Page 38 of Twilight Longings

“Would it be all right if I had dessert?” she asked tentatively.

“Honey, you can have anything you want.”

Kadie stared at him, surprised by the endearment. It made her wonder, yet again, just how friendly they had been. Not knowing was so frustrating!

Saintcrow sat back in his chair, smiling inwardly as he watched her devour a huge slice of chocolate walnut cake. She was here, she was alive, her cheeks pink, her beautiful golden-brown eyes bright. He listened to the sound of her heart pumping sure and steady, and took a deep breath as the urge to taste her roared to life within him. He remembered the first time he had taken her blood. It had been the sweetest he had ever known and he had vowed then and there to make her his.

Now, he wondered if she would ever be his again.

After dinner, Saintcrow suggested they go for a walk. The night was quiet, the sky studded with stars and a bright silver moon. The silence between them made Kadie uncomfortable. She couldn’t think of anything to say with him beside her. He made her nervous in ways she didn’t understand. The fact that she might never regain her memory was deeply troubling. How could she face the future when she didn’t remember the past? How was she going to find her sister? Where was she going to live?

How was she going to survive without a job or a place to stay?

She sent a sideways glance at Saintcrow. How well had she known him? Had they been casual acquaintances? Friends? She swallowed hard. Lovers? The thought of thetwo of them being intimate sent a shiver of unease down her spine, followed by an unexpected flurry of excitement.

Saintcrow let his mind brush hers. It might not be easy to win her love again, he thought. Not that it had been all that easy the first time. But she had been younger back then. In the beginning, she had been his prisoner and she had hated him and had said so often. It had taken time for her to get used to the idea that he was a vampire, that he was capable of love. To please her, to prove he wasn’t the cold-hearted monster she thought he was, he had allowed the vampires to leave Morgan Creek and freed their human captives. He had even returned some of men and women to their former homes.

“Mr. Saintcrow?”

“Rylan.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go.”

“I’ll get you a hotel room.”

“But … I have no way to pay you back.”

“It isn’t necessary.”

She looked up at him, her expression wary. Why was he being so nice to her? What did he expect in return?

“Listen. Just believe me when I say we’re friends. You don’t have to pay me for dinner or anything else. I expect nothing in return. I’m just helping out a good friend who I’ve known for a long time.”

“You’re very kind.”

Kind?It took all his self-control not to laugh.

“You said I used to live in California. Was I living there when I got sick?”

Saintcrow swore under his breath. So many questions he wasn’t prepared to answer. “No. You’d moved to Wyoming by then.”

“Can you take me there?”

“I’m afraid your place has been rented to someone else.” Another lie, he thought glumly.

“Oh. And my things?”

“I don’t know.” Trying to explain where they were and why they were in his house was just too complicated at the moment.

Kadie protested when he insisted on taking her shopping. “Really, I can’t let you …”

“I’m afraid you can’t stop me,” he said, taking her hand in his. “You need something to wear and I’m going to buy it, so you might as well come along and pick out what you want.”

There was no arguing with the man, she decided, as they entered the mall. It was like Christmas morning and her birthday all rolled into one as he insisted on buying her a dozen new outfits, a robe and a couple of nightgowns, shoes and boots and slippers. She couldn’t help blushing as she picked out a few changes of underwear, with Saintcrow standing behind her.

He also bought her a cell phone and added his number. “Call me,” he said. “Any time, day or night, if you need anything.”

They were loaded down with packages when they left the mall. Finding a hotel room was their next priority, and he found her a suite in the best hotel in New Orleans and paid for a month in advance.

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