Must Love Fangs (Midnight Liaisons) (11 page)

“Pretty good,” he said, and there was a husky note in his voice. His gaze seemed to go back to my mouth once more. “Did you want to practice again?”

“Can we?” Oh man, my voice sounded so breathy.

“Of course.” He tugged at the curls on my nape and tilted my head back just a little.

I barely managed to swallow the gasp building in my throat before his mouth descended on mine again. He kissed the hell out of me—thoroughly, thoroughly kissed—and his tongue swept into my mouth again, driving all rational thought out of my head. There was only Josh and that powerful, endless kiss.

By the time he pulled away again, my thoughts were mush. My lips felt full and a little tender from his kiss, and my nipples—and my sex—ached with need. He could have definitely tossed me down on the couch and had his way with me.

As if sensing what I was thinking, he leaned in once more. I parted my lips in anticipation of his kiss—

And wasn’t prepared for the sensual slicking of his tongue over my parted lips in a blatant move that left me breathless.

“That’s how you kiss someone, Marie,” he said in a husky voice as he broke the kiss and retreated back to his end of the couch. “Did you take notes?”

“Buh?” I asked, still all foggy with need and incredibly eloquent.

“You’re getting better with your reactions,” he said casually, as if we’d just been describing the weather. “Just let me know if you need more practice.”

“More practice?” I echoed, and then reality crashed over me.

That’s all this was, of course. Just practice. I pulled away from Josh and scooted back on the couch, giving myself space. “I’m good for now.”

“Suit yourself,” he said casually.

But he licked his lips, as if savoring my taste, and it sent another pulse of heat through my body.

• • •

“You ready for this?” Josh said, fixing the neck of my sweaterdress so it hung over one shoulder, exposing my neck, collarbones, and my upper arm.

I batted his hand away. “I will be just as soon as you leave, Henry Higgins.”

“Who?” he asked.

“Never mind. Just go. Please,” I said urgently, eyeing the empty table that I was supposed to be sitting at. Josh had been hovering behind a shield of plants at a two-seater table in another section and had come over to let me know that he was there. It seemed that my “coach” wanted to supervise my date. He said it was to give me pointers. I was starting to think it was because he wanted to keep an eye on me.

From what I could tell, Josh didn’t trust vampires. And the more I found out about them, the less I liked. They were secretive and apparently untrustworthy. No one in the Alliance liked them much, and they didn’t even seem to like other vampires much. Vampires were loners. Suspicious loners. It seemed to be a rather cutthroat community compared to the supernatural clans, which were more like a big family.

But I wasn’t a girl with a lot of choices. I had vampires, or I had nothing. So I picked vampires.

Josh nodded in approval. “You look stunning tonight, Marie.”

I was surprised by that compliment. “Really?”

“I want to lick you all over. But I’ll leave that for your date.”

I felt my cheeks heat. “Gee, thanks. I’m going to go sit down now.”

He winked at me and grinned.

When I turned to leave, he swatted me on the ass.

The man was impossible, I thought as I went back to my table. It was going to be hard to concentrate on my date with a massive were-cougar male hovering nearby.

Lonnie Smith showed up a short time later. He didn’t look several hundred years old, which his bio had listed. I’d never met him in person; whereas most supes liked to come in to the agency themselves, vampires were a reclusive lot and didn’t venture out unless they had to. Getting one to show up for a date was a trick in itself.

He wore a black turtleneck with several gold chains looped around his neck and a black leather coat over it. His black hair was slicked back, and he looked like something from a bad ’70s movie. Maybe vampires had a hard time keeping up with fashion.

I extended my hand for him to shake and gave him a quick smile of greeting. “Lonnie? Hi, I’m Minnie.”

“Minnie, my angel,” he said in a low, rumbling voice. He clasped my hand in his and held it tight. “You look more beautiful than in your picture. I am very pleased.”

Though he held my hand a bit longer than was comfortable, I resisted the urge to pull it away. “Thank you. I’m glad you’re pleased.”

“Oh, very,” he said, still holding on to my hand and sitting down in the chair next to mine.

I had no choice but to sit down as well. So he
was a little touchy-feely. I could deal with that, I guessed. After all, being turned had to involve a certain level of intimacy, didn’t it?

He began to rub my hand. “So tell me about you, Minnie. What do you like?”

I adjusted my glasses with my other hand, noticing that his gaze kept straying to my bare neck. True to Josh’s orders, I’d worn my hair twisted up in a loose knot, and it seemed to be getting Lonnie’s attention. This date was already turning out much better than my last one.

“Me? Well . . . ” I paused, thinking. I couldn’t really give away too much, but I didn’t want to sound boring. Unfortunately, all the things I liked were pretty boring. “I’m kind of a homebody.”

“Me, too,” he said with a close-lipped smile. “What kinds of things do you like to do at home?”

“Well, I like to curl up and watch a good movie. And puzzles. I like puzzles.”

“Puzzles?” Lonnie looked as if I’d just said the most unappealing thing in the world. Oh, no. I was losing his attention.

“What do you like to do?” I asked quickly.

He gave me a half smile. “Not puzzles.”

I cast around for something else to say. I never realized small talk was so hard, especially when your date wasn’t exactly helping things along. “Do you like sports? Running? Tennis?”

“I’m a vampire. Unless it happens at night or indoors, I can’t do it.”

“Oh, of course,” I said quickly, feeling flustered. “Maybe table . . . tennis? I like table tennis.”

He glanced at the door. Shit, I was losing him.

“And sex,” I added desperately. “I
love
sex.”

His eyes flared with interest, his attention moving back to me. The grin returned to his face. “You don’t say?”

God help me, but I was desperate and didn’t want him to end this date. “Oh yes, all the time. I totally need it.”

He leaned down and examined my hand, then pulled it to his mouth, kissing the back of it delicately. “You smell incredible. What’s your blood type again?”

“O positive.”

“My favorite flavor,” he said with another close-lipped smile before leaning in to kiss my hand again.

I let him, pleased that the date had turned around. “So what about you?” I asked. “What do you like to do at home?”

“I like,” he began slowly, then nipped at one of my fingers. “Reading.”

“Oh?” I asked. “What sorts of things?”

“My favorite is
The Perfumed Garden
.” And he nipped at another one of my fingers. “Though I am also fond of
The Story of O
and
Lolita
.”

I knew of
Lolita,
but not the other two. Classics? Or maybe he was a poet at heart? Not really my thing, but kind of sweet. “Those sound nice. I haven’t read them.”

“I’d love to go through a few passages with you,” he said and rubbed a hand down my arm.

“Sure,” I said. “Maybe next time we get together, you can bring me one to borrow.”

His eyes narrowed, and I could practically hear his breath hiss. “That sounds incredible.”

Wow, this guy was really into those books. I began to feel a little uneasy about that and decided to turn the subject. “So what else are you into?”

“Frottage.”

I frowned. “I . . . see.” What was that? I was pretty sure that it was dirty, but I wasn’t sure how dirty. I decided to play stupid, smiling widely. “I’m a big fan of
fromage
myself.”

He studied me a moment, then laughed as if I’d said something hilarious. “You have quite a clever tongue.”

“Thank you.” Why did everything this man was saying sound dirtier than it was? Was I just taking things the wrong way? I continued to smile at him as if we’d connected at some deeper level.

At least he wasn’t looking at the door anymore.

“I do have a particular favorite,” he said, leaning in and running a finger down my bare shoulder.

“Do tell.”

“Have you heard of ‘the shocker’?”

“Is that a TV show?” I asked politely.

“All right,” Josh said, appearing from behind the wall. “That fucking does it.” He grabbed my date by the collar and hauled him into the air.

“Josh!” I got to my feet. “What are you doing?”

Lonnie clawed at his throat, glancing over at me with alarm.

“I’m ending this date,” Josh said. “This asshole is done with you.”

“Butt out,” I snapped at him. “It’s my date.”

“You’re done,” he repeated, setting Lonnie on his feet and leaning into his face. “Get out of here.”

“Now see here,” Lonnie began.

Josh’s eyes began to gleam like a cat’s and he leaned in, so close that only I could hear it. “Beat it, buddy. She’s human.”

The vampire’s eyes widened and he looked over at me, then back at Josh. And then he took off, weaving between tables as he exited the restaurant.

Outrage slammed through me and I turned to Josh, fists clenched. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving you from a bad situation,” he told me, grabbing my hand and beginning to pull me toward the front door. “We need to talk. Somewhere private.”

I bit my lip—it was either that or start screaming at him. I was so angry that I couldn’t see straight as Josh dragged me out of the restaurant. So the vampire had been a little fresh. Who cared? I needed to be turned. And about two minutes ago, I’d had a vampire practically eating out of the palm of my hand until my do-gooder “coach” had decided to change the rules on me.

As soon as we got to the parking lot, I jerked my arm from his grasp. “I thought you said you were helping me date vampires!”

“I am,” he told me between gritted teeth and steered me away from the crowd. “Just not that one.”

“What was wrong with that one? He liked me!”

“Yeah, because you told him you like puzzles and knitting and oh yeah, sex. Way to break the ice.”

“I didn’t tell him I liked knitting,” I said. “And he looked like he was bored! He was staring at the door! I had to keep his interest somehow.”

Josh glared back at me, walking quickly to the far edge of the parking lot and dragging me along behind him. He halted so abruptly when we were at his car that I almost ran into his back. Then he turned and pulled me against his car, his arms grasping mine. He looked furious and oddly possessive. His jaw was clenched, his mouth turned down into a frown. And he was staring at my mouth. He looked like he was inches away from kissing me. A lot.

And that made my breath quicken.

“Do you even know what ‘the shocker’ is, Marie?”

“I’m guessing it’s not a game show,” I snapped back at him.

He held his hand up and tucked his fourth finger back against his thumb. Then he tilted his hand and showed me the gesture. “This is the shocker.”

I stared at the pairing of his first two fingers and the pinky, not recognizing the gesture. If it weren’t for the fact that his ring finger was tucked in, it’d almost look like a Vulcan hand gesture. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

“You’re really sheltered, aren’t you?” Josh stared at me, then shook his head. He did the gesture again and explained, “The saying is ‘Two in the pink, one in the stink.’ ”

I stared at his hand. Two in the pink . . . ? And then I blushed, hard, slapping his hand away. “Oh. Ew.”

“Yeah. Not exactly first-date material. Which, I might add, you set yourself up for.”

“I’m guessing frottage is pretty dirty, too, then.”

“You’d be guessing right,” he said, a hard edge in his voice. “Jesus, Marie. How is it that a smart, pretty girl like you can be so clueless when it comes to men?”

I stared at him, wounded. “I just wanted him to like me.”

“And would you have slept with him just to get him to like you?”

I hesitated. If he wanted the honest-to-God truth, I didn’t have that answer. I’d thought about it, and I wasn’t averse to using my body to get a vampire’s interest. If sleeping with someone bought me fifty extra years of life? I’d do it in a heartbeat.

“I don’t believe you, Marie.” Josh stared at me as if he didn’t know me. “What is going on in that brain of yours?”

I shook my head and got my keys out of my purse. “I’m going home.”

I expected him to protest, but he only stared at me.

I got in my car and left.

• • •

I dated another vampire the next night, and I didn’t tell Josh. I didn’t want him sabotaging my personal business.

As soon as I got there, though, I realized I’d made a mistake. This one? Flat-out scared me. He arrived with a bodyguard walking two feet behind him. The bodyguard stood behind the table at all times, and he jumped at the slightest noise.

We dined at an Italian restaurant, though my date ate and drank nothing. It made me uncomfortable, and I had a hard time eating my meal as well. We made small talk, and I didn’t throw down the sex-bomb. I’d learned my lesson.

The entire time we talked, the vampire watched me.

At first, I didn’t think too much of it. He had a direct stare, but I attributed it to his watchfulness and the presence of the bodyguard. But as the night went on, I began to grow more and more uneasy at his tightly controlled motions and the dead, emotionless expression on his face. Even when he smiled, it didn’t reach his cold, cold eyes.

I felt like prey.

For the first time since working at the dating agency, I was uncomfortable in the presence of a supernatural. And I began to see what Josh had been warning me about.

This man didn’t want a date. He wanted a diversion. At best, he wanted an easy meal. At worst, he wanted someone he could easily bury in the backyard.