First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World #1)(50)
Author: Jeaniene Frost

"Miscarriage?" Spade interrupted, gripping Crispin’s shoulders.

The smile wiped completely from his friend’s face. "Didn’t she tell you? Denise miscarried a few weeks after Randy’s murder. Doctors reckoned it was grief and stress. Afterward, she moved out of my home and I heard in her thoughts that she intended to pull away from our world. She ceased calling my wife or returning her calls the past couple months, so I figured she’d made the final break."

Spade closed his eyes. Denise didn’t just have guilt over her association with vampires for her husband’s death; she had it for her unborn child’s, too.

"No, she didn’t tell me."

Denise cared for him, yes, but with such a loss, would she be willing to relinquish her chance at motherhood forever for him? Vampires couldn’t impregnate humans. Cat had been the rarest fluke as a half-breed, and even then, her father had been undead by days only. Not centuries, as Spade was.

Crispin must have read some of that from his face, too. "Does Denise feel the same way about you?"

Spade opened his eyes. "I don’t know."

Denise stretched, rolling over. No one was on the other side of the bed, which she was used to, but then her eyes snapped open when she remembered this time, someone was supposed to be.

She sat up, looking around the room. It was large, yes, but a glance still told her Spade wasn’t in it.

It’s not unusual for him to be up before you, she reminded herself to cover that flutter of nervousness in her stomach. How long did he even stay? an insidious inner voice promptly asked. For all you know, he left right after you fell asleep.

She looked at the bed. The covers weren’t mussed where Spade would have slept. Her stomach plummeted. Maybe Spade did leave right afterward. Maybe she’d misconstrued what he’d said last night about this not being casual.

Or maybe she was being an idiot and Spade had just slept without messing his side of the bed and was now getting breakfast.

Hope battled with insecurity. She hadn’t dealt with this potentially awkward morning-after situation before. With Randy, the only other man she’d slept with this quickly, she knew how he felt beforehand. The other three guys, she’d dated for a while before sex came into the picture, so relationship parameters had been firmly established. Spade had said his feeling for her weren’t casual, but in the harsh light of day, that could mean many things, and a relationship wasn’t necessarily one of them.

Well, one thing she wouldn’t do was sit in bed and stew until Spade came back. Denise got up and went into the bathroom. Any situation was better faced with an empty bladder, a clean body, and a lack of morning breath.

After Denise emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later, though, the sight that met her eyes made her heart twist. Spade was in the bedroom, fully dressed, sitting on the couch, and he wasn’t alone.

When Bones’s dark brown gaze met hers, Denise almost burst into tears. Spade had called him to come get her. He’d even arranged for Bones to be here when she woke up, so there would be no messy scene. God, last night had been a one-nighter mercy f**k.

"Denise – " Spade began.

"No," she cut him off, holding up her hand. "Save it. Just give me a few minutes, Bones, and then I’ll be ready to leave."

She wasn’t looking at Spade anymore, but Bones’s face registered amazement. "You want to leave with me?"

"I told you, she’s not going anywhere," Spade snarled. Then it was impossible for Denise to ignore him, because he was right in front of her, gripping her arms. "What the devil has gotten into you?"

She laughed at that, a high-pitched, mirthless sound. "What the devil? Oh, good one, Spade. Har har! Well, it’s nothing you need to worry about anymore, is it? Thanks for your time. All your time, but really, the farewell f**k was unnecessary. A vibrator can last all night, too, vampire."

Bones cleared his throat tactfully. "Need a moment alone, mate?"

"It appears so," Spade replied in an icy tone, his eyes glittering emerald.

"Don’t," Denise said sharply when Bones got up. "I’m sure you’ll tell him all about it anyway, Spade. But then again, when Cat finds out, I hope she sticks something silver in you where the sun doesn’t shine!"

Spade’s grip lessened. "You think I rang Crispin to come get you. That’s why you’re acting this way."

"Why else is he suddenly here?" Denise demanded, horrified to feel tears well up in her eyes.

Spade leaned very close, his hands now stroking her face. "I didn’t ring him, I promise. He showed up uninvited, but it doesn’t matter. I told you before, you’re not going anywhere. You’re staying with me, where you belong."

He kissed her, slow and searching, until the tears dried from her eyes and warmth spread through her. Even so, that warmth was followed by fear. Her feelings for Spade weren’t just a combination of lust, gratitude, and friendship. She’d fallen for him. Hard. That was more than proved by her out-of-control reaction when she thought he’d called Bones to whisk her away. She was in way over her head emotionally, and she wasn’t sure she was ready.

"Bugger, what do you have on your arms?" a surprised voice asked.

Denise froze. Spade pulled away, revealing that Bones was right behind them. He stared at her bare forearms, revealed when the robe sleeves fell back after she’d wrapped them around Spade’s neck.

"Telly," Spade said.

Bones went across the room and flicked on the television, still set to blaring from last night. Then Bones came back and held out his hand.

Denise glanced at Spade. He nodded once, and she slid her hand into Bones’s cool grip, palm up. Bones looked at the tattoos closely, then a slight hiss escaped him.

"Brands." One word, almost inaudible to Denise with the blasting TV, even though Bones was less than a foot away. He took her other hand and his frown deepened.

"You should not have hidden this from me, Charles. Or you," Bones added to Denise.

"Mate," Spade said softly. "You don’t even know the half of it."

Denise tensed when Spade reached behind him and took a knife off the dresser. She knew what he intended, and it wasn’t the tiny prick of pain that made her flinch when he pierced the tip into her palm. Then Spade smeared the single drop onto his finger and held it out to Bones.

"Don’t say a word," Spade ordered in a dark tone.

With an arched brow, Bones took his friend’s finger and popped it into his mouth. Immediately his eyes changed to green and he jumped back, knocking Spade’s hand away.

"Christ Almighty!"

"Don’t say it." From Spade, with more vehemence.

The look Bones gave Denise made her tainted blood run cold. It was shocked, calculating…and pitying.