“Oh, I did. At first I was hurt, but I realized that they really were meant for one another. Besides, Belle—she was my roomie—promised to help find me a Dark One who doesn’t have a Beloved.”
Noelle’s gaze in the mirror flickered to him.
Cora put her hand on his leg and glared at the mirror. You say one word, and I’ll pop you on your incredibly gorgeous nose.
He put his hand over hers and stroked the backs of her fingers. I’m surprised you care enough to feel possessive, querida.
I’m not being possessive. I’m just protecting you because you let de Marco shoot you in the back in order to save me. Noelle wouldn’t be right for you at all. You can thank me later for getting her off your back. “And I take it she hasn’t found one yet?”
“No, although I’ve met just about every unredeemed Dark One in Europe.” Noelle sighed.
“You’d think one of them would be happy to have you swoop in and save him,” Cora said, drumming her fingers on his leg.
“You’d think so, but I guess not. I wouldn’t mind, except Belle is constantly after me to try to meet more Dark Ones, and to be honest, I’m perfectly happy the way I am. And besides, men are like stray cats, you know? When one needs you, they find you.”
Cora laughed. Alec refrained from making any comment, focusing his attention on more important matters. He had to figure out how he was going to convince Kristoff to go against the Moravian Council. Kris wasn’t going to like it, but Alec had too much at stake to tolerate any refusal of help.
He had to protect Cora, and it was beginning to look like there was only one way to do that.
Chapter Eight
I spent the entire flight to Florence pretending to sleep. I wasn’t proud of that fact, and I did actually snooze a goodly part of the time, thanks to some pain pills, but I had just reached a point where my mind seemed to be completely out of my control.
“I am going to sleep,” I told Alec an hour after the private jet he had chartered took off. The fact that he had the resources to think nothing about hiring private jets to send him rocketing around the world was one of the things my mind had a hard time dealing with.
“I don’t know why,” he said without looking up from his laptop.
“I’m tired. And that dinner you insisted I eat was huge, and it made me sleepy.”
“I meant that I don’t know why you feel that traveling in a private jet is in any way outstanding. I assure you that the company that hires out this jet flies their clients all over the world.”
“It may be standard operating policy where vamps are concerned,” I said, dropping my voice so the stewardess at the other end of the cabin couldn’t hear us, “but in my social circle, it’s a big deal. I’m going to curl up on the couch, if you don’t mind, and try to sleep off all that food.”
“You needed to eat. I had taken too much blood,” he said, his gaze still on the laptop that sat before him. “Why don’t you sleep in the bed?”
I looked over at the long brown suede couch that was tucked against one side of the cabin. The whole interior was done in a lovely latte and cream color scheme, the six leather chairs made with butter-soft leather that was so comfortable, I could have slept sitting upright in them. “It turns into a bed?” I asked, nodding toward the couch.
“No. There’s a bedroom in the back.” He looked up, his green cat’s eyes dancing with amusement. “I could show it to you if you like.”
I leaned forward over the glossy inlaid wood table that sat between our facing chairs, my voice a whisper as the stewardess tidied up the remains of our dinner—Alec’s having been eaten by me, since he evidently didn’t eat food that didn’t come straight from the vein. “I said no sex, and I mean it, buster. If you so much as think of seducing me again—”
“I believe the seduction in the Akasha was a mutual endeavor.”
“—like you tried at my apartment—”
He smiled, the handsome bastard. “Ah. That was due to the fact that I thought you were stripping for me rather than simply changing your clothes. I apologized for that.”
“—and at the airport—”
He shrugged. “I was hungry. You offered to feed me. We were alone. Things got a little carried away. I apologized for that, too.”
“—and five minutes ago, when I was in the bathroom.”
His smile broadened. “That was simply a matter of wishing to make sure your wound had thoroughly healed, and being unable to resist the nearness of your naked flesh.”
“Flattering as it is to be the object of lust by a bloodthirsty fiend in sexy men’s clothes, I stand by what I said, Alec—no sex. I’ll feed you because you helped me, and are continuing to help me, but I’m not interested in you in a male-female sort of way. Have I made myself perfectly clear?”
“Yes,” he said, swiveling around in his chair to consider me, his gaze raking me from toes to nose. “You’ve made it extremely clear that you’re in denial, because you know you’re just as attracted to me as I am to you. Anger should be next, although perhaps you’re at that stage simultaneously with denial. I can’t wait for bargaining.”
I glared at him. “I am not in the five stages of grief, and I am definitely not attracted to you!”
He splayed his fingers across one of my breasts. My breath caught in my throat, my heart beating wildly at the touch, and my nipples, those traitors to my better intentions, hardened visibly under the thin gauze dress I’d donned for the anticipated warmth of Italy.
Alec pursed his lips as his thumb swept over my nipple. I shivered, for a moment entertaining the idea that I could have my cake—hot, steamy lovemaking with Alec—and keep him at arm’s length at the same time, but realized that was the sheerest of follies.
“Damn you,” I snarled, stalking off toward the back of the cabin.
Sleep well, love.
You can go to hell!
Pleasant dreams, too. Hopefully ones about you and me being naked together.
I froze for a second at the images with which he filled my head, then ran the rest of the way to the bedroom, desperate to shut out both the images and the knowledge that he was right.
I was utterly, completely, wholly in denial, and determined to stay that way.
An hour later I was still tossing and turning on the bed, not totally comfortable with the idea of an airplane having a bedroom to begin with. What if there was turbulence ? I looked, but there were no seat belts on the bed, so I contented myself with very carefully tucking myself in with the sheets pulled very tight over me. But mostly, I was sleepless because my body sang a sad little song of loss over the fact that it was confined to the bed, while Alec was sitting out in the main cabin, in glorious manliness.
Just what was he doing with that laptop?
Taking care of some business.
Stop eavesdropping! I ground my teeth at him for a few minutes, then unable to keep from asking, What sort of business? Businessy business, or vampire business?
I am involved in several mundane financial businesses, querida.
Really?
Yes, really. I have to have some way to fund trips in private jets, he answered, amusement rife in his mind.
Oh, I suppose . . . I thought you just . . . you know . . . had money.
I do have money. I’ve spent my life working for it.
I didn’t know why, but that pleased me. I’ve always liked people who made their own fortunes, both literal and figurative.