Except the next step on myself-guided tour led me straight to the master bedroom.
I stared in dismay at the kingsized bed, realizing suddenly that it was the only bed in thehouse. Was this where I was supposed to sleep? I went to thewindows on the far side of the room, noting that they were farenough from the bed not to cast any light on it when the sun wasup. But when I got closer, I saw that it wouldn’t have been aproblem, even if they had been closer. Victor had covered the glasspanes completely in heavy duty aluminum foil and there were thick,navy blue blackout drapes hanging across them that matched the darkblue spread on the bed.
Wow, he really had been preparingthe house for me. That was…actually, it was kind of nice. Maybe hewas a more thoughtful guy than I’d given him credit for.
I went back andsat on the bed for a minute, testing its firmness. It would be thefirst time I had slept—really slept—in a real bed in years. I’d hada creaky little cot at Corbin’s club, Under the Fang. And inCeleste’s house I had been given a dark, cobwebby crawlspacebeneath the floorboards to sleep in. It had been horrible but Istill liked it much better than any of her palatial bedrooms. Thatwas because spending time in bed always meant torture of some kind.Celeste enjoyed hurting others as much as most people enjoysex—more, actually. And she especially loved to act out her kinkyfantasies on me…
I pushed thememory away with a real effort and buried my face in one of theplump, king sized pillows at the head of the bed instead. Ibreathed deeply, filling my senses with Victor’s scent.Dark spice. Fur and leather andsunlight in the forest… I don’tknow why but it calmed me down.
It’s overnow, I reminded myself.Roderick is dead and Celeste can’ttouch me. I’m safe. I’m safe here.
I only wished I could believe it.Even more, I wished I could exorcise the memories of my personalseason in hell. I had told Addison most of it—I would have goneinsane if I couldn’t talk to someone. But some things were tooawful to express in words. Too horrible to remember yet toodreadful to forget…
I became aware that I was cryingand sat up hastily. Since vamps cry blood for tears, it’s importantto watch it when you have a breakdown. I looked down anxiously—Ididn’t want to stain Victor’s sheets.
There was a small drop of blood onthe pillowcase I’d been lying on but it was so tiny as to beunnoticeable, especially against the dark blue pillowcase. Iflipped the pillow over just to be sure and went to the bathroom toget some tissue.
After blotting my red-rimmed eyes,I looked around the master bath. It was very nice—all done in darkgray marble with a walk-in shower and a garden tub. There was onlyone window, high up in the shower stall. Which meant I wouldn’t betaking any showers during the day but then, I would probably besleeping anyway. Most people think vamps are dead—all the waydead—while the sun is up, but that’s not true. We just sleep verydeeply—so deeply we’re almost impossible to wake—which is why it’sso important to be someplace safe and light tight before youfinally let yourself collapse.
There was a vast walk-in closet atthe far end of the room, which appeared to be sparsely filled withmostly jeans and t-shirts. (Yes, I looked through his clothes. Iknow—I’m nosey.) There were several pairs of work boots too as wellas a laundry basket of what appeared to be clean towels, anotherbasket filled with dirty clothes, and a first aid kit, but nothingelse of much interest.
I came back out into the masterbathroom and my eyes were once again draw to the tub. I liked it alot. So much that I decided to modify my plans and have my mug oftea while I took a soothing bubble bath. I got the water runningand looked around for something to use for bubbles but there wasnothing but a bright green cake of Irish Spring in the shower. Nobig surprise there—Victor was a man’s man if I had ever seen one.There was no way I was going to run across a bottle of Bath andBody Works Sweet Pea bubble bath in here.
Finally, I ended up using somelemon scented dish-soap I found in the kitchen while making my tea.It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but getting a hot, soothing bubblebath for the first time in years was such a treat I didn’t care.Back at our old apartment, Addison and I had drawn up a regularbath schedule because there wasn’t enough hot water for both of usto have one on the same night. I treasured my bath nights, eventhough our little tub hadn’t been nearly as deep and luxurious asVictor’s.
I piled my hair on top of my headand secured it with a pencil I found lying on the bedside table.Really, I was going to have to get Addison to bring me some things.I thought about calling her up and chatting about my new temporaryhouse right then, but from the looks she and Corbin had been givingeach other, I was certain she was busy.
A little smilecrossed my lips when I thought of my tough-as-nails Vampire Auditorbest friend finally giving in to her attraction to the big blondmaster vamp. Corbin had been after her for ages—intent on makingher his from the first minute he’d seen her. I was glad she hadfinally realized how sincere he was and allowed herself to findlove. If only that could happento me…
But it wasn’t going to—not now.Once, back when I was human, before Celeste had taken me and turnedme, I had thought it would be possible. I used to imagine finishingvet school and opening my own small animal practice somewhere inTampa. Treating my four-legged patients and then coming home to aloving husband and a sweet little boy or girl at the end of theday. Maybe both—why not? I had always loved kids and I was sure Iwould make a great mom.
Back when I hadthe ability to becomea mom, that was. Vampires can’t havekids—the
