Runaway Vampire (Argeneau, #23)

The German shepherd laid her head back down with the little huff of sound that she usually made when she was content, and Mary lifted her head slightly to glance to the rather large arm that was wrapped around her from behind.

Dante, she thought. At least she hoped it was. Otherwise, she and Bailey were in the wrong place.

“Mary?”

She stilled at that whisper, then turned her own head and tilted it back to look at the handsome man presently wrapped around her.

Dante smiled and bent to press a kiss to her nose, then asked solemnly, “How is your head?”

Mary stiffened, her smile freezing, and then she sat abruptly upright, knocking his arm away and nearly sending Bailey tumbling to the floor as she grabbed her head and began to feel it. It felt fine. Normal, she thought with relief, but—

Climbing out of the blankets and over Bailey, she stumbled to the door next to the bed and into the bathroom to see if it truly was all right. Mary’s breath left her on a sigh of relief when she saw that her head was back to normal. Even the scar was gone, she noted, parting her hair to get a look at her scalp. There wasn’t even a thin line to show where the injury had been.

“It is all healed,” Dante said gently. “At least on the outside.”

Mary turned to glance at him and started to nod, but paused when she saw that he was naked. Again.

“Honestly, do you have an allergy to clothes or something?” she asked with exasperation. “Every time I turn around you’re naked.”

Dante’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to respond, then gasped in surprise when she suddenly leapt at him . . . literally. She jumped him like a monkey, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips as she covered his mouth with hers.

Dante chuckled into her mouth and caught her under the bottom to keep her from slipping before he turned and set her on the bathroom counter. Breaking their kiss then, he nuzzled her ear and murmured, “I think you like me naked.”

“I do,” Mary admitted huskily, pressing kisses to his shoulder as he nibbled at her ear. “You should always be naked.”

“Always?” he asked, tugging her nightgown off one shoulder.

“Always,” she assured him, pulling back to run her hands over his chest as he tried to bare hers. “Thank you for getting Bailey back.”

“She is a good dog, and you love her. I would not leave her behind,” he assured her solemnly, and then giving up on getting her nightgown down, he simply bent and closed his mouth over one nipple through the cloth.

Mary moaned as the cloth grew wet and his tongue moved it across her immediately erect nipple.

“How long was I out this time?” she asked on a gasp, arching her back.

Dante reached down to begin pushing her nightgown up her legs before answering. “Two days.”

“Two?” Mary muttered, lifting one butt cheek off the counter and then the other so that he could get the nightgown out from under her.

“You took a very serious head wound,” he said solemnly, and dropped her nightgown to cup her face between his hands. “You must never allow yourself to be so harmed again. I thought my heart would stop when I found you after the van crashed.”

Dante leaned down to kiss her gently and Mary sighed against his lips. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. I accidentally broke Bert’s neck when Ernie went for the dart gun.”

“Bert?” he asked with confusion. “One of the men was Ernie, but the other was Bob, not Bert.”

Mary smiled crookedly. “I didn’t know his name so I gave him a nickname.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “Bert and Ernie are dead.”

“Both of them?” she asked with surprise, and then grimaced. She’d seen her own head wound. Surely it would have killed a mortal? Why would she think Ernie would have made out any better?

“Yes, both are dead,” he said quietly, then raised his eyebrows and said, “You broke Ernie’s neck?”

“No, Bert’s,” Mary corrected. “Couldn’t you tell when you saw the bodies?”

“There was not much to see,” he said solemnly. “The van exploded on impact. If you had not flown out the windshield and into the post, you too would now be dead. Immortals are highly flammable.”

Her eyebrows lifted at this news, and then she bit her lip and asked, “And Tomasso?”

His shoulders drooped and he shook his head silently. “Lucian has people looking in Venezuela, but nothing yet.”

Mary sighed and leaned her forehead against his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, I am the one who is sorry. I promised to keep you safe and failed you. Twice. You have nothing to be sorry for,” he assured her quietly.