Read NocC 012 - Caridad Pineiro - The Vampire's Consort - Harlequin 2012-04 for Free Online Page B

so he could suckle her breasts. Her soft cries of pleasure as she moved on him.
    He stroked, the wet of his hand a poor substitute for her body. Or at least he told himself it was a poor one, still unable to discern whether the sights and sounds in his mind were reality or wishful thinking.
    He hoped for the latter, well aware that if had crossed that line…
    “Adrian? Are you all right in there?” The door creaked a bit and her footfall came on the tiled floor, warning him that she had entered the room.
    He paused midstroke even though she could not see him past the frosted glass of the shower stall.
    “I’m fine,” he lied. He was far from it, caught between guilt at what he might have done and the desire to do it again.
    The Irish was thick in her voice as she responded. “I’m surprised you’re not face-first over the toilet considering the state you were in last night.”
    Her Irish never got up unless she was upset.
    Because he couldn’t see her thanks to the frosted glass, he cracked open the shower door just enough to poke his head out. He examined her face and immediately noticed how the freckles along the bridge of her nose stood out more against the paleness of her skin. Dark smudges played beneath her emerald eyes, which were filled with sadness.
    “Are you all right?” he asked, guilt slamming into him hard and draining away any lingering desire. “I’m just a little tired. It was a rough night,” she admitted and wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to keep in one piece.
    If he’d fucked her, wouldn’t she just come right out and say it? he wondered, but then again, he could just as easily ask, couldn’t he? Instead he said, “I’m sorry if I made it hard for you. I don’t normally drink that much.”
    “Aye, it’s been a while, Adrian.” She rocked back on her heels, obviously hesitant, and he braced himself for more.
    “If you don’t need me right now, I thought I’d go out to the store. We’re low on some things.” “Retail therapy?” he teased, trying to draw away some of her sadness.
    “You might say that. Saturday’s my birthday and I thought…”
    “I didn’t forget,” he replied. Her gift sat in a drawer in his dresser, already wrapped and ready to go. She smiled then and dipped her head. “You never do. I just thought I’d make a special supper to celebrate.”
    “John’s not taking you out?” he asked as he shut off the water and grabbed his robe from a hook beside the shower.
    Eliza wagged her head in a motion not quite a nod or a shake. “John and I… We kind of decided a little break might be best right now.”
    “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can—”
    Her hand snapped up, the meaning clear.
    “I’ll be back later.” She slewed on one foot and left him standing there, his emotions alternating between guilt and unrepentant joy, the latter which heightened the guiltiness.
    Eliza being free of John did not free her for him.
    Worse, the last thing he wanted was for Eliza to be sad. Her early life had been rough enough, but he knew enough about women to not interfere right now.
    Eliza needed time, and he hoped that in the several days until her birthday, things between her and John would be set to right.
     
    *
     
     
    Eliza wandered through the upscale boutique on Madison Avenue. If only her family and friends could see her now, hobnobbing it with the kind of hoity toity crowd that would have shunned her in Ireland.
    No longer, she thought as a familiar face approached, a broad smile on her features.
    “So nice to see you again, Eliza. Can I help you pick out something for your special day?” the salesgirl asked. In this kind of store, the help knew everything about their customers.
    She hadn’t given much thought to her birthday beyond the fact that she would be forever twenty-five as long as she remained Adrian’s consort. There had been so many birthdays they had almost stopped being special, except that this one would be