man." I kept my arms around him and laid my head on his chest.
"I try to be. And I would have claimed my child, if I had known she was mine. But Mara lied to all of us - Mac, me and Lily. Guess it's no surprise my daughter is a bit of a handful with that cold bitch for a mother." Jerry ran his hands up and down my back but was obviously still thinking.
I didn't bother to hide my smile. At last Jerry was admitting what I'd known all along. Mara was a cold, manipulative woman and not for him. Yes!
"Just rent Lily her own place. Let her develop a decent relationship with you over time and things will smooth out." I looked up and traced his frown with a fingertip. "Maybe some of your honorable ways will rub off. And she'll get tired of the game playing."
"I can only hope. But those men. I didn't recognize them. Where did they come from? I should have asked questions, not let them take off like that." Jerry ran his hand up my back, then around to fondle my breast, but I could tell his mind wasn't on his work.
"And alienate Lily even more? I don't think so." I blocked my thoughts. Matt had had the blond surfer-dude looks that I'd recognized instantly. I'd have bet the castle that he was one of Ian MacDonald's bodyguards with a night off. Just Lily's luck that she'd hooked up with one of them. Or was it? I'd mocked the Campbell-MacDonald feud, but maybe Ian had his own thoughts on that rivalry.
Of course Matt was good-looking and buff, just Lily's type. Red was probably one of Ray's bodyguards. So he'd volunteered to show Matt around. Surely it was all a coincidence. They'd probably met Lily at N-V, the only club in town now that encouraged vampires to hang out. I'd question Lily on my own later, not about to share my worries with Jerry.
I did what I always did when I wanted to distract my guy. I slid down to my knees and headed south. Oh, yeah. Not all of his thoughts were on his wayward daughter. I soon had him moaning and picking me up to carry me to his king-size bed.
It didn't take long for us to shed our clothes until we were naked, skin to skin. I sighed when Jerry kissed a path down my body, using his tongue and fangs to drive me wild. The dawn was too close for us to do much more than take each other in conventional ways. But it was enough. When I lay sated on his wide chest, I kissed his lips, then sat up so I could look into his eyes.
"I didn't hear Lily come back. Did you?"
Jerry smiled. "Who can hear when you're working your magic, lass? I went deaf, dumb and blind for whole minutes there." He ran his hands down to my hips and pulled me tight where we were connected. How could he possibly still be hard? Yet he was.
"Guess she found a safe place to spend the day." I sat up and moaned as he pushed deep inside me. "I know I have."
"You can always feel safe with me, Gloriana." Jerry reached up to hold my breasts. "And you're right. I need to find Lily her own place. Trust her to live on her own and take care of herself. She has for hundreds of years."
"Fledglings like Penny and even Ray just don't understand what it's like to have lived so long. Have so much history together. Especially like you and I have." I stopped moving, feeling like maybe there was something important I needed to say here. A message for me and maybe Jerry if I could just get it out.
"Aye, we do have that. I've certainly lost count of how many times we've lain like this." Jerry pulled my head down and gave me a kiss that touched my soul as much as it touched my lips and my tongue. By the time he drew back I'd lost the words I wanted to say. "Being with you never fails to please me, to make me want more of you, Gloriana. Other women never hold me like this, keep me in thrall. You are my soul mate, as they say. Do you believe in such a thing?"
"Jerry. Jeremiah. Of course I do." Tears blurred his face below me as I pressed my hands on his broad