“Natalie?”

“I’m not mad.”

“You asked me once whether I ever regretted becoming a vampire.”

“And you said ‘Occasionally.’”

The feel of her skin soothed and excited him. He let his amnis touch the surface and it prickled in awareness. “The night in the bar downtown. When I made you bump into me.”

“Confessing that too, huh?” she said, a smile in her voice.

“I wish… I wish that had been our first meeting. When I left you that night, after you and your friend went to the movie, I wished that I was a normal man, and I had simply met you at the bar. That I could have joined you for the movie and talked with you more.”

She said nothing, but he could hear her pulse begin to speed.

“Because you were smart and funny. I wish I could see your hair in the sun. You said that the smell of the ocean was wrong. And I’ve thought that every night for a hundred years, I think, but I didn’t recognize it until you said it.”

Then there was silence. Until she finally whispered, “George?”

“Hmm?”

She reached over her shoulder and tugged on his hand as he leaned closer. “Lay down with me. I think I need a hug.”

“Um… okay.”

She rolled and scooted over on the bed, pulling him close and wrapping his arms around her like a blanket. He tensed for a moment, unsure of what she wanted. His body roared to life as his senses filled with her scent and heat. But when she put her head on his shoulder and sighed, he forced himself to relax.

“Baojia?”

Did she have any idea how that breathy voice whispering his name affected him? He felt his fangs throb. “Yes?”

“What are we doing?”

Not enough. “What do you mean?”

“You and me.” She looked up. Sea-blue eyes, surrounded by black lashes. Pale freckled skin, flush with life. “Are you and I—”

He kissed her. He had to. It was the only answer to her question.

He pulled her against his chest and felt his heart thump slowly. Once. Soft lips opening to his mouth. The taste of sugar and mint on her tongue. Twice. His hand ran from her shoulder, down her spine, over the soft curve of her hip. Three times his heart beat before he gave in and grabbed her thigh, hitching it over his hip to brihis rang her closer. There were no words, just the sound of her breathing and her heart as it pounded. He could hear the rush of blood in her veins. Her skin flushed with heat. Kissing Natalie felt like a memory of the sun on his skin.

He reached a hand up to pull at the tie that held her hair back.

“I hate these things,” he murmured between bites of her mouth. “Never wear them.”

“Sometimes…” She pressed into his chest, and her arms wrapped around his waist. Her hands tucked into the waistband of his slacks, and he moaned when he felt the tickle of her fingertips against his sensitive flesh. “Sometimes, it’s just the most practical thing to tie it back,” she murmured between kisses.

“It’s beautiful when it’s loose around your face.” He grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged her mouth back.

She kissed him for a long, breathless moment. “It’s a mess.”

“Woman,” he said and kissed her more deeply, their tongues tasting and teasing, “are you arguing with me? Now?”

“Of course I am.”

Baojia smiled against her lips, then he started to laugh, his nose bumping against hers as he squeezed her thigh and let his head fall to the pillow. She stared at him, her lips swollen and red from friction. Her face was flushed. Her hair was a mess. He just laughed harder. “You’ll argue with me forever, won’t you?”

Natalie shrugged innocently. “It’s what I do.”

The laughter died down and he tugged her back down to his shoulder, tucking her head under his chin as he played with a curl of her unruly, argumentative hair. The heated mood had shifted into something warmer. Plus, he could feel the house beginning to stir for the night, filling with activity as humans and vampires filled the halls. He savored the lazy indulgence of lying beside her, even if it was just for a few more minutes.

“Baojia?”

“Hmm?” Why was her heart picking up again?

“Am I more than an assignment?”

Th-thunk. His heart beat with hers for a second, and his breath caught.

“Yes.”

The Italian did have an excellent library. Technically, he knew Giovanni had given the library to his wife, but he could see the years of work in its shelves. The rumors were that Giovanni Vecchio was a minor nobleman who had been turned by a very famous water vampire during the Italian Renaissance. The immortal never suspected that the urbane man would wake as a fire vampire, the most dangerous and unpredictable of their kind. Giovanni’s reputation was enough to make Ernesto give him a wide berth. His marriage to Ernesto’s blood relative was another.

But whatever uneasy truce Giovanni and Beatrice had with Ernesto, it had never extended to Baojia. As his father’s enforcer for so many years, he had taken Ernesto’s connections and alliances for granted. As a newly independent immortal, he would have to build his own.

“How are you?” Giovanni said, appearing at his side.

He tried not to react and instead looked to Natalie, Dez, and Beatrice, who were at the library table, poring over newspaper clippings while Natalie took more notes in one of her yellow legal pads. “I am well. Thank you again for opening your home and providing a safe place for Natalie.”