Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(74)

Lucern scowled toward his room and the soft, willing woman in his bed. He had known that this conference would be a hellish excursion. Little had he realized it would be full-body torture, though.

A snore from the other direction drew his attention. Chris Keyes's room. Sure, the guy was sleeping peacefully. He wasn't suffering the tortures of the damned and—

Chris is a guy.

The thought interrupted Lucern's internal rant, and he gazed hard at the door. Kate's coworker might have a condom. His gaze shot to his own room. He didn't think that Kate would want Chris to know what they were getting up to, though; he was pretty sure she would be extremely displeased if he asked her friend for a condom.

Another sigh issued from his bedroom, followed by another rustle. He could just imagine Kate shifting restlessly on his bed, her nipples still erect, her face softened by desire and—

He just wouldn't tell her where he got the condom, Lucern decided. Hurrying to Chris's door, he didn't knock or make any other sound that Kate might hear, simply opened it and slipped inside. He rushed to the bed where Chris lay sleeping. Grabbing the sleeping editor by the shoulders, he gave him a violent shake.

"Wake up," he hissed.

Chris came awake at once, his eyes blinking open with alarm. "What? What's happened?" he asked anxiously. "Is the hotel on fire?"

"No. I need a condom. Do you have one?"

Chris blinked stupidly at him. "What? A condom?" He started to lift his head; then his gaze hit Lucern's naked body. He froze, his mouth dropping open with horror. "Oh, geez, don't point that thing at me. Oh, my God." He pulled free of Lucern's hands and rolled away with disgust. "I'm sleeping here. Go away."

Lucern scowled at Chris's back, straightened, and crossed his arms. "I need a condom."

"And I need sleep! Go away," the editor repeated.

"Don't you have any?" Lucern persisted.

Apparently realizing Lucern wasn't going to go away, Chris rolled back over. He glared. "Yes, I do. But do I look like a pharmacy to you?" he asked. He sat up. "Look, Lucern, I like you. But Kate is my friend and…" He paused to scowl. "Will you stop pointing that damn thing at me? You're giving me a complex here. Thank God all of my writers are female. Not one of them would stand there naked, waving themselves in front of me. I shouldn't know this much about Kate's personal life. We're friends and coworkers and… Have you two slept together yet? The other day—"

"No." Lucern interrupted to shut him up. "Not yet! All I want is a damned condom, not a lecture!"

"Yeah? Well, all I want is to sleep and to not see Kate hurt, and you…" He paused as a knock sounded on the door to the suite.

When Lucern started to leave, Chris caught his arm. "You aren't answering the door like that! What if it's a fan who managed to track you down?" The editor thrust his blankets aside and got out of bed in one move. He was topless but wearing boxers. He stalked out of the room without bothering with a robe. Lucern followed at a discreet distance, just in case it was fans at the door and not the condoms he had ordered.

"Good morning, sir!" A uniformed bellhop stood in the doorway, smiling widely and holding out several boxes. "I believe these are for you."

Chris goggled. Lucern didn't know if it was the quantity or the variety that had so horrified him. When the editor continued to stand there, Lucern lost his patience and strode forward.

"Give them to me." He took the boxes from the now also gaping bellhop, then hesitated. "I don't have a tip. Chris, do you have a tip?"

"What?" The editor stared at him blankly.

"A tip for the man," Lucern repeated irritably. He gestured to his nakedness. "I don't have anything. I'll pay you back later."

"Oh." Chris patted his boxers where pockets would have been on slacks. He scowled. "No, of course I don't—"

"That's okay. You can just catch me later," the bellhop said quickly. Looking uneasy, he held out a pen and a clipboard with a slip of paper. "Just sign this so they can be charged to your room, and I'll be off."

Chris quickly signed the slip and handed the pen and clipboard back. "Er, thanks."

"You're welcome, sir. You two have fun now." The bellhop winked, then pulled the door closed.

Chris whipped around to face Lucern, horror dawning on his face. "He thinks we—that you and I—he…" He was almost incoherent with horror.

Lucern was too impatient to get back to Kate to calm him down. He took the vampire shortcut and slipped into the editor's mind. Go to bed, Chris. This was all a dream. You're sleeping.

The man calmed at once. He started to walk toward his door, muttering, "Oh, yes. I'm sleeping."

Lucern watched Chris's bedroom door close, then hurried back to his own room. He nearly ran Kate down. She had re-donned her robe and was apparently coming to find him.

"Oh," she gasped and took a step back at his sudden appearance. "I thought I heard a knock at the door and voices."

"Yes. Hotel delivery," Lucern said. Noting the way her eyes widened as Kate took in the boxes he held, and afraid she would be put off by the number of condoms, he added, "I wasn't sure what kind to get, so I ordered all of them."