"I… I don't know what to say."
And he didn't. Well, he could tell her the truth, he supposed. Tell her that the thought of losing her—even after being with her for only two days—nearly killed him. And that he knew that there was a chance she'd hate him for making her into a vampire, but he couldn't let her die because he was madly in love with her.
Yeah. Something like that.
"I don't think I properly said thank you," she said.
"You don't have to."
"Thank you." She bit her bottom lip and looked down at the carpet.
"We need to go. Hopefully Barkley and your sister are well out of town by now, but your boss…
Malcolm… we've got to take care of some things."
"In a minute." She nodded and turned back to the door, pushing it closed with a click.
He watched her warily. "What are you doing?"
She turned back to face him. "Thanking you."
And then before he could register what was happening, she walked directly toward him until they were almost touching. She reached down and took his right hand, bringing it up to her mouth.
"Janie," he breathed.
"Thank you." She kissed his palm—"Thank you"—and then her lips slid over his injured wrist.
His body stirred, and he felt his heart rate pick up. A lot. Obviously she wasn't thinking properly after her loss of blood.
She released his hand and pulled at the bottom edge of his shirt, moving it up to reveal what was left of his stake wound again. Before he could protest, she leaned over and ran her tongue over it.
He gasped, and his brain stopped working. The blood was immediately needed elsewhere.
"The healing balm tastes like strawberries," she said absently. "Weird."
"Uhh?" was all he was able to say in reply.
She drew up to look up into his eyes. His shirt remained raised, baring most of his chest. The front of his pants strained tightly against his arousal.
"Is that all you have to say?" she asked.
"Janie—"
"Yes?"
He cleared his throat. "I thought you were recovering from your recent diagnosis of vampirism."
"It's a rumor that fledgling vampires take a long time to recover from being turned. As long as they get what they need from their sire right away, there's no problem."
"And, believe me, I'm definitely willing to give you anything you need," he managed, trying to sound flippant, but the raspy, husky tone to his words betrayed him "But right now we really need to—"
She cut him off. "Really need toshut up , I think."
Just as he was trying to think of a witty reply, she kissed him. She had to raise herself up on her tiptoes to do so, since she was currently high-heel deficient, but she managed.
God, her mouth. Just like the balm, she tasted of strawberries, he thought, as her tongue darted between his lips. He groaned at the feel and taste of her.
He grabbed her upper arms and crushed her against him, letting her go only long enough for her to pull his black T-shirt up over his head. She ran her dark red fingernails down the front of him, and he shivered at her touch.
She kissed down his neck and over his chest, running her tongue down the center of him, from the hollow of his throat, down his chest, and past his navel to the edge of his khaki pants. He drew her back up to meet her lips again. She was driving him insane—his body was literally shaking with desire for her.
When did I lose control over this situation? he wondered absently.
Screw it.
He grabbed the bottom of her new red dress and pulled it off of her, hearing a rip at the last moment.
She stiffened. "There was a zipper, you know."
"Oops."
"Do the words 'designer' and 'expensive' mean anything to you?"
"Will you take a check?" His gaze took in every inch of her perfect, mouth-watering body now clad only in black thong panties.
Yup. He would have guessed that lingerie choice, and he approved greatly.
His mouth felt very dry.
"I have an idea." She bit her bottom lip. "Why don't you just pay me in sex?"
He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "It's a deal."
Then they were on the bed. Quinn kneaded Janie's bare breasts in his hands, taking one nipple in his mouth, working it to a hard peak while his right hand slipped down her body and traced the edge of her silky panties.
"You better add these to my tab." He tore them off her and threw them to the ground.
"Quinn…" she moaned. "Please. Make love to me."
"You're so polite," he breathed into her ear and met her lips again in a hot, open-mouthed kiss while his hands freely roamed her body.
Suddenly, he felt her hands at the front of his pants, fumbling with the zipper. Just as he was about to help her with the situation, she slipped the khakis over his hips and he felt her hand close around him. He let out a shuddery moan and looked down at her with surprise. She raised her eyebrow at his look of shock, giving him a very wicked look.
"Janie—"
And that's when he lost all decorum. The feel of her touching him, of her writhing beneath him, was enough to send him right over the edge of sanity. He'd been standing pretty close to it up until then.