Undead and Done by MaryJanice Davidson Page B

thirsty.” And perhaps would never be again. Who knew when I’d get my appetite back?
Smoothie Nation
, I have failed you.

CHAPTER
    FIVE
    â€œPerhaps our feedback was unduly constructive,” Sinclair said, closing our bedroom door and moving to sit on the bed, where I was sulking, facedown, into my pillow.
    â€œY’think?” I mumbled into memory foam.
    â€œBut as you said, this is a learning experience for all of us.”
    â€œUgh.” I could feel him stroking my back the way he knew turned me into a puddle of grumpy goo. But it would take a lot more than a back rub to oh yeah right there. “Mmmmm. Umph, gggnnn nnmmph.”
    â€œYour endearments always make me melt.” He eased me over on my back and bent for a kiss. “Now complain about the dearth of ice in our home. The shriller you get, the more arousing you are and the more irresistible you become.”
    I
barely
stopped the smirk in time. Whew! Close call. “You can’t seduce your way out of this one,” I warned, “so just— Hey, get back here. I want another one.”
    He laughed and swooped back in, planting one right on my mouth, then moving lower to nibble at my neck. I brought myarms up around his neck and pulled him closer. “I still think it was a good idea to do the interview.”
    â€œAs you like.”
    â€œI do, though.”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œI think it’ll work out fine.”
    â€œTime will tell.”
    â€œMan, you’re just begging to be cock blocked, aren’t you?”
    â€œNow, there’s a bluff I may call,” was the smug reply. So naturally my only option was to tickle the bejeezus out of him, which wasn’t unlike trying to tickle a tree trunk. When we called a temporary truce, he was on the floor and I was on my back on our bed with my head hanging over the edge.
    â€œPlenty more where that came fr— Yeek! Argh, get off. If you stretch out my sweater, I’ll set your suits on fire!”
    â€œWell worth it.”
    â€œIt’ll be an inferno in there! Kids will come over and roast marshmallows!”
    â€œA small price to pay for the pleasure of your company.”
    â€œYou know how deeply nuts you are, right? You’re the only man I’ve ever known who finds shrill to be ‘maddeningly arousing.’”
    â€œSoon all vampires will love you as I do.”
    â€œFirst off, that’s a truly alarming thought. Second, you know they won’t.” The playful mood had vanished, because when it came to predicting vampire behavior, Sinclair was nearly always right. Something was coming and it was going to get worse before it got better. If it got better. “You know what we’re going to have to let them do. And then what I’m going to have to do.”
    â€œWe,” he said softly. “What we will have to do.”
    â€œYeah. We. I just wish—”
    â€œNo point to it, beloved. Wishing is a time waster. Focuson doing. Focus on
we
. You see? That makes all the difference. And in the meantime . . .”
    â€œYeek! God, your hands are freezing!”
    Soon enough the room filled with threats, giggles, more threats, and flying clothes. Sinclair’s dark eyes basically became my whole world, and that was fine, because my much less dramatic eyes were his world, too.
    *   *   *
    After, he leaned over and picked up the book off my nightstand. “Book of Shadows?” he read aloud, then started flipping through the book. “Banishing spells, cutting cords, banishing negativity? This is a book for Wiccans.”
    â€œDuh, I’m the one who checked it out of the library. Hey, be careful! Don’t bend the pages; you do not want to mess with the Dakota County librarians.” They were super pleasant and helpful . . . right up until you damaged a book. Then it was a bit like “I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” I mean,