The Immortal Hunter (Argeneau #11)

The Immortal Hunter (Argeneau #11) Page 7

"A couple of bullets?" Dani asked, turning back to Decker.

"It doesn't matter," he said quietly.

Dani frowned, but then decided he was right and it didn't really matter. What mattered was that this was the oddest nightmare she'd ever had in her life and she wished it would end. She wanted to wake up and assure herself everything was all right, that Stephanie was at home with her parents or even at the cottage, safe and unharmed.

"Dani?" Decker said, eyeing her uncertainly.

Her gaze focused on the face of the dream man before her, and she found herself wondering where her imagination had come up with that handsome visage. Had she seen him around Windsor or up at the cottage, thought him attractive, and inserted his face in her dream? If so, she really should have made him a cop or some other good guy rather than a fang-bearing vampire.

"Are you calm enough to listen to me?" the dream Decker asked, taking her hands. He looked pretty doubtful on that score.

However, Dani felt perfectly calm, though that was a relative term, she decided, and glanced down at her hands. She tried to shake off his hold, intending to pinch herself, but he merely tightened his grip, watching her with concern. Not seeing any other recourse, Dani suddenly threw her head backward, slamming it into the not-a-dream SUV's rear side window.

"What are you doing?" Decker bellowed, reaching for her.

"Trying to wake myself up," she muttered wryly as he caught her by the shoulders as if to keep her from doing it again. He needn't have bothered; the pain presently radiating through Dani's skull was enough to convince her she wasn't dreaming. It seemed she was awake and in an SUV with two men who claimed to be vampires... and who also had the fangs to back up the claim.

"She thinks she's dreaming," Justin said quietly from the front, his usual amusement notably absent. "I think she's realizing the truth though."

"Stay out of her thoughts," Decker said, but his voice was more resigned than angry, and Dani wondered what he was talking about when he said it. She didn't really care though, except that it was a bit annoying not to know what they were talking about half the time.

"Dani," Decker said firmly. "Trust me, this is not a dream."

"Why is it you men always say trust me before spitting out something completely unpalatable?" she asked, irritation flickering through her. "Vampires aren't supposed to be real. And how come you had to be a cute vampire? You should be a dog. All evil, vile people should look as ugly as they are inside."

"We aren't ev-" Decker halted his denial, and then he did something she hadn't yet seen him do and lifted his lips in a very rare-and in her opinion, totally inappropriate-grin as he asked, "You think I'm cute?"

"Earth to Major Decker," Justin said dryly. "She thinks you're a cute evil bastard."

"Right." He frowned and shook his head as if trying to shake her words out of it, and then said, "We're not evil or vile. We aren't even vampires."

"But you have fangs, and that Lucian fellow said-"

"He said your people insisted on calling us that," Decker reminded her firmly. "But we aren't."

"Well, we kind of are," Justin corrected. "We just don't like to be called that. At least the old bloodsuckers don't. I don't know why. I think it's kind of sexy myself." Taking on a bad fake accent he said, "I am a vampire, and I vant to suck your-"

"Justin," Decker said with thinly stretched patience. "You aren't helping here."

"Sorry," he muttered. "But we do have fangs and drink blood and-"

"Bricker" Decker snapped, turning to glare at him.

"Right. Sorry, I'll zip it." He met Decker's gaze in the mirror and mimed zipping his mouth shut. But the moment Decker stopped glaring at him and turned back to Dani, he piped up again. "Tell her about Atlantis."

Decker sagged, his eyes closing briefly, and then he took a deep breath and said, "Yes, Justin, I was just about to do that."

"Atlantis?" Dani echoed with bewilderment.

"Or maybe you better start with the nanos," Justin said, changing his mind. "She's a doctor. She'll understand the science part of it better."

"Yes, I know. Thank you, Justin, I can handle this" Decker said grimly, obviously on the edge of really losing it. He then turned to Dani, eyed her with a sigh, and asked, "Will you at least listen to me?"

Dani nodded. It wasn't like she really had any choice, not after having seen those fangs.

"Okay," Decker said with relief. "We're human. If you were to cut me open you'd find everything exactly the same as any other man, except that all my organs and tissue would be remarkably healthy and undamaged."

"Everything is exactly the same but our blood," Justin put in.

"That's true," Decker acknowledged. "Our blood is different. It has nanos in it. At least that's as good a description as any." When Dani simply stared at him, he explained, "You see, our scientists were trying to develop a way to repair or remove things like cancer, infection, and serious injuries without resorting to surgery and inflicting further trauma on the body. What they came up with were nanos, little bio-engineered gizmos that were programmed to travel through the bloodstream. They used the blood both to fuel and regenerate themselves, as well as to make repairs in the body, regenerate tissue, or surround and kill off any infection or illness that may be present."

Dani nodded to encourage him to continue. So far what he'd told her wasn't anywhere near crazy. She had read about recent experiments using just such technology for a similar purpose.

"They succeeded beyond their expectations," Decker continued. "The nanos did go in and perform repairs and kill off infections and cancer, and anything else that attacked the body. It was hailed as a medical breakthrough. The sick and injured lined up in droves to receive it. My mother's parents were among those first infected with them."

"Whoa, back up," Dani interrupted at once, "Your mother's parents? Your grandparents!"

Decker nodded. "My grandmother, Alexandria, had what is now called cancer and my grandfather, Ramses, was seriously injured in an accident. Both were terminal. They were subject one and two, both treated at the same time. It's how they met. They were married three months later, and my uncle Lucian and his twin brother Jean Claude were born a little less than nine months after that. They were the first born infected."

"Oh, see now." Dani sat back, shaking her head. "You were doing really well right up until the grandparents bit. Before that you had me suckered, but there is no way they had this kind of technology fifty years ago."

"Fifty?" Justin snorted, meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror when she turned his way. "Try several thousand."

Decker took a moment to toss a glare in his direction and then turned back to Dani. "This is the part that's hard to believe." He paused and took a breath and then said, "Our ancestors came from Atlantis."

"Atlantis," she said with open disbelief. "Atlantis, Atlantis? The legendary lost land?"

"Yes. As the legends claim, Atlantis was highly advanced technologically. Unfortunately, it was also terribly insular and didn't share that technology with anyone. They didn't share anything with anyone. They lived surrounded by sea on three sides, with mountains between them and the rest of the world, and it was how they liked it. So when Atlantis fell, those who survived crossed the mountains to find themselves in a much more primitive world. They had no way to store blood or perform transfusions."

"Wait a minute" Dani interrupted. "You skipped from a miracle cure to no blood and transfusions. Why the need for bl-?"

"The nanos used a lot of blood to support themselves and make repairs. More than the human body can create. Transfusions had to be given to those who had been treated with the nanos. That was fine in Atlantis, but when Atlantis fell..."

"No more transfusions," she said, struggling now with whether to believe him or not. Some of it actually made a mad sort of sense.

"Right, and that's when the nanos began to change our people. They had been programmed to repair and regenerate and basically keep their host alive and at their peak condition physically. Without blood, our ancestors would have died, so the nanos changed them in ways that would help them stay alive and at their peak health-wise. It made them fast and strong so that they could get the blood the nanos needed."

"The eyes," she murmured with realization. "Your eyes reflect light like a cat or raccoon."

"Because we are nocturnal hunters like them," Decker said quietly.

"You said this Sam is a mortal so she can canvass during the day while Mortimer slept. You can't go out in sunlight?"

"We can," he admitted. "But as a doctor you know that the sun causes damage, which means the nanos have more work, which means a need for even more blood. We feed on bagged blood now, but before blood banks and bagged blood, we were forced to feed off our neighbors and friends. And we did our best to minimize how much feeding we needed to do."

"And the nanos brought on the fangs too?" she asked.

He nodded. "They gave us all the physical attributes needed to make us better hunters."

"I see," Dani murmured, glancing down to her hands and trying to take it all in. It was a lot to swallow, almost as hard to believe as the old legend about dead, soulless creatures cursed to walk the earth for some past sin. The science was one thing, but Atlantis? Thousands of years ago? True, she'd come across legends about the fabled Atlantis over the years, but those were just myth. Weren't they?

"Would it be easier for you to believe if I claimed we were the cursed undead?" Decker asked wryly. As if reading her mind, she thought, and that reminded her about Nicholas and Lucian's claim that they could read and even control her.

"You say they gave you the physical attributes needed to make you better hunters. Is that all?" she asked, eyes narrowing on him.

He hesitated and then admitted, "No. They also developed our ability to read thoughts and control minds too. It helps us to-"

"What am I thinking right now?" she interrupted abruptly.

Decker shook his head. "As Lucian said, I can't read you, Dani."

"I can," Justin said, drawing her gaze. "You're thinking of your sister."

Dani turned to frown at the man. "That was too easy. Of course I'd be thinking of her. Try again," she ordered, searching her mind until she came up with something else.

"A giraffe," Justin said.

"Again " she demanded.

"A purple elephant." This time he answered almost before she finished asking. "Shall I control you now?"

"Can you?" she asked, eyes narrowing, and then glanced down with shock as her hands rose and clapped several times.

"Enough," Decker barked, taking her hands in his.

"She asked," Justin said defensively.

Dani stared at Decker, her hands unmoving in his, and asked a little shakily, "How? Why can't you if he can?"

He met her gaze, and then glanced away without answering. It was Justin who said, "Because you're his life mate."

Dani's gaze flickered to the man, her mind recalling Lucian mentioning this earlier, but she turned to Decker when she asked, "What is a life mate?"

He let his breath out on a sigh. His gaze dropped to their hands, rose to meet hers again, and finally he said, "The nanos don't just allow us to read mortal's minds. We can read each other too if we don't keep our guard up to block others from intruding on our thoughts. It makes life somewhat..." Decker shook his head. "It can be exhausting. So much so that some immortals avoid others as much as possible just so that they don't constantly have to be on guard. But isolating oneself can lead to depression, rage, and madness, and an immortal going rogue." He paused briefly, and then explained, "A life mate is that very rare person whom we can't read and who can't read us. They can be mortal or immortal, but being with them is like an oasis of calm. We can relax and be ourselves around them without fear that they'll hear every thought we have. And, since we can't read them, we aren't bombarded with their thoughts either. They can be a true mate, someone we can't read or control and whom we can spend our long lives with, happily."

Dani stared at him, recalling exactly what Lucian had said: I'm an immortal. . . or as you people seem to insist on calling us, a vampire . . . Everyone standing here is one ... including Decker, who is the only one here who can't read or control your thoughts. That makes you a possible life mate for him, but you 'II be the one to decide.

He'd said possible life mate and that she'd have to decide. Did that mean she might not be? Or that she was Decker's life mate, but that she could reject him if she wished? Before she could ask, Justin suddenly said, "Decker?"

He turned reluctantly away from Dani to glance at Justin. "What?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm speeding and we've picked up a radar cop. I could try to handle him myself, but I don't want to take my concentration off the road."

"I'll handle it," Decker said, and glanced out the rear window.

Dani twisted in her seat to watch what could have been an instant replay of their first encounter with the other officer. The flashing lights on top of the cruiser were suddenly shut off and the car slowed and dropped away. When she could no longer see it anymore, Dani turned back to Decker. "You controlled him and the other officer who was on our tail earlier."

When he nodded solemnly, she asked, "But you can't control me?"

He shook his head, and Dani's eyes narrowed. "But Justin can?"

His nod this time was almost reluctant, as if he suspected a trap.

"So it was Justin who made me sleep in the back of the van after the incident in the clearing?" Dani asked, already suspecting she knew the answer. It would explain why she couldn't recall actually getting into the van and going to sleep.

Decker winced at her sharp tone, but nodded.

"What else has he made me do?" she asked, her voice going cold.

"Nothing," he assured her solemnly.

"Why should I believe that when you've done nothing but lie to me from the minute I met you?"

"I only lied because, had I told you the truth, you would have thought us mad... and you were already shaken up after your encounter with the rogues and were hardly in the mood to trust us," he said firmly. "We are Council enforcers, Dani. Vampire cops, if you like. Our people have laws and we have to enforce them. We hunt rogue immortals that break our laws."

"What kind of laws?" Dani asked, relaxing a little. She could hardly argue that he should have told her the truth from the start. Decker was right. She hadn't been in any condition for this little revelation then. Heck, she wasn't sure she was ready for it now, but she was beginning to accept it, and a lot of her fear was slipping away with every passing minute.

"The first and most important one is not to feed off of, or harm, mortals."

She liked that law, Dani decided. "What else?"

"Couples are allowed to have only one child every hundred years."

That one made her frown. "Why?"

"It's intended to keep our population low. We need blood to survive. Having too many of us with that need could be a problem."

She understood that, but the rule still made her uncomfortable. What did they do to immortals who had more than one child in a hundred years? What did they do with the child? Before she could ask, Justin announced, "I think our rogue has just taken the Dixon Road exit."

"Dixon?" Dani swiveled her head to peer at the screen, alarm bells going off in her head and drowning out any worry about immortal babies. "That's where the airport is."

Decker cursed and unbuckled his seat belt to shift to his knees between the front seats so he could better watch the computer screen. Sure enough, the little black dot had taken the Dixon turnoff.

"He couldn't be thinking to try to catch a flight or something, could he?" Dani asked from beside him, and Decker glanced around to see that she'd unbuckled as well and was moving to join him.

"Get your seat belt back on," he growled, very aware that at the speed Justin was driving, she'd probably be killed if they were in an accident.

Dani ignored him, her eyes locked on the computer screen. "He can't be thinking to take Stephanie on a plane. She has no passport, or-"

"I'm sure he's not," Decker assured her, even though he wasn't at all certain of that himself. Lack of a passport wasn't an issue when you could control the minds of the people asking for it. "Now get back in your seat and put the seat belt on."

"It's hard to see this. It's too small," Dani said, ignoring him again, and glanced to Justin. "Is there a way to make the image bigger?"

"I'll do it," Decker grumbled, not wanting Justin to be distracted. He used the portable's mouse pad to zoom in on the section of map where the black dot was, and then sat back. "There."

"Oh God, he is on the off ramp," Dani said with horror as the image came into focus on a much larger scale. "He has to be going to the airport. If they leave the SUV we have no way to track them."

"Don't panic," Decker ordered, and then pointed to a brown dot that was also on the ramp. "Look, one of our guys isn't far behind him. And Nicholas is probably still on his tail. Besides, I don't think there are flights out at this hour."

"There are flights until half past midnight," Dani said tensely.

Decker glanced at his watch, frowning when he saw that it wasn't even midnight yet. He was a bit surprised it was so early. It felt like a lifetime had passed since he'd realized he couldn't read or control Dani.

"They'll get him, Dani," Justin said. Fortunately, he kept his eyes on the road ahead as he spoke. "We're like Mounties, we get our man. His stopping just means it could all be over and you could have your sister back soon."

Dani didn't respond. Her eyes were glued to the computer screen, watching the little dot as if taking her eyes off might mean it would disappear, taking her sister with it. Decker wanted to tell her to get back in her seat and buckle up again, but knew she would fight him on it. He almost had Justin take control of her and make her do it, but Bricker was driving so fast, Decker didn't want to risk taking his attention away from the road even long enough to perform that small task. So instead he sat silent, his worried gaze shifting between Dani, the screen, and the road ahead to take in the other cars on the highway. It wasn't as busy as it would be during the day, but it was busy enough, and Justin was weaving in and out of traffic at a scary rate.

Decker's gaze slid back to Dani and his gut clenched at the idea of losing her to an accident if one of those cars should suddenly cut them off. It made him shift a little closer to her, and raise one arm behind her back to brace it on Justin's seat. He then moved his other hand in front of his stomach, preparing to grab her and hold on if anything should happen.

Sitting so close to Dani, Decker found himself immediately enveloped in her scent. It was an aroma not dissimilar to strawberries, and rolled over him, sweet and delicious. He'd noticed it earlier while she'd tended his gunshot wound, but had been distracted at the time with both the phone call to Lucian and worry over her noticing something amiss with his wound. He was noticing now, however, and without thinking, he moved in closer, his head turning to allow him to inhale the slightly intoxicating scent more fully. It was like wine, sweet yet pungent, and for some reason, it made him hungry.

"He's turning," Dani said tensely.

Decker started to glance at the screen, but his gaze didn't make it that far. It paused on her profile as she anxiously licked her lips. He found himself watching with fascination as the pink tip of her tongue slid along a mouth that looked incredibly soft and full.

"How close are our guys?" Justin asked, glancing around.

"Keep your eyes on the road," Decker growled, his hunger adding gravel to his voice. His gaze slid reluctantly to the screen and he peered at it closely. The brown dot representing one of their SUVs was now on the ramp. A gray one was still on the 427, but only minutes behind. His gaze slid back to the first two dots and he murmured, "It looks like he's turned into the car park. Our guy isn't far behind."

"I think he's stopped," Dani said with concern.

Decker leaned in and made the image bigger still. "No, he's just going slow."

"Maybe he doesn't realize he's being followed and is looking for parking?" Justin suggested.

Decker grunted. "Our guy's right behind him now and the others are coming off the ramp and catching up."

"Who is in the SUV following him?" Dani asked.

"I don't know," Decker admitted. "Lucian didn't tell me who else he was able to call in at such short notice."

They both watched silently as the gray dot caught up to the other two and all three dots came to a halt, almost overlapping one another.

"They're stopped," Dani said anxiously.

"They probably have him then," Justin said with certainty.

"Do you think so?" she asked, hope trembling in her voice.

"If not him, then they probably at least have your sister," Justin said, and then pointed out, "She's mortal. She'd slow him down. He'll either have to let her go or try to run for the airport to get lost in the crowd with her, and there's no way he could outrun our guys on foot dragging her along. Besides, it's late, the airport can't be that crowded at this hour. When we get there they'll either have both of them, or one will have her and the other will be chasing down the rogue in the airport."

Dani seemed to fold into herself with relief at those words, and Decker let his hand drop to rub her back soothingly, his head instinctively ducking to inhale her scent again.

"Hold on, some idiot just-" Justin didn't finish the sentence; he was too busy braking hard and swerving to avoid whatever "idiot" had interrupted his speedy pass up the highway. The action threw Decker forward, and he instinctively caught Dani as he went, crushing her to his chest and holding her there as they were then thrown to the side and into the passenger seat. He turned them so that he would take the brunt of the blow as they hit the chair, and then Decker was falling backward, taking Dani with him as Justin accelerated and swerved back, presumably to miss another obstacle.

"Sorry about that. Everyone all right?" Justin glanced around, squinting as he tried to pierce the darkness now cloaking them where they lay on the floor of the vehicle.

"We're fine. Eyes on the road," Decker reminded, worried that another vehicle might cruise into their path. He then glanced to Dani. She had ended up splayed on his chest in the cramped space between the front seats and the bench seat they'd been sitting on. "Are you all right?"

Dani raised her head. Even with his exceptional sight, Decker could barely make her out in the darkness. From what he could tell, she was more dazed than anything, though. He relaxed and closed his eyes with relief, planning only to take a moment to calm down, but found himself slowly becoming aware of the smell and feel of her. The image of her wide eyes and bemused expression was imprinted on his mind. She was soft and warm in his arms, and she thought he was cute, he remembered. Dani also smelled good enough to eat. She was a feast to his senses that Decker couldn't resist, and without even thinking about it, he caught her upper arms and pulled her up his body until her face was above his. His head then rose of its own accord; he claimed her lips and was lost.

Decker was vaguely aware of her initial stiffening, but she didn't struggle, and when she opened her mouth, probably to protest, he took full advantage and slid his tongue inside her, tasting the sweetness that was Dani.

Still shaken by being tossed around the vehicle, Dani was so startled when Decker kissed her that she didn't at first react. By the time she regained enough of her good sense to think of pushing him away, it was too late. She was already enveloped in his warm, strong arms, his body hard beneath her, his mouth covering hers, his tongue filling her and his scent assaulting her.

Decker smelled good. Dani had noticed that earlier while removing the bullet from his shoulder, but that had been only a teaser, a faint whiff compared to the full-on assault she was getting at this moment. It was overwhelming now that she was in his arms, and that, combined with the taste and feel of him, was enough to keep her quiescent in his arms. But when his hands began to move over her body, smoothing over her back and then moving down to cup her behind to urge her more snuggly against him, she gave up that quiescence and began to kiss him back. The moment Dani did, a storm of desire poured through her. It was incredibly strong and felt slightly foreign, but was overwhelming, carrying her along on its crest as it beat against the shore of her brain. It then receded, only to strike again, this time joined by another wave of the raw emotion. The assault left Dani breathless and filled with a mindless need.

Decker groaned into her mouth, the vibration of sound making her moan in response, and then they both completely lost any sense of who or where they were. At least, Dani did. She forgot that they were lying cramped in the back of an SUV with Justin inches away. She forgot that this was not just a stranger who had told her several lies, but someone who claimed and truly seemed to be a vampire. She forgot her anger with him, her worry for her sister... and pretty much her own name. Dani forgot everything and threw herself into the moment, clutching at his shoulders and shifting excitedly against the hardness she could feel pressing against the apex of her thighs as one of his hands pushed down on her bottom, urging her closer.

She was vaguely aware that his other hand was moving up her side, but wasn't prepared for the excitement that jolted through her when it brushed lightly along the side of her breast. Dani sucked in a surprised breath and found her upper body instinctively twisting and arching to press her breast invitingly into his palm. He accepted the invitation, hand closing over the mound and kneading it briefly before slipping away to move under the hampering cloth of her T-shirt. She felt him tug the delicate material of her bra aside and froze briefly, then turned her head and pressed her mouth to his shoulder, biting into it to smother her moan as his warm hand closed over her eager flesh.

His own mouth now free, Decker immediately began trailing kisses to her ear, making her shudder with surprised pleasure as he briefly nibbled there. Dani bore the combined assault as long as she could, but hunger was beating at her brain, and she finally turned her face back to find his lips once more. The kiss this time was almost vicious with their mounting need, and then Decker began to shift beneath her, his hands stopping what they were doing to grasp her hips and lift her.

Dani didn't, at first, understand what he was doing, and then his knee slid between her legs and he let her settle back against his thigh. She was now riding his leg, her body farther up his. It forced her to bend her head at an awkward angle to maintain their kiss, but she managed it. When his upper leg pressed more firmly against her where all the strings of her desire were culminating, Dani began to suck at his tongue. She then shifted one hand to the carpeted floor beside his head and pressed herself back into the caress, grinding herself against his thigh, at the same time rubbing her own upper thigh across the hard proof of his excitement.

Decker's response was to release a low growl and squeeze her breast almost painfully, and then he eased his hold to pay special attention to her nipple. It was too much for Dani; she felt like she was drowning in the pleasure assaulting her and she tore her mouth away, throwing back her head to gasp for air. But Decker was relentless; he simply continued to rub his leg against her and caress her breast, and then raised his head to press his mouth to the neck she'd unthinkingly offered him. He ran his lips and tongue along the vulnerable skin, pausing to suck and nip and suck again. Dani never felt any pain, nothing to tell her that his teeth had sunk into her flesh; pleasure had filled her up and left her completely oblivious. It wasn't until her vision began to blur that she realized something was wrong.

It was only when Dani went limp in his arms that Decker realized what he was doing. Cursing himself, he retracted his teeth and caught her as she slumped against him.

"Is she all right?"

Decker turned a fierce glare to Justin just as he turned back to watch the road ahead. "Why the hell didn't you stop me?"

"I didn't know you were biting her until I heard your curse and looked just now," Justin said quickly, and then added, "I thought you were just... you know... groping each other."

Decker's mouth tightened at the crude description of what had been-until a moment ago-a beautiful, passionate moment, but Justin wasn't done.

"I figured after eighty years without, you probably needed to let off a little steam so I just kept my eyes on the road... and tried not to hear all the grunting and groans back there."

"Thanks," Decker said dryly, easing to a sitting position and raising Dani as he went. Decker then tilted her head back to peer at her face. She looked a little pale, but her breathing and heartbeat seemed normal. Hopefully it was just a faint.

"No problem," Justin said. "Though you do owe me one; it was hard to resist peeking. It sounded pretty H and S."

"H and S?" Decker glanced to him with confusion.

"Hot and steamy," he explained, and then added almost enviously, "It sounded like you two were really tearing it up back there."

Decker frowned at the words, his eyes dropping to the two puncture wounds on her throat. No tearing, just a case of his getting too caught up in the moment and not only biting her, but not even remembering to be careful about how much blood he was taking.

Shaking his head, he shifted to lift her back onto the bench seat.

"We should have had some blood the minute we got in the SUV," Justin said regretfully as Decker pulled Dani's seat belt around and buckled her in. "Speaking of which... why didn't you? You should have been ravenous after that gunshot wound."

"I had a nibble at the restaurant while I was waiting for Dani to come out of the bathroom," Decker admitted, his eyes shifting from Dani's pale face to the rearview mirror.

"Yeah?" Justin met his gaze and then said, "It's been a long time since I had anything but bagged blood."

"Let's hope you never do," Decker said at once. His being low on blood from the gunshot wound and without bagged blood available was one of those emergency situations when biting a mortal was allowed. He'd originally intended to just suffer the cramps attacking him and wait it out until they met up with Eshe and could claim the replacement SUV with its supplies, but when Decker had found himself just a little too fascinated by Dani's neck as he'd helped her out of the van, and then felt his fangs trying to push themselves out and down as he'd walked her through the mass of bodies in the busy fast-food restaurant, he'd realized waiting wasn't an option. After seeing Dani to the ladies' room he'd waited for the first lone person to come up the hall and lured her into the broom closet between the two bathrooms for a little snack. He hadn't taken much, just enough to take the edge off his hunger, and then had put it in her thoughts that she had blackfly bites on her neck, and had sent her in to see if Dani was still in the washroom.

"How was it?" Justin asked as he steered them onto the off ramp.

"Fast food," Decker muttered, reaching out to brush away a stray strand of hair that had fallen across Dani's face. His gaze then dropped to her chest, and he noticed that there was something wrong. Her chest looked kind of lopsided. It took him a moment to recall that he'd tugged her bra aside to free her breast for his caresses. It was still out under the T-shirt.

"Fitting," Justin said with amusement. "It was a fast-food restaurant after all."

Decker hardly heard him. His eyes were shifting between Dani's face and her chest. He was hesitant to touch her while she was unconscious, but it would just take a second to pop her breast back in her bra, and he feared she'd be embarrassed if she woke up and noticed it herself. Besides, maybe if he tucked it back in she'd think the whole thing had been some erotic dream... including the bite part.

Not that Decker wanted her to forget their moments of passion. It was mostly the part when he'd sunk his teeth into her neck and sucked out her lifeblood that he wouldn't mind her forgetting. He suspected she was going to be pissed at him again when she remembered that, and deservedly so, he thought soberly as he took in her pallor and unconscious state.

Decker cast a glance toward Justin to be sure he wasn't looking, then leaned forward and quickly lifted her T-shirt. He'd intended to just tuck her back into the silky cloth and then lower it again. It didn't quite work out that way. First, the sight of her naked breast was just too fascinating to cover right away. Decker found himself just sitting there staring at it for a moment, before his good sense reminded him of Justin's presence. He glanced to him to be sure Justin was still watching the road, and then reached out to perform the tucking part.

"You're awfully quiet back there. What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Decker said, jerking guiltily upright without the tucking. He met Justin's gaze in the mirror and scowled. "Watch the road."

"Yes, boss," Justin said dryly, and shook his head as he turned his attention forward again.

Decker waited to be sure he continued to watch the road and then turned back to Dani, scowling when he saw that in his panic not to be caught groping an unconscious woman, he'd left her slumped there with her T-shirt still up.

Muttering under his breath, Decker leaned forward and grasped the edge of the bra cup, only to release it and snap upright with alarm when Justin spoke again.

"What's wrong? What are you doing back there?"

"Nothing," he said innocently. "Why?"

"Because you keep muttering and bending over Dani like there's something wrong. Is she all right? You didn't kill her, did you?" Apparently unable to see her in the mirror, he twisted his head around, trying to get a look at her.

"Goddammit, Justin! Eyes on the road," Decker snarled, shifting to block his view of Dani. "I'm just... checking her pulse."

When Justin turned around again, Decker immediately turned to Dani to tuck her back in her bra before quickly dragging her T-shirt into place. He then sank back on his side of the bench seat with a sigh, relieved to have the task done with until Justin said, "I got news for you, Decker. You don't take a mortars pulse from the boob."

Decker sat up and met his gaze in the mirror with alarm.

"Oh, settle down. Your mind's an open book at the moment, remember?" Justin said, rolling his eyes when his gaze met Decker's in the rearview mirror. "I know you weren't groping her."

Decker slumped back again with relief.

"Even though you really wanted to," Justin added with amusement.

Decker scowled at the back of his head, considering what physical violence he could perform on the man without causing an accident.

"None," Justin said, obviously still reading his thoughts. "Besides, we're here."

Decker immediately peered out the front windshield at the scene ahead. They were pulling into the parking garage and he could see three SUVs parked side-by-side near the back, but not a single person around. He let his breath out on a sigh, knowing this couldn't be good.