I elbowed Saber even as Jo-Jo uttered a choked, “The Most Royal Highness doesn’t fly?”
“No, and I don’t want to learn.”
“Sure you do,” Saber insisted. “You bitch about gas prices all the time.”
“Everybody complains about the price of gas.”
“Yep, but you can do something about it. Learn to fly.” He grinned. “Unless you’re afraid of flying.”
“Flying would be fun. It’s the falling that sounds like a downer.”
“Jo-Jo wouldn’t let you fall.”
“Oh, no, Princess,” Jo-Jo said, still on his knees. “You will never come to harm with me.”
“See?” Saber jabbed.
I scowled.
Jo-Jo frowned at each of us in turn, then brightened. “The princess and her consort obviously have much to discuss. How about if I just leave you two alone now?”
“Good idea, Jo-Jo.”
“I’ll go back to the motel then,” Jo-Jo said, backing away in a half bow. “See if they have Comedy Central on cable and research jokes on my laptop.”
“Hold it,” I said, one hand up. “Your laptop computer?”
Jo-Jo looked puzzled. “Yes, Highness.”
“You didn’t bring clothing or blood along, but you flew here with your computer?”
“Well, sure, it’s top-of-the-line. I have to keep my night job until I break into show biz again.”
“But what if you’d dropped it?”
Jo-Jo shrugged. “It’s insured. Is nine too early to come by tomorrow night? You know, to run through my routine for you?”
I shook my head, bewildered by the gadget-mad male mind. “Ten would be better. I work the eight o’clock tour tomorrow.”
“The ghost tour?” he asked in hushed tones. “Wow, do you think I could come?”
Eeeks, no, I thought, but said, “It won’t be sunset yet, and I think that tour is full tomorrow.”
“Oh, then, another time. Good night, my Princess. Good night, royal consort.”
“Wait, Jo-Jo.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“How do you think your Marco knew my full title?”
“He’s not my Marco, but your title is easy to figure out if you just follow the rules of royal titles. Di was called Princess Diana, but her proper title was Diana, Princess of Wales. You don’t have a country to claim, but as the acknowledged daughter of Normand, Vampire King, you become Francesca, Princess of the House of Normand. Of course, that’s in British terms. In French, your title could vary.”
Yeah, like my gas mileage. “Oooo-kay, then.”
“Should I explain that again?”
“No, I’ve got the gist. But one more thing.”
“Yes, Highness?”
“Be extra quiet coming and going, okay? I don’t want Maggie disturbed, and you definitely don’t want to annoy Neil.”
“I’ll be quiet as the dead, Princess.”
He closed the front door with exaggerated care, and I leaned into Saber with a long sigh.
“Feeling better?” he murmured in my hair.
“About Jo-Jo’s Marco, yes, but I need to talk with Maggie about the sponsorship issue.”
“Just remember, whatever she did, it’s because she cares.”
“So do you, but you haven’t lied to me.”
“Well, not any more than you just lied to Jo-Jo about the ghost tour.”
“You’ve got me there.”
“I have you here.”
He pulled me into his lap and inched my thin blouse strap off one shoulder. “You know, that five-year clause is in Vampire Protection Act provisions. You didn’t read them, did you?”
His groin hardened against my hip, and my breath hitched. “No, just the brochure. I was too excited to get on with my new afterlife.”
“How about your love life? Want me to amp that up tonight?”
“Mmmmm, is this what consorts are for?”
“Honey, why do you think I doubled my vitamins?”
He kissed me, softly at first, then urgently. I caught fire with explosions of pleasure like the fireworks at the beach.
“Bed . . . room,” I panted in his mouth.
“Why . . . move?” he panted back.
I cupped his erection and whispered what I wanted.
I don’t know which of us hit my California king bed first, but waiting for him to strip me was excruciating. When it was my turn, I kissed and rubbed and teased each inch of skin I exposed. And then he slipped into my body, and I matched his rhythm until we climaxed as one.
I love it when our pheromones mingle at midnight.
Later, when Saber’s breathing evened in sleep, I smiled at the waxing moonlight streaming through the window and enjoyed his warm body until my mental to-do list nagged me out of bed.