Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [961]
“If it were Zane, or me, yes,” Cherry said. “But while you were in the hospital these last few days we decided that Nathaniel has to run all girlfriends past the pard before he does anything intimate with them.”
“As Nimir-Ra, don’t I have like presidential veto?”
Cherry looked at me. “Of course, but you have to agree with checking out people for Nathaniel. He nearly got you killed again.”
I did agree, but just not that night. That night, of all nights, I wanted everyone to mind their own business. No one cared a damn who slept with whom—until now. It figures. I make my first indiscreet move with one of them, and I was going to have to confess, even though I still didn’t know how I felt about it. I opened my mouth to say, It was me, but I stopped when I saw the next wereleopard coming down the street. Of all of them, she was the one I least wanted to talk in front of about intimate matters.
It was Elizabeth. Her walk was always a cross between a strut and a glide, the ultimate hooker’s walk. She strode from between the cars on Caleb’s arm, and there was a self-satisfied smile on her face that said either she didn’t know I was angry with her or she was confident I couldn’t do anything about it. She was taller than Caleb by nearly five inches. Her hair fell in curls to her waist, a brunette so dark you would have called it black if you didn’t have my hair to compare it to. She was pretty in a pouting, lush sort of way, like some sort of tropical plant with thick, fleshy leaves and beautiful but deadly blossoms.
She was wearing a skirt so short the tops of her black hose and the garters that held them up showed. Her shoes were black sandals with a lower heel than she usually wore. After all, we were going to be tramping through the woods. The shirt was sheer enough that even by starlight you could see she wasn’t wearing a bra, and she, like me, was a woman who needed one.
Caleb was wearing a pair of bell-bottom jeans, no shoes, no shirt. The jeans were cut low enough to show off his belly-button ring. I was too young to remember wearing bell-bottoms personally, but I did remember my older cousins competing to see who could get the widest bell. Even as a child I’d thought the pants were ugly. Time had not changed my opinion.
Caleb looked pretty satisfied himself. I was betting they’d had sex together, but it wasn’t any of my business who they fucked. Honest it wasn’t.
“I’m glad you’ve had a good night, Elizabeth.”
She squeezed Caleb’s arm. “Oh, it’s been a very, very good night.”
“I’m glad, because it’s about to get very, very bad,” I said.
She fake-pouted at me. “Oh, did our little Nimir-Ra get her feelings hurt because I wouldn’t come and sleep naked beside her?”
I had to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” she asked. Caleb started moving away from her, pulling free.
“Why is it that you don’t think I’ll kill you, Elizabeth?”
“For what?” she asked.
“Oh, maybe for deserting Nathaniel at the club and letting the bad guys get him, which led to me nearly getting killed, and maybe becoming Nimir-Ra for real.”
“I’m tired of baby-sitting him,” she said. “He used to be a lot of fun, but not anymore. He’s got standards now.”
“Meaning that he won’t fuck you anymore,” I said.
The first touch of real anger slid across her face. “We used to have some real good times, Nathaniel and me.”
“Not good enough, apparently,” I said.
She strode up to stand beside Cherry, which put her very close to me. She truly wasn’t afraid of me, and I knew why—or thought I did. She’d been insulting, arrogant, and a downright pain in the ass since I took over the pard and I hadn’t hurt her. I’d let it all slide, because, as she was so happy to point out, I could shoot her, but I couldn’t really punish her. Punish to a shapeshifter means either beat the shit out of them or do some mystical crap that scares the shit out of them. She was right. I couldn’t do the