Accidentally Dead Page 24

  Lou’d dropped back off to sleep, making Nina smile with relief. “I’ll be here tomorrow night. I love you.”

  Her grandmother stirred but sank back peacefully into the bed. Nina took one last look to reassure herself of Lou’s stability, then exited to the long sterile corridors, passing the nurses’ station, giving a grateful smile to the people who’d settled Lou in.

  Nina burst through the doors of the hospital, letting the cold blast of wind caress her face. Tonight she found she didn’t much miss not being able to feel it, though she knew it was almost below freezing.

  Tonight there were other things on her mind. She didn’t want to waste time crying over spilled vampire. She was no closer to her humanity this evening than she’d been since this began.

  What still amazed her, left her without words, was the sacrifice Greg was going to make on her behalf.

  He’d been prepared to turn Lou for her, to save her because Nina was so bereft at possibly losing her. Would he have done it, if Lou hadn’t gasped for breath? After what she’d seen, she’d have to err on the side of her gut and say, yeah.

  And were either of them right here? Her for wanting Lou at any cost and him for doing something Nina herself had called heinous—had tortured him about from day one?

  Her feet carried her toward the Island.

  Nina knew what she had to do.

  Greg’s sacrifice wouldn’t go without mention.

  Not tonight.

  GREG hugged Svetlanna hard, thanking the gods she was with him. “What was that for?” she asked, the lilt of her voice light and teasing.

  “For just being here and being you.”

  Svetlanna knew him so well. “Oh, Greg, is everything all right?”

  He told her about Lou and what he’d considered doing in those frantic moments when she’d hovered between life and death. When he’d found himself at Lou’s neck, the seconds that ticked by were excruciating for him morally. Life and death were things you just shouldn’t fuck with, but when Nina, raw, vulnerable, and terror-stricken had pleaded with him to turn Lou, he knew in that horrifying moment, he’d do almost anything for her.

  And he didn’t like this out-of-control shit one bit. He never messed with whatever fate’s plan was, but he’d been so close tonight.

  So close.

  Because of Nina.

  Would he have really done it? Turned Lou? The moments flew by so quickly, he couldn’t remember if he would have or not. What he did remember was hating seeing Nina suffer. The pain of watching her so distraught had literally been physical, and that wasn’t something he could remember happening since he’d been turned—feeling pain, emotional or otherwise.

  Svetlanna rubbed her knuckles against his cheek, smiling with sympathy. “Is Lou all right now? Have you heard from Nina?”

  Greg glanced at the clock—it was almost two. “No, not yet, but if I don’t hear from her in another hour, I’ll go find her.”

  Svetlanna hugged him once more before passing on some sage advice. “That you’re where you are, at a moral crossroads so to speak, says volumes about Nina, dear. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’m only going to say this much, and then I’ll let it be. She needs to hear some things from you, and you know it. It’s only fair. You like her, and you can’t tell me you don’t. So I think it’s time for you to ante up before this goes any further. Now if she calls, please give her my best and tell her I’m here if she needs me.” She swept his face with one last worried glance and departed for the kitchen.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  Yeah, he did have some things to tell her.

  Like they absolutely couldn’t see each other anymore. Not with what was about to occur in his very near future.

  And fuck again.

  NINA was as quiet as she could be when she finally made it to Greg’s door. She looked down at her feet. Her bionic feet. She’d jogged here. Friggin’ jogged from Hackensack to Long Island without thinking twice about it.

  Caaa-razy.

  Ringing the doorbell and hoping Jim Finch wouldn’t pop out of nowhere, Nina rocked from foot to foot with nervous anticipation. Svetlanna answered, surprising her.

  “Ohhhh, Nina,” she cooed, pulling her into the foyer and enveloping her in her floral-scented embrace. “How’s Lou and, for that matter, how are you?”

  “She’s okay. Thanks for asking, and I’m okay, too,” Nina responded, ignoring the hitch in her voice. God, tonight had been so close it brought her to the verge of nonexistent tears each time she went over it in her mind. “Is Greg here?” A lump formed in her throat just thinking about seeing him after he’d been so tender with her and Lou. That he was some callous blood drinker just didn’t mesh for her as much anymore.

  “He’s upstairs. Do you want me to tell him you’re here?”

  Nina put a finger to Svetlanna’s lips and shook her head.

  She responded by curving her lips upward and whispered, “Third door on the right.”

  Nina brushed past her, letting her fingers graze Svetlanna’s shoulder as she raced up the stairs. She didn’t bother to knock; dawn would break soon, and he was probably preparing for bed.

  Dark curtains in a heavy material adorned the span of windows she encountered when she pushed the door open. Thick carpeting in a dark burgundy left her feet silent.

  Greg sat in a chair covered in rich beige brocade in the corner. He was shirtless and somber. His pecs flexed, drawing her eyes to the patch of hair between them and compelling her to follow the path that hair led to just above the top of his jeans.

  She eyed his big bed, with its rich, deep tones of green and royal blue, and licked her lips. “So, where’s the coffin?”

  Greg didn’t laugh. In fact, he didn’t say anything, leaving her unnerved but not daunted. His frame, so big and so imposing, made her mouth dry. He was that spectacular to rest one’s eyes on. The thick muscles of his arms flexed when he gripped the arms of the chair.

  “I-I…I came to…because…” Christ, she was stumbling over her words like it was her first time wearing those stupid high heels Marty loved so much. This shouldn’t be that hard, but it felt like she was making an attempt to explain Stonehenge. “I came to say thank you,” she blurted out, moving closer to him.

  When he spoke, his voice was low, gravelly. “How’s Lou?”

  “Better, sooo much better.” The relief she felt was still evident, even to her ears. Her legs were like butter from it—weak and trembling.

  “And you?”

  “I’m okay. Good. Really fine.” Really pathetic. Expressing herself with wisecracks and anger was usually the best she could do. This—this showing Greg how glad she’d been that he’d been with her when Lou’d collapsed was hard shit.

  He spoke but one word. “Good.”

  She came to stand before him, kneeling down in front of him, and on impulse, probably the only impulse that might not bring her some kind of trouble, buried her face in his chest. Greg was stiff and unyielding, yet she didn’t care. She burrowed deeper until she finally felt his arms wrap around her body, giving in to the need she surely reeked of.

  “I was so scared,” she whispered, letting her lips touch his cool skin.

  His hand stroked her hair, dragging his fingers though it. “Yeah, so was I.”

  Him, scared? That just didn’t compute. “You were?”

  “I don’t know any lifesaving techniques, Nina. Yeah, I was scared for you and for Lou. I like Lou.”

  She had to know. The question consumed her. “Why would you do what you were going to do?”

  “Because you’d have nagged me into the afterlife if I hadn’t.”

  Her head shook back and forth. “No, no that’s not it, Greg, and right now I don’t care what it was, but that’s not what it was. I’m sorry I made you question your beliefs. I’m sorry I asked you to do something because I’m selfish.”

  “Well, well, someone learned a lesson today.” His words were meant to be teasing, yet sounded strained to he
r sensitive ears.

  “You can joke all you want, but I’m as serious as a plate of chicken wings would be for me right now. I asked you to step in and potentially change fate. Not only that, I did it without thinking about how Lou would feel. I’m sorry. So, so sorry.”

  Greg’s embrace tightened for a moment, then he let her loose. “It’s done now.”

  She clung even tighter to him, draping her arms around his neck and bringing her lips but an inch from his. “Thank you,” she murmured before she pressed her mouth to his, digging her hands into his thick hair.

  He was despondent at first, like something held him back, something Nina sensed, but didn’t understand. He let his lips remain slack until she slid her tongue between them.

  Then all bets were off.

  Nina groaned when he slid his tongue between her lips, sipping from them in gentle, fleeting gestures. Her hands stroked the smooth skin of his chest, tweaking a nipple, making him moan. Their kiss deepened, tongues tangled, dueled, until Nina could no longer stand the heat rushing its way to the space between her thighs. His pleasure at her touch inspired her to trace a path to his belly, tugging at the buckle of his belt and popping the button at the top of his jeans.

  Shaky hands dragged his zipper down, reaching inside and pushing his underwear down to find his cock, rigid, hot, pulsing.

  Greg gripped her shoulders, holding her away from him. “Nina, we have to talk.” Ragged words came from his lips, but Nina wouldn’t acknowledge them.

  She said nothing, letting her eyes go smoky with desire and taking his mouth against hers once more. She sucked at words. Nice ones anyway. She’d show him what this had meant to her. That maybe this wasn’t just sex anymore.

  Dragging her mouth from his, she leaned back and tugged at his jeans, pulling them over his bare feet and tossing them aside. The head of his cock peered out from beneath his boxer-briefs, making her lick her lips with anticipation.

  His jaw clenched down hard. The words coming from his lips were said with restraint, yet his body responded with a shudder. “You make this so damned hard, Nina. We have to talk.”

  Nina yanked his underwear off, spreading his thighs, roaming her hands over the firm flesh, running her fingers through the hair on them, laying her cheek against the springy patch of curls that lay at the tip of his shaft. Her hands roamed his thick legs, kneading the sinew and muscle of them, tracing paths that drew closer to his cock until she’d taken hold of him, bringing him to her lips.

  Her tongue snaked out, stroking him, laving the rigid length, until Greg’s hands found her long hair, pulling it tightly behind her head, winding it around his wrist. Nina enveloped him with her mouth, taking as much of him as she could, wrapping her hands around his cock, pumping it as she took long passes up and back down.

  His sharp hiss spurred her on. The warning in his tone when he called her name rang in her ears, pleasing her with its deep, feral vibrato. Nina cupped his balls, rolling them with light fingers, as she ran her tongue over the head of his shaft, dipping into the slit to tease him.

  Greg’s howl brought a curve upward of her lips from around his cock. He let go of her hair, tearing at her sweatshirt, hauling it up and over her head, then he slipped his hands under her arms, dragging her from his cock until she leaned into him. Skin to skin, Nina let the electric touch of the flesh of his chest tease her nipples, the friction luxuriously decadent.

  Their lips touched once more, his hands grazing either side of her body, finding the button on her jeans and expertly popping it open.

  Her jeans were off before she knew it, and Greg settled her on his lap, the swipe of his cock between her legs making her rock against him, moan with need. Nina spread her thighs wide, until they almost ached straddling him.

  Hot and sharp, the pangs in her belly throbbed, simmering, anticipating his entry. Nina lifted her hips, putting her arms around his neck for leverage, hissing her pleasure when his lips and tongue grazed the tips of her nipples. She sank down on him, taking him into her, reveling in the thick heat of him. His shaft rubbed against her clit, swollen, aching, sliding in and out of her. Her neck arched as she threw her head back and Greg drove upward, bringing her close to his chest, rasping a tongue over each of her nipples.

  The sweet swell of orgasm crept up on her, her gut clenched, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, her hands dug into his shoulders, and she bucked against him, welcoming the release.

  Hot flashes of red stroked her clit, pushing her higher until she exploded, calling out his name in frenzied time with their rocking hips.

  Greg drove into her furiously. The slap of their flesh echoed like sweet music to her ears, and when he came, he roared his pleasure into her neck.

  As they each slowed the tidal wave of sexual currents, Greg gathered her to him, sliding to the edge of the chair and hoisting them up to make his way to the bed. Her eyes were too heavy to open, so she let her legs fall away from his waist, allowing him to lay her on his bed.

  Lou’s cardiac episode coupled with the soft mattress, Greg beside her, secure, muscular, safe, had left her weak.

  Greg’s strong arms encircled her, his hand caressing the skin of her shoulder while she pondered the rightness of this moment, and then she remembered he’d said they needed to talk. He’d seemed pretty serious when he’d said it, too.

  Whoever’d said talking was overrated was totally right.

  Wonking beat talking every time, because talking always led to something she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear. She was okay with the way things were right now.

  Really, really okay.

  Maybe too okay.

  But, whatever.

  CHAPTER

  14

  Nina popped one eye open, trying to remember where she was. Then she smelled Greg, his scent on her body, and flashes of last night came and went in her mind’s eye. Tumultuous, harried, slow, and sweet were words that popped into her brain, making her smile.

  She rolled over to find he still slept beside her, but as she did, her toe hit a lump at the edge of the bed.

  Nina sat up, taking the sheet with her.

  “Morning, Glory, or should I say evening?” A woman, wearing a midriff shirt and hip-hugging shorts, sat at the edge of the bed, eyeing Nina with interest. Her blonde hair was scraped back in a chic ponytail to show off flashy, gold hoop earrings. Her skin, while pale, was lightly made up with a makeup job that was so perfect, Marty’d weep tears over it. Her violet eyes, so odd in color, were amused.

  Greg sat up, too. Bolt upright, as if he’d never slept. “Lisanne,” he drawled, letting his gaze drift over her with cool detachment.

  This—this was Lisanne? The Lisanne? Nu-uh. “You’re Lisanne?” Nina crowed, shoving the tangled mass her hair had become while she slept out of her face. Her black eyes narrowed.

  Lisanne’s smile was winning and perfect. “That’d be me.”

  “I’m Nina Blackman, and oh, lady, do I have a bone to pick with you.” Nina scurried to the end of the bed, taking the sheet with her, forgetting Greg’s nudity.

  Being naked didn’t much seem to bother him—not even in front of this very blonde creature. He swung his legs off the bed and strode to the chair where his clothes still lay, jamming his legs into his discarded jeans.

  “A bone?” she inquired with a saccharine sweet tone Nina couldn’t miss.

  “Yeah, a big-ass one, too. Lady, I gotta tell ya, would it hurt to leave a forwarding address, so that if someone, say like me, needed to get in touch with you, I’d be able to find you?”

  “What could your concubine possibly want with me, Greg?” Her question was punctuated only by the slide of her ass against the sheets when she slipped from the edge of the bed, completely acting as if Nina wasn’t even in the room.

  Concubine? Did that mean…she’d read that somewhere. Wanda’s romance novels? And then it hit her. “Does she mean hootchie?” Nina directed her question at Greg.

  He nodded curtly, the hard planes of his
face once again like granite. “She does, and because of that, I’ve no doubt she’s going to get a taste of your mouth in about, oh,” he glanced at the clock on his tall armoire, “two seconds. Go get ’em, tiger,” he encouraged Nina, grinning.

  Oh, she so had not just said that…

  Rage swept over her. Concubine this! “Who the flip do you think you are, calling me a concubine?”

  Lisanne’s shoulders lifted, her expression bored. Her violet eyes, the strangest color Nina could ever remember seeing, settled on her. “Well, darling, Greg never has anything beyond a one-night stand—what else am I to think?”

  Nina’s fury escalated as she hopped off the bed and wrapped the sheet around her. How the frig did she know what Greg had? “Look here, you fucking nut. I don’t give a rat’s fuzzy ass what you think about me. You and me, we got something to talk about.”

  “Got something to talk about? How interesting. What could Greg’s playmate and I have to discuss?” She tapped a pink nail against her matching pink lip.

  Nina cornered her, forgetting that if push came to shove, Lisanne could probably throw down like a pro. She was centuries old. But that didn’t thwart Nina. Not today. Not after all this. “Listen closely. I know you have the power to turn me back into a human, and I want you to get your ass in gear and do it. Like now. I don’t know what you have to do, but I want it done. I don’t want to be a vampire. This was all a mistake. Greg didn’t mean to bite me, and I didn’t mean to become some freaky bloodsucker. So fix this. Today.”

  Lisanne sent Greg a look of amusement when he came to stand beside Nina, placing a hand on the slope of her hip. “Nice execution, babe. Very direct, very succinct,” he muttered. “And you choose now, of all times, to finally believe I don’t want to make you join my evil plot to rule the world? Your timing, as always, is impeccable, snooky.”

  Nina made a face at him, but ignored his remark. They could talk about that later. Her eyes narrowed in Lisanne’s direction. “So let’s do this. Hit me with the human whammy.”

  The look Lisanne sent winging Nina’s way, littered with disbelief, made her feel as if she’d just told her the Pope was really Amish. Lisanne’s laugh was subtle at first, building until her fit of giggles made Nina want to rip her head off and shit down her throat. “Oh, you silly, silly fool. Is this why you sent word you wanted to see me, Gregori? And here I thought you wanted to help plan the mating celebration.” Lisanne pouted prettily. “Such a shame you just won’t participate.”