35. Turning the Tables
Chapter thirty-five
Turning the Tables
Nicolette
“ N icolette,” Julian whispered anxiously. His fingers danced down my bare skin.
I blinked awake and curled tighter against him, smiling. Remembering. Oh. Wow. It had been quite a night. A night I would never forget. Let’s just say Booth and Bones could have taken pointers from us.
“Are you all right, love? Do you feel obsessed? What have I done?” Julian lamented.
I popped up and propped myself on his bare chest. “Would you like me to give you a play-by-play?” I teased, even though the world seemed to be burning around us.
Emotions were running high because of it, and last night’s good-night kiss . . . well . . . it had turned into so much more. As he had kissed away my tears and told me I was worth any sacrifice, I had wanted to be one with him. I wanted to be his wife. I loved him.
Sure, I probably should have thought about the whole obsession thing a little more, but in the heat of the moment, it just felt right. Human, even.
And I still felt human. Like me. I wondered why that was. Again, I probably should have been a little more cautious, considering I could have thrown away my sanity. But honestly, not making love to Julian had felt like the more insane choice. Regardless, I was grateful I hadn’t woken up possessed.
“Nicolette, this is no time for jokes. How are you feeling? Are you feeling mad? Out of control? Do you hate me for what I’ve done to you?”
“Uh, definitely not. Feel free to do it all again.”
“You’re obsessed. I’ve ruined you,” he groaned.
I giggled and mussed his already-rumpled hair.
“You’re being ridiculous. I feel fine. Great, even.
You know, except for the psycho who wants to kill me.
But other than that, I’m in complete control of myself.
And I think it’s normal to be a little obsessed with each other.
We’re newlyweds. And let me just say: bravo. Like, you are amazing. Really.”
I shivered just thinking about it.
But then a thought hit me. “Was it good for you? Are you not at all obsessed with me?” Not that I wanted him to be out of control or to start stalking me. But I had been hoping for a tiny bit of You’re freaking amazing; where have you been for the last six hundred years?
Julian growled low and primal before he flipped me over and hovered inches above me, the same passion from last night burning in his eyes.
“You were incredible, and I would have you again and again,” he murmured, “but let us be certain we weren’t too heady. Even though I had wondered, given your blood’s effect on me, if you would be different. Regardless, we should be cautious. I would hate myself if our love turned into obsession.”
“Okay,” I said, disappointed. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait?” Was this like a don’t swim for an hour after you eat kind of scenario? Because that wasn’t a real thing.
“I don’t know. You’re the first human I’ve made love to in this state.”
“Why does that make me happy?” I grinned.
He gently brushed my lips, careful not to ignite any sparks. “You make me happy.”
“Same.” I meant it. As crazy as our lives were, he made me happy. And I was ready to get on with our lives, as complicated as it was going to be. How did a human and a vampire have a life together? Was there a solution to his human problem? One that didn’t put us in more danger?
Julian gently wrapped me up in his arms, and my head fell on his chest.
For several minutes, he just held me as the early-morning light crept in through a peek in the curtains. So many emotions silently played between us.
“Julian, I’m so sorry. I feel like I’m taking your dream away from you.”
“You are my dream. And I realized yesterday: I had for so long hated what I was that I didn’t stop to think about what I would be missing if I ever became human again.
I feared yesterday that I wouldn’t be able to protect you.
I brought you into this world and put a mark on your back, and if we continue the way we are, I can’t even keep you safe from the danger I’ve put you in. For that, I’m the sorry one.”
I drew circles on his bare chest with my finger. This felt like a no-win situation. I was going to grow old while he never aged. But I feared if I pursued a cure, neither of us would live long.
“It all seems so unfair. Maybe I can find a solution.” What that would be, I didn’t know.
“Shh.” Julian rubbed my back. “There will be no more talk of it. I made my choice. You. But . . . I’ve been thinking. We need to go on the offensive instead of simply playing defense.”
I stilled against him. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“If only we knew what secret they were after. We could dangle that in front of them. Draw them out.” Julian sighed.
“That would be helpful. But . . .” I thought for a moment. “Maybe we don’t need to know.”
“What do you mean, darling?”
I propped myself up. “Well, what do we know? This killer knows my name, knows I’m working on a cure, knew my mother, and is obviously close enough to watch us and leave notes.
So my guess is that they want access to research.
Probably my mother’s, given the second note about her secrets.
What if this killer knew she was working on something big?
Yesterday’s note compared me to her. So .
. . what if we dangle my mother’s research in front of them?
Honestly, there’s so much of it, I haven’t even gone through it all or deciphered half of it. ”
“Which makes it all the more dangerous. We cannot let it fall into this fiend’s hands.”
“We won’t. We’ll just let them think it has.
All we have to do is create a decoy file—something that looks like a major breakthrough—and leave it on my mother’s laptop or a USB drive.
Then we ‘accidentally’ leave it somewhere tempting.
I can embed a digital tracer in it, something that pings us the moment it’s opened.
And voilà—we find the traitor, and you can do your thing . Which I don’t want to see, by the way.”
I shuddered at the thought.
Julian grinned and kissed me. “First of all, you are brilliant. And secondly, I have no intention of killing anyone in front of you. The pleasure will be all mine.”
“Duly noted. We just need to come up with a plan for how to casually mention my mother’s research in front of each suspect, which at this point is everyone.”
“You’re right. We can’t be too careful.”
I was glad we were on the same page. “So, how do we go about this? And . . . what do we do about Delia?” She’d been on my mind a lot since the day before. “With the plasma treatment not working for her and her bloodlust at an all-time high, she’s dangerous.”
“She could be the stalker, for all we know.”
“True. But if she’s not . . .”
“She can never know about the enzyme in your blood,” Julian cut me off. “No one must ever know. Burn the research, all your files about it and the Hart Factor.”
“But—”
“There will be no argument,” he said sharply.
I raised my eyebrows.
“I’m sorry for being so harsh, but I love you.” He cupped my face with his hands, his thumbs gently brushing my cheeks. “I won’t let anything happen to you. We will figure out the Delia situation. But not with your blood.”
“All right.” The wife in me agreed. The scientist in me struggled. But she knew we had played with fire before we had an extinguisher handy. This world I found myself in was turning out to be even more than I’d bargained for.
“So, what is our plan?”
“First”—he slyly grinned—“I’m going to make love to my wife. Then I’m going to gain my strength back. I need my senses sharp. And then we plan.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” I whispered as I snuggled back into him. I just prayed my blood hadn’t permanently harmed him. That in my haste to discover a cure, I hadn’t ruined our chance to be together.
Who would have ever thought I would be in love with a vampire?
Not me.