Bit the Jackpot (Vegas Vampires #2)(47)
Author: Erin McCarthy

Damn. She hated the whole mind-reading thing sometimes. She hadn’t completely mastered closing him out.

"I don’t think you’re a pansy! Not after last night. Not before last night either. I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of protecting yourself and me, it’s just that I’m a woman, and I care about you, and I’m going to worry. I can’t help it."

The eloquent response she received for all her efforts was just a grunt.

Geez, Alexis had been right when she’d said these male vampires were sensitive about their masculinity and territory.

"I heard that," he said, dropping his foot to the carpet and standing up.

Oops. Cara said, "Heard what?"Then took him in. He was wearing black pants, a black T-shirt that showed off some serious muscle, and the boots. It made her forget to worry for a second. "You look hot."

"Nice try," he said.

"What? It’s true." Cara looked at Seamus, visions of the night before dancing through her head, and suddenly she felt deluged and overwhelmed by emotion. Tears materialized from nowhere and dribbled out of her eyes. She launched herself at Seamus right as his expression turned from annoyed toalarmed .

"Hey, hey, what’s the matter?" He caught her up in his arms. " Shh. Come on now. Everything is fine. We’ll get this cleared up and we can go back to things being normal."

"What if you get hurt?" she said into his chest, embarrassed by her reaction but unable to stop herself.

"I’m a vampire. I’ll heal." He kissed the top of her head. "I have to go."

She clung tighter. "No."

He gave a soft laugh. "Cara. I’m going ten flights down, not toZimbabwe . I’ll be back in an hour."

"Let me go with you." Not that she could really be of any assistance, but at least she could watch his back.

"Hell no.You’re staying with Alexis." He gave her a squeeze,then tried to set her away from him.

Cara hung on. She was terrified and she wasn’t sure why. It was just a feeling just the lingering horror of seeing what had been done to Dawn, remembering the fear in Kelsey’s eyes, and the way they had ganged up three on one on Seamus that first night she’d met him.

"I love you," she said, in case she never got a chance to tell him. She wanted him to know, spoken out loud, of her own free will, instead of plucked from her thoughts.

Seamus stared down at her, his face relaxing. "I love you, too, Cara. When this is all settled and everything is safe I’m hoping I want I’m asking you to stay with me. Here, in our apartment."

"Yes." There was no other answer. It was what Cara wanted deep down inside of her. She couldn’t imagine going back to her old apartment, alone. She and Seamus both managed to lure out the best qualities in each other, and they had an amazing friendship paired with explosive passion.

With the rough backside of his thumb, he wiped a tear off her cheek. Then he kissed her, a hard, possessive, claiming kiss.

"I’ll take you down to Ethan’s now."

"Okay." She held his hand and let him lead her down the hall, trying damn hard to trust him.

When they got to Ethan and Alexis’s, the president was arguing with the First Lady. Or rather, he was arguing and she was agreeing.

"Alexis. I’m serious. You have to stay here."

"Okay," she said, sitting at their dining room table and flipping through a magazine.

"I’m serious," Ethan said from the doorway, while Cara still held on to Seamus’s hand.

Cara saw Alexis pause in turning a page. "I heard you. I agreed."

Ethan marched back over to his wife, face grim. "Alexis. You understand how important this is."

"Yes."

"You have to stay here with Cara."

Alexis slapped her magazine shut and glared at Ethan. "I saidokay . What the hell do you want from me?A pint of blood?"

Ethan relaxed and gave her a grin. "Not in front of our friends."

"Ha, ha," she said, but she gave him a small smile. "Be careful."

"Always."

Seamus extracted his hand from Cara’s as Ethan gave Alexis a kiss. Cara forced herself to keep her mouth shut and not give Seamus any warnings or advice he wouldn’t appreciate. If she weren’t careful, she’d be nagging him to wear a hat in winter and telling him not to run with a stake in his hands.

The minute the door closed behind them, Alexis stood up. "You need to change your shoes."

Cara glanced down at her flip-flops. "Why?"

"Because we’re going to follow them."

"But you just told Ethan you’d stay here." Cara stared at

Alexis, heart starting to race.She would feel so much better if she could just keep an eye on Seamus.

"Screw that. This keeping the home fires burning shit just isn’t for me, and Ethan knew that when he married me. He fully expects me to follow him. I think he’d be disappointed if I didn’t."

"I don’t think Seamus expects me to follow him."

"And you wouldn’t have if I didn’t, right?"

"True."

"But you want to, don’t you?"

"Yes."

"Then let’s go." Alexis opened up a drawer in the buffet and pulled out a rather serious-looking sword.

Cara must have made an involuntary sound of horror because Alexis glanced over at her. "Don’t worry. I’m trained to use it."

"It’s almost as big as you are," Cara said.

Alexis swung it up in one deft move and sliced through the six taper candles gracinga candelabra on the dining room table. The cut was swift and clean, and each candle toppled off in a silent death fall. The sword remained completely in Alexis’s control and she gave it a few swirls before resting the tip on the floor in front of her.

"Not a problem, though, I see," Cara amended.

"Nope.And I feel like Ninja vampire when I use it. It’s very cool. If you want, I can train you."

"Sure." Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to know how to defendherself . It seemed vampire politics created enemies and she was now the girlfriend of a powerful conservative party vampire.

"Could you teach me how to pole dance?" Alexis asked, tucking her blond hair behind one ear. "Ethan would love that."

"I could do that." And it gave her an idea for that night. She could surprise Seamus with a little routine.

"So are you in love with Seamus?"

"Yes," Cara admitted, feeling her cheeks go hot. She laughed. "Isn’t that just crazy? I always said I wouldn’t do this, fall head over heels, but I tell you I feel as sappy as a greeting card."

"I understand.Totally. I felt the same way." Alexis shook her head. "They have no idea how lucky they really are. Now let’s go save their asses."