“But….” He was right she would look insane. “Fine I’ll get David to back up my story.”
Ephraim laughed. “David will never be able to look at you without pissing himself and running the other way.” His expression became serious. “Besides, you should really leave him alone. He’s going to have enough to deal with.”
That reminded her. “Ephraim, I need to know what's wrong with his blood.”
“No, first I need to know some things.”
“Like what?”
“I know you didn’t sleep with him. I need to know if you did anything short of sleeping with him.” It pained him to ask her.
Her mouth dropped open. “You what? How would you know I haven’t slept with him and wait where do you get off? It’s none of your business what I’ve done with anyone!”
He seemed unconcerned with her questions. “I know you’re a virgin. I can smell it.” He tapped his nose. “Heightened senses and all that.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but she was more embarrassed now than she was twenty minutes ago at the dinner table when Candy made her announcement. It made her angry that he knew. It was none of his damn business.
“I’m not telling you a damn thing. If your sense of smell is heightened then you tell me what I did or didn’t do,” she challenged. Mistake. It was a mistake.
She saw a flash of color and then felt a cool breeze. Ephraim stood directly in back of her. She shrieked and tried to run when two large warm hands gripped her shoulders. “Hold still. This was your idea, remember?”
“I..I…didn’t mean…”
“Shush and hold still. I’m working here,” he mumbled, his tone filled with amusement.
He shouldn’t be doing this. He really shouldn’t. She was his weakness in so many ways, but she challenged him and refused to answer his questions. He didn’t have the patience for this game. He had to know if she was sick too.
Holding her still by her shoulders, he used his face to push her smooth hair away from her neck. The feel of her hair against his face was erotic. He closed his eyes and fought for control.
“No biting!”
“Shh, I’m trying to focus.” He ran his tongue over his fangs, sending them back. It was too tempting to be this close to her neck so he needed to work fast. He skimmed his nose down her neck, ignoring the impulse to run his tongue over her skin. His nose skimmed down her back and then over her backside.
Thank god she couldn’t see his huge grin as he did that. He considered staying there for a minute, but felt her tense beneath his hands. She would probably slap him or throw those damn lumpy potatoes at him. He released her shoulders and ran his nose down her leg.
“Finally-hey!” She yelped as he took her hand into his and smelled it. He released it and walked away from her.
“Well?” she asked expectantly.
He didn’t turn around as he made his way to the door. “You’re fine. That’s all I wanted to know. Thanks,” he said dismissively. He opened the door, keeping his eyes lowered as he disappeared to the left.
“What? Hey, that’s not fair! Get back here! You didn’t answer my questions!” She ran after him, but he was already gone. That’s fine. She knew where he would eventually end up. She turned to the right with every intention of going there to wait for him when she literally ran into Grandma.
“Whoa!” Grandma grabbed her to steady her before she fell backwards. “What’s going on? Where’s Ephraim?”
Madison looked past her. The foyer was empty. “Where is everyone?”
Grandma waved a hand in the air. “They’re in the living room watching movies and eating pizza. They settled down once they saw David leave.” Grandma studied her for a long moment. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Her eyes ran to her destination, the stairs.
“Because of what that awful man did.”
Oh, that. She shrugged. “I’m over it.” And onto new things like finding out the answers to all her questions. He was going to answer her and that was that.
“Hmm, you don’t look too upset.”
She shrugged. “I’m not. What I am though is tired. Can you tell everyone that I’m sorry about tonight and tell them that I’ll see them tomorrow?”
Grandma looked reluctant to let her go, but in the end she nodded. “Okay, goodnight, Madison. Make sure you get enough sleep.”
“I will.” And all of her answers.
Chapter 7
“Good,” he mumbled as he stepped away from her door. Her light snores were even. For the last four hours he drove around waiting for her to get tired and go to sleep. He knew she would try and wait up for him. Sure enough for the first two hours when he drove by the house he spotted their small hallway light on. She was waiting.
She wanted answers. Answers she thought he owed her. He didn’t owe anyone anything. As far as he was concerned he did her a favor tonight and that was the end of it. She could ask as many questions as she wanted. He wasn't going to budge. This was none of her business.
He only hoped that she didn’t get obsessed with him and start sprouting tales about him drinking the blood of babies or anything. He would hate to see her locked up in some mental hospital.
It had been a long night and he was tired. He stripped out of his clothes and headed for the bathroom. Even after all these years he couldn’t go to bed without washing first. The feel of that grime still haunted him. The few times he tried to go to bed or go to work in the morning without taking a shower first were mistakes. He spent all night itching from the imaginary grime and all day bitching and snapping at people.
The only good thing about taking a shower at two in the morning was the hot water. There was plenty of it. He stood beneath the showerhead, savoring the feeling of scalding hot water running down his scalp and back.
A small click was the only clue he got that his night was not over with yet. Great. He sighed and shut the water off. “You’re never going to give up, are you?”
“No,” she said in an offhanded tone.
“Are you going to hand me a towel?”
“No.”
“Fine.” He didn’t care. He wasn’t shy or modest. He flung back the shower curtain and stepped out onto the small bath rug.
Madison’s eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing?” Her eyes dropped to his h*ps and widened even further.