Page 76 of Twilight Longings
Kadie shrugged. “It was a spur of the moment thing. Besides, I knew you were busy at the hotel.” Friday was payday and some of his employees preferred to be paid in cash.
He followed her inside and closed the door. “What makes you think you need a doctor?” When she didn’t answer, he turned her around to face him. “Kadie? You might as well tell me.”
“Why, when you can read my mind?”
He didn’t answer, merely looked at her.
She huffed a sigh. Sometimes, being married to a vampire was a pain in the ass. “It just occurred to me that being a vampire for so long and then becoming human again might have messed up my metabolism or something.”
He grunted softly. “Go on.”
“And I wanted to know if I could still get pregnant.”
The truth at last. “I don’t know if you can get pregnant, but there’s nothing wrong with you physically. I’d know if there was.”
Relief washed through her. She looked up at him, wide-eyed, as he reached for her.
“Life would be so much easier if you’d just let me turn you again,” he murmured, his breath warm against her cheek. “We were happy then, weren’t we?”
“Yes.” She closed her eyes as memories of their life together floated through her mind—the nights they had madelove until dawn, the romantic trips they’d taken to foreign lands, his unfailing kindness and generosity. She had never wanted for anything.
“It can be that way again, sweetheart.”
It was tempting, so tempting. All she had to do was give up her desire for a baby.
“You could turn me again when the baby is grown.”
“But I’ll be human,” he reminded her.
She frowned a moment. “Kincaid could turn us both.”
Saintcrow nodded, though the idea of being a fledgling again was less than appealing. It had taken him hundreds of years to become as powerful as he was now. The idea of starting over, of being trapped in the dark sleep during the day … He swore softly. He hadn’t liked it a thousand years ago, and he didn’t like the idea now.
“He could, couldn’t he? Turn us both?”
Saintcrow nodded. Kincaid was a master vampire in his own right. Some of Jake’s centuries-old power would be passed on to him and Kadie.
“Are you angry with me?” Kadie asked.
“No, sweetheart.” The instinct to procreate was as old as Adam and Eve. He could hardly blame Kadie for wanting to experience motherhood. “I know you can’t get pregnant now,” he said solemnly. “But maybe we should go inside and practice.”
Kadie stared at him, wide-eyed, then grinned ear-to-ear as she grabbed his hand and led him to their basement lair. Even if she never got pregnant, she was always willing to try.
In the morning, Saintcrow got a call from the hotel manager saying that one of the guests insisted he’d been charged forfive nights when he had only stayed four and wanted to talk to the owner.
“Okay, Russ,” he said. “I’ll be there in ten minutes or so. And as long as I’m there, bring me yesterday’s receipts.”
“Trouble?” Kadie asked as he ended the call.
“Nothing serious,” he said, with a shrug. “But I sure miss the days when Ethan was here full-time to handle mundane things like this.”
“Why don’t you ask him to come back?”
“I did. He’s happy just being my partner. He loves what he’s doing now.” Ethan and Sofia had bought a house in Arizona when Jenny started school, fixed it up, and almost doubled their investment when they sold it a year or so later. Apparently, he and Sofia had a knack for flipping houses. Of course, moving every few years kept neighbors from getting too friendly or asking too many questions they would rather not answer. Couldn’t answer. After all, there were only so many excuses you could use to avoid lunch or dinner invitations or other neighborhood functions. It also meant that Jenny had to change schools frequently. So far, she didn’t seem to mind. That would likely change once she was in high school.
Pulling Kadie into his arms, he gave her a long, slow kiss. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She nodded, her lips still tingling from his kiss, her body aching for his touch. She stood there a moment, then shook her head. She couldn’t just sit around dreaming of him while he was gone. She needed to go to the store. She had never been crazy about cooking. That had been the best thing about being a vampire, she thought, with a grin. She’d never had to cook.
