"Nathan?"
"Downstairs. Now. You need a computer, Ray. Come on, Nate. Ray needs to google someone. I'm sure you've got a laptop you can bring him, don't you?" Temporary postponement, but I was desperate. Maybe I should erase that erotic fantasy I'd given Nate. Ray's friend pulled me close and nuzzled my neck. No maybe about it.
"You and Glory, Nate?" Ray's slow smile didn't reach his eyes. "Hot and heavy?"
"I'll say." Nate pulled my hand to his lips and ran his tongue across my knuckles. "I'm glad to give her my blood, for you, buddy, but I had no idea Seems that kind of fang action is a real turn-on for vampires." He grinned. "I'm a gentleman so I'll say no more. Come on, baby. Sure I've got a laptop downstairs Ray can use. You need more blood? Got to admit I'm feeling a little woozy. Let me eat something and I'll be good to go again. In every way."
"Uh, well, we'll see. I need to confab with the paranormals we've got on the payroll. Why don't you head on down and eat?" What had I been thinking? Creating virtual sex with Nathan? I'd had a vampire pull that trick on me once. And when I'd found out it had all been a sham, a fantasy, I'd felt betrayed and like a complete fool. This had started because Nate and I had wanted to pull Ray's chain. But Ray's narrow-eyed look could mean anything from "Go to hell" to a knee-jerk competitive "You win the booby prize." Me being the boobyor boobies, in my case.
"Come with me, Glory."
"No, I hate to see mortals eat. It makes me sad that I can't." I blinked like I was fighting back tears. Buck. Nathan bought it. He just hugged me.
"Later then." He looked at Ray. "We need to talk, bud. Sienna's due and you've got to be able to sing. Let Glory do whatever it takes to bring you up to speed. I'll stick Sienna in a hotel and put her off for a day or two, tell her we're waiting for some equipment to come in. Maybe Dex can show her the sights in Austin." Nathan patted me on the butt, then strode out of the room.
"Nice." Ray rolled over and stared at the wall.
Since I wasn't about to tell Ray the truth, I began to babble about the pressing need we had to figure out the Aggie situation.
"I'd better get downstairs. Maybe Brittany or Will knows something about Sirens. You stay in bed. Google Aggie and this Achelous; see what you can find out."
"Sure." Ray rasped. "When feed me again? Use Nathan?"
I took a moment to think about it. I knew Ray kept a supply of synthetic blood because, as part of my mentoring, I'd insisted he survive on it. But I had a gut feeling the real deal was necessary for this healing to work.
"No. Nathan needs time to recover from his last donation. You've got a houseful of mortals here. I'll sniff around and see if there are any who aren't drunk or stoned. Polluted blood wouldn't do you much good, just add another set of problems to your situation. I may have to go outside and check out our latest crop of stalkers and paparazzi." Hunting like the old days. I admit I got kind of jazzed about it. Decades of denial and suddenly I was in predator mode again? Man, this was crazy. Ray rolled over and looked at me. "Be careful."
"Oh, I'll take Valdez with me. Trust me, Ray, I was hunting long before electricity was invented."
"Yeah, right." Ray picked up a pen and paper. He stared at it for a long moment, then tossed it aside. He reached out his hand and I walked close to the bed.
"What?"
"Nathan. He's my best friend. Don't hurt him. And you'd damn well better not turn him vampire." Ray obviously felt strongly about this, his voice ringing inside my head.
"I don't plan to hurt him. And I don't turn people vampire." Okay, reality check. There'd been that once "Well, not unless it's a life-or-death situation. I know Nate is important to you. And you're important to him. He's donating blood for you. He knows you're a freakin' vampire and he didn't run screaming into the night. Now that's a true friend." I took a breath. "Try to rest. When Nate gets up here, don't talk, just write notes or type on the computer. I'll come back before dawn and feed you again. Hopefully, by the time Sienna is ready to practice, you'll be able to belt out your tunes per usual."
"Hope so." He frowned and pulled the covers up to his chin.
"See you later." I headed downstairs. Valdez was sitting on the bottom step.
"Glory, would you call off your dog? My guitar is in one of the spare bedrooms and I thought this mutt was going to bite my head off when I tried to go past him. You and Ray aren't the only ones who use the upstairs." A member of Ray's band, a really hot guy who'd been with Ray for years, gave me a sly smile.
"Sorry, Dex, and the mutt's name is Valdez."
"Right. You want to help me look for my guitar, sweetheart? Maybe play a tune together?" Valdez growled and I grabbed his collar. "Now, Dex, I don't think Ray'd like that, do you?" I winked. "Sorry about my dog. I'll take him with me." I pulled Valdez along. "Oh, and don't bother Ray right now. He's taking a little nap. Says I wore him out."
"Aw, Glory, now you're torturing me." Dex put a hand over his heart and looked me over. "If I write a song for you, will you give me some of that?"
Ray had written a song for me, "The Glory Years," that was going on his new album. Dex didn't have a clue that, with luck, Ray would have Glory centimes. I leaned across Valdez to pat the man's handsome cheek lined from way too much hard living. I inhaled a nice B positive, but with a little too much marijuana for him to be a donor.
"Write that song and we'll see. But I've got to warn you, Dex, I'm a one man woman. One at a time, anyway." I laughed and dragged a growling Valdez toward the kitchen.
"Glory, I'm going to head up with this laptop for Ray." Nathan stepped out of the den carrying a black leather case. "Meet me upstairs in about an hour, baby? Had a rare roast beef sandwich and a glass of milk. I'm reloaded and ready to go again." I looked around to make sure we were alone, something Nathan should have done, then smiled. "Relax, Nathan. You need a full twenty-four hours to recover after giving a donation. And this is our little secret. Remember? I'm Ray's girl as far as the guys here are concerned." I stepped out of reach when Nathan moved closer.
He frowned. "Yeah, yeah, I know what they think. But I know what happened up there. You were into me, Glory. Really into me. I can give you something besides blood. Remember? We were hot together. No need to wait twenty-four hours to recover from that, baby." He gave me a hot look, dropped the laptop and grabbed my arm. It took Valdez about half a beat to grab Nathan's arm.
"Damn! Okay, I'm letting her go, Valdez. See?" Nathan stepped back and rubbed his bicep. He wore a nice thick wool sweater. Expensive Italian in a beautiful cream color. Which would have to be rewoven now that it had some significant punctures. At least I didn't see any bloodstains. Yet.
"Valdez, that was an overreaction. You know Nathan would never hurt me." I gave him a fierce look. "Bad dog." I said this in case one of the band members or their ladies happened to be within earshot. Valdez just glared at Nate, daring him to lay another finger on me. Which was actually okay with me for now. Nate really needed to let this go. But I had no one to blame but myself.
"Nate, I'm sorry. This isn't happening. Big mistake. Please"
"Come on, Glory, quit teasing. I know this isn't the place to talk about this, but you can meet me upstairs. No one needs to know but you, me and the dog here. Not even Ray." Nathan had put his hands behind his back and he moved closer, his voice quiet and his eyes on my mouth. He licked his lips. "You, we I've never felt like that before. You inspired me." He glanced down at Valdez and dared to inch closer. "You called me your 'Big Gun.' Never a misfire. Just bang, bang, um, bang. I lost count of how many times I pulled your trigger."
Valdez snorted and I bit my lip to keep from smiling. I did do mental eyerolls. Obviously I'd gotten a little carried away when doing the whole fantasy thing. I'd been stuck on Ray's hokey starting the New Year with a bang idea and the rest had snowballed from there.
I could see Nathan about to start in again, his face flushed. I read his mind and quickly put my fingers over Nate's lips. I have a pretty wild fantasy life. Which has served me well when I'm up close and personal with my state-of-the-art vibrator. In fact, if I'd made it home, I'd planned a New Year's date with my always to be counted on lover. I didn't doubt Nate could have made me very happy between the sheets if his thoughts were any indication. But he was a man, Ray's friend, and not a piece of equipment I could toss in a drawer when I got tired of it. This situation had "Handle with Care" stamped all over it.
"I'm sorry, Nate, but I can't talk about this now. I've got some serious things to discuss with the bodyguards. And don't you have the Sienna situation to deal with?"
He glanced at his watch. "Yeah. She should be picked up at the airport in about an hour, then taken to the hotel. I guess I should think about meeting her there."
"Yes, you should. Keep her away from Ray until we get his voice fixed."
"I hope to hell it gets fixed." Nate looked at Valdez, then snagged my hand. I had to give him points for guts. My dog just stared at him. "Call me when you need my blood or whatever." He pulled my hand to his lips. "I mean it, Glory."
"Right. You're a good friend, Nate. I know Ray appreciates it."
Nathan dropped my hand. "Ray. Sure. This is all about Ray." His face fell and he grabbed the laptop. "Of course this was all about Ray. Appreciate the sacrifice, Glory. How could I forget? Rock star trumps paper pusher every time." Damn it. Now I'd hurt Nathan's feelings.
"Nathan, wait!" I caught him at the bottom of the stairs. "Look at me." I pulled him around until I had him in my sights. I checked to make sure we didn't have an audience. "We were great together. Forget Ray." I kissed him long and hard. "Now I've got to talk to those bodyguards. I know you understand. Security first." And with that I almost ran toward the kitchen, Valdez on my heels.
