Smolder (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #29)(56)

“It’s okay,” Graham said, “without Jean-Claude to make you want me, I know I’m not your type.”

He couldn’t keep the disappointment out of his voice, but he gave me an out. I appreciated that and he couldn’t have done anything better to help me let go of the anger.

Graham pulled his hand out of mine, and I felt Jean-Claude’s energy falter. I swayed and grabbed for Graham like he was a lifeline. The moment we touched I felt Jean-Claude’s power expand again. I

licked my lips and then realized I couldn’t taste my lipstick. Until that moment I hadn’t even thought what all the kissing might have done to it, and I still didn’t care.

“This should not be happening; if it was Richard here then touching him might make that much difference because he’s the other third of Jean-Claude’s triumvirate, but his energy shouldn’t react to all wolves like this,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter why it’s happening,” Nathaniel said, “it only matters that we give Jean-Claude enough energy to free all those people.”

“It does matter why it’s happening,” I said, “but we don’t need to know why tonight. We need to fix the emergency first.”

“Am I allowed to make a suggestion?” Graham asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“Can’t Anita just release the ardeur and feed on me?”

“I could.”

“She could,” Nathaniel said.

“Then why don’t we do that?”

Nathaniel looked at me. “I don’t know. Anita, why don’t we just do that?”

I didn’t have a good answer, except it was someone new and I didn’t want to add any more lovers to my list, not even as friends with benefits, and it was Graham. I’d said no to him for years.

“I know that Anita isn’t attracted to me; if she had been even a little bit I’d have been emergency food for the ardeur years ago.” He looked down at me with a slight smile on his face, but his eyes were serious.

“Am I supposed to apologize for that?” I asked.

“No, of course not, it was an ego blow that you didn’t think I was awesome,” he said with something close to his usual smug grin, “but I made peace with it. I mean, not everyone likes the same thing, right?”

I frowned at him; Nathaniel jiggled my hand to get me to look at him instead of frowning at Graham. “He didn’t say anything wrong, Anita.”

I let out my breath slowly, trying to let go of the anger that was just there ready to come up and engulf me and everyone around me. “I know he didn’t.”

“Then why are you mad at me?” Graham said. “It seems like you’re always mad at me. I’m sorry I get on your nerves. I thought you had a good time out there with Jean-Claude and me. I’m sorry that you didn’t. I’m sorry that I misread that and you.” He sighed and looked like he was trying to think hard before he said the next part. I appreciated that he was trying so hard not to piss me off more.

“You didn’t misread it, Graham, but I’m fighting years of being raised to be a good girl, and what I did out there doesn’t go under the good-girl code I was raised with, and the wedding is forcing me to deal with my folks more than normal, and it’s bringing up a lot of old issues.”

“I get that,” Graham said, “family is hard. My dad wanted me to follow him into the military, and my mom hates that I work at a strip club. The only thing that would embarrass her more would be if I danced onstage, so she’d really hate tonight.” He gave a half laugh that managed not to be funny at all.

“If the two of you are trying to talk me out of wanting to see you have sex together, it won’t work,”

Nathaniel said.

I smiled, and Graham looked puzzled. “You’re too big a voyeur not to enjoy it,” I said.

“I’m such a big voyeur that after you feed the ardeur on Graham and it’s my turn, it will be an amazing amount of energy, because I will find it so incredibly hot.”

“It’s not seeing me with Anita that will make it hot, it’s watching her with someone else, right?”

Graham asked.

“You’re handsome, so that’s a bonus,” Nathaniel said. “The two of you looked good together onstage, but you’re right, it’s not about you, it’s about watching Anita with someone.”

“Then if there’s a wolf in the other room that Anita likes better than me, I’ll bow out.”

I stared up at him. “You’d give up your only shot at me?”

“I’d love to have sex with you, you know that, but I’m your security and Jean-Claude needs you to feed the ardeur, so if there’s another wolf here tonight that you’re more willing to feed on, we need them in here now.”

There was a knock on the door, but it opened before we could say anything. Another wolf stood framed in the doorway, but it wasn’t a wolf I’d expected to be on the menu tonight.





23

I HADN’T SEEN RICHARD in so long it was a shock to see him standing there, all six feet one inch, broad-shouldered, athletic body in a suit and tie. “You look fabulous,” he said as he reached back and undid his hair. It fell in long brown waves around his shoulders, framing his face with those high sculpted cheekbones, the dimple that softened the utter masculinity of his face. Nothing ever seemed to take away from his physical beauty.