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At that he looked at her and smiled. He took her hand, drew the fork from her grip, then kissed her fingers. “I have many things I want to say to you, but not today, not like this, and certainly not over burned toast.”
“You should go,” she said. She drank more coffee until the crumbs got swept down her throat.
He touched a tear that rolled down her cheek. He nodded then leaned close and kissed her on the mouth. He kissed her for a very long time, not penetrating, just his lips to her lips. She felt his promise in that kiss, everything that he was, and her heart swelled all over again.
She breathed his fennel scent and savored. Part of her feared that this would be the last time she ever saw him, but the new part, the part that seemed to understand, let it all go, every damn expectation that life would turn out the way she wanted.
So, yeah, she let him go.
He drew back and stood up. “I’ve asked Alison to check in on you. She also said to call her day or night if you needed her. Parisa’s also staying in the villa until Endelle figures out what to do with her. Medichi will be checking on you as well.
“Parisa hasn’t said anything, but I think she’s hoping for another flying lesson.” His expression softened. “You’ll call Alison if you need her, right? Because I’m not happy about leaving you like this.”
“I’ll be fine. You need to go so you should go.”
He leaned down and kissed her once more. He held her gaze for a good long moment. Then he rose back up to his considerable height. He smiled, lifted his arm, and he was gone.
She brushed another tear away then looked at the meal, at the cold brown eggs and black toast. She chuckled. Well, protein was protein and whatever else this experience had been, she needed to eat. Besides, eggs had iron and she still felt weak, dizzy. That bastard had taken a lot of her blood.
* * *
Marcus folded to his home on Bainbridge Island. The house seemed dark. Of course. Phoenix had brighter sunlight and lots of it. Although June in the Seattle area was a beautiful month, still, he missed all that light.
He walked through the rooms. He wanted Havily here, if he could make it safe enough for her. Yeah, he wanted her here. He’d talk to Endelle and see if she’d lend him one of her mist domes for at least one night. But would Havily come with him? He was pretty sure she would, but shit, anything could happen and he didn’t know if her low opinion of him had altered sufficiently yet, or if she could ever really trust him.
To that end, he’d come back to Mortal Earth. If Havily was going to go the distance with him, then he had some proving to do.
He went to the safe in his library and spun the combination until the right tumblers fell into place. He opened the door. He’d had the safe for fifty years. They were old friends.
He pulled out the folder containing the transfer documents, everything Ennis would need to take over Sumer Enterprises. Funny. He’d had these documents drawn up about three and a half months ago, as though he’d known even then that the moment he’d caught Havily’s scent his life had changed, permanently.
He closed the safe and spun the dial.
He had jewels in the safe, beautiful necklaces and bracelets he’d bought for the future women he’d screw. He wouldn’t think of offering even one of them to Havily. At some point, he’d donate them to a charity auction, raise money for a good cause.
For Havily, he had something very different in mind.
He gave Ennis a call and arranged to meet him in Seattle.
An hour later, he said hi to Jane then walked into his office.
Ennis sat in the big executive chair behind the enormous glass desk. His legs were crossed at the knees, his elbows planted on the arms of the chair, and his fingers steepled over his lap. He swiveled lazily back and forth. He smirked and wore a crooked smile that reached to his eyes. Ennis always laughed with his eyes.
“Bastard,” Marcus said, also smiling.
“Well, have you got something for me to sign, or what?”
Marcus threw the documents on the four-inch-thick glass. “You sure you want this?”
“Hell, yeah. I have for the last century or didn’t you notice?”
“I noticed.”
Ennis spread the documents out and started to sign. He didn’t pause. He didn’t even read.
“You’re not going over these with the usual magnifying glass?”
At that, his pen froze and he looked up at his new business partner. “Marcus, of all the vampires I’ve known in the last five hundred years, I know your f**ked-up soul the best. So the day I need to read your agreements, when we’ve already discussed the details, is the day I drink dying blood. Got it?”
Marcus smiled then grinned. “Sumer is yours. I’ll see you in six months.”
It wasn’t a sale, just a shift in responsibility and an increased percentage of profit. Marcus would see enough wealth from the empire he’d built to last him a few millennia. He’d check in every six months just to see if Ennis needed him for any reason. But knowing Ennis, they’d share a drink, play a game of who-has-the-bigger-dick, then he’d head back to Second Earth.
“Where do you go from here?” Ennis asked. “You going to marry her?”
“Oh, I think I can do better than marriage.”
Ennis raised his brows, but Marcus knew there was nothing more to be said.
“You’ll need to tweak Jane’s memory of this visit,” he said, as he lifted his arm and dematerialized.
For himself, next stop, Vancouver Island.
* * *
The next day Havily stood in front of Endelle’s desk, and for the first time in her ascended vampire life, from the time she had first met Her Supremeness, she didn’t fear the woman. She was, however, uneasy, as though something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t place it.
For one thing, for Havily, everything had changed.
“You still dizzy?”
Havily shook her head. “No, not at all.”
Endelle glanced behind her. “Where the f**k is Marcus?”
“Not sure. He left yesterday.”
“What?” Endelle was on her feet, her eyes blazing as she planted her fists on the marble-topped desk in front of her. She leaned toward her. “So he returned to Mortal Earth? Are you telling me you couldn’t keep your goddamn man? What the f**k is wrong with you?”
Havily smiled then laughed. “You know, you have about as much charm as a water moccasin.”
Endelle drew back, left the power position of her desk, and moved to the windows to pace. She wore a yellow mini skirt and halter of what looked like banana python skin. Havily shuddered.
