"You're okay, I healed you." Every word was another puff of warm air on my backside. "I'm sorry, Glory. I promise to be more careful."
"Youyou do that." I have absolutely no willpower when it comes to resisting men with clever hands or tongues. A flush heated my cheeks. I wet my lips and bit back a moan. Oh, God. At least I couldn't see my reflection in the double mirrors over the twin sinks. Glory the slut would be staring back at me.
"I think the material's about to give."
Give. Oh, yes. Come on, Ray, give me Then I heard the snap of the scissors. Cool air on my butt. Ray peeled the wet fabric down my thighs then eased it off first one foot, then the other. Sanity finally arrived when I realized he was getting the full back-door view.
I grabbed the towel, wrapped it around me and kicked the jeans away. "Thanks, Ray. Couldn't have done it without you." I took the scissors and laid them on the counter. "You don't need to feed again so soon, just rest while I take my shower. I won't be long."
"Seems like I earned a reward for rescuing you from lower body strangulation." Ray grinned and moved closer. He ran a finger down one of my thighs. "Look at these terrible red marks. You were suffering. I've got lots of jets in the shower. Let me show you how they work and soothe your hurts."
I put my hand on his bare chest to give myself some space. Enough of this. I blamed all of these restless urges Ray had stirred up on Jerry. He should be here helping me see in the New Year properly. Then I never would have been out on the lake, met Aggie, been in this horrible Oh, hell.
"I'm fine, Ray. But speaking of suffering, go lie down. That alcohol you drank is bound to kick in soon and you're going to wish you were really dead. Trust me on this."
"You can trust me, Glory. Your boyfriend stood you up on New Year's Eve, Glory. Will told me he took off for Europe tonight when he could've waited one more night."
"He had something important"
"More important than you?" Ray shook his head, obviously mind reading big-time. "That's just wrong. You going to let him get away with that? Come on. Let's shower together. See where it goes. There's plenty of room and look what you've done to me." He pulled me against him.
Oh, yes, I'd definitely found myself a butt man. But bringing up my boyfriend had been stupid. I do love Jerry and sex to get even with someone isn't my style, though it probably was pretty common in Ray's world.
All in all, Ray making a move was a nice ego boost. I have a healthy libido and I was definitely attracted, but I also have a little loyalty-to-jerry thing going too.
I smiled and shook my head. "Sorry, Ray, but it's not happening." I gave him a gentle shove. "Now go rest while I shower."
"I won't beg." Ray held up his hands and backed up. "I'm not feeling so great, to tell you the truth." Once under the hot shower, I ignored those sexy shower heads, shampooed my hair and took stock. Tonight I'd been abandoned by my lover, collected a one-way ticket to hell and taken care of a wounded rock star. Did Glory St. Clair know how to ring in the New Year or what?
Chapter Four
"How is he? Valdez said Ray's not feeling so great."
"Begging me to stake him and put him out of his misery." It had been tough not saying "I told you so." But seeing Ray laid low had killed any desire I had to gloat. "He's in bad shape, Nate."
"I thought the vampire healing sleep was supposed to cure everything for you guys." Nathan Burke, Ray's best friend and manager, had arrived during the day.
"Normally, it does." I'd decided to sleep over, to be here when Ray woke up. Strictly in my capacity as mentor, of course. Good thing, since he was in agony. And I hadn't shared everything with Nate yet.
"So what's the deal here?" Nate paced around Ray's king-size bed. "I don't care if his head's about to explode. Give him an aspirin or the whole damned bottle. Get up, Ray. We've got to go over your schedule. This is important."
"Alcohol screws up our systems. Ray drank a boatload of it before I got here and stopped him." I shut the hall door. There were shouts downstairs where a football game played on the big-screen TV. Delicious smells came from the kitchen. Will was cooking chili for the crowd that apparently figured a New Years Eve party included the day and night after. "I haven't told you the worst of it."
"What?" Nate sat on the edge of the bed. "Ray? Come on, bud. It's not like you to wimp out on me." He tried to pull the sheet down but Ray held on to it and a mortal was no match for a vampire, even one in subpar condition. "Sienna's going to be here tomorrow. You still want her to stay here? Or should we arrange a hotel suite?"
No response other than a weak foot jiggle.
"He can't say anything, Nate. His voice is gone."
"What?" Nate jumped like he'd been goosed by a hot poker. "No. Can't be. That was the single most positive thing to come out of this vampire crap. That his voice would be golden forever." He ran his hand through his close cropped black hair. "Sorry, Glory, but you know blood sucking has complicated the hell out of Ray's life. Then we thought, okay, at least he doesn't have to baby his voice. Watch his throat, like that." Nate grabbed my arm. "This is temporary, right?"
"Should be. Give it a day, a week at most."
"No, no, no. Not a week. Sienna Star is here to rehearse. For their big number at the Grammys. On TV. Their duet is nominated. This is huge." Nathan jerked the sheet off Ray. Apparently stress had given him super powers. "Look at him. He should at least be wearing a T-shirt."
I looked at Ray all right. He'd come out of the shower in a towel, then dropped it to root around in a drawer for about an hour looking for a pair of blue silk boxers. That apparently took the last of his energy and he'd collapsed on the bed, unconscious again. It had been near dawn by then and I'd had a quick conference with Valdez, issued orders and crawled into bed with Ray. We slept like the dead anyway.
When he woke up this evening, Ray had felt the effects of his binge drinking the night before. His whole body had been shaking, his head splitting and he'd been violently sick and throwing up. Fortunately, he'd managed to stagger into the bathroom before that happened. When he'd finally collapsed on the tile floor, I'd washed his face, helped him rinse out his mouth, and then carried him back to bed. Yeah, we'd had loads of fun.
In a note, because he really couldn't squawk a single syllable, Ray had admitted he'd already polished off one whole bottle of Jack Daniel's and was on his second when Valdez and I had arrived. No wonder he was in such a bad way.
"Ray, roll over." Nate had found a black sweatshirt and tugged it over Ray's head. "I'm going to the drugstore. I'll get some throat lozenges, cough syrup. First I'll call Dr. Calvin and get a prescription. You know he'll take care of it for you, even on a holiday."
"Forget it, Nathan." I put a hand on his arm. "Mortal medicine won't help Ray now."
"Then what the hell will?" Nathan was desperate. "This is critical, Glory. The label execs set this up. Sienna's young, appeals to a different demographic than Ray." We both saw Ray fall back on the bed again. His eyes had never opened. "Not that you're old, buddy. Thirty-seven? Hell, we're both in our prime. Hah. Hah." Nate grabbed my arm and pulled me out to the hall.
"What can we do, Glory? This Grammy thing You read the tabloids. Ray's sales are still strong. Of course they are, but the duet with Sienna put us right back up where we belong. Ray has to do this gig and be great. Keep the ball rolling while we record his new album. He and Sienna need the rehearsal time. Work some of your vampire magic here. Surely there's something you can do."
"I'm not sure. I avoid alcohol for this very reason. I'm not into pain and suffering."
"Unless it's for Cheetos." Valdez was parked near the bedroom door and had come in with Nate. Nathan looked from me to Valdez. "I don't get it. Will's a vampire and Valdez said he was drunk last night. Now he's downstairs cooking, business as usual. Hell, he's got a Scotch next to him right now. Why isn't he laid out, begging for a stake through the heart? Is it because Ray's new at this game?"
Valdez didn't wait for me to answer Nathan. "Will's a different kind of vampire from your buddy Ray. He was born from another vamp, not made like Ray and Glory were. Will can eat, drink and be merry in ways made vamps can't. Ask Glory about those Cheetos sometime."
"He's right." I gave Valdez an evil smile and a mental promise to boycott Cheetos, which were also one of his favorite snacks. Oh, and forget Twinkies too. He slumped to the floor, his tail down. I'm sure if I bothered to read his mind, I'd get called a few names I'd rather not hear. Tough.
"Well, hell." Nate walked back into the bedroom and pulled the covers up to Ray's chin again. "Now what?"
"I'm thinking." I sat on the foot of the bed. "There might be something another vampire could do for Ray, to dilute the effects of the alcohol. Unfortunately, if Will's still drinking, then I guess it's on me."
"So how do you help Ray?" Nathan had almost shredded the list in his hand. I hope he had another copy. "He's got to be able to sing by tomorrow morning. Oh, shit, I mean night. We'll have to come up with reasons why he can only rehearse at night. Maybe we'll tell Sienna the truth. She's pretty cool. Have you seen her video for 'Nightmare'?"
"The vampires in her video were caricatures. Fake fangs, blood dripping all over the place and Sienna lying half naked in an open coffin like a virgin sacrifice." I laughed but not in amusement. "Is that how you see us, Nate?" I heard Valdez snort beside me.
"Of course not." Nathan put his hand on my shoulder. "But it shows"
"It shows Sienna's trying to jump on the paranormal trendy train. I bet she'd freak if you told her anything about Ray and what happened to him. Promise me you won't say a word to her until we discuss this, Nate. I mean it. Promise." Sienna Star. I'm admittedly a tabloid junkie and was even before I became a headlines Young, edgy, Sienna had the kind of perfect body men lusted for.
