Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [960]
Cherry and Zane came out from between the cars just ahead of us. “We thought you’d gotten lost,” she said, smiling.
“You guys let everyone into the house?” I asked.
Her smile faded. “Yes, I hope that was okay.”
I smiled. “It’s okay, Cherry, really. If I’d been thinking, I’d have arranged for someone to let them in.”
She relaxed visibly and dropped to her knees in front of me. I offered her my left hand. I was keeping my right hand free in case I had to draw my gun. Not likely, but you never know. Cherry gripped my hand in both of hers and rubbed her face against it like a cat marking its scent. The other formal greeting involved licking, but I’d finally convinced all of my cats that face rubbing was about all I was comfy with.
Zane went to his knees beside Cherry but didn’t try to grab my right hand. He waited until she was done with my left. I’d also broken them of being grabby with my gun hand. He rubbed his face on my hand, and there was the faintest roughness alongside his jaw, as if he’d missed a spot when he shaved.
Cherry rubbed herself against my legs while Zane greeted me. It was like being body-rubbed by a really big cat that just happened, at the moment, to be in human form. The first few times it had happened, I’d freaked. But it just didn’t strike me as that strange anymore. I wasn’t sure if that was good or sort of sad.
When the greeting was over, Zane said, “We’ve got the extra key, so we took care of the company.” They were both standing now, like good little people—alright, good tall people, whatever.
“Good, though I had no idea we’d have this big a crowd.”
They fell into step, one on either side of us, and I could feel Cherry beside me. I could feel her energy like a vibrating line against my body. I’d never sensed her this strongly before. Just another nail in the coffin on the Nimir-Ra question. The evidence was getting thick enough that if I hadn’t been so damn good at self-delusion, I’d have had to admit it by now. But I’d had enough for one day. I needed a pass on this one tonight. So I ignored it, and if Cherry felt anything different, she didn’t say.
It was Zane who put his face next to Nathaniel and sniffed him as we walked. “You smell like fresh wounds.” He touched Nathaniel’s back where it showed above the tank top. I knew there were bite marks up around his shoulders, all the way up to his neck. I should have known we couldn’t hide it. Hell, even with clothes covering it, they’d have smelled it.
“What have you been doing?” Zane asked. “Or should I say who?”
Nathaniel didn’t even glance at me. He was going to leave it all to me—what was said and what wasn’t. Smart of him. Or maybe he just didn’t know what to say either. I tried to think of a lie that would explain it, and nothing that didn’t make Nathaniel sound slutty came to mind. Either he’d had sex with some strange woman, or . . . or what? The truth? I didn’t want to tell the truth until I was sure how I felt about it. Knowing me, that could take at least a couple of days.
Cherry and Zane circled Nathaniel in ever-tightening circles, until their bodies brushed him as they moved around him. They bumped him continuously, like a shark testing to see if you’re good to eat.
“Come on guys, we don’t have time for this. We need to get to the lupanar and rescue Gregory.”
Zane dropped to his knees beside Nathaniel, running his hands over the smaller man’s body. Zane’s hands slid under Nathaniel’s tank top.
“Zane, get up,” I said.
Cherry stepped very close to Nathaniel, looking down at him, putting a hand under his chin to lift his face to her, as if she meant to kiss him. “Who was it?”
“That’s Nathaniel’s business,” I said. Nathaniel