in his arms, he hugged her as if they hadn't seen each other for years instead of three days. It made her ridiculously happy to know he had missed her as much as she had missed him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you. Let's go get your luggage."
For the first time in her life, her bags were the first down the chute.
Grigori picked up her two suitcases and tucked them under one arm; then he took her hand. "Come, I rented a limousine to take you home."
"You're kidding, right?"
"No, it's right outside."
"But my car - "
"I drove it to your apartment last night."
"Why?"
"So I could hold you in my arms that much sooner."
It was, quite possibly, the most romantic thing anyone had ever said or done.
Marisa felt like a movie star as a sleek white stretch limo pulled up to the curb. The driver got out and opened the door for them, stowed her luggage in the trunk. Minutes later, they were on the 101 Freeway headed home.
Marisa snuggled against Grigori. "This is wonderful."
"Are you thirsty? Hungry?"
"No, I'm fine."
His arm tightened around her shoulders. "Did you have a good time with your family?"
"Uh-huh. My mom always cooks enough for an army. I probably gained ten pounds." She looked up at him. "I guess that's not a problem for you, is it?"
"No."
"Lucky."
"Indeed I am."
She felt a wave of heat flood her cheeks as his gaze moved over her, possessive, admiring. "The vampire diet plan," she quipped. "Liquid protein."
One side of his mouth lifted in a wry grin. "Don't knock it until you've tried it."
"No, thank you." And then she frowned. "Wait a minute. When we went to the North Woods Inn, you ate a steak." She grimaced at the memory. "A very rare steak, but you ate it."
"Did I?"
"Of course you did. I saw you."
He smiled indulgently. "I never ate it. I only planted the idea in your mind."
She punched him on the arm. "Messing with my head again."
He shrugged. "I won't do it anymore."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, cara."
"Did you take a walk on Christmas Eve?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I saw you."
Grigori frowned at her. "What do you mean?"
"I saw you in a dream. You were walking down a street, all alone. You passed a drugstore and there was an old man standing in the doorway. He was wearing a brown raincoat, and had a red scarf around his neck."
She felt the muscles in his arm tense. "Go on."
"You were going to... you know, but then you read his mind and saw that his wife was home alone, and sick, and he had gone out in the rain to pick up a prescription for her."
"You dreamed this?"
Marisa nodded. "You passed him by and then you went home."
His arm was like steel around her as he waited for her to continue.
She looked up, her gaze searching his. "You said life had lost its meaning for you, and then you called my name. And then - " She shivered as the sound of the wolf's lonely cry echoed in her mind.
"And then?"
"I heard a wolf howl, and I woke up. Was it real, or just a dream?"
A muscle throbbed in his jaw. He took a deep breath, and she felt the tension flow out of him. The arm around her shoulders relaxed. "It was real, cara mia. It happened just as you've described."
"Did you plant those images in my mind?"
"I told you I did not."
"That's why I dream about you, isn't it? Because you gave me some of your blood. Does that mean you can make me do anything you want?"
"I could always bend your will to mine, Marisa. The little bit of blood I gave you was only to mark you as mine, to enable me to find you, to allow me to speak to your mind."
"Alexi said he could taste you."
"Alexi." Grigori glanced out the window into the darkness, wondered where his old nemesis was hiding. Had he given up the game? Or was he merely biding his time, lulling them into a false sense of security before he struck again?
"Hey, where are you?"
He smiled down at her. "Here, beside you, for as long as you want me."
"That could be a long time."
His smile turned bittersweet. "I have a long time."
"What about Ramsey?"
"What about him?"
"He said he was going to destroy you."
"He would not be the first to try. He may not be the last."
"What do you mean?"
"I've been hunted before, in times past. Those