Outtakes From the Grave

My first impulse was to run as far as my legs could take me. Bones’s stare promised to hold me to any vow I made, and I didn’t think I could handle losing all my defenses. He wasn’t offering guarantees either. He couldn’t. In life, there were none.

  I looked at his pale skin, broad palm, tapered fingers, and short nails. I knew a lot of the history behind that hand, and most of it wasn’t pretty. The violence in his past was only exceeded by the licentiousness, and maybe more. Maybe I didn’t really want to discover everything about Bones.

  And yet in the end, none of my concerns mattered. This was Bones, and I’d never been able to help myself when it came to him.

  My hand covered his like steel to a magnet. Even if it destroyed me—and hell, it probably would—I still couldn’t do anything else.

  Bones drew a knife out with his other hand. I gave him a questioning look as he pressed it to my palm.

  “I don’t remember doing this before, and until I have my other memories back, I want something of my own.”

  The knife scored my palm, blood welling up in the cut. He released me and then cut his hand the same way.

  “Claim me as yours, Catherine.”

  An offer and a demand. I met his eyes while taking his hand with mine, feeling his blood start to heal me on contact.

  “By my blood, you are my husband,” I said softly.

  His hand tightened on mine. “By my blood, you are my wife. Forever.”

  I gave him a small, almost shy smile. “You want to kiss the bride?”

  He didn’t smile back. Instead, his expression was very serious. “Yes.”

  This time his kiss was restrained. I was the one who flicked my tongue inside his mouth, craving his taste. Then I was the one who wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer.

  His restraint vanished. He tangled his hand in my hair, tipping my head back and opening my mouth farther while he ravished the inside. I clutched him, suddenly feeling dizzy. His other hand ran down my back, shifting me until our hips lined up. Then he kissed me deeper while the bulge in his pants hit my most sensitive spot.

  At the feel of him there, that denied, starved part of me reared up and said, now. Not later, not back at the house. Right. Now.

  My hands raced down his back, his chest, his stomach—I couldn’t stop touching him. Bones let out a harsh moan and lifted me up. My feet made contact with several people as he pushed through the crowd to the exit, but he made it there so fast they probably didn’t know what had hit them.

  He moved just as swiftly through the parking lot, still kissing me with a hunger that made me oblivious to anything else. Once we reached the car, Bones deposited me on the front seat, but I didn’t let go. I pulled him on top of me, barely registering the sound of the car door slamming shut.

  He wrestled out of his jacket without breaking his mouth’s contact with me. All the while, that bulge continued to rub me in the most inflaming, erotic way. The intimate friction ripped away the last of my control, making me insane with need. He made a rough noise when I wrapped my legs around him, then I felt the seat go all the way back.

  His shirt came off with a single, impatient tug, then with a jerk, he split apart my blouse and bra. When my breasts touched him, skin on skin, the contact drove me out of my mind. I twisted against him in mute demand, not caring that I could barely breathe from his ceaseless, devouring kisses. His hands went to my jeans, and after a rip, he pulled them down my legs.

  “Don’t stop touching me,” I gasped, burning to feel his hands on me again. Even the seconds he’d spent taking off my jeans was too long.

  “I can’t stop,” he growled. Then he tore at the front of his pants.

  I writhed under him, digging my nails into his back, my whole body thrumming. “Bones—!”

  His name ended in a cry as he thrust inside me. My loins clenched at the excruciating pleasure as he moved deeper, stretching me with his length and thickness. I latched my mouth on his neck, straining toward him while my nails raked down his back.

  Words spilled out of me, but I didn’t know what they were. My heart beat so loudly it deafened me. Those deep, hard thrusts had me sobbing with ecstasy. Every nerve ending sizzled, and my muscles tensed as he increased his pace until I heard myself crying out for more in a voice that broke from passionate sobs.

  Bones yanked my hips up, tilting me as he pushed so deeply inside me that I screamed. He leaned forward, increasing the erotic pressure, and rocked hard and rhythmically. Blasts of pleasure shot through me. That boiling tension ruptured all at once, shaking me with the orgasm. He didn’t pause, and his continued movements kept me shouting with passion. After a few minutes, his hands clamped on my hips while his whole body tensed. A hoarse cry was followed by a throb deep within as his climax vibrated through me, and I reveled in the feel of it.

  After several moments, he shifted to rest his weight on his arms, waiting until I stopped hyperventilating before he kissed me.

  “Bloody hell, luv, I’m trembling.”

  I gasped out a laugh at the surprise in his voice. “You always do.”

  “No,” he whispered. “I don’t.” Then concern skipped across his features. “Did I hurt you? Didn’t mean to lose control like that—”

  “Do I feel hurt to you?” I interrupted with another breathless laugh.

  He smiled and it melted me to see it. He was still inside me, still hard, and it felt so right that I thought I’d cry.

  I didn’t because in the next instant, red and blue lights flashed behind him. Bones let out a vile curse just a voice boomed out, “Police! Come out with your hands up!”

  “Are you out of your bloody mind?” he thundered back.

  “What’s going on?” I managed to say before he lifted me out from under him, pushing me into the backseat.

  “Stay down. Stupid sods just cocked their guns,” he muttered.

  Guns? “Wait—”

  “They’re only human, I’ll tidy this right up,” he said, cutting me off. “There’s a bit of a crowd out there, Catherine. Put this shirt on.”

  I was half sitting on his shirt in the backseat, but my clothes were nowhere in sight, so I grabbed it.

  “Coming out, lads, nice and easy,” Bones called out.

  “With your hands up,” the bullish cop reminded him.

  Bones opened the door and stretched out his hands. Meanwhile, I scrambled to put on his shirt.

  “Nobody move in the car!” came the next bellow.

  “It’s just my wife, mate, no harm. Come and see for yourself.”

  Bones was using his vampire voice, raising the hairs on the back of my neck with its timbre. Since I was no longer mindless from lust, I could now hear and see the small crowd hanging out behind the police. Well, what did I expect? Noisy sex in a parking lot was bound to get noticed.

  One of the two policemen approached, and I blushed when I saw Bones get out of the car wearing nothing but his shoes. Thank God the other cars blocked most of him from the bar patrons’ view.

  “Obviously I’m not armed, so let me explain,” he said in the same reasonable, echoing tone.

  Once the officer was close enough, Bones hit him with his gaze. His eyes gleamed only for an instant, but it was enough.

  “Tell your partner that all’s well and to come over here,” he instructed him quietly.

  “Jack, come on over,” the cop intoned, lowering his gun. “It’s okay, there’s no assault in progress.”

  Inwardly, I ground my teeth. People had called the police because they thought there was an assault going on? That’s what I got for being a screamer!

  “Ed?”

  The other cop hadn’t lowered his gun. He was still cautious, good for him. But he did come closer. Bones waited until the officer’s back was to the crowd before his gaze lit up again.

  “Nothing’s going on. False alarm, right, mate? We’re leaving and you won’t even report this.”

  “Sure,” the cop said with the same glazed look as his partner, Ed. He
even smiled. “You folks take care now, you hear?”

  “Thanks ever so,” Bones replied with less graciousness. “Now tell those bloody people to mind their own business and go back inside.”

  “Folks, there’s nothin’ going on here.” Officer Ed’s voice rang out as he waved at the onlookers. “Go on back inside before I start checking licenses and insurance!”

  That got results. With grumbles, the people dispersed. There were a few whistles and some lewd comments, but soon only a couple of gawkers remained.

  “Right then, gents, off you go.”

  Bones waited until the police got back in their car before he walked around to the driver’s side, totally nonchalant about his nudity. In the interim, I’d gotten his shirt on, grateful that it hung to my thighs since my panties were in tatters and my jeans were ruined. Almost getting arrested postcoitus was definitely a mood kill.

  “Here.” I handed him his pants when he opened the door. “Zipper’s ripped, but they’ll cover you.”

  Bones stepped into them and then got in the car. I crawled back into the front seat and adjusted the lever until the seat was upright once more. We drove off with a spin of tires, me closing my eyes at the whole scene.

  “This was my fault, Catherine, I’m sorry,” Bones said.

  I kept my eyes shut even though it was pointless. “You weren’t the one who screamed so loud that someone called the police.”

  “Perhaps not, but I should have controlled myself until we were back at the house. Even worse, I lost complete awareness of my surroundings. It’s a damn good thing only coppers stumbled on us, or I could have gotten you killed.”

  I let out a watery laugh. “I’m just as much to blame as you are, and if you’d tried to put the brakes on before, there would have been an assault in progress.”

  He chuckled. “This isn’t the way I intended things to go tonight, but I’ll make it up to you as soon as we get back.”

  I sighed. “I’ve got two words that’ll make you forget all about that plan.”

  “Indeed?” He sounded highly skeptical.

  “Omaha, Nebraska,” I said, and opened my eyes.

  “Bugger,” Bones said with feeling.

  I nodded. “Yup.”

  While I’d watched the drama with Bones and the police, additional things had caught my attention. License plates. The city’s name painted on the cop’s car. The radio dispatcher in the background, giving street addresses and codes. In short, my exact location.

  Bones pulled his cell out, dialing. The other end picked up on the first ring.

  “Hallo, Charles. … No, we’re fine. We’re on our way back, but we ran into a spot of trouble. Catherine knows where we are. … Yes. … Right. … See you within the hour.”

  He hung up. “They’ll start preparations. I’ll ask you to settle back and close your eyes. You know the city, but there’s no need to make it easy for Gregor to find the house. We’re going to drive about for a bit to throw you off from the exact distance.”

  “Can we stop at a gas station?”

  “Why? We have petrol… Oh, right.” He caught on. “Of course.”

  I did have to pee, but that wasn’t my only reason for wanting to visit a bathroom. The insides of my thighs were wet, and trotting into a house full of vampires like that didn’t appeal. Add me wearing only his shirt, and Bones might as well write Got Laid! on his forehead.

  Bones went to the nearest service station and got the restroom key for me. I stayed in the car, watching with dark amusement the looks the counter clerk gave him. He was still shirtless and there was a nice big tear along the inseam of his pants. It was a damn good thing Bones healed so fast, or the various scratch marks and hickeys would have been even more incriminating.

  After I answered nature’s call, I freshened up as best I could with paper towels, water, and liquid soap. A hot shower would have been preferable, but that wasn’t in the cards. We’d probably be leaving right after we got back to the house.

  Bones materialized next to me when I came out of the bathroom, making me jump. I’d thought he was still waiting in the car.

  “You scared me,” I said with a little laugh.

  He cast a look down the front of me. “Do you regret making love to me?”

  I hadn’t expected that. “Why would you… What…?”

  “Simple yes or no, Catherine,” he said, gripping my shoulders and giving me that unblinking gaze.

  “No! I mean, I regret what happened afterward with the cops, but… Why, do you?”

  “Of course not.” He let go. “Then why did you wash as though I’d fouled you?”

  He was offended that I’d cleaned up? Okay, that was new.

  “Because it’s tacky to walk around like that! I know how well vampires can smell, and there’s a bunch of them waiting back at the house. Grant me a little dignity, will you?”

  “Tacky?” Bones appeared to mull the word. “We have a difference of opinion. I’m in no hurry to wash your scent from me. In fact, I can’t wait until it’s all over every inch of me.”

  Whoa. Guess Annette had been right about suggestion number two!

  A low laugh escaped him. “You’re blushing again. I’m finished holding back—you are absolutely stunning. Do you know why I laughed the first time I saw you? Because I still half thought it was a prank. Charles tells me a lurid tale about an archenemy, a forgotten marriage, and a spell to induce amnesia, then in walks this exquisite girl who’s supposed to be my wife. It didn’t even seem possible.”

  He kissed me then, quick and fervent. I didn’t even have a chance to respond before he ended it.

  “Let’s go. It seems I don’t have any willpower when I kiss you. Later I’ll kiss and taste every inch of you. I won’t be able to think about anything else until then.”

  With far more unsteadiness than before, I got into the car. No, it wasn’t a good idea for him to kiss me. I wanted more when he did that too, and there were only so many gas stations between here and the house.

  ***

  Thankfully, no one batted an eye when we arrived in our different attire. Bones gave me his coat to wear, so I was decently covered, at least. He only wore his torn pants and shoes, but there wasn’t time for winks and nudges. Mencheres drew him aside as soon as we crossed the threshold, and I went straight to my bedroom to change. Denise and Spade were loading up the car from what I overheard, and Annette was chatting with Fabian, so someone else must be collecting her bags. From the bustle of activity, we’d be leaving soon.

  I threw some things into a suitcase that had been laid out on the bed. Already, most of my other things were packed, judging from the empty drawers and the suitcases by the door. A glance in Bones’s room showed a freckle-faced teenager hefting some bags toward the door. He smiled at me and told me he’d be back to get mine. Okay, so we were leaving very soon.

  Spade came to get me ten minutes later. “Come with me, Cat. I’ll show you to your car.”

  “Where’s Bones?”

  He gave me a jaded smile. “Still with Mencheres, I expect.”

  That sounded faintly ominous. “It’s not his fault,” I said at once. “I’m the one who didn’t shut my eyes in the parking lot—”

  “Quite.” Spade interrupted me with a laugh. “Crispin knew when he took you out that you might discover your location. He chose to do it anyway, and now he’s being held to task for it. Don’t fret. Mencheres is just giving him the rough edge of his opinion.”

  Spade’s demeanor was far friendlier. Ever since Vlad had torched his house, he’d been a little prickly around me.

  “Why are you in such a good mood? Happy about a change of scenery?”

  “My best friend is happier,” he responded instantly. “Come now, Cat. If Denise were the one who’d unwittingly cheated on me and I treated her with cool judgment, how would you respond? Especially if she was truly regretful? You’d be skinning off pieces of my arse and we both know it, so can you blame me for wanting to do likewise?” r />
  Well, that was honest. Put in those terms, he also had a point. I’d julienne him if he hurt Denise. Guess he’d fought similar compulsions.

  “If I didn’t love him so much, I’d be more logical,” I said at last.

  Spade smiled. “I know.” Then he chuckled and gave my ass a quick smack. “That’s why this is still intact, without my boot stuffed up there.”

  I slapped at his hand, but he’d already moved it away. Then he took my suitcases, using one to gesture with.

  “Come along, Reaper. Let’s get lost again.”

  ***

  An unknown human was at the wheel of the car Spade led me to. He hadn’t bothered to introduce us. That no-name policy, I guessed. As soon as Bones got in, we left. A whole caravan of vehicles was going also, from the sound of it. I had my eyes closed. No need to give Gregor a mental image of things. Wait until he peeked into my mind and found out that I’d had sex with Bones. The thought almost made me smile.

  Cool arms settled around me as Bones repositioned me until my head was on his chest. Then something light was placed over me.

  “Go on, luv. Open your eyes.”

  I did and saw a dark sheet covering both of us. It felt like we were kids paying tent, and I bit back the urge to ask if he’d brought a flashlight.

  Bones smiled. “Now at least we can look at each other while we speak. We’ll be driving round two hours before we switch transportation modes. I know you’re tired, but don’t sleep until after that.”

  “I’m not that tired. I usually don’t sleep until dawn, anyway.”

  A dark brow rose. “You’ve been abed before midnight all week. That’s not your normal routine?”

  I decided on an honest answer. “I was avoiding you. First it was because I was mad, and then when I was around you, I’d either babble or do something completely embarrassing. Hiding in my room felt like the lesser of two evils.”

  Bones caught my hand in his. “You’re not hiding any longer, right?”

  It didn’t escape my notice that he held the same hand he’d used for our blood oath.

  “No,” I said quietly. “Not anymore.”