hours spent in bed or out of bed, making love and talking and learning even more about each other than they had already known.
She hated to see it end, but John had invited his study group over to the apartment tonight and Jenna intended to capture the vampire who had infected her.
Her stomach gave a nervous flutter.
She had never physically fought anyone before . . . aside from the night Richart had rescued her from the vampires, but she didn’t remember that.
Richart seemed confident that, even with no combat training, she could easily subdue the vampire if he did as hoped and snuck into her bedroom to feed from her once more. She wouldn’t have even begun to believe such was possible if she hadn’t grown more bold than she had ever been in bed last night and overpowered Richart, holding him down and . . .
“You’re blushing,” Richart drawled with amusement. “What are you thinking?”
“That I’ve never been so . . . aggressive before,” she admitted.
“Lucky me.” He stole a quick kiss.
“You really don’t mind?”
He laughed. “Are you kidding? Just thinking about it makes me hard again.”
Smiling, she sat up and faced him. “But . . . you don’t mind that I’m stronger than you now?” He had been right. She didn’t know if it was because Roland was several hundred years older than Richart or because he was a healer, but his transforming her had left her stronger and faster than Richart.
He sat up beside her and stroked her hair. “No, I want you to be safe. The stronger and faster you are, the better. Your being able to overpower me would only trouble me if you made me do something I didn’t want to do.” He leaned in close and rubbed noses with her. “And everything you did to me, everything you made me do last night, I thoroughly enjoyed.”
She pressed her lips to his. “I love you.”
“And I adore you. Now let’s go kick some vampire ass.”
The biggest impediment they ran into that night ended up being John.
“I appreciate your anger,” Richart told him for the dozenth time, “but you must behave as though you know nothing of the vampire’s nefarious deeds.”
“I don’t understand why we couldn’t just invite the ones I suspect and kick their asses until one confessed.”
Richart sighed. John had narrowed it down to two men he thought were the likeliest candidates, but really it could be any of them. “John, just do as we’ve asked,” he advised. “Behave as you normally would. No scowls or confrontations. And let your mother and me deal with this.”
When John opened his mouth to object . . . again . . . Richart held up a hand. “I know your every instinct tells you to protect your mother, but she can pick you up and toss you through that wall over there with very little effort now.”
John eyed his mother skeptically.
Jenna raised an eyebrow. “Want a demonstration?”
He cracked a smile. “No, ma’am.”
She winked.
“I guess it’s a good thing you couldn’t do that back when I was in high school and broke curfew.”
“I would have been seriously tempted.”
At last, John laughed and relaxed a bit. “Okay. I get it. I’ll stay out of it and let things play out the way you want them to.”
Richart clapped him on the back. “Excellent.” He motioned to the hallway. “Shall we, my love?”
The study group arrived. Jenna did her mother thing, asking if they liked their new classes, offering snacks and drinks, then said she was heading for bed.
Good nights trailed down the hallway after her as she entered her bedroom and swung the door until it was almost, but not quite, closed, leaving a little strip of light to illuminate her path to the bed.
Across the room, a shadow among shadows, Richart winked at her as she drew back the covers, climbed in fully clothed, then tugged them up to her neck. Quiet enfolded them, broken only by the mumbling of chemistry mumbo jumbo in the living room.
Richart’s heartbeat slowed until even Jenna had difficulty detecting it. But his scent lingered.
Won’t he smell you? she had asked, thinking it a dead giveaway, but Richart had shaken his head.
John has mentioned you’re seeing someone. He’ll just assume we slept together earlier and my scent lingers on you.
Why that had made her flush, she didn’t know.
Minutes passed. An hour. Finally someone mentioned using the bathroom and strode up the hallway. A click sounded as light brightened the hallway. The bathroom door