The Vampire Next Door

THE VAMPIRE NEXT DOOR By S tephanie Bedwell Bedwell-- Grime

© copyright by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, February 2007 Cover art by Jenny Dixon, © copyright February 2007 New Concepts Publishing www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

CHAPTER ONE FRIENDS and NEIGHBOURS Lying in his bed he could hear them, violating the sanctity of his Lair. Heavy furniture scraped across the floor, jarring him awake. With a deep sigh, he forced his frayed nerves to relax. And for a moment silence and darkness reigned in his private space. Rudi dozed, reaching after that elusive tendril of sleep. Then something heavy fell over in the house next door, startling him back to awareness. His hands clenched in anger. He was Vampire, Lord of Darkness. He shouldn’t have to put up with this. But even vampires had to contend with their neighbors in this modern world. Part of life in the new millennium and all that rubbish. He’d never meant to sell the carriage house on his property. He loathed having neighbors in such close proximity. Originally built on the same estate, the foundations of the two buildings were connected. Sound carried like a drum in his basement bedroom. Leaving the estate in the care of his solicitor during an extended stay in Europe had been a huge mistake. But who could have foreseen how expensive things would get in the twenty-first century or how little his artist’s salary would buy? His beleaguered solicitor had been forced to sell the carriage house to maintain the estate. Since that misguided sale, the property had turned over several times, forcing him to deal with a constant stream of new neighbors. Another thud made him regret the situation even more. Through a crack between the black velvet drapery on his four-poster bed, he could see the blinding glare of the sun still high in the sky. Nothing to be done about it, he was stuck there until dusk. Curses! He needed his sleep. He had a review due this evening, one that had to be e-mailed before dawn to his editor. The movers spent the rest of the afternoon thumping above his head, destroying the possibility of restful slumber. By the time the sun set in the western sky, he was ready to throttle his new neighbor. **** Tori Mahoney stared across the sea of boxes crammed into the tiny house. The setting sun bathed the room in a feeble pink glow. She couldn’t remember in which box she’d packed her flashlight. She rubbed a grubby hand across her face and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. Her stomach growled in protest at having been deprived of food for most of the day. She should order pizza. But the phone company wasn’t due until tomorrow. Even with night falling, the tiny house held on tenaciously to the late June heat. A walk in the cool air would do her good. She’d stroll down to the local convenience store and buy some groceries. Set on the periphery of downtown, her new home offered all the convenience the big city could offer. Yet in her tiny backyard, she could almost believe she was in the country. The owner had failed to get the sale price he wanted and agreed to rent it for a reasonable sum. Things were definitely looking up, Tori thought as she rounded the corner, her arms laden with grocery bags. It was then that she noticed the red envelope sticking out of her mailbox. Setting the groceries down on the porch, she reached for the letter. She hadn’t sent out her change of address notices yet. No one except her mother had her new address. So the letter couldn’t be for her. She peered at the writing in the twilight. Sure enough the address read 216, not 216A. The letter belonged to her next-door neighbor, Rudi Alexandrov, according to the scrawl on the envelope. Well, she’d have some dinner and then she’d return it to him. **** Rudi arose, frazzled and wrinkled, looking more like something that had crawled out from under a rock rather than his suave and debonair self, and crept up to his kitchen. Avoiding the last crimson rays of the dying sun, he pulled a bag of blood from the fridge and stared across the two-foot expanse that

separated him from his noisy cohabitant. Bagged blood was a pathetic substitute for the real thing, he thought as he punctured the blood bag with the tip of one razor-sharp incisor. A few pints tapped directly from the jugular vein of his noisepolluting neighbor would suit him better. He glanced down at his wrinkled silk pajamas. He couldn’t go next door looking like that. Lord of Darkness and all. He had appearances to keep up. **** Her neighbor was probably eighty and grumpy. Tori trudged across the grass. Judging by the look of the house, he was already in bed. She hesitated at the front door. It was a little late to be visiting. Tori looked again at the strange red envelope in her hand. Then again it could contain something vitally important to its rightful owner. She might be doing the mysterious Mr. Alexandrov a favor by redirecting his lost correspondence. He might already have seen her loitering on his doorstep. He could already be en route to his front porch to demand what she was doing there. Well, here goes, Tori thought. And rang the doorbell. A huge echoing bong that sounded right out of a horror movie echoed throughout the house. Blood dripping from his mouth, Rudi looked up from his dinner. Now what? First he'd been tormented all day while he tried to sleep and now some idiot disturbed his repast by leaning on his doorbell. His hand gave an involuntary spasm. Blood squirted from the bag he'd punctured, soiling his hopelessly creased pajamas. He looked down in disgust at the blood he'd spilled. He simply couldn't answer the door like that. It was probably someone trying to sell him something anyway. Someone taking advantage of the long hours of summer daylight by annoying him into the evening. He chose to ignore them. Receiving no answer, Tori rang the doorbell again. She peered through the etched glass on the door into the cavernous darkness inside. The place looked as gloomy as a tomb. Perhaps no one was home. But as she was about to turn away, she saw a flicker of light near the back of the house. Maybe they just hadn't heard her? The narrow alleyway between the houses couldn't be more than two and a half feet wide. And in the deepening shadows it appeared downright sinister. But it was the fastest way to the rear of the house. She stepped into the darkness, feeling her way with the tip of one sandaled foot. It was like stepping into a tunnel. She felt the press of old brick mere inches from her shoulders. The old cobblestone beneath her feet felt cool and damp, as if the sunlight never reached this narrow space, even in the summer. Choking down an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia, she kept walking. Darkness cloaked her completely. Within a few feet all she could see was a spattering of streetlight from a neighboring street. Tori quickened her pace and tried to keep from screaming. Suddenly, the alleyway belched her into her neighbor’s yard. She dragged in a breath of cool evening air. A glance at the sky showed a dusting of stars. She turned toward the wan light coming from the kitchen window. Mounting a set of rickety old stairs, she raised her hand to knock on the back door. A glimpse through the window froze the breath in her throat. She stared unbelievingly, trying to make sense of the scene unfolding before her in her neighbor’s kitchen. Set against the glare of a candle hunched a dark haired man. Tied with a leather thong, his hair trailed down his back, thick like a horse's mane. He wore some type of loose shirt that draped exquisitely over a muscular chest. Dark brows framed even darker eyes. His straight nose gave him a serious expression that warred with his full sensuous lips. But it was the pointed incisors peeking out from within those full lips that stole her attention. She watched, spellbound as he plunged those sharp teeth into something dark and squishy looking. Sucking sounds escaped from a window slightly ajar to catch the evening air. It took Tori a moment to recognize the thing in his hand. The last time she'd seen a plastic bag with a little tube at the end was…when she'd given blood two weeks ago. Her eyes widened. She sucked in a convulsive breath. Sensing that small movement, her neighbor turned toward where she stood shrouded by the

shadows in his backyard. His eyes caught the candlelight and glowed red. Tori's scream burst free. **** Blood absorbed Rudi’s senses. Thick and coppery, it slid down his throat, blocking out everything except his hunger. A piercing scream jolted him back to awareness. He suddenly realized he was sitting in full view of the back door hunched over a bag of blood like a hungry hyena. His head shot up, searching for the source of the intrusion. More blood pooled on his lower lip, then dripped down his chin to splash in his lap, staining his pajamas further. Another drop of it hit his ceramic tile floor with a splat. Rudi swore eloquently under his breath. Just when he thought the evening couldn’t get any worse, the woman in his backyard screamed again. No matter, Rudi thought, gathering his wits. He’d capture the screaming maiden, hypnotize her and wipe all memory of his transgression from her mind. Intending to do just that, he leapt from his chair, overturning the antique and ignoring its clatter to the floor. He wrenched the back door open and fell upon the damsel in distress. With lightning speed, he seized her in his vice-like grip. She was pretty enough, he thought absently. Hair dyed the color of old blood by the wan light of the moon spilled over her shoulders. She wore only a dust-smeared t-shirt and shorts. In her hand she clutched a crimson envelope. He recognized his own address scrawled on the front. Oh no. This couldn’t be his new noise-polluting neighbor, could it? All the more reason to hypnotize her quickly. He glared down into her wide, terror-stricken, gray eyes. She squirmed in his grasp, further heightening his hunger. He tightened his grip. She whimpered. “Please don’t hurt me. I didn’t see a thing.” Then, realizing what she’d just admitted, she added, “I promise I won’t tell a soul.” Rudi increased the intensity of his stare. She stilled in his arms, waiting. But her gray eyes were aware, wary. And she was staring straight at his fangs and his blood-smeared mouth, taking it all in despite his attempts to hypnotize her. But he simply had to wipe her mind. He couldn’t have her living next door to him, a mere two feet away, knowing what he was. She was still watching him with those wild, terrified eyes. Damn, he hadn’t meant to frighten her, just to abort her imminent discovery. He pitched his voice comfortingly low and said, “You are feeling sleepy.” Carefully, he watched her. Her bottom lip trembled. “No, I’m not. I swear, I’m wide awake.” Rudi frowned in annoyance. His tongue flicked out, sponging the blood off his chin, so she wouldn’t be distracted by it. “Yes, you are,” he insisted in that calm, inflectionless voice. “You’re getting, very, very sleepy.” She fell silent and for a second, he thought he’d succeeded. Then she asked incredulously, “Are you trying to hypnotize me?” Rudi sighed in exasperation. He was Vampire, Lord of Darkness. He shouldn’t have to endure this humiliation. “No,” he snapped. “I’m not trying to hypnotize you. But you are getting drowsy. Your eyelids are getting heavy. You are feeling very relaxed.” Annoyance flashed in her eyes. “No,” she insisted. “I am not.” **** Now that she’d found the perfect house, she was going to have to move, Tori thought. If she survived the evening. How could she have known her next-door neighbor would turn out to be a blood-drinking pervert? Tori squelched the urge to cry. She had to keep her wits about her if she intended to live through the

next few minutes. She looked up at the man who held her in an immovable grip. The guy still desperately trying to lay the whammy on her. He was certainly handsome enough, for a serial killer. And he wasn’t threatening to kill her, merely trying to hypnotize her into forgetting that she’d seen him drinking blood. Blood from a blood bank, she realized, not straight out of someone’s jugular vein. Maybe he had some strange form of anemia. Or, her mind prompted her, the man was a…vampire. A vampire, intent on protecting his secret. Maybe if she acted reasonable, he’d let her go. Tori cleared her throat. “Um, I can’t be hypnotized.” He gazed down at her doubtfully. “Really,” she admitted. “Other people have tried.” He arched a black eyebrow. The moonlight accentuated the contrast between his dark hair and his pale skin. She nodded. “A friend tried to hypnotize me once as part of a college parapsychology experiment.” His face fell. He looked suddenly unsure of himself. Slowly, so as not to startle him, Tori raised her arm. “I--I actually just came over to give you this.” His gaze snapped to the letter in her hand. “I think I got some of your mail by mistake.” He plucked the letter from her hand. His eyes narrowed as he read the return address on the envelope. A good time to make her getaway. She tensed, ready to spring. But his other hand tightened on her arm, holding her in place. "Well," Tori began. "Now that your letter has been returned to its rightful owner, I should just be going." His head twisted back in her direction. But despite the weight of his stare, his striking green eyes had no effect on her. "I just moved in," she added. "I've got a million things to do." With a sigh, he released her from his gaze. "I'm sure you do, Miss--?" "Mahoney. Tori Mahoney." Her name sprang automatically from her lips. Damn! Now, why had she told him that? "Tori?" His enunciation made her name sound exotic…exciting. "Short for Victoria?" "Only my grandmother calls me that." She sunk her teeth into her tongue to stop herself from saying anything else. "Rudi Alexandrov." Still restraining her firmly with one hand, he offered her a graceful half-bow. "Rudi?" she asked, squelching a smile. "Short for Rudolph?" He nodded, again managing to put grace into that small movement. He smiled, showing a hint of fang. “Yes, but only my mother ever called me that.” They were talking almost conversationally. A good sign, Tori thought. As long as he was using his mouth to talk, he couldn’t sink his fangs into her neck and drain her blood. “You know, Rudi. You could let go of me. I promise I won’t run screaming.” He scrutinized her thoroughly. “Screaming would truly not be wise.” **** He really wasn't in the habit of brutalizing young women. Especially delicate, pretty young women like his meddlesome neighbor. But he couldn't hold on to her all night. He had a deadline to meet. What on earth was he going to do with her? "I promise I'll just stand here," she whispered. "And we'll...talk." Good God, now the infuriating creature wanted to talk. But it was infinitely preferable to her shrieking down the block. "Talk," he repeated. His hand clenched on her arm to warn her against any rash action she might be contemplating. Then abruptly, he released her. He needed to get her out of the backyard, out of the way of prying eyes and ears. He kept his hedges high and densely groomed to prevent intruders from straying onto his turf. But that wouldn't

prevent her high-pitched scream from being heard all over the street, or some busybody from spying on them from a second floor window in the next block. Rudi motioned to the open door. "Why don't we go inside?" Her eyes widened in terror, as if he’d just suggested they step into a dungeon. Which, he had to admit, wasn't a half bad idea. A perfect place to keep a prying neighbor. Too bad he didn’t have a dungeon. "We're just going to talk," he insisted. "Like you suggested." "Can't we talk in the backyard?" "The kitchen is nicer." He waved his hand to indicate the golden candlelight spilling out into the darkness. "We could have some wine." "I thought you ...people didn't drink wine," she said incredulously. By you people he gathered she meant vampires. The over-used reference from the Dracula movies irritated him. "I do indeed drink wine," he snapped. "I have an extensive wine cellar." "Oh." She had the decency to blush and look uncomfortable. And that made him feel guilty. Oh damn the woman. Why had she picked this night to intrude? He held up the letter as a peace offering. "Thank you for redirecting my mail." "You're welcome." She was still staring at him like he might devour her. Rudi motioned to the welcoming light in the kitchen beyond. "Shall we?" He let her precede him up the steps and pointedly ignored the panicked glances she cast backward over her shoulder. Letting her enter first was a mistake. Her eyes seized on the bag of blood he'd abandoned on the table. With preternatural swiftness, he snatched it up and deposited it in the garbage can. She watched him with terrified eyes as he breezed past her. He still wore his creased silk pajamas, he realized in horror. Grabbing a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses, he motioned for her to sit down. She sat across from him. Rudi sank gratefully into a chair. At least that way, his lower quarters were hidden behind the table. To distract her from the disheveled state of his clothes, he poured crimson wine into the crystal glasses. **** What momentary lack of sanity had her sipping wine in a vampire's kitchen? From her perch on his antique chair, she could see the shadow-cloaked shapes of what looked like some pricey furniture in the living room. Heavy curtains had been pulled back to let in the night. Moonlight spilled into the room, giving everything a silver glow. She caught glimpses of velvet drapery and the kind of chunky leather furniture that had dominated men's clubs in the 1900’s. The whole place looked like it had skipped a century. Her host bent over the table, filling her wine glass with a burgundy that resembled blood far too closely for her tastes. As he did, she caught sight of the impressive, high-tech stereo his silhouette had been hiding. Speakers easily as tall as a man stood on either side of some expensive rack-mounted electronics. It looked so very out of place among his old fashioned furniture she couldn't help staring. "Wow, nice stereo." "Thank you." He took a sip of his wine and indicated she should do the same. Well, if he was drinking it, it couldn't be poisoned, could it? She wondered idly if vampires could be poisoned. But she'd watched him open the bottle and pour it. Tori took a cautious sip. And found the wine surprisingly good. "Mm," she said appreciatively. She had no idea what else to say to him. Silence stretched between them. Mr. Rudi Alexandrov, Vampire, didn’t seem like much of a conversationalist. "Forgive me for saying it," she began, "but you don't look like the kind of guy to be into all that high-tech stuff."

He followed the direction of her gaze. "If it's the sound system you're referring to, I must confess I have a fascination with heavy metal." "I'd never have thought." Didn't vampires spend their time in dusty old crypts listening to classical music on a wind-up Victrola? The image of Dracula bopping to heavy metal tunes made her stifle a laugh. Rudi nodded. "In fact I spend most of my evenings in clubs, listening to live music." "Really," she managed to say again without laughing. "I was just getting ready to go out for the evening," he leveled another of those probing green stares at her just in case one last attempt at hypnosis might suddenly work, "when you interrupted me." "Sorry." What else did you say when you'd caught someone drinking blood? Another look of annoyance crossed his face. He lifted his glass and took a long swallow. "If you're free tonight, Miss Mahoney, you could accompany me." Tori froze, her wineglass halfway to her lips, wondering what was behind his sudden invitation. He wanted to keep her close by, came the answer. He'd trusted her with some dangerous information. He wanted to make sure his secret was safe. Or, her more cynical side suggested, he might just want her off his property so he could murder her without incriminating himself. "That's kind of you." She put her glass down. "But I have an early morning meeting, and I haven't even started unpacking." Standing, she inched toward the back door. Rudi moved, blocking her path before she could so much as blink. Towering above her, he stared down at her menacingly. "Can I trust you to keep what you've seen here tonight a secret?" "Sure thing," she squeaked. He studied her for a moment longer. Then he stepped away from the door. Tori bolted into the backyard. She didn't stop running until she was safely in her own house, the door locked securely behind her. But would that stop a vampire intent on murdering her? Tori glanced at the narrow space beneath the door. Damn, she should have asked him if he could turn himself into fog. Rummaging by moonlight in the battered box she thought contained her kitchen utensils, she located a couple of tea towels and laid them across the bottom of the door. She crammed some paper towel into the keyhole and sincerely wished she'd thought to buy garlic at the market. Well, the house was as secure as she could make it. Hopefully, she'd survive the night. And unless a vampire did drain her blood during the midnight hours, she still had to work tomorrow. With a sigh, Tori unpacked her manual coffee maker. She tested the burner on the gas stove and was relieved to find that it worked. At least she wouldn’t have to start work without her customary jolt of caffeine. Gathering up the newspaper she'd used to wrap her coffee mugs, she bent to put them in the garbage under the sink. Moonlight caught the word HOMICIDE written in tall black letters on the discarded newsprint. Her heart slammed against her chest as she smoothed the paper flat and tilted it into the light to see better. The story detailed the killings of half a dozen women, all found near after hours clubs on the waterfront. She recognized the story. It had been all over the news for the past couple of weeks. One of the murders had taken place on the periphery of her old neighborhood. She'd congratulated herself in her good sense in moving. But that was before she'd discovered she lived next door to a vampire. Her heart thumped again. Hadn't Rudi mentioned he spent nearly all his evenings in downtown clubs? Was that why he'd invited her along? So she could be his next victim? Outside, she heard a door slam. Footsteps crunched down the gravel drive. A car motor started. Throwing caution to the wind, Tori grabbed her car keys and followed.

A dangerous-looking, matte black Thunderbird was just pulling out of Rudi's driveway. Tori waited until he pulled up to the stop sign at the top of the street, then followed. She looked more than conspicuous in her butter-yellow VW Bug. The pink daisy decal on the hood didn't help, either. But it was dark. She hoped it was dark enough. She tailed him down the narrow streets that led to the club district on the waterfront. Humid air hovered over the lake. The warm summer nights brought out swarms of people. Rudi pulled into an alleyway. She watched as he left his car and walked toward the most rundown bar on the street. Tori waited until the door swung shut. Then she pulled up behind him. She surveyed the street and winced. Hopefully her car would still be there when she returned. She hauled open a heavy door and stepped into darkness. A bouncer just inside the door relieved her of twelve dollars for a cover charge. Tori groped her way forward toward a table. She'd never find Rudi in this gloom, she thought. Just then the stage roared to life in a blaze of light and a screeching guitar solo. And there, sitting alone at a table at the edge of the stage and enjoying yet another glass of bloodred wine, was Rudi Alexandrov. Under the blazing lights, Tori could tell that the club was filling up. She'd garnered one of the last seats. Already it was standing room only by the bar. The band announced themselves as Cats of Nine Tails. She thought they sounded more like cats being dismembered. But the show seemed to have Rudi mesmerized. He watched the stage with rapt attention. She ordered a diet cola from a passing waitress. The last thing she needed to do on a stakeout was cloud her senses with alcohol. The band finished their first number to rousing applause. "Mind if I sit down?" someone said into the sudden silence. Tori jumped. Looking up, she noticed a tall, blond man. The stage lights reflected his startlingly blue eyes. His face broke into a warm smile. He looked like a surfer who'd somehow strayed from a sundrenched beach into this dark and noisy hell. "You seem to have the last chair in the whole place at your table," he prompted, still beaming that dazzling smile at her. Tori looked around. She did indeed have the last vacant seat in the house. The band began their next number, stealing the possibility of audible speech. Tori waved the newcomer to the seat. He seemed friendly enough. And if what she suspected was true, she might need an ally. Three songs later, Rudi still hadn’t moved from his seat. On the stage, the guitarist tuned his guitar for the next number. Tori glanced at her watch and groaned. The night was slipping away and her early morning meeting wouldn’t wait. She looked up to find her companion staring at her. “Come here often?” “First time.” He offered her his hand. “Hi, I’m Damien.” His warm hand enveloped her smaller one. “Tori.” Beaming another of those sea-blue stares at her, he took a sip of his beer. “So, what made you come here tonight, Tori?” She glanced at Rudi still sitting by the stage drinking yet another glass of red wine. Perhaps vampires didn’t find alcohol intoxicating. That would certainly give him an advantage over unsuspecting women who’d spent the night in a club drinking. She looked back at Damien and wondered whether she could trust him with her secret. He swept a lock of blond hair off his forehead and waited for her answer. “I’m—I’m kind of following someone.” His eyes widened. “You’re stalking someone?” “No,” she said quickly. “Nothing like that.” She studied Damien for a second. He seemed trustworthy enough. “Okay, don’t think I’m insane or anything, but I think my neighbor is the Club Killer.” “Really?” He blinked in surprise. But at least he wasn’t laughing hysterically at her. “What makes

you think that?” “Well, he’s got some really strange habits.” “Habits?” She nodded. “He drinks…blood, and he spends all his evenings in after hours clubs.” “Okay, that’s weird,” Damien admitted. “What do you think I should do?” “If you really think he’s the killer you should report him to the police.” Tori glanced back at Rudi, only to find the vampire on the move. Threading his way through the standing room only crowd, he headed for the bar. The bartender seemed to know him. So did the blonde woman sitting at the bar. An image of the woman lying on the pavement, a trickle of blood leaking from twin holes in her neck, flashed through Tori’s mind. The attractive blonde could be Rudi’s next victim. She had to act soon. She pulled her cell phone from her purse. Her heart sank at the low signal. On the stage the lead guitarist began the next number with an ear-piercing guitar solo. She wouldn’t be able to hear in the bar anyway, she thought standing to leave. “Maybe you’re right,” she yelled in Damien’s ear. “What’s the worst that could happen?” “Nothing if he’s innocent,” he yelled back. He pointed to a door by the washrooms. “That door leads to the alley. If you prop it open, you can slip back in. I’ll hold your seat.” “Okay.” Grasping her cell phone, Tori headed for the exit. Cool air washed over her, a relief from the tightly packed bodies inside. She extended the antenna on her phone and sighed in relief as the signal improved. Her heart hammering against her chest, she dialed 911 and prayed she was doing the right thing. Sudden impact jarred her senses. Her head hit the brick wall. The phone fell from her grasp. Fighting the pain, she gasped for breath. And found she couldn’t breathe past the hands tightening around her neck. Panic seized her. She heard a crunch as a booted foot stomped down on the delicate electronics of her cell phone. It beeped once in protest, then fell silent. “Now, that’s enough of that,” said a voice far too close to her ear. A familiar voice. Rudi? No the slight touch of an accent, the formal phrasing was missing. But it was a voice she’d heard very recently. “Damien?” she squeaked. “In the flesh.” His hands choked off the last of her oxygen. She gave up trying to speak. “Of course,” he added, “that’s not my real name.” Darkness encroached from all sides. Her vision narrowed to a tunnel filled with tiny sparks. In the shadows something moved. Air stirred around her. As if from far away she felt the collision. Her attacker grunted in pain. Suddenly she was sucking oxygen into her abused throat. Floundering, Tori stumbled. Only to be caught by a pair of muscular arms. She looked up. From out of the darkness, a pair of eyes glowed red. She screamed. “Hush, Tori, you’re safe. You’re going to be okay.” She forced her eyes to focus and found Rudi towering over her. Risking hurting her abused muscles further, she craned her neck for a glance at the blond form crumpled on the pavement. Rudi offered her a wry smile. “Don’t worry, he won’t be going anywhere for awhile.” “But how did you know I was here?” she managed to croak. “I knew you were here as soon as you walked in. I saw you heading toward the washrooms. When I saw that man get up to follow you, I got worried.” Every breath hurt, but she couldn’t seem to stop gulping in huge lungfuls of air. Footsteps hurried in their direction. Gentle hands steadied her against the wall. “I have to go.” Rudi nodded to Damien’s motionless form. “All of this is going to raise far too many questions. But help is on the way. You’ll be safe now.”

“What am I going to tell them?” “Tell them you were attacked.” He offered her a wry smile. “And some Good Samaritan intervened.” “But …,” she protested. From off in the direction of the street, she heard the sound of sirens. The handle on the back door turned. When she looked back Rudi was gone. **** The sun was coming up by the time the police dropped her off at home. She’d made arrangements for her car to be towed to her house. The sedative the doctor at the hospital had ordered made driving impossible. Tori left a message on her boss’ answering machine explaining her situation and then collapsed in bed. Fortunately, she didn’t dream. She awoke in the crimson light of dusk. The sight of all those unpacked boxes made her head for the shower instead. She was standing in the kitchen trying to ignore her growling stomach and contemplating whether she had the strength to limp to the corner store for orange juice when the doorbell rang. Fervently hoping it wasn’t the police with more questions she couldn’t answer, Tori opened the door. And found Rudi on her front porch. “Hey,” she said. He nodded. “Victoria.” For a moment they simply stared at each other. Then he raised a huge bouquet of flowers and handed it to her. It filled her arms in a riot of color. “Thanks.” She breathed in their fragrant scent. “For everything.” He offered her a Styrofoam container full of something warm. “Chicken soup from the corner deli. I’ve never tried it personally, but I hear it’s good.” She stepped back from the door, but he lingered on the porch. “You, uh, have to invite me in.” He looked really embarrassed to admit it. “Oh, sorry. Come in, Rudi.” He followed her into her box-strewn kitchen and helped her rummage around for a pitcher to put the flowers in. Rudi doted over her like an over-protective mom while she ate her soup. The soup soothed her injured throat. “So,” he said as she finished, “why were you following me?” Green eyes searched her face. She decided to tell him the truth. He deserved that at least, after saving her life. “I thought you were the Club Killer.” His jaw dropped open in astonishment. “Me?” “Well…” He looked so horrified, she almost laughed. “You are a—a vampire. And I did catch you drinking blood. And…you admitted to spend all your evenings in bars.” “I buy tainted blood from a blood bank.” At her shocked expression he merely shrugged gracefully. “It can’t hurt me.” Tori turned that piece of information over in her mind. “And I work in the music business,” Rudi continued with another of those wounded stares. “It’s my job to be in bars every night. I’m a music reviewer!” “Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. She’d heard the music business could be murder, but a vampire…? “You didn’t tell the police anything about me, did you?” he asked. Tori shook her head. “I gave them a vague description. I told them I was too busy passing out from lack of oxygen to get a good look.” “Good,” Rudi said. Tori smiled. It seemed her big move had worked out after all. She had a wonderful new home.

And somehow she’d acquired a vampire protector. A really good-looking vampire protector. Now if only she could convince her sexy next door neighbor to see her as something more than someone to be protected things would be going well indeed. But that was a task for another day. She turned her most engaging smile on the unsuspecting Rudi. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”

CHAPTER TWO NIGHT MUSIC Once she’d gotten used to the idea of Rudi being a vampire, he’d begun to annoy her as neighbors are wont to do. Tori squinted at the red LED numerals on her bedside clock. 12:06 a.m. The vampire next door was playing heavy metal again. Burrowing under the comforter did little to reduce her aggravation. Her matchbox bedroom was hot enough in the middle of July without the quilt. She tried counting sheep. She tried deep breathing. But it was too stifling in the tiny room with the window closed to get a deep breath. Six a.m. loomed closer with every passing second. She had a marketing presentation to give to the board at nine sharp. The figures weren't good. She was going to need her wits about her. After thrashing about for another five minutes, she was certain sleep was destined to elude her. She tossed off the comforter, threw open the window and went to confront her neighbor. Roadkill Gourmet's lead singer bellowed down the quiet street. "I can't be the only person awakened by this, can I?" she muttered, trudging through the dew-damp grass between the houses. It was one of the hazards of having a music critic for a neighbor. A car drove by on the next street, its motor disproportionately loud in the silence. For a moment the bass line played second fiddle to its engine, then the car passed, and it was just Tori and Roadkill Gourmet once again. The perfume from his rose bushes drifted lazily toward her on the humid air. He wouldn't be such a bad neighbor, Tori reflected if he had a sound-proofed house. Tori raised her hand to knock on the thick wooden door with its cast iron hinges. Her pounding echoed through the empty hall beyond the door. No answer. She tried the handle. The door swung invitingly inward. Tori stepped into the foyer. A giant chandelier overpowered the entry, casting fragmented shadows into the rooms beyond. "Rudi?" she yelled, quickly losing the verbal battle with Roadkill Gourmet. "Damn it Rudi, haven't you ever heard of Vivaldi?" With a disgusted scowl, she pushed open the french doors that led to the living room. "It's after midnight. This isn't my idea of a lullaby--" Her tirade ended abruptly. Splayed out on the priceless persian carpet was her neighbor, a wooden stake protruding from his heart. Coarse rope bound his arms and legs to metal stakes that had been nailed through the expensive rug into the hardwood beneath. Tori's horrified gasp cut into the silence between tracks. The vampire opened his eyes. "Ah, Tori. Nice of you to drop by." The CD skipped to the next track, smothering the rest of his greeting.

She blinked, unable to tear her eyes from the grisly scene. Crossing to the wall of electronics, she plunged the room into silence. This is too weird, she thought, kneeling in dazed horror beside him. "What did you say?" He groaned, looking up at her with blood-red eyes. "I said, nice of you to …." "I heard that part." She gestured to the stake imbedded in his chest. "Doesn't that hurt?" "Like hell." He grimaced. "I'd be most obliged if you'd pull it out." Tori reached for the wooden stake. Russet stains soiled the white linen of his shirt around it. She yanked her hand back. "I hate to impose," Rudi groaned. "I'd do it myself …." With a toss of his head, he motioned to his arms and legs tied to the stakes that punctured not only the carpet, but the hardwood floor. "But as you can see, I'm all tied up at the moment." Closing her eyes, Tori gripped the stake with both hands and heaved. It came free with a loud sucking sound. Rudi gave a great sigh of relief. With a series of mighty tugs, he snapped the ropes that bound him. Rubbing at the spot where the ropes had chafed his wrists, he sat up and fixed her with his dazzling smile. "My sincere thanks." He rose gracefully to his feet. "Can I offer you something to drink?" "For God's sake, Rudi!" Her gaze slid from the mess on the carpet to the gruesome writing on the walls. "What on earth happened to you?" Rudi was busy brushing in dismay at his tailored pants. At her question he straightened, smoothing back a lock of raven hair that had escaped from his normally immaculate ponytail. Emerald green eyes seized hers. The red flecks had faded, leaving only her startlingly handsome neighbor. The one who was always trying to hypnotize her. "Will you stop that," she managed to growl under her breath. "Stop what?" he asked in that silky smooth voice. "The vampire look. It's annoying!" He released her, so suddenly she stumbled backward. "Sorry. Force of habit." Tori rubbed the space between her eyes, the start of a potentially brutal headache. "Don't start with the persuasion tactics. I did see you staked out on your rug. And damned if I'm going to forget!" Rudi lowered eyelids fringed with long lashes. "Isn't it kind of lonely," she asked softly, "making everyone forget about you?" "Unbearably so." He stalked away from her, then turned back suddenly. The strong lines of his face were harshly illuminated by the fragmented light of the chandelier. "Except for you, Tori. In spite of my efforts, you seem to recall everything I say." "I told you, I'm just not one of those people who can be hypnotized." "Perhaps," he admitted reluctantly. "It's a rather humbling experience." Tori grinned wolfishly. "Good." She fingered the ragged hole in his shirt. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?" "Apparently someone wants me...removed." "Who for God's sake? Who'd be crazy enough to come gunning for a vampire?" "Even the undead have enemies." "A relative of someone you sucked the life out of, come to avenge …?" "Tori! Must you be so vulgar?" Rudi's eyes flashed indignant red. "I assure you I've done nothing of the sort. Not...recently anyway." "Someone you really pissed off with a bad review?" The vampire winced at her crude turn of phrase. "Could be." "I can't imagine saying anything good about the stuff you play. Really Rudi, I wish you'd get your living room sound-proofed." "Your complaint has been registered," he snapped, moving to show her out. "And now, if you don't mind, I have business to attend to."

"Now don't get uppity." Tori stood her ground, even when he poured the sum of his intimidation into those blazing eyes. "I came to help," she managed to squeak. "The situation is under control," he said coldly. "The hell it is! What if I hadn't dropped by? What if you were still lying there when the sun rose? What if they come back during the day when you can't defend yourself?" Rudi let the door swing shut. Pursing his lips, he pondered this new threat. "How did they manage to get you staked out on your own floor in the middle of the night when you're most...active?" "They came just before dusk, before I was awake." "And they turned on the stereo before they left?" "They set the CD to repeat. I suppose they considered it a fitting punishment." "Whoever they were, they certainly weren't pros. After all, they didn't cut your head off or stuff your mouth with garlic. Kind of cowardly don't you think, just to rope you up and wait for the sun to do the rest of it …." "Tori please!" She broke off her lurid description to find Rudi had gone yet another shade paler. If that was possible. "Oh sorry! Did you get a look at them?" Rudi shook his head. "They had stockings over their faces." "That's not much of a description to go on, but it's got to be Roadkill Gourmet …." "That's what I can't figure out," Rudi said. "I gave Roadkill Gourmet a good review." "You did! Why?" "I thought they had...spirit." "In any case you better dead-bolt your coffin." Rudi sniffed disdainfully. "I don't sleep in a coffin. My daytime arrangements consist of a four poster in the darkest corner of the basement. Really, Tori, I wouldn't have thought you'd pay attention to such blatant stereotypes." "So what are you going to do?" "I intend to track down my attacker. Hopefully, it's just a couple of over-zealous Goths. After all, as you were kind enough to point out, they didn't stuff my mouth with garlic. Whoever they are, they'll be surprised to see me." "And where does one go to track down a vampire killer?" "Why The Gothic Blood Club, of course." "Of course," Tori echoed. "I should have known." Rudi strode toward the door. "Well, I must be going. The nights are short in the summer." "I'll come with you." "Tori, I don't think that's such a good idea." "Why not? I'm up and it doesn't look like I'm going to be getting back to sleep. Just give me a minute to change." She walked past him onto the porch. "But you're buying the drinks." **** Torches lined the crimson walls of The Gothic Blood Club. The smoke-laden air reeked of mildew and sweat. Black-clad youth writhed on the dance floor like neurotic shadows. Black-ringed eyes glared from stark white faces as they passed. Black lipstick left greasy smears on the rims of goblets in which red wine glistened like blood. Tori glanced down at the dangerously short black dress that was more appropriate for New Year's Eve than an evening at The Gothic Blood Club and wished for another six inches of hemline. The dress got a grin of approval from one of the males by the bar. White fangs gleamed in the torchlight, artfully set off by crimson lips. Delighted by Tori's horrified stare, he obligingly bit into a can of beer, spewing suds all over his buddies. "All these people can't be vampires," she hissed as Rudi led her to a shadowed table in the corner.

"None of these people are vampires." "But that guy …." Rudi shot her an indulgent look. "They're caps, Tori. Surely you didn't think …." "Of course not." She glanced nonchalantly back at the guy with the fangs, who leered cheerfully back at her. Encouraged by her attention, he proceeded to lick his lips in invitation. Tori couldn't help but notice that his unusually long tongue was pierced at the tip with a crucifix stud. She tore her gaze away and hoped for more congenial company at the next table. The couple beside them were linked at the nostrils by a silver chain. She watched as the waiter set down a couple of glasses of ruby liquid, which the woman proceeded to pay for from a black purse shaped like a coffin. "Surely that's not …." "Red wine," Rudi whispered. He grasped her chin with a slender hand and gently turned her head toward him. "Tori, don't stare. It's rude." Behind the stage, someone tuned a bass. Notes thudded down the scale, making the floor vibrate with their intensity. Roadkill Gourmet certainly did have spirit, Tori reflected as the lead singer thrashed across the stage. By the time he finished the set, his lacquered black hair hung in damp tendrils. In a thunderous round of applause, the group left the stage and slunk off in the direction of the damp hole in the back that passed as a dressing room. A spotlight roved over the crowd, lighting up the shadowed corners. Hissing, Rudi flung up an arm to protect his eyes from the blinding light. But it was too late. The spot lit up their table bright as noon. Roadkill Gourmet froze, staring at the vampire in horrified amazement. Then, coming suddenly to their senses, they turned tail and fled back through the bar. Rudi watched calmly as they disappeared into the crowd. "Aren't you going to go after them?" "Of course I am." One moment he was sitting beside her, the next his chair was empty. "Rudi, wait for me!" Tori leapt to her feet. On second thought, running in six-inch spike heels didn't seem like such a good idea. By the time she maneuvered her way through the crowd, she'd managed to practically sprain both ankles. The ironstudded door swung open, letting in a breath of cool, smokeless air. Neither Rudi nor Roadkill Gourmet were anywhere to be seen. Then in the darkness, she heard a scuffle. Tori lurched around the corner in time to see Rudi grab one of the band members by his ripped black t-shirt. Held aloft by one of Rudi's long arms, the vampire wanna-be looked slightly ridiculous with his fake fangs and blood red lips. Trapped between Rudi and the wall behind, the rest of the band members looked on in wide-eyed horror. One of the vampires-in-training decided to make a run for it. Rudi's free arm snaked out, snatching him back. "Don't even think of it," he told the other two. They looked hopefully to Tori for help. "Don't mess with him," she counseled. The vampire studied the band members pinned against the wall. "Why'd you do it?" His softly spoken question held a note of unmistakable menace. "I gave you a five-star review." The four band members had gone paler than Rudi. And they went paler still as the vampire's grip tightened. "Answer me." "You weren't supposed to give us a good review," the lead singer squeaked. Rudi frowned, drawing dark brows down over emerald eyes. "I wasn't?" "No," one of the other band members spoke up. "You were supposed to pan us, the way you panned Cursed Choir, so we could get tons of free publicity and everyone would come see how bad we

were." In spite of his terror, he looked strangely indignant. Rudi released the lead man who slid down the wall and rested uncertainly on trembling legs. "So that's what this is about?" "We didn't think the stake would hurt you," one of the others offered hopefully. Rudi drew himself up to his full height. "As you can see, it didn't." "Now just a minute …," Tori cut in. But the vampire held up his hand for silence. "You're just going to let them get away with …." "Tori!" She looked away in disgust. "If it's a bad review you want," Rudi said. "That can certainly be arranged." The lead singer perked up. "How? The review was all over the paper yesterday. What are you going to do? Print a retraction?" "I'll review tonight's performance. I'll say you were repetitive, derivative, that I've seen better stage presence from a tap-dancing poodle -- would that be enough?" "Sure," the band chorused. "That'd be great!" "On one condition. That I never again get a daytime," Rudi paused, "or evening visit from you, or any of your friends again." He held them in his probing gaze until their jaws went slack and their eyes glazed over. Apparently Rudi skills as a hypnotist worked on everyone else. "No problem,” the lead singer said in a monotone. "Deal then. It'll be in next week's paper." Tori watched the band shuffle off down the alley. Up ahead the sky was lightening. "You're going to let them off, just like that?" Rudi nodded. Tori glanced again at the approaching dawn. So far she hadn’t made any progress in her goal to make her reticent neighbor appreciate her finer assets. But tonight’s events had offered them another chance to get to know each other.

CHAPTER THREE THINGS THAT GO BUMP But of course, things in Tori’s life never went quite as planned…. Tori heard the rustle of the drapery and sat bolt upright in bed. Seemed the vampire next door had picked midnight to visit. "Victoria...," came a seductive call from her garden. A vampire begging to be invited inside. She clutched at her heart. "Rudi, I wish you'd stop doing that. You scared me half to death! Can't you just knock on the door like everyone else?" "Sorry, I didn't want to wake the neighbors." "I am the neighbors, Rudi." The shadow in the garden became a thin layer of fog that wafted over the windowsill. Fog quickly became man-shaped, then became a man. The bed gave as he sat down. In the moonlight he looked even more wraith-like than usual. Tori caught a glimpse of a white fang as he smiled in greeting. Her eyes widened. Sincerely, she hoped she hadn't invited a hungry vampire in for a nightcap. "Rudi, tell me you're not here for a midnight snack."

The unearthly glow in his eyes faded. "Of course not, that would be most rude. But I do need your help with something." "Not again." She glanced at the clock and groaned. 12:05 a.m. "I can't keep getting up in the middle of the night for you, Rudi. I'm so tired at work I can hardly concentrate. And I've got more work than ever now that I've been promoted. I don't want to lose my job." The vampire frowned, his green eyes implored her to change her mind. He looked so hopeful she couldn't help giving in. "Okay, we can talk for five minutes, but Rudi …." "Yes Tori?" "You're in my bedroom." That got through to him. Leaping to his feet, he cleared his throat. "Oh, forgive me. That's terribly improper. Shall I await you in the living room?" "Why not?" After all it was midnight. And she'd just invited a vampire into her house. **** "So what is it this time?" Tori tugged her fuzzy purple bathrobe tighter. I must be out of my mind. "Not more daytime visitors, I hope?" "I found footprints in my back yard." He uttered the statement as if it was a grand announcement. It could be the lack of sleep, Tori thought, but, "So?" "So?" the vampire repeated. "Someone was looking in my bedroom window whilst I slept during the day. Someone rummaged through my garbage." He held up a white twist-tie like a lawyer presenting evidence. He woke me up for this? Tori shook her head. "Nobody can see in your bedroom, Rudi. You hung blackout curtain on the windows." She deposited the twist-tie in the garbage can under her sink. "A raccoon probably got into your trash." "It wasn't a raccoon," Rudi declared. "Someone else has discovered my Lair! Someone who knows what I am!" He fixed Tori with one of his emerald stares. "And I need you to find out who it is." "I have a job, Rudi. I can't stay home so I can watch your house all day. I have my own mortgage to pay." The vampire drew himself up as if he had been insulted. "I would be happy to pay your mortgage, Tori. In return for your help." "That's not what I meant!" She glanced up at those woeful green eyes, the lock of dark hair that fell enticingly across his forehead. "Look," Tori said. "I have an important meeting this morning." Yawning, she looked meaningfully at the clock, which obligingly changed from 12:29 to 12:30. "My boss will have an absolute fit if I don't show up. And that Michaels guy who hates me for stealing his promotion would take advantage of my absence. He's been skulking around me at work, just waiting for me to make a mistake. So far, he's been disappointed, but I need my sleep, Rudi." Rudi took the comment in good grace. With a regal nod of his head, turned to leave. "I shall leave you to your sleep, then." "Rudi..." As much as she wanted sleep, she couldn't leave him at the mercy of whatever dangers the day had to offer. Last time he'd almost been killed, if it was possible for the undead to be killed. Tori realized with a start she deeply cared what happened to Rudi. "Perhaps you should sleep at my place today? Just in case." **** The smell of coffee woke her. But if she was in bed who was making coffee? Scattering blankets and pillows, Tori leapt in the direction of the kitchen. To find Rudi bending over the stove wearing her frilly, white apron. She noticed the blinds were

tightly shut, even though the sun wasn't yet up. "Eggs?" Tori poured herself a cup of coffee and tried not to laugh as Rudi bustled about the kitchen like a displaced housewife with fangs. "How did a vampire learn to cook?" She couldn't help asking. "I took a gourmet cooking course." She swallowed a mouthful of steaming coffee. "What for?" Rudi shrugged. "I thought it would be a good way to meet women, and it was conveniently offered in the evenings." And what does he think I am? Her own jealousy startled her. Would Rudi never see her as more than a helpful neighbor? The vampire next door was playing hard to get. "So did you," she tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, "meet women?" "As a matter of fact, I did," he said, a little huffily, as if she doubted his ability to attract the fairer sex. Aghast, she blurted, "Did they know what you were? I mean, did you bite their necks?" "Tori! That's a very personal question!" The egg he was lifting slipped from the spatula, crashing to the plate in a spreading stain of yellow yolk-blood. "Look what you've done," he admonished as if she'd ruined a masterpiece. "You made me break the yolk." "I'm sure it didn't feel a thing." Tori took the plate from his hands. She jabbed at the yolk with a slice of bacon. When she looked up Rudi was still glowering at her. "I didn't mean to pry. I was just thinking that a vampire's ex-girlfriend is something you wouldn't want to be." His expression intensified. "Are you inquiring about my love life?" "Sorry," she offered lamely. He tossed the apron aside, sat in the chair across from her, and proceeded to watch her eat with obvious fascination. "Must you do that?" she asked around a mouthful of toast. "Do what?" "Stare at me like that." "Forgive me. It's been so long since I've eaten anything, it is hard to remember what it was like." "Delicious. Also expensive, time consuming, and cooking makes a mess." The vampire grunted noncommittally. He glanced over his shoulder at the band of light visible around the blinds. "Where am I going to put you?" Tori mused aloud. You didn't just offer a vampire a place on the couch beneath the bay window. "Any dark corner will suffice." "It's not that simple. The basement leaks and my bedroom faces south. It'll be bright as noon in there by mid-afternoon." Tori drummed her nails against the tabletop. "But there aren't any windows in the bathroom. The door locks from the inside. The bathtub facet doesn't drip. A couple of pillows and a blanket ought to make it reasonably comfortable. You could tape up the door …." By his expression, Rudi didn't seem to be looking forward to the prospect anymore than she was. "It's not the most lavish of accommodations, but …." "I'd much prefer it to being staked in my sleep again." He reached for her hand. Cool lips brushed her fingers. "Thank you for the hospitality, Tori." Despite the coolness of his touch, the brush of his lips sizzled all the way up her arm. Perhaps there was hope for the two of them after all? Reluctantly, she pulled her hand from his grasp. "I'd better ready for work." **** The meeting was a disaster. Her rival, John Michaels spent the meeting grilling her with questions she couldn't answer, making her look like a complete fool in front of the boss. The day went downhill

from there. Two hours of overtime and long commute home didn't improve her mood. Dusk was still half an hour away. She had to use the bathroom. But there was a vampire sleeping behind a locked door to the only bathroom in the house. Tori was just sliding her key into the lock when the door swung open of its own accord. "Mom!" Tori craned her neck to see past her mother's slight figure, but her mother's immaculately coifed crimson bob blocked her view of the hallway behind her. Sheila Mahoney didn't look as though she'd been set upon by a starving vampire. Her purple power suit was devoid of even a wrinkle. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?" "These days it isn't safe to leave a key in the mailbox," her mother scolded. "You never know who's sulking around the neighborhood." Right, like a vampire. How on earth was she going to get Rudi out of the house without being seen? The presence of a male in her house would be hard enough to explain, never mind a male vampire. She couldn't pass him off as a boyfriend. Her mother would expect a wedding announcement within the month. Nor could she tell the truth. "You should be more careful.” "Mom, you worry too much." Tori tried to control her rising panic, realizing she didn't know for certain how exactly vampires awoke in the evening. Grumpy? Ravenous? She realized with a start her mother was still talking and she hadn't heard a word she'd said. "...such a nice night...thought we could have dinner together...both so busy with work..." Tori forced her mind to catch up. "Dinner, great! Why don't we go out?" She could hustle her mother out of the house and leave Rudi a note. "I eat out almost every night, I thought it would be nice to cook something healthy and eat on your patio." "Cook?" Tori asked incredulously. Sheila Mahoney was the consummate career woman. She'd been named vice-president more times than she'd cooked a meal. "I thought it was something we could do together." You picked a great time for a mother/daughter activity, Tori thought with another glance down the hallway. To her immense relief the bathroom door was still shut. Nonchalantly, she moved from the entrance to the kitchen, out of view of the bathroom. Her mother followed. She opened the refrigerator and pretended to peruse the contents. "Well, that's a great idea, Mom, but I'm out of just about everything." "I went shopping," her mom said brightly. That's when Tori noticed the grocery bags on the counter. She peered into the bags. Lettuce, tomatoes, salad fixings, chicken to barbecue, even a bottle of wine. "Funny, I had a craving for …." She had to think of something to get them out of the house however briefly. "Steak!" Her mother was staring at her from beneath knit brows. "I thought you hated red meat." "I must be low on iron," Tori said. Motherly antennae went up. "Haven't you been eating properly?" "Yes, mom, I'm fine. I'm fine. Just all this warm weather got me thinking about barbecuing and … steak." "Well, all right, I'll run down to the market and get some.” Tori breathed a sigh of relief. "Just as soon as I use the little girl's room." Before Tori could object, her mom was halfway down the hall. "No!" The word came out with far more force than she intended. Her mother froze, her hand on the doorknob. "Why the door's locked." "The toilet flooded this morning." Tori groped for a way out of the steadily worsening situation. "I have to call a plumber. Maybe we should eat at your place?" "Nonsense, I'll go get some steak and we can cook while we wait for him to come."

Tori opened her mouth to object. From the other side of the door, she heard the rustle of blankets as Rudi turned over and muttered in his sleep. "What on earth is that?" Sheila pulled her hand from the door. "The toilet. It's making awful noises." "But how is the plumber going to get in if the door's locked?" "Don't worry, Mom, I'll take care of it. You just go get the steak." "Why did you lock the door?" Her mom was staring at her again from beneath those immaculately plucked brows. "To remind myself not to step in the water." It made no sense, but it was all she could think of. Her mom said, "Oh." But it lacked conviction. She thinks I'm crazy, Tori thought, then, Maybe I am. "Don't worry about it, Mom." "But how are you going to get it open?" She pointed at the tiny hole in the doorknob. "Knitting needle." "Are you sure you don't need some help?" "No, Mom, I can handle it." "I'll go get the steak then." Tori steered her mother toward the door. "You do that, Mom." She watched as Sheila disappeared around the corner of the yard, then raced back toward the bathroom. The sun had not yet dipped below the fence. And her mother would be back in a few minutes. What happened if you woke a vampire too early? Tori debated the locked door. Would Rudi turn to ash if so much as a ray of the rosy twilight touched him? Despite what she'd told her mother, she didn't own a knitting needle. The closest thing was a pointed screwdriver she kept under the kitchen sink. I never should have told Rudi to lock the door! Aside from his ill-timed utterance, Rudi was silent. "Rudi!" Tori knocked loudly on the door. Before she defaced the doorknob, she should at least try the civilized method. Especially after she'd berated him for the same thing. Hammering on the door only hurt her hand. She glanced down the hall at the fading sunset visible through the kitchen windows. Surely it would be safe to wake him up? Tori fitted the point of the screwdriver into the hole in the doorknob and put her weight behind it. The lock sprang open. She glanced back down the hallway, expecting to see Sheila coming up the walk. In her bathtub, Rudi slept with abandon, oblivious to the cold porcelain surrounding him. What was more dangerous, she wondered, waking a sleeping vampire or admitting to her mother she had a vampire sleeping in her bathtub? Deciding to take her chances, Tori gripped him by the shoulder and shook him hard. "Rudi, you have to wake up!" His eyes shot open. Red-rimmed irises glared back at her in the deepening twilight. Survival instincts took over. Tori backed away from the tub. One graceful arm draped over the bathtub. Then, like a movie-vampire emerging from a coffin, Rudi rose slowly from the tub. His lips parted, she caught a glimpse of one chiseled fang. He took a step toward her, that unearthly gleam still in his eyes. Tori screamed. Rudi froze. "Tori?" He glanced around at his unfamiliar surroundings as if he'd forgotten where he'd spent the day. "Tell me you weren't thinking about making a meal of me," Tori demanded. "No, of course not." Even Rudi didn't sound too persuasive. She eyed him suspiciously. "You looked to me like that's exactly what you were thinking. Let me remind you that dining on your hostess is not good manners!"

"I assure you …." From the hallway came the patter of her mother's high heels against the hardwood. "Tori! Are you all right?" "Oh no! My mom!" She yanked the shower curtain closed, hiding the disheveled blankets. Grasping Rudi by the arm, she whispered, "You just became a plumber." "I beg your …." Sheila skidded to a stop in the doorway to the bathroom. "I thought I heard someone scream." "Oh, that was me." Tori uttered a nervous laugh. "You know how upset I get when things break. I'm so helpless around the house." She sounded like a fool. But if it would throw her mom off the scent of something amiss it was worth it. She needn't have worried. Her mom hadn't heard a word she'd said. All her attention was focused on Rudi. "I didn't realize you had company." Tori's mother gave her a conspiratorial smile that said I'll leave you two alone. "I guess I'll be going then." "Rudi, this is my mother, Sheila Mahoney. Mom, this is my neighbor, Rudi. He's a …." "Plumber?" Rudi supplied. In his black wool pants and his creased silk shirt, Rudi looked like anything but a plumber. More like a dance instructor who'd had a bad night. Her mom, Tori noted, didn't look at all convinced. "Plumbing is actually a ... hobby of mine," he continued. Tori jabbed him in the ribs. He shot a glare of protest in her direction, but fell silent. To her dismay, Tori's mom picked up the scent of intrigue. "Oh really, and what do you do for a living Mr. …?" "Alexandrov," Rudi said, bowing over her hand. Mortified, Tori noticed her mom actually blushed. Obviously, she wasn't the only one affected by Rudi's charm. "I write for the local newspaper." "A journalist!" Rudi turned to Tori for guidance. "Rudi writes music reviews." "Oh the arts!" Tori rolled her eyes. Vampiric charm, it seemed, worked on everyone. Even her career-driven mom. "Mom, why don't you go start the barbecue? I'll make the salad while Rudi has a look at the plumbing." Sheila glanced around the bathroom. "I thought you said the floor was flooded." "It must have dried up during the day." "And you got the door unlocked?" "No problem, Mom. Just go see about the steaks, okay?" "Steaks," Rudi interjected. "I cook a wonderful steak." "Another of Mr. Alexandrov's hobbies," Tori said and shot him a nasty look. "Would you like to join us?" her mother asked. "It wouldn't be fair to ask you to work on the plumbing and send you away hungry." At the word hungry, Rudi's eyes flashed crimson. Her mother didn't seem to notice. "That would be most pleasant, Sheila," Rudi accepted despite the murderous look Tori launched in his direction. Tori prayed for patience. She'd fantasized about a romantic dinner with Rudi for months. Having her mother as a threesome wasn't at all what she'd envisioned. And in none of those secret fantasies was Rudi a vampire. How Rudi planned to mime eating proved to be interesting. **** Pretending to eat proved to be easier than expected. Rudi was an excellent cook. Obviously, he had graduated at the top of his cooking class. Tori imagined a group of his female classmates swooning over his latest mouth-watering offering and ground her teeth. A couple of glasses of wine and Sheila ceased to notice anything beside the exquisitely-cooked steak and Rudi's sparkling conversation, most of which Tori noted with another gnashing of her jaws,

was directed at her mother. Her mother, Tori realized, was probably closer to Rudi's age. This wasn't at all how the fantasy went. Sure, she wanted Rudi to like her mom, but in a friendly, mother-in-law sort of way. Her fantasy crumbling around her, the best she could hope for was a merciful end to the evening. One that didn't involve a proposal of marriage to her mother. "So," Rudi said as Sheila's cab pulled away from the curb. "Shall we investigate the footsteps around my lair?" Tori carried the last of the dinner plates into the kitchen and stared skeptically at the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. "I can't tonight, Rudi. This Michael's guy really has it in for me at work. I've got to prepare for tomorrow's presentation. It's got to be slick or this guy's going to have my job!" She squirted pink dish washing liquid into the sink. Splattered across the white dishes it reminded her of blood. Tori noticed Rudi glance at it and look away. He hadn't fed, she realized, except for a mouthful of very rare steak. That disturbing line of thought was interrupted by the sound of squishy footsteps against wet grass, followed by a heavy thud and a curse. She ducked down beneath the kitchen window and pulled Rudi down beside her. "Someone is sneaking around your house!" Crimson glittered in Rudi's eyes. He strode purposefully toward the door. "Someone has violated my Lair!" "Wait a minute!" Tori hauled him backward, earning herself a vicious look and the gleam of a white fang. Hastily, she let him go. Rudi recovered himself and donned a kinder expression. Tori swallowed hard. "You can't just go rushing out there. You'll scare them away. Remember we want to catch them in the act." Rudi drew himself up to his full height. "I am Vampire, Lord of the Darkness. No one escapes from my clutches!" His words echoed ominously through the kitchen. Against her pride, Tori took another step backward. If there was a prowler skulking around Rudi's house, she reasoned, they'd have alerted him by now. So much for the invincible Lord of the Darkness. One glance at Rudi made her reconsider that thought. "I still think stealth is our best option," she managed to croak out. "It could just be a burglar after your stereo equipment." At the thought of someone meddling with his stereo equipment, the crimson in Rudi's eyes deepened to scarlet. That seemed to bother him more than someone tampering with the sanctity of his Lair. Then his gaze softened. "Perhaps you're right," he said at last. "I would like to catch the vandal in the act." "We'll call the Police, Rudi. There's no sense involving the supernatural when the law will do just fine." The look Rudi gave her spoke volumes about his opinion of the law. But he said, "It's probably best to remain as inconspicuous as possible." Tori glanced around the kitchen looking for a weapon. Then she realized she was in the company of Vampire, Lord of Darkness, or some such, and shrugged. The light from her porch illuminated half of Rudi's back yard. Turning it off plunged the pathway between the houses into darkness. She turned off the light in the kitchen, as well, and waited for her eyes to adjust. Rudi strode ahead as if he walked in the bright sunlight. She followed him down the path, which was so narrow Rudi's shoulders nearly skimmed the sides of the walls. The two houses were so close together and their addresses were so similar that much of their mail got mixed up. Tori followed Rudi into the deeper darkness of his tree-shrouded yard. The shadow of a fat raccoon fled as they moved closer. She opened her mouth to say, I told you so, but Rudi bent low to the ground, examining something he saw there. Tori strained her eyes, but she could see nothing except darkness and the deeper shadows of trees. "Footprints," Rudi explained. Tori nodded as if to say, "Of course." But Rudi caught the lie. Realizing she was as good as blind

in the darkness, he reached out and took her hand. She jumped at the sudden contact. His hand was cool, contrasted against the warm night air. Not as cold as she'd expected though, certainly not as cold as the hand of a creature that was supposed to be undead. Long fingers wrapped around hers with restrained strength. Taking care not to make her stumble in the darkness, he pulled her after him. Tori followed Rudi around another corner, past the small blacked-out windows that led to the basement. The mullioned windows to Rudi's living room were covered only by sheers, but the house lay in darkness, so she couldn't see in. Another corner beckoned. The pressure of Rudi's hand warned her to wait. The vampire cocked his head, listening. Tori strained her ears, but all she could hear was the rustle of leaves in the wind. Then, beneath the wind, she heard the squish of rubber soles against the damp grass. Rudi pulled her ahead and peered around the corner. He froze, an obsidian statue against the darkness. Again, they heard the squeaking sound. Flattening herself against the brickwork, Tori glanced around the corner. Whatever Rudi saw clearly, she could only make a man-sized shadow moving within the darker shadows cast by the trees. He huddled against the rough wall of the ramshackle shed where Rudi kept his garbage. Something heavy hit the ground with a muffled thump. The padlock she realized. The ancient door groaned in protest. Rudi tensed, poised to spring. The wind rustled the leaves above. A sliver of moonlight leaked between the branches. Tori gasped. Gilded with moonlight was John Michaels. "Wait!" she started to say. "I know that man!" But she uttered the words a fraction of a second too late. Leaves closed above them, plunging the yard into darkness. Rudi sprang. Like liquid shadow he crossed the yard, moving far too fast for human eyes to track. One moment he was standing beside her, the next he'd torn Michaels away from his task and held him aloft from one long arm. Tori bolted after him, just as Rudi's vice-like grip closed around Michaels' neck. "Who dares to defile my Lair?" Rudi hissed. His fangs gleamed in the moonlight. Tori grasped his other arm. "Rudi, no! I know this man." He whirled on her, tossing Michaels aside like a rag doll. "You are acquainted with this vandal?" "This is the guy who's been causing all the trouble for me at work. He's trying to get me fired because he thinks he was passed over for the promotion that went to me." "Damned right," Michaels found his voice. He held up the used bag of blood he'd extracted from Rudi's garbage. "That promotion's going to be mine when the boss hears about your extra-curricular activities. I always had you fixed as a bit of flake, Tori, but I never pictured you as being into bloodsports." "Now just a minute …," Tori objected. But at the sight of the used blood bag, Rudi's eyes glowed crimson. He still hadn't fed, Tori realized. And if his cool hands were any indication, he was probably ravenous. The vampire drew himself up to his full height. His fangs gleamed in the moonlight. He plucked the blood bag from Michaels' fingers, making a show of his two-inch fangs. "I believe this is my property." "Nice try," Michaels' scoffed. "But you might as well not bother. I checked her address on the computer at work." He thumped Rudi on the back, much to the vampire's chagrin. "And buddy, I've seen better caps on kids at Halloween." With a chuckle he turned to walk away. Rudi snagged Michaels' collar and hauled him back. Pulling his lips back from his teeth, he let his fangs extend to their full length. "Halloween?" he asked menacingly.

"Gotta give you points for the performance, though," Michaels said. Rudi's shoulders slumped. For a moment he looked truly crestfallen. Tori felt sorry for him, Vampire, Lord of Darkness in all his glory relegated to the status of a bad Halloween costume. "Oh, all right," the vampire sighed heavily, "you leave me no choice." With lightning swiftness he snatched Michaels closer. Michaels struggled in his grip, but found himself trapped. For the first time a hint of fear marred his features. Rudi grasped his head with his free hand and turned him to face him. "Now listen to me …." The vampire didn't raise his voice. The power behind the words was compelling. "Rudi, no!" Tori protested. But Michaels was already caught in Rudi's gaze. The same powerful look that had no effect whatsoever on her. Michaels' eyes widened. "I will listen to you ...," he repeated. "I cannot abide you harassing Miss Mahoney or myself. You will forget everything you've seen here tonight. You will forget your animosity toward Miss Mahoney. In fact you will decide that you like her very much. She is a good and competent manager and your mission in life is to make her job easier." "Rudi, I can handle this myself …." The vampire turned a hungry look in her direction. Tori fell silent. "I will forget ...," Michaels was saying. Where intimidation had failed, hypnotism seemed to be working just fine. "That's right," Rudi said softly. "And you will forget what I'm about to do now. You will call in sick tomorrow. You will attribute your bad dreams to the fever you're going to have. Miss Mahoney will make her presentation without your interference." Rudi launched a forbidding glance in Tori's direction. "Go home, Tori. It's late and you should be sleeping. You have an important meeting tomorrow." "You don't need to do this …," she started to protest, but Michael's was already repeating the litany. "I will call in sick ...." Tori turned to walk back to her house. From behind her came a series of wet, sucking sounds and a moan of ecstasy. Rudi's or Michaels', she didn't want to know. Leaving the dinner dishes in the sink, she bolted the doors and crawled into bed. She expected the sight of Rudi bending over Michaels’ neck to keep her up well past midnight. Instead she was shocked to be jarred awake by her alarm clock. **** "Got your pay stub in the mail again," said a voice from behind her. Tori jumped, nearly upsetting the mug of steaming coffee she was enjoying on her back porch. She turned to find Rudi leaning against the brick wall of her house. "So, how is the new Manager of Quality Control?" he asked. “Oh, fine." She set the coffee safely down on the patio table. "But I think you're going to have to pay Michaels another visit." Rudi cocked one black eyebrow. "Oh, and why is that?" "He's been following me around like a puppy, singing my praises to anyone who'll listen. Management is starting to get suspicious. There are rumors Michaels and I are having an affair." Tori shuddered at the thought. Rudi laughed, a rich warm laughter that sounded all too human. Silhouetted by the last crimson clouds of the sunset his skin took on a healthy glow. He climbed up on the deck and took the seat beside her. "Perhaps I was a little over-zealous." "You sure were. Michaels keeps offering to come over and help me with the report I'm writing." "Hmm." Rudi's brows drew down in annoyance. Was that jealousy? Tori wondered. Maybe there was hope after all? Watching him brood, Tori stifled a smile. At last count she’d rescued him once, and he’d rescued her twice. Now all she had to do was to find a way to make her oblivious next door neighbor fall in love with her.

CHAPTER FOUR SEDUCING THE VAMPIRE NEXT DOOR The sun set in a fireball of blazing crimson. And with the dying sun, the August heat finally gave up and relinquished its hold on the day. Tori sat on her back porch and stared at the romantic sunset. Summer, she thought with a sigh. A time of long hot days and steamy nights. A time for a summer fling. Problem was the object of her potential fling seemed perpetually obtuse. Her gaze flew to the brick wall of the neighboring house. She frowned. Not only was her neighbor a little dense when it came to affairs of the heart. He was also technically...well...dead. And that was only the beginning of the problem, she thought. Though Rudi was plenty neighborly, he'd even saved her life a couple of times, romantically he didn't seem to know she existed. And it didn't help that her mom repeatedly asked how Mr. Alexandrov was--like she was interested. The situation was intolerable ... to use one of Rudi's words. Well, if Mr. Alexandrov thought she was going to be the next door neighborly equivalent of a little sister he had a surprise coming. Fortifying herself with another sip of chilled Chardonnay, Tori prepared to seduce her next door neighbor. Like an athlete preparing for the Olympics she'd planned for this night. She wore a flame-red and very revealing sundress. It showed what she had to offer well enough, she thought. One couldn't be too subtle with Rudi. Tori stuffed the rest of the bottle of wine back into the ice bucket and stood up. "Here's to nothing," she said aloud, surveying the scene. She'd washed the patio furniture and placed a pot of red geraniums on the table. Her mother's silver ice bucket stood between the two chairs. Mercifully she hadn't asked why Tori wanted to borrow it. Two wine glasses waited on the table. Tiny tea lights in red candleholders glowed with a brilliance to replace the lost sun. Her patio looked like a scene out of a decorating magazine, alluring and romantic. All she needed now was a man. She glanced back at the neighboring yard, where she hoped Rudi would soon be appearing. Rudi kept his garden in far better shape than hers, even though he never saw it in the daytime. Even from her patio she could smell the heavy perfume of his roses. His obsession with fine things and beauty left her feeling like she lacked something essential. Something other women instinctively knew that eluded her. But none of that mattered tonight. Because in a few short moments she intended to have what she wanted. Rudi. A sluggish August breeze blew through her backyard. In one of Rudi's fruit trees she heard the squeak of a robin retiring for the night. Nothing else stirred on Rudi's property. Perhaps he intended to sleep late this evening? Well, she could wait. She worked in management. She knew how to plan a project and how to execute it. Rudi was a project like any other, she reassured herself. An unpredictable, maddening project, yet one that could, with a little imagination, be managed. Pulling the bottle of wine from the ice bucket, she refilled her glass. She held up the bottle, realizing she’d drunk more than she intended. No matter, she had another bottle chilling in her fridge. She cast another glance at the shuttered windows in Rudi's kitchen. Damn. Where was the man? Shadows gathered in the garden. The tea lights still glowed with ruby light. The chilled wine had vanished from her glass like so much water. And still no sign of her elusive neighbor. Tori set down her glass and stood up. The wine made her head swim, but she was a woman on a mission. "Tonight is going to be the

night," she whispered to herself. She’d deal with Mr. Alexandrov by knocking loudly on his door. Teetering on her red high-heeled sandals, Tori made her way over the uneven ground between the two houses. Rudi hadn't yet opened the blinds in his kitchen, but she thought she saw the yellow glow of a candle burning behind them. Raising her hand, she hammered on the glass. Inside she heard a muffled curse and a chair scraping across the wooden floor. Someone peeked through the blinds. "Rudi, it's me," she called, a little more loudly than she'd meant to. "I know you're in there." The door opened a crack. A disheveled Rudi peered out. "Hey," Tori said. "Tori?" His gaze roved over her red dress and the sandals she was still teetering on. She clutched the doorframe for support. Within the depths of those green eyes, she thought she saw an unmistakable spark of interest. "Are you going out tonight?" Rudi asked. "Uh, no." She turned, careful not to lose her grip on the doorframe and pointed to the glowing candles on her porch. "I thought maybe you could come out." Concern flashed across his face before he gained control of himself. "I'm afraid I have a deadline. I've been up most of the afternoon working." "Maybe a glass of wine would help?" When he gave her a doubtful look in reply, she added, "You know, loosen you up a little." "Loosen …." His gaze flashed to the candlelight coming from her porch. "Victoria, I don't think that would be a good idea." He'd called her Victoria with the same inflection her grandmother used when she'd been displeased with her as a child. Had she been sober, she might have read the warning in that tone. "Nonsense," she said, undeterred. "Maybe your muse just needs a little ... wine," she finished. Dimly she remembered Rudi telling her that wine had little effect on the vampire metabolism, but she dismissed the thought. If it didn't help Rudi, it might help her. "I don't think that's what it needs," Rudi said with some disdain. This wasn’t going the way she'd hoped. Had she had less wine, she might have realized it wasn't going well at all. But her liquor-fueled courage refused to let her give up. "But one glass of wine probably wouldn't hurt." He let out a long sigh. "All right. I wasn't getting anywhere anyway. Just let me put on something more presentable." "You look fine," she said. Grabbing him by his wrinkled black silk shirt, she propelled him out on the porch. But in forcefully ejecting Rudi from his house, she lost her balance on those high heels. Unbalanced, she fell, dragging the vampire with her. Ever the gentleman, Rudi tried to break their fall, but Tori's weight pulled him with her, and they tumbled to an undignified sprawl on Rudi's wooden porch. "Ooof!" Tall and lean, Rudi certainly didn't look like he weighed that much. Not that she was minding his cool weight on top of her, Tori thought. She could feel every muscle in that lean, buff body. Long muscular legs pressed against hers. If she'd ever wondered if vampires felt arousal the same way humans did, now she had no doubt. And when she tore her attention away from that to look up into his green eyes, she noted that his full lips hovered mere inches away from hers. "Oh!" Rudi exclaimed. Gone was his self-assured demeanor. He looked as shocked and flustered as she felt. "Tori, I'm …." Before he could escape, she grabbed him by his silk lapels and hauled him closer. "Shh," she whispered. And kissed him. His lips were cool. Distracted by his impending deadline, he obviously hadn't fed yet that night. But they quickly warmed up to her attentions. After feathering tiny kisses across his cool lips, she thrust

her tongue into his mouth. With a deep moan, he returned her affections. Though when she looked up, she found his green eyes wide with surprise. With a groan, he wrenched his mouth away. "Victoria, have you been drinking?" Tori started to answer him. But as she opened her mouth to deny it really wasn't what it looked like, that she'd only had one little glass of wine … or was it two? Or three? ...she noticed a black pair of spike heels framed in the doorway of Rudi's house. She followed the line of those impossibly-high heels to shapely ankles that led to a long legs and a very short black skirt. Scrambling out from under Rudi, she awkwardly picked herself up off his porch. Those long legs went on forever, she realized as she stood up. And that short skirt did little to hide their appeal. She got the vague impression of waist-length blonde hair and searing blue eyes as she clambered to her feet. Teetering on her own high-heeled sandals, Tori faced the interloper. The woman had to be at least six feet. A thin, six-foot blonde. Tori groaned. She couldn't have picked a worse evening. Why hadn't she just called over to see what Rudi was doing that evening before she'd decided to drink half a bottle of wine? She glanced down at Rudi who was also picking himself up off the porch. With satisfaction, she noted the smear of her lipstick across his mouth in the candlelight. But that didn't stop her from feeling completely foolish standing before the cool blonde in the stilts. "No wonder you couldn't get anything done," she snapped at Rudi. Then, holding on to the railing for support, she rushed down his porch stairs and back to her own house. The glow from the tea lights taunted her as she ran by. Careened by was probably closer to the truth, but she didn't stop to blow them out. She wrenched open the door to her kitchen and all but fell inside. Behind her she heard Rudi coming up the wooden stairs. "Tori! Let me explain." She shut the door in his face. His hand turned the knob. Just looking at him through the glass made her face burn with embarrassment. "Go away, Rudi. I think you've explained enough." His hand turned the knob again. "Tori!" She could have just locked the door. Rudi was too much of a gentleman to bang it down. But instead, she uttered the worst insult she could give a vampire. "Rudi, I rescind my invitation. You can't come in." The rattling of the doorknob stopped. "It's not what you think," he said with that cool charm that he could summon at will. He reached up and wiped her lipstick off his mouth with the back of his hand. "I'm sure it's exactly what I think," she said turning away from the door so she wouldn't have to gaze at him any longer. Every blink of those green eyes made her feel like more of a fool. All summer she'd been practically throwing herself at him. Well, he'd done some throwing of his own, she thought darkly. And all the time he'd had a girlfriend. A girlfriend obviously so certain of his affection, she hadn't even batted an eyelash when Tori showed up. She wondered what he'd told her. Don't mind my nosy next door neighbor, or something like that. "Go away, Rudi," she repeated. And strode into her living room. She drew the drapes in every room in the house and stayed out of the kitchen. After a few moments she heard his footsteps go back down her porch stairs. He muttered something unintelligible to the tall blonde, and then she heard his porch door shut. Only then did she venture out onto the deck to blow out the tea lights and take the ice bucket and what was left of the bottle of wine inside. The ice had long since melted into lukewarm water. She dumped it down the sink, stoppered the wine and put it in the fridge. Tonight had certainly not gone the way she'd intended. Her bruised ego demanded retribution. Two could play at that game, she thought, staring out at the dark hulk of his house. Tomorrow, she'd pay a visit to The Gothic Blood Club. But in the sober reality of morning, it didn't seem like such a good idea. Rudi had told her that the club goers were mostly young vampire wannabes, yet she still felt nervous about going to the club alone. Especially since the first time she'd followed Rudi to one of his clubs she'd been attacked by a serial

killer. Rudi wouldn't be there to save her this time. Obviously he was distracted. Jealous tore through her with more force than she expected. No, she decided looking out the kitchen window at the roses in Rudi's backyard--roses he'd never see by the light of day--she was going to The Gothic Blood Club. Consequences be damned. Tori spent the afternoon preparing for her foray. She selected a little black dress and paired it with thigh-high black boots. She left her hair loose, falling in a crimson wave down her back. A touch of blood-red lipstick and matching nail polish and she declared herself ready to go. She hesitated until she was certain Rudi and his new girlfriend would be up. Then she made a show of getting into her lemon-yellow beetle, taking care to show off her long leather boots as she got in. She looked up just in time to see the curtain fall back into place in Rudi's living room. With satisfaction she put the car in gear and drove off. Bravado nearly deserted her as she drove up to The Gothic Blood Club. "None of those people are vampires,” she muttered to herself as she parked the car and walked the short distance to the club entrance. The bouncer at the door relieved her of a heavy cover charge. She hoped Roadkill Gourmet wouldn't be playing tonight. Turned out the opening act was a vampire lounge act. Kind of an odd combination, she mused, taking a seat at a table in front of the stage. But the male vocalist in the black tux and blacker lipstick certainly had spirit. She ordered Merlot. It glittered darkly in the dim lighting. Now if she could just attract a vampire wannabe, someone tall, dark and good-looking, someone who would make Rudi jealous without draining her of her precious bodily fluids. The band changed to a metal group that she was sure would have garnered a five-star review from Rudi. Tori ordered more Merlot and wondered if she'd just wasted her entire Saturday night. One more song, she decided. One more song. If no wannabe blood-sucker showed up, she'd admit defeat and go home. Music absorbed all sound. She felt the thump of the bass reverberating up her chair through the floor. So she didn't hear the approach of the false creature of the night until he tapped her on the shoulder. With a shriek, Tori jumped. "Oh, sorry!" said a deep male voice behind her. "I didn't mean to scare you." The face that went with the voice was just as alluring. Not tall, not dark, but certainly handsome. And he wasn't wearing a black cape or a tuxedo. He didn't look much like a creature of the night. Only slightly taller than Tori, he had blond hair that crowned him in a halo of curls. His azure blue eyes sparkled above a straight nose and full lips. He wore a black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Seeing that she'd calmed down, he held out his hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Vlad." He glanced pointedly around the club, then back at her table. "I was wondering if I could share your table." "Vlad?" she asked, noting that he carried a pint of amber beer, not a glass of red wine designed to look like blood. "You're kidding, right?" At that he looked confused. "No." "You're name's really Vlad?" "That's what it says on my birth certificate." Embarrassment colored her cheeks crimson. He was probably just a tourist, come to The Gothic Blood Club to see the sights just like she had. "Sorry." She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tori." She noted that he didn't ask if it was short for Victoria. Moving her wine glass over, she made room for his beer. "Have a seat." The band finished their set and took a break. The house music made it easier to talk over. "Come here often?" Vlad asked. Not the best of pick up lines, Tori thought. Then again, despite the skin-tight black dress and high boots, maybe he wasn't trying to pick her up. "I've been here a couple of times. You?" "First time," he admitted with a dazzling smile. "I'm new in town." The guy sure knew how to turn on the charm. Too bad she was looking for a blood-sucking wannabe, one to make an honest-togoodness vampire jealous, and not this clean-cut newcomer.

But Vlad turned out to be okay. He made polite conversation, asking Tori about the things to see in town. It might have been the Merlot, but she found herself warming up to this handsome stranger. Before Vlad had arrived, she had planned to duck out after the next act, but she ended up staying until after the final curtain and the house light came up. "Guess I should call it a night," she told Vlad. To her dismay, he paid her bar tab. "In exchange for the fine conversation," he said. He walked her to her car and waited until she was safely inside. She rolled down the window to say goodnight. Instead, she felt the brush of his lips against her forehead. "I've really enjoyed tonight, Tori," he said in that burnished velvet voice. "Would you be willing to show me some of the sights you were telling me about? Say tomorrow night?" "Tomorrow night?" she asked, stalling for time. He wasn't a vamp wannabe. He didn't even look remotely like a vampire. No way would he be making Rudi jealous. But he seemed like a nice guy. And she needed to do something to get her mind off her next door neighbor. "Sure," she said. Rooting in her purse, she came up with a pen and paper and hastily scribbled her address. "Give me a call." "Will do," he said. His lips brushed her forehead again. When she opened her eyes, he'd disappeared into the darkness. She thought she saw the curtains move again when she drove the car into its parking space behind her house. Silence reigned in the neighborhood, the kind that can only be found in the dead of night. Well, she could sleep in late tomorrow, Tori thought. And then spend the evening with Vlad. Yawning, she put her key in the lock. A sudden movement made her scream. Her scream echoed down the quiet street. She saw a light come on two houses over. Someone looked out the window. Tori froze against the side of her house. The light went off. She turned to face her attacker. But her assailant turned out to be Rudi's new blonde girlfriend. The one with the impossibly-long legs. And it certainly didn't help that tonight she was wearing a red leather skirt and a pair of spike heels. "Sorry to frighten you," said the blonde. Her speech held the traces of an accent. European, Tori guessed. "But I wanted to talk to you." She glanced pointedly at the door from which Tori's keys still dangled. "Girl talk, you know. Do you think I could come in?" Adrenaline coursed through her body from the scare she'd just had. But as it subsided it left exhaustion in its wake. She yawned. "Sure why not? It's only four in the morning." But her sarcasm seemed lost on Rudi's friend. "Splendid." She held out her hand. "I'm Sigrid." "Tori." She marched past her outstretched hand and into her darkened house. Sigrid followed her. "Look," she began when Sigrid lingered in her hallway. "It really is late. I should have been asleep hours ago …." "I only need a minute," the blonde said. Her eyes roved over the shadows of Tori's furniture. Tori wondered how she could see anything in the darkness, especially since she'd only turned on the light in the front hall. But turning on the ones in the living room would only encourage her uninvited guest to linger, so she left them off. Raising an eyebrow, she waited for Sigrid to say something. The blonde took the not-so-subtle hint. "I think you might have gotten the wrong impression about Rudolph and me." "Rudolph?" Tori couldn't help repeating with a smile. Rudi would die if he heard himself referred to that way. "I thought only his mother called him that." Sigrid didn't seem to get the joke. "I'm staying with him for a little while, but we're just friends." "Friends," she mimicked. Wasn't that what people said when they were trying to cover up an affair? But what Tori had with Rudi couldn't be called a relationship, so even if he was involved with the too-pretty, too-blonde, too-tall Sigrid, it could scarcely be called an affair. Knowing that didn't soothe her bruised ego, though. Even before Sigrid's unwelcome appearance on the scene, Rudi hadn't seemed interested in anything other than friendship with his next door neighbor. Well, Tori thought, she had a date with Vlad. Rudi had a friend of the opposite gender, and now she had one, too.

"Great," she said, opening the door. "Thanks for clearing that up." "But …," Sigrid started to say. Then with a glance at the open door, she disappeared into the night. "Friends," Tori repeated with disgust. Men simply were not just friends with six-foot blondes. She awoke late in the afternoon and spent an inordinate amount of time getting ready for her date with Vlad. It occurred to her that she hadn't done anything this weekend other than try to entice two men. None of the housekeeping, lawn mowing or any of the other things she'd meant to get done around the house. Oh well, Tori thought. It could wait until next weekend. If her plan didn't work, she'd have lots of time for housecleaning. In fact, she wouldn't have anything better to do. Vlad called. She almost agreed to meet him downtown. But the thought of Sigrid's late night visit and her assertion that she and Rudi were just friends made her reconsider. Instead, he offered to pick her up. Good, Tori thought. She made arrangements for him to meet her late enough that Rudi would be up for the evening. Hopefully, he'd be looking out his window. Vlad arrived on time driving an upscale SUV. Probably a rental, Tori mused, but who cared? She was worried more about impressing Rudi. Her date wore a pair of dark tailored pants and a white linen shirt. The light color set off his piercing blue eyes. He smiled warmly as he helped her into the SUV, which Tori had told him to park in front of her house. Where Rudi could see it, should he care to look. She cast a backward glance over her shoulder as they pulled out, just in time to see the curtains drift back into place at Rudi's house. Take that, she thought. You've had all summer to make a move. And what had her reticent next door neighbor done? Romance her mother. She caught Vlad studying her out of the corner of his eye and made herself smile back at him. With effort, she put Rudi from her mind. They drove downtown to a nice restaurant on the wharf. Tiny white lights lit the way to the front door. It was as far from The Gothic Blood Club's oppressive decor as they could get. Vlad had reserved a table overlooking the water. A secluded and romantic table, Tori couldn't help noticing. Unlike Rudi, he knew how to make a woman feel special. Vlad had been working overseas, he told her over dinner—a dinner he didn't seem to eat much of. A late lunch, he said. But now he had a business opportunity in town and was thinking of settling there. He made a pleasant enough dinner companion. And he was certainly easy enough on the eyes. So why, Tori wondered, was she glancing at her watch every time his head was turned? Because she had a certain green-eyed, dark-haired seductive vampire on her mind, she told herself. A vampire currently sharing his house with a six-foot blonde with whom he was just friends. Tori turned her attention to Vlad. But as they left the restaurant for a romantic walk along the boardwalk, she was certain she saw Rudi's black sedan cruising slowly along the nearby road. Wishful thinking, she told herself, and forced Rudi from her mind. As they pulled up in front of her house, though, she saw Rudi's car turning down the block. So, it had been him, she thought with satisfaction. Could it be her plan was working? Vlad lingered on the doorstep. Should she invite him in? The prospect of making Rudi even more jealous was impossible to ignore. Tori invited Vlad in. No sooner had he entered her hallway, when there was a knock on the front door. They both turned toward it. "You expecting someone this time of night?" Vlad asked. Tori shook her head. "No." She peaked through the window on the front door to find Rudi standing on her front step. "It's just my next door neighbor." "Do they always drop over at such a late hour?" Vlad sounded annoyed. She held up a hand. "Give me a second. I'll get rid of him." At the word him, Vlad looked even more annoyed. But he said nothing. Tori opened the door and let herself out on the porch.

Rudi grasped her arm, pulling her away from the door and into the shadows. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "Excuse me?" "What on earth are you doing inviting a strange vampire into your house?" He sounded more outraged by the second. "Oh, now that's ridiculous." This wasn't going the way she'd expected. She'd hoped that the sight of Vlad showing up at her house would prompt Rudi to appear at her door with flowers and confess his eternal, undying love for her. Instead, he'd turned into an eternal, undying nag. And now he was accusing her date of being a vampire. "Vlad is not a vampire!" "You're sure of that?" Rudi asked. "Where did you meet him?" "The Gothic Blood Club," she admitted, then wished she'd kept her mouth shut. "I rest my case." "You told me none of the people at The Gothic Blood Club were vampires!" He gave her a withering look. "I said none of the people there on a particular night were vampires. Not that vampires never came there." She said, "Oh." And felt completely foolish. Vlad couldn’t really be a vampire, could he? He hadn’t done anything to make her think he was. She thought back over their pleasant evening and decided he wasn’t. Feeling stupid quickly degenerated to anger. How dare he question her choice of a date? Especially when he was currently sharing his house with a six-foot blonde. "For your information, Vlad has been a perfect gentleman," she insisted. "Until you invited him in for a nightcap," Rudi pointed out. And so she had. But she didn't for one minute believe that Vlad was a vampire. It seemed far more humans frequented the club than vampires. Before she could point that out, Rudi demanded, "Tell him you've changed your mind. That you have to get up early in the morning. Send him home!" "How dare you!" she retorted. "Tori, it's for your own good." "My own …." She glared at him. "I can't see how this can be any of your business." Rudi opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Especially after I've practically thrown myself at you all summer. And didn't even have the decency to notice!" "Tori …." "Okay, okay." She held up her hand, wishing wholeheartedly that she could take back the words she'd just blurted out. "I'm probably not to your taste, and now you've found someone who is. And that's all just fine." "Tori that's not fair. Sigrid and I are just friends." Oh. Right. The just friends line again. Well, he couldn't have it both ways. "Whatever," she snapped. "But you have no right to interfere in my life!" With that, she turned and fled inside before she could embarrass herself further. She shut the door and put her back to it. Vlad was still standing in her hallway. He peered out into the darkness where Rudi had been standing. "What was all that about?" "Nothing," Tori said. "Just a little neighborly dispute." "It's midnight," he pointed out. "My neighbor works nights." He cast another narrow-eyed glance at the door, then turned to face her. Rudi, it seemed, had given up and gone home. "Would you like some coffee?" Tori asked. "Or perhaps some more wine?" Vlad smiled. In the dim light, it did seem his teeth were exceptionally white and pointed. "Some more wine would be great." She poured wine into two glasses. But as they made small talk in her tiny living room, he seemed far more interested in her than in the wine in his glass.

Not only that, he seemed to be closing the distance between them on the couch. Maybe this wasn't the best of ideas, Tori thought. Vlad had brought Rudi running, exactly the way she'd hoped. But the armfuls of roses and the confessions of undying love certainly hadn't appeared. She looked up to find Vlad suddenly sitting close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her neck. "Maybe we should call it a night?" she began. "I have to get up early." "You don't want to call it a night," he repeated in a singsong voice. “You want me to stay." Her eyes widened. He was trying to hypnotize her! A glance at his blue eyes revealed them to be red-ringed. He was a vampire! "No I don't," she insisted. He looked a little surprised at that. But unlike Rudi, rather than admitting defeat, he tried harder. “Yes, you do. You really, really want me to stay.” “No, I don’t,” Tori said. To back up her point, she put her hand against his chest to shove him away. At least she tried to shove him away. Her efforts resulted in nothing more than wrenching her wrist. Vlad gave her one last red-ringed, wide-eyed stare. Then with a sigh, he yanked her close. Arms that seemed made of steel closed around her. She couldn’t breathe. She felt his cool breath against her neck, and then the scrape of his teeth …. She screamed. The front door flew open. It hit the wall with a thud and then bounced back, falling halfway closed. Vlad froze. Immobilized by Vlad’s arms, Tori could only slide her eyes in that direction. But it was enough to see Rudi framed in the doorway. Rudi moved to cross the threshold, but some unseen force threw him backward. He looked at Tori, aghast. Then his gaze slid to Vlad. “Don’t you dare touch her!” “And what are you going to do about it, Alexandrov?” Vlad said menacingly, clutching Tori tighter. “It would seem you’re not welcome here.” Damn, Tori thought. A couple of nights ago, when she’d been angry, she’d rescinded Rudi’s invitation. “Tori, invite me in,” Rudi said urgently. She opened her mouth to do just that, but sensing her movement, Vlad clapped a vice-like hand over her mouth. She screamed against his hand. Wind caught the door and slammed it shut, cutting off all hope of help and escape. She squirmed in the vampire’s arms, but he held her steady. With Rudi gone, he renewed his efforts. She felt his cool lips against her neck, and then the first prick of his teeth. Tori shrieked again. Lashing out with her leg, she kicked him in the shins. “Ouch!” the sudden pain made him loosen his grip. She lunged from his arms, but he snatched a handful of her red hair and hauled her roughly backward. From the corner of her eye she saw movement. The handle turned, then the door slammed open again. Sigrid strode across the threshold, eyes blazing red and fangs bared. So Sigrid was a vampire, too. That she hadn’t expected. “Touch her again, Vlad,” she hissed, “and you’ll answer to me!” At the sight of Sigrid, he released his hold on Tori’s hair. She leapt away from him, putting the bulk of her easy chair between them. Sigrid advanced on him. She had to be at least a foot taller than he was, Tori realized. Vlad seemed to have realized that, too, because he raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender. Outside, Tori saw Rudi standing awkwardly in the doorway. “Come in, Rudi,” she yelled. Rudi entered her house. Eyes glowing red, he strode up to Vlad and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “The lady said she wasn’t interested,” he snarled. “Okay, okay, all I wanted was a sip,” Vlad said. “You could have mentioned you were vampire,” Tori said. With Rudi and Sigrid in the room she felt a lot safer, but she still kept the chair between her and Vlad.

“I told you he was a vampire,” Rudi said. He sounded oddly hurt. “I don’t know why you didn’t believe me. I ought to know.” “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “He seemed so nice.” “All I wanted was a sip,” Vlad repeated. “Try the local blood bank,” Rudi growled. “Tori Mahoney is mine.” Tori wasn’t sure how she felt about that proclamation, but Rudi had just saved her from having her precious bodily fluids drained against her will so she stayed quiet. “Yours?” Vlad’s gaze darted from Rudi back to Tori and then to Sigrid. “But she wouldn’t invite you in.” “She is under my protection,” Rudi said in that low menacing voice. “Whether I’m allowed in or not.” That seemed to settle it. Vlad held up his hands again. “I didn’t know.” “Now you do.” Still clutching his shirt, Rudi walked Vlad backward to the door and all but tossed him across the threshold. “You’re no longer welcome here, Vlad,” Tori said, gathering her wits. “You can’t come in. Ever!” Vlad picked himself up off the porch. He straightened his shirt and brushed off his pants. Then without a backward glance, he walked toward his car. She heard the motor start. “I’m so sorry,” Tori said when the sound of Vlad’s SUV had disappeared around the corner. “I should have believed you.” She looked at Sigrid who was still standing awkwardly in Tori’s living room. “But I thought ….” “Goodness, it’s late,” the blonde vampire said. “I should be going.” And with that she disappeared through the front door. “Sigrid and I are only friends. I told you that, too.” “I know,” Tori whispered. “She wanted to come to North America. So, I agreed to put her up for a few days while she decided where she wanted to live.” “It’s a good thing I invited her in,” she said, thinking of how annoyed she’d been at Sigrid’s visit. “Sigrid told me you’d talked,” Rudi said, noncommittally. The color was beginning to return to her face, Tori realized, as a blush worked its way up her neck. “I didn’t believe her, either,” she admitted. “So she said.” “You never seemed interested in me.” She glanced down at the carpet and rubbed at the nap with one toe. “And when Sigrid showed up, I thought you’d found someone…well, more like you.” He closed the distance between them, and pulled her into his arms. “I never said I wasn’t interested, Tori.” Crushed gently against his chest, she felt safe for the first time that evening. “It’s just that a relationship with me would be complicated,” Rudi continued. “After all, I’m a vampire…and you are not.” “I could handle complicated,” she managed to squeak out. “You could?” She nodded. The red faded from his eyes, and when he looked down at her they were that emerald color she found so appealing. “Well,” Rudi murmured. “All you had to do was ask.” "But …," she started to say—what, she didn't know. And it didn't matter anyway because his mouth closed over hers. Not the light brush of his lips that he'd given her before on her cheek or her forehead, the kind of kiss an older brother or a good friend would give. No, this kiss was definitely different. His lips were cool, refreshingly cool, not cold like Vlad's had been. And they warmed swiftly against hers. She opened her mouth against his gentle invasion as his hand swept behind her, one to support her waist and the other to cup her head and clutch her closer. His tongue stroked the inside of

her mouth and in spite of the coolness of his body, she felt a rush of heat pooling deep inside. Never had she been kissed so thoroughly. He kissed like he was trying to pour the sum of his passion into that one simple act. And maybe he was, Tori thought. Had his interest been simmering all summer the ways hers had? Rudi walked her backward toward the couch. But after nearly being molested there by Vlad, she pulled away at the thought. Her gaze strayed to the hallway that led to her bedroom. His eyes followed her lead. "Are you sure?" he whispered, leaning his head against the top of hers, waiting for her to decide. "I'm sure." She gave him a playful punch to the stomach. "I have been waiting all summer after all!" She felt the vibration of his rich laughter. "Well, best not keep you waiting any longer. My mother always told me that it was rude to keep a lady waiting." "Wise woman," Tori said. Taking his hand she led him down the hall to her bedroom. He hesitated in the doorway, as if he needed for her to invite him into this intimate sanctuary. She'd never heard of vampires having to be invited into individual rooms, but just in case, she grabbed his wrist and all but yanked him across the threshold. Momentum knocked him off balance and they fell into a heap onto her bed. Rudi landed on top. His weight felt reassuring as he pressed her against the mattress. She looked up again into his green eyes, seeing no sign of red there. But he was looking at her with such hunger she was momentarily taken aback. "Don't worry, Tori," he said in that low, velvet murmur. "We won't do anything you don't want to do." Which was reassuring, she thought. She'd wanted him. Wanted him all summer with a hunger she couldn't deny. And yet, now that he was there--a living, breathing vampire in her bedroom, she felt a little shy. Exactly what did vampire lovemaking involve? She had the feeling she was about to find out. Sensing her indecision, he kissed her again. Slowly, thoroughly, as if he might only get this one chance and wanted to leave an impression. He left an impression all right, she thought as his tongue stroked the recesses of her mouth, making her wonder how it would feel on other parts of her body. As if he could read her mind, he pulled his mouth away and drew a line of tingling kisses down her neck, pausing for a moment at the base of her neck and shoulder. His mouth lingered there, sending tiny shockwaves of pleasure down her spine. She arched against him, wanting more. And he obliged. His questing mouth continued downward over the material of her dress until his lips found the peak of one breast. Gently, he sucked against the material, until she could feel the pull of his mouth through her dress and the lace of her bra. "Rudi!" she moaned, becoming impatient. He laughed again, reaching behind and undoing the zipper of her dress. She lifted her hips, so he could slide it down and toss it aside. But that wasn't fair, she thought as his gaze swept over her body in an appreciative glance. He was still fully clothed and she was in her underwear. Deciding to even things up, she reached for the buttons of his silk shirt while he returned the torment by reaching behind to undo the clasp of her bra. The buttons on his shirt were maddeningly slow to undo. There seemed to be far too many of them, but she managed. Finally, she undid the last button and spread the silk aside. His smooth, muscular chest was breathtaking to behold. He seemed almost carved from marble. She ran her hands over his smooth, pale skin, wanting suddenly to see all of him. And Rudi seemed to have the same idea. Impatiently, he tugged at her lace underpants, sliding them down her legs and tossing them onto the growing pile of their clothes. She reached up to undo his belt and slide his tailored pants down, hooking her fingers into the elastic of his silk boxers as she went. Relieved of all impediments, he settled against her once again. And for the first time, she felt every inch of him pressed against her. He moved, positioning himself at her moist opening, feeling far bigger than she'd imagined. But before she could think about that, before she could have any last minute doubts, she realized she was ready. Months of pent up desire burst free.

She arched against him, telling him without words what she wanted. And he obliged her. With one smooth stroke, he slid inside her. "Tori," he whispered, as if he'd been thinking about this all summer, too. He filled her, wholly, completely and perfectly. His muscled body was a comforting weight. She moved tentatively against him and felt every nerve in her body snap to life. Following her lead, he withdrew slightly and then eased back inside. Tension built. She pressed against him, taking him deeper still. He quickened his pace, giving her what she so blatantly demanded. Her body answered as if she had known him forever. It just felt...right, she thought. Like she'd known it would. Every movement, every thrust, every withdrawal sent her soaring to a new level of desire. She'd ceased to feel anything except the delightful slide of his cool muscular body against hers and the delightful sensations he created. Pleasure wound tight inside her. Her entire body clenched, hovering on the precipice of the inevitable release. Rudi's lips closed on her pulse point, the juncture of so many nerve-endings. That tiny touch set off minefields of sensation, making her moan aloud. He hesitated at the sound, then his teeth tentatively grazed her sensitive skin, as if waiting for some kind of signal. Her body wanted him, wanted all of him--not just the man, but the vampire as well. Her fingers tangled in his long hair, yanking his head closer. That was all the encouragement he needed. She felt an instant of pressure, then a brief moment of pain. The combination of sensation was enough to send her soaring over the edge. Wave after wave of all-consuming pleasure rolled over her, radiating out from the point where their bodies were joined and the other epicenter of ecstasy where his mouth met her neck. Rudi slowed to a more languid pace. Gently, he suckled her neck. Tori dragged in a shuddering breath. Aftershocks of desire still rocked her body. Every pull of his mouth seemed to send another wave coursing through her. Just when she thought her body couldn't take any more, that there really might be such a thing as too much pleasure, they ebbed away and she found she could catch her breath. Rudi drew his mouth away from her neck. His lips grazed the spot again in a gentle kiss. She felt the brush of his mouth all the way down to her toes. He pulled away enough to gaze down into her eyes. Tori looked up at him sleepy and sated. "I waited all summer for that," she admitted. Even talking took effort. A slow smile crossed Rudi's face. It was the smile of an immensely satisfied man, one who knew he'd given as good as he got. "If that's any indication," he said and she saw his smile widen further still, "I promise you Tori, I'll never make you wait for anything again." "I'm going to hold you to that," she told him. She felt the sweep of his long black eyelashes as his eyes closed. He rolled to his side and he pulled her down into his arms. "And I'll look forward to it." The End