Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8)(86)

"Just find her. Please. I care not the source of the abduction--just bring her home."

Darius focused on what he could see of the manse next door. "We shall do that. In one manner . . . or another."

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For their sakes, he prayed that the humans in that estate had not dared to take one of theirs. The other race was to be avoided, by the king's orders, but if they had the temerity to aggress upon a vampire? And a noble female at that?

Darius would slaughter each one of them in their beds and leave the bodies to rot into a stench.

223





J. R.Ward

THIRTY-ONE

Gregg Winn woke up with Holly curled against him, her lush fake breasts a pair of twin pillows pressing into his side.

A quick glance at the clock and he saw that it was seven a.m. Might as well get packed and head for Atlanta.

"Holly." He nudged her with his hand. "Wake up."

She let out something close to a purr and stretched, her body arching into his and turning his morning hard-on into a raw need that he was inclined to do something about. Memories of how she'd ended up in his bed curbed that impulse quickly, though.

Proving that he was a gentleman in some ways.

"Holly. Come on. Wakey-wakey." He pushed her hair back and

smoothed it down her shoulder. "If we get a move on, we'll be in Atlanta by late afternoon."

Which, considering he'd cost them a day chasing after this Rathboone

thing, was going to come in handy.

"Okay. I'm up. I'm up."

Actually, he was the only one of the two who got vertical. Holly just nestled into the warm space he'd left and went right back to sleep.

He took a shower and then filled up his suitcase as loudly as he could but she was dead to the world. Not so much asleep as in a coma.

He was just about to go a round with Stan, who was even worse at the

whole rousing thing, when a knock sounded on the door.

Could the stoner fool already be awake?

Gregg started talking to his cameraman as he opened the door.

"Listen, let's pack up the van--"

It was the tight-ass butler. Looking as if someone had dumped red

wine all over his couch.

Gregg lifted his palm. "We're leaving, okay. We're taking off. Just give us--"

"The owner has decided to allow you to film here. For your special."

Gregg blinked like an idiot. "Excuse me?"

The butler's tone grew even more disgusted. If that was possible. "The 224

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owner spoke to me this morning. He said you are permitted to host your show herein."

One day too late, Gregg thought with a curse to himself. "Sorry. My team and I are--"

"Thrilled," Holly finished for him.

As he glanced over his shoulder, his narrator was pulling her robe into place and getting off the bed.

"That's great news," she said pointedly while smiling at the butler.

Who seemed to be yo-yoing between disapproval and enchantment at

the sight of her all fuzzy and warm and au naturel.

"Very well then," the butler said, after he cleared his throat. "Do let me know if you need anything."

With a bow, he disappeared down the hall.

Gregg shut the door. "I thought you wanted out of here."

"Well . . . I was safe with you, right?" She sidled up to him, stroking his chest. "I'll just stay with you."

The satisfaction in her voice made him suspicious. "Did you play me.

About that whole sex thing with . . . whoever it was?"

She shook her head without hesitation. "No . . . but I truly think it was all a dream."

"What about the fact that you said you'd actually had sex."

Her plucked brows furrowed as if she were trying to see through

frosted glass. "It's just too hazy to have been real. Last night, I was totally confused, but in daylight . . . it all seems silly."

"You were pretty sure when you came in here."

She shook her head slowly. "Nothing except a really vivid, incredible dream . . . it didn't actually happen."

He searched her face and found nothing but certainty.

Abruptly, she put her hand up to her temple. "Do you have any

aspirin?"

"Headache?"

"Yeah. It just came on."

He went over and took his dopp kit out of his suitcase. "Listen, I'm willing to give it a shot here, but if we decide to stay, there's no pulling out.

We need to fill our time slot, so we can't just bolt for Atlanta in a day or two."

Frankly, they were already in last-minute land.

"I understand," she said as she sat on the bed. "I absolutely get it."

Gregg brought her the aspirin, then went into the bathroom and

snagged her a glass of water. "Listen, why don't you go back to bed. It's 225

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early yet and Stan's no doubt still passed out."

"What are you going to do." She yawned as she handed him back the Bayer and the empty glass.

He nodded to his laptop. "I'll take this downstairs to the living room and start going through the footage we captured last night. It should have all uploaded from the remote cameras."