night when you get home I'm going to be here. Every early morning before I have to go back to
the compound, I'm going to be here. Every night I'm off, I'm going to be here. We're going to
steal the time when and where we can, and we're going to stay in touch on the phone when we're
not together.»
Just like any normal relationship, she thought, and the idea that there was a prosaic side to things
was nice. It took the pair of them out of some great paranormal superstructure and laid them fiat
on the ground of reality: They were two people who were committed and ready to work at a
relationship. Which was about all you could ask of the person you were in love with.
«What's your full name,» she murmured. «I just realized I know you only as V.»
«Vishous.»
Jane's hand squeezed his. «Excuse me?»
«Vishous. Yeah, I know it's odd for you-«
«Wait, wait, wait-how do you spell it?»
«V-i-s-h-o-u-s.»
«Good… God.»
«What?»
She cleared her throat. «Ah, a long, long time ago-a lifetime ago-I sat in my childhood
bedroom with my sister. There was a Ouija board between us and we were asking it questions.»
She looked up at him. «You were my answer.»
«To what question?»
«Who…Jesus, who I was going to marry.»
V smiled nice and slow, the way a man did when he was feeling pretty damn self-satisfied. «You
wanna marry me then?»
She laughed. «Yeah, sure. Let's just jack me into a white dress and do the altar thing-«
His expression lost the tease. «I'm serious.»
«Oh… God.»
«I don't suppose that's a yes?»
Jane pushed herself upright. «I… I never thought I'd get married.»
He winced. «Yeah, okay, that wasn't exactly the reply I was going for-«
«No… I mean, I'm just surprised at how… easy it feels.»
«Easy?»
«The idea of being your wife.»
He started to smile, but then lost the expression. «We can do the ceremony in my tradition, but it
won't be official.»
«Because I'm not one of you?»
«Because the Scribe Virgin hates my ass, so there can't be any presentation to her. But we can do
the rest of it.» Now he grinned with an edge. «Especially the carving.»
«Carving?»
«Your name. My back. I can't fucking wait.»
Jane whistled under her breath. «Do I get to do it?»
He barked a laugh. «No!»
«Come on. I'm a surgeon, I'm good with knives.»
«My brothers will do it-well, actually, I guess you could do a letter, too.
| | |
|