LITMIR.BIZ

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as pent-up tension seeped away. “Oh Tom!” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

      “The feeling is mutual, my dear.”

      She seemed, for the moment, to have forgotten her mission. Might as well encourage that.

      He tilted her chin up. Her lips parted. Her eyes widened with expectation. He had no intention of disappointing her. “Angela,” he whispered and lowered his head. Their lips brushed. Twice. The third time, he pressed his lips against hers until she opened for him. She sighed and gave herself to him as his tongue met hers. Then she took him, her mouth working his, her tongue exploring, taking as much as he gave and returning the wild heat of her need. She pressed closer, molding herself against him. Her hips shifted as she nestled into the circle of his arms.

      She said something. It could have been his name, an endearment, or the height of the trees around them. He didn’t give a tinker’s cuss. Nothing mattered but Angela’s warmth in his arms and the passion in her lips. He tried to retake the lead, pressing harder and closing his hand over her breast. He felt pleasure ripple through her, as she pulled his head closer and deepened their kiss. Their need coalesced into a wild frenzy of mutual desire. Her legs parted, one thigh easing over his and…

      Tom’s vampire senses alerted to a mortal nearby. No point in shocking the populace!

      “Angela,” he whispered, “we’d better find somewhere less public.”

      A few yards away, a old woman was walking her spaniel along the river and from the opposite direction came a pair of young mothers complete with baby buggies and toddlers.

      Angela turned as pink as a Bourbon rose. “Tom!” She stood up, smoothing her sweater down. “Let’s walk a bit.” She held out her hand.

      He wasn’t turning down the invitation.

      “I missed you,” Angela said after a few yards. “I’m glad you came down.”

      “That’s a bit of a change from your greeting at breakfast time.”

      “At breakfast I was braced for your big, bossy vampire act.”

      Good thing he’d abandoned that angle. It hadn’t worked anyway. “Was I really a big, bossy vampire when we were together in town?”

      “What else do you call, ‘Don’t look at those books, they’re mine!’ ‘Don’t leave the house without me!’ ‘You don’t need to do that, it’s not safe.’ ‘Why do you want to ferret out all that stuff?’”

      Had it really seemed that bad to her? “I wanted to keep you safe. We don’t know anything about the vampire or vampires who made you and Jane.”

      “Ignorance isn’t synonymous with safety.” She had a point there. “I need to know who I am.”

      Fair enough but…“Aside from the renegade vamp, I have this hideous fear when you do uncover your identity, you’ll discover you have a husband and five children somewhere.”

      She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t speak to the husband, but I don’t feel as if I’ve been married. And I can vouch for no offspring.”

      “How do you know?”

      “Justin told me.”

      “How the hades did he know?” Justin’s centuries of existence meant certain powers but…

      “He gave me a complete physical. I’ve never given birth.”

      The full import of that hit him like a blow in the chest. “You mean you let Justin…!”

      She tugged his hand. His fingers clenched hers. “Lighten up, Tom! Justin is a physician. Remember?”

      He was doing his best, but it wasn’t easy. No one was touching Angela but him. “Of course I do! I just don’t see why you had to…Was it his idea?”

      “Of course not!” Her glare suggested their new-found amity might be very short lived. “I asked him. I wanted to know as much about my ghoul’s body as possible. I could hardly knock on the door of the local National Health doctor, now could I?” He conceded the point with a grudging nod. “Justin was the only choice, and as I happened to be under the same roof, I took advantage of it. I was relieved to find I hadn’t abandoned a baby somewhere back during the lost time in my life.”

      They should have shared worries. “What else did he find out?”

      “That I have blood pressure so low I’d be unconscious if I were mortal. That my digestive system and metabolism operate at five or six times mortal rate. I’m physically much stronger than most women, and my heart rate barely alters on a tread-mill. Oh, and I have an extraordinarily high red blood cell count.”

      “That’s it?”

      “Pretty much. He’s going to do some memory and IQ tests later on. He’s got to borrow the protocols from a psychologist friend.”

      “Tell him not to bother. You’re sharp enough to beat anything he can try.”

      She gave him an odd look. “You really mean that?”

      “Love, you outwitted two vampires, three if you count Stella, but she abetted, didn’t she?”

      “After she tried like the dickens to talk me out of it.” He owed Stella an apology.

      “What have you discovered so far? You can read fortunes in cards, you might have someone who can tell you where the leather shop moved to, and you can terrify thugs.”

      “And Jane and I wandered for three days before Vlad rescued us.”

      “You’re sure about that?”

      “Yes. I don’t know what help it is, but I’m sure.”

      “Right, then. Let’s follow up that leather shop lead.” If it turned out to be a dead end, so much the better. He could convince her to leave. Just knowing he was deep into the West Country gave him the willies. Who knew where a witch might lurk? Angela would no doubt smile if he spoke of his worries. She hadn’t seen what witches did to Kit Marlowe and had no idea how risky it was just being here. But now he was here. And staying as long as she was. “Where’s this shop then?”

      “You really want to come with me?”

      His hand closed over hers. “Why not? You never know when a vampire might come in handy.”

      Angela couldn’t be more pleased if she tried. Tom was seeing reason and agreeing to help. She kissed him. Hard. Darn the passersby. “Thanks, Tom.” They were just a few yards from the small butcher’s shop she’d found yesterday. “I’d better get something to eat. This is hungry work. I almost ate the carpet this morning.”

      “Having a party, then?” The aproned assistant asked as he rolled steaks, chops, and three chickens in layers of white paper. “You were in here yesterday, if I remember rightly.”

      She’d better find another shop or her level of consumption would soon get noticed. “Your meat was so good, I decided to come back and stock up.”

      Tom insisted on carrying the three packages. She let him. Might as well pick her battles. “Where next?” he asked as they stood on the narrow sidewalk.

      “Mr. Lee’s. The place Meg Merchant told me about. I found it yesterday but it was closed.”

      “Lead on.” He grinned. “Might as well get this sorted out so we can go home.”

      He was a whole lot more optimistic than she was. But she kept that to herself. Tom was a welcome ally, and maybe today she would find a clue to whom she was. “Come on.” They meshed fingers and crossed the street.

      Tom paused only just long enough to shove a pack of chops in his raincoat pocket—who knew when she might need them to keep her strength up—and stash the rest of her raw meat in the trunk of his car and together they walked up Fore Street. Angela wanted

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