Under a Vampire Moon (21 page)

She glanced to him and managed a laugh. “Why? Do I look terrified?”

“A bit,” he admitted gently.

Smiling, she shrugged. “I’m just nervous because I’ve never done this before. I’ll be fine once I get going,” she assured him and stepped up to the guide to allow him to clip her harness to the cable.

Christian listened absently as the guide told her to sit and stick her legs straight out in front of her. He then gave her instructions on keeping her right arm behind the pulley, and lightly grasping the cable with her gloved hand to help keep herself steady. Carolyn was nodding, but she still looked pale and Christian was about to ask again if she was sure she wanted to do this when the guide suddenly released her and Carolyn went zipping away.

He expected her to shriek her head off all the way across, so was amazed when a happy “weeee” sounded that lasted the entire ten seconds before she reached the next platform, and Christian relaxed and found himself grinning as he stepped forward for his turn. His woman had surprised him again. There was more to Christiana Carolyn Johnson Carver Connor than first met the eye, but then perhaps he should have expected as much from a woman who carried so many names, he thought as he was suddenly sailing through the sky toward the platform where she waited.

“Isn’t it a blast?” Carolyn cried, hopping up and down beside him as the guide worked to free him from the cable. “Oh my God, we have to do this again.”

Christian chuckled at her enthusiasm, as he was freed. “We will. There are something like eight or nine more platforms.”

“Yeah. But I mean another day even,” she said quickly. “Every day. We should do this every day we’re here.”

Christian laughed and urged her out of the way as they waited for the rest of their party, but paused when she said, “This is better than sex.”

That was damned insulting, considering they’d had sex three times in their sleep last night, and he’d thought it had been damned hot. As instructed he’d ensured that the first dream moved to her stoop and he’d happily repeated what had happened in real life, but even more happily had completed it pretty much the way his mother had suggested he would, but taking a little more time and care about it.

“Well, except for dream sex.”

Christian barely caught the mutter and asked quickly, “What?”

“Nothing,” she said flushing, but he’d heard her and it soothed his hurt ego and returned his good mood for the rest of the zip-line adventure.

“I
think I’m going to try the pistachio-crusted chicken breast.”

Christian glanced up from his menu at Carolyn’s words and smiled. It had been after noon when they’d returned from zip-lining and they’d decided to hire a car and head into town to have lunch and tour the market. Genie had sent for a car for them and they’d asked the driver about restaurants during the ride. He’d delivered them here, to this lovely, open-air pavilion on the seaside with artwork littered about and benches heaped with pillows.

“Sounds good,” Christian decided, setting his menu aside.

“You always order what I order,” Carolyn said on a laugh.

Christian shrugged. “And I always like it.”

“Hmm,” she said with amusement. “Well, if we have room for dessert, do me a favor and order the chocolate banana cake.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because I’m going to order the apple strudel, but I want to try the chocolate banana too. We can share.”

“Sounds good,” Christian repeated which made her laugh and shake her head as the waiter arrived. He poured them each an icy glass of water, took their order and slipped away, and Carolyn sat back against the pillow on her bench seat with a pleased little sigh. She glanced around at their picturesque surroundings, and then turned back and blurted out, “Beth wants me to have an affair while I’m here.”

Christian raised an eyebrow and teased, “Here? The benches look comfortable, but I think the other restaurant guests might not appreciate it.”

Carolyn blinked, flushed, and then tossed her napkin at him. “Not here, here. In St. Lucia, smarty-pants.”

“Oh,” he drawled with a grin and then asked, “How’s she feeling, by the way?”

“Well, she wasn’t retching this morning for a change, so I think she may be turning a corner,” Carolyn said, and then grimaced and added, “I sincerely hope so since the cruise to Soufriere is tomorrow.”

Christian nodded mildly, hoping she wasn’t. If Bethany was better and they went on the cruise it meant he wouldn’t get to see Carolyn all day. He’d already checked into getting a ticket on the day sail, but had been told it was fully booked. It was apparently a popular cruise.

“Anyway, she’s been bugging me about this vacation fling thing,” Carolyn said, returning to the subject she’d brought up.

“And how do you feel about it?” he asked. She seemed to want to talk about it.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted, biting her lip. “At first I was totally against it.”

His eyes narrowed. “But now?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about what you said last night . . .”

“What I said?” he asked uncertainly.

“You know, when we had to kiss? And you said to think of it like practice for when I met someone I wanted for a mate or whatever.”

Christian just blinked at her. She was completely relaxed about their kiss the night before which was rather unexpected considering her reactions to everything the first night. His mother had said she’d veiled things and made Carolyn think it was a pleasant kiss so that she would be comfortable with it, but he hadn’t expected this much comfort. What the hell had Marguerite done? He wondered and then recalled that Julius had said Carolyn hadn’t experienced real passion and that in her mind her husband’s kisses had been pleasant. Cripes, he thought picking up his glass of water, his mother had made the memory of their kiss a milk toast event.

“How am I at kissing?”

Caught by surprise, Christian choked on the water he was drinking and spat it everywhere during the coughing fit that followed.

“Oh, dear. That bad?” Carolyn asked dryly, helping him to mop up the mess he’d made when he finally stopped coughing.

“No, of course not,” he snapped and then sat back in his seat to stare at her. “What the hell does that have to do with Bethany wanting you to have an affair?”

“Well, like you said, kissing you is practice. But so would an affair be.” When his eyes widened incredulously, she rushed on, “I mean, I haven’t got a lot of experience and five years of sexual rejection from my husband—”

“I thought it was seven years,” he interrupted with a frown.

“It’s seven years since I’ve had sex. We’ve been separated for two though,” she pointed out.

“Oh, right,” Christian muttered.

“Anyway, that hasn’t exactly left me feeling confident in my attractiveness or skill in that area,” she said with a grimace. “I mean, frankly, up until now I haven’t even considered ever getting involved with a man again. I figured I’d just work and get a cat for company—or a hundred,” she muttered with a self-derision he didn’t understand. “And just grow old and wait to die, I guess.”

Christian frowned at the depression that settled over her, wanting to reassure her that she definitely wasn’t going to grow old alone with nothing but cats. Hell, if he had it his way, she wouldn’t grow old at all. But he couldn’t say any of that, of course, so bit his tongue and waited.

Still he was surprised when she suddenly brightened and said, “But now I’m thinking maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.”

“Oh?” he asked warily.

She nodded and leaned forward eagerly. “I think I’ve hit early menopause.”

Christian blinked several times. “Huh?”

“I’m having these dreams at night,” Carolyn admitted, flushing.

“Oh?” he repeated, one eyebrow sliding up his forehead. He knew exactly what dreams she was talking about, but he wasn’t supposed to. Besides, she looked half-embarrassed and half-eager and wholly adorable and he just wanted to hear her admit to having sex dreams. “What kind of dreams?”

“Er . . .” Her flush deepened, but she straightened her shoulders and admitted in a whisper, “Wet dreams, and they’re really . . . um . . . steamy,” she admitted turning an even brighter red and then rushed on, “And I’ve never had them before so it must be menopause. Right?”

“Steamy, huh?” Christian asked. They hadn’t just been steamy for him. They’d been hot as hell. Widening his eyes innocently, he asked, “Who was in them?”

“Er,” she said again, and then dropped her gaze and waved her hand vaguely, “Oh, just some celebrity sort.”

“Like Brad Pitt?” he asked, feeling bad for making her uncomfortable and thinking to offer her an easy lie, but she recoiled in horror at the suggestion.

“Oh, good lord, no! He isn’t hot. I mean I suppose he is, but he isn’t as hot as— And he’s a blond,” she said, her voice rising as she cut herself off.

“Ah.” Christian bit his lip. She thought he was hotter than Brad Pitt. Gia said every woman on the planet wanted Brad Pitt. But he was hotter to Carolyn. God, he loved her.

The thought resounded like a gong through the sudden dead silence in his head. Christ, had he really just thought that? Yes he had, Christian acknowledged, but supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. She was his life mate. It was inevitable that he’d come to love her. But up until now he’d just been thinking lustful, claim-her-and-make-her-his thoughts. He hadn’t expected these other softer feelings to creep up on him so quickly.

“Anyway, aside from the dreams I think I’m having hot flashes.” Carolyn’s words caught his attention.

“Hot flashes?” he echoed uncertainly. She was far too young to have hot flashes, wasn’t she? He didn’t know. It wasn’t something often discussed among his people, but it was on the news on occasion and he’d always thought it hit later.

“Yeah,” Carolyn said with a sigh. “At least I think so. I woke up last night in a terrible sweat and . . . er . . . all worked up.”

Well, that explained the abrupt end to the third and final sexual dream they’d shared last night, he thought. It had stopped abruptly, stirring him from sleep and leaving him too frustrated and wound up to sleep again.

“I was shaking too and kind of panicky,” Carolyn said with a frown. “It was a bit scary, actually, but it got better after I got up and had something to eat.” She grimaced at the memory. “Anyway, I think it must have been a hot flash, although I don’t recall reading anything about anxiety and shaking with hot flashes.”

“So,” Christian said and paused when his voice came out a husky growl, cleared his throat, and tried again. “So, having these dreams and . . . er . . . hot flashes has made you decide maybe you want to have an affair?”

“Well, there’re your kisses too,” she said with an embarrassed laugh.

“My kisses?” he asked with interest.

Expression turning solemn, she nodded. “I know you’re gay, and you would be far too young for me even if you weren’t, Christian. I know better than to be attracted to you or anything.”

“Er,” he muttered, not sure how he was supposed to respond to that one.

“But you are a very good kisser,” Carolyn assured him.

“Er,” he said again, but he was grinning this time.

“And I’ve decided I like kissing, and want more of it,” she announced.

Christian continued to grin until she rushed on, “But with a straight man my own age, of course. I mean I know you and I will probably have to kiss again while you’re here, for your brother’s sake, and I honestly don’t mind. It’s good practice, like you said, but it makes me think I might want to find someone else to kiss me too.”

“What?” Christian scowled.

“Well, not while I’m helping you, of course,” she reassured him. “I mean, it’s not like I’d find anyone at honeymoon hell anyway. But I’m thinking that after you guys leave, Bethany and I should move to another resort, one where there are more single men, and then I can practice kissing and other stuff.”

“What other stuff?” he asked, outraged.

“Well . . . you know,” she said, with a grimace. “Other stuff.”

Christian scowled at her for the very suggestion, but she wasn’t paying attention. She was peering thoughtfully upward, several expressions flitting across her face. “Although, you know, now that I think about it, maybe we don’t have to wait until the end of the week.”

“
What
?” he asked with dismay.

“Well, think about it,” she said cheerfully, her gaze returning to his. “If Bethany and I were to move to another resort, you could tell them you were coming to see me and we could hit the nightclubs and pick up guys together.”

“Pick up guys together!”
he cried, and then glanced around when she shushed him. Several people were looking their way. He scowled at them briefly, but turned back and lowered his voice. “Let me get this straight . . . a day or two ago you were totally not interested in a fling, but a couple of dreams and hot flashes later and you’re ready to go out and—”

“Well, they’re
very
hot dreams,” Carolyn said almost apologetically. “I mean, if the real thing is even half as nice, it’s miles ahead of anything I’ve experienced.” She paused and then admitted, “I don’t think Robert was very good at it. Which means I probably haven’t got a clue. I mean some of the things in those dreams . . . ” She flushed and waved her hand in front of her face. “I don’t even know where they came from. I mean, you—” She paused abruptly, looking alarmed, and then cleared her throat. “I mean, the guy in the dreams seemed to really know his business. But of course, that was in my mind.” She sighed. “It must come from books I’ve read or something. I usually skip the sex scenes, but I must have picked up a thing or two in the few I’ve read.” Carolyn glanced at him. “But, still, a dream is one thing and real life is another.”