"It's the square-headed key," he told her. "The silver one."

She inserted the key in the lock, then slid the doors open and pushed the drapes aside to step in. The place was open and airy, its kitchen and dining room combined in one broad s.p.a.ce, two steps down. Beyond them, the living room was two steps lower still, furnished with a brown velour sofa and chairs that looked as inviting as any she'd seen. His coffee and end tables were bra.s.s and gla.s.s, and another set of sliding doors stood at the far end. She dropped the keys on the table and went to them, pulling the drapes open and then she took in the view. Steep wooden stairs zigzagged from the back door down to the rocky beach.

Not a soul was insight this early in the season. But the sand and the rocks and the waves rolling gently in, one after the other, were a breathtaking sight. An soothing, somehow.

"This place is beautiful." She felt as if she really had found a haven.

"I'm glad you like it." He carried her bas though the living room to a door on the left. "This is the guest room. You'll be it's first occupant."

"I can't imagine why. If I had a friend with a place like this, I'd be here so much they'd get sick of me." She said it with a teasing smile.

"You do have a friend with a place like this," he said. His tone wasn't light or teasing. "And I doubt I'd ever get sick of you."

She met his eyes, saw the tension, the pa.s.sion, in them. She had to look away.

"Michael, I... there's just so much going on now. I can't even think about-"

"I know. I wasn't trying to-" He licked his lips and started over. "No pressure, Mary. Not from me, can certainly not now. I just forgot to keep my feelings to myself for a second."

Her stomach tightened, and her face heated. "I want to explore this... this thing between us."

"So do I."

"I just need time."

He nodded.

Maybe... maybe when this was over and she knew more about him-G.o.d, she had to learn more about him-maybe then she would be ready to take this to the next level, see where it might lead.

But until then... until then she was going to be fighting every instinct and desire in her to keep herself in her own bed in the guest room and out of his.

He cleared his throat, breaking eye contact. "Look, my schedule is a little crazy.

I'll be gong before you wake in the morning and probably won't be able to get back until after dark. I don't want you to feel trapped here. But you will be safe. No one knows where to find you here. The locks are top-notch, and there's a security system, as well.

She nodded. "I don't feel trapped I feel rescued. It made perfect sense to leave my car at my place so not to alarm the police, and you'll need yours. I'll be find as long as can go down to the water, walk on the beach. And don't worry about your schedule, Michael. I'm used to sleeping by day and working by night, given my hours at The Crypt."

He only smiled at her, opening the bedroom door and carrying her bags inside.

The room was small and obviously unused. Still, it was carpeted in thick pile, and the bed was huge and comfy looking. A matching dresser and a beside stand with a clock were the only other items inside. "It's perfect. Thank you, Michael."

"You're welcome." He looked around the room as if inspecting it for flaws.

"Stop. It's perfect, I told you."

"I should have planned better," he said. "I could have spruced the room up a little. And now that I think about it, there's probably not a crumb of food in the place."

"What, you don't eat?"

He looked at her almost as if he were alarmed, but then he saw the teasing smile she sent him and returned it. "There's a little store just a short walk from here. We can stock up tonight." He looked at his wrist.w.a.tch. "They're open for another hour yet."

"Then we'd better get to that right now." He glanced at her suitcase.

"I can unpack when we get back."

"All right." He led her out of the bedroom, out the back doors and down the zigzag stairs to the beach below, then turned left, and they walked side by side in the sand. As they did, his hand brushed hers and turned, as if to enfold hers, but he stopped himself.

She wanted him to hold her hand. She wanted far more than that. Mary slid her hand into his, and when he closed his around it, warmth infused her entire being.

Something bright caught her eye, and she glanced out toward the sea. The moon was shining down on the ocean, its silver light spreading over the rippling waters.

She swallowed hard. "It's almost full."

"I know." He squeezed her hand. "I'll keep my promise, Mary. You're safe with me, I swear it."

A shiver went up her spine in spite of the warmth of being near him. It was a sudden rush of fear, of foreboding, almost a warning. She hoped to G.o.d he could keep his promise. But she wasn't certain that was possible if fate had other plans for her.

Chapter 8.

He didn't want to feel the way he did about Mary. He didn't want this power between them to be anything more than the undeniable awareness that always came between her kind and his. She was one of what vampires called The Chosen-a human with the belladonna antigen. They were linked by blood, the two of them. The overwhelming urge to protect her was to be expected.

And yet he couldn't deny that there was more than that. He was compelled to walk close to her, stand close to her, sit beside her, touch her at every opportunity, smell her.

Taste her...

No. Not that. He wouldn't do that. She must never know what he was. The memory of Sally's reaction to that knowledge was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday.

They walked to the small store down the beach, and he bought two bags of groceries. It was a difficult task, since it had been a long time since he'd had to shop for food, and the items offered today were foreign in comparison to what had filled the shelves in his own time.

He had to keep nudging her to make choices, and eventually she got over any feeling that he ought to be the one to choose and just did it. His relief must have shown on his face as the cashier rang them out.

"Not much of a shopper, are you?"

He shrugged. "I usually east out."

She shook her head. "You don't know what you're missing."

He did know, but to be honest, he didn't miss it al that much. The appeal of food paled in comparison to the l.u.s.t for blood. Of course, he couldn't tell her that. Or that while food might taste good going down, that was all it did. Blood came alive inside him, sparkling and sizzling through his veins like living energy. Electricity times a thousand.

Life. It was life. Even the stale aged blood he used as his sustenance, stolen from blood banks or hospitals, held the spark of that power. He was hungry. It had been days since he'd fed. Yet he wanted to be near her, to protect her his every waking moment. He couldn't take tie away to scavenge for a meal.

He took the tow paper grocery bags from the counter and, carrying one in each arm, left the store. Mary caught up quickly and took one of the bags from him. "You don't need to wait on me, you know." "I wasn't." No. He was trying to keep her from seeing the glow of bloodl.u.s.t in his eyes. He fought his hunger, wrestled it into submission, buried it and focused only on her.

She walked along the path beside him, warm and alive and beautiful. Her hair was long and loose tonight. The sea wind blew it around her face. In front of the store was a small parking area, and a road beyond it. Behind it, there was a narrow, well- worn path that wound back to the beach.

"What is it you do?" she asked at length.

"Do?"

"Yeah. You said your work keeps you away most days remember?"

"Oh. My... work."

She smiled at him a little nervously. "Must pay well. You drive a Jag. Live in a magnificent house on a private beach."

Plus, seventy years of careful investing had it's benefits, he thought.

"Is it law-enforcement related?"

He glanced at her, realized he was expected to come up with an answer, one that made as much sense as her suggestion did. "Yeah, as a matter of fact, it is. I do consulting work for, uh, security companies. You know the kind that set up alarm systems and tie lock for office buildings and banks and things like that?" He wondered if it sounded at all plausible and watched her face carefully for her reaction.

She nodded as if it made perfect sense. "Sounds exciting."

"Id far rather be here with you," he told her.

She blushed in the darkness lowered her eyes, didn't answer.

They arrived back at the beach house, and he insisted on taking the bag from her as they climbed the stairs. She couldn't know it was less than weightless to a ma as powerful as he, and she argued.

"I'm just as capable of carrying a bag of groceries up the stairs as you are, you know," she said, trotting up the steps behind him.

"No, you aren't."

"Am so."

"Would you like me to carry you up, as well Mary?"

She smacked him on the shoulder from behind. "Show-off."

He loved her when she was in a teasing, playful mood. It meant she wasn't dwelling on her fear. They reached the top, and he turned to face her. "Key's are still in my pocket." He nodded downward. "You want to reach in and there and feel for them?"

She smirked at him. "You wish." Then she took one of the bags from him, freeing him to get his keys himself. She was more relaxed than he'd seen her since he'd first started going to the bar to watch over her at night, almost two weeks ago. The moon had been new then.

He opened the door, and she went inside, toed off her shoes and carried the grocery bags to the kitchen. Setting them on the table, she began unpacking. She turned to a cupboard to open it, then frowned and opened a couple more. "You weren't kidding about eating out a lot, were you?"

"I've only been living here a couple of weeks. I really haven't stocked the place yet."

"Been too busy being my guardian angel to worry about eating properly, I'll bet."

She couldn't possibly know how right she was about that. He shrugged, still nervous that the lack of food in the cupboards would cause her to ask questions, but Mary seemed to accept his explanations. There were dishes in some of the cupboards.

They'd been there when he'd moved into the place, and he'd washed them and put them right back-even though to him they were little more than props.

"You know, you're really roughing it here, Michael. No coffeemaker. No toaster.

There's not even a microwave."

"Like I said-"

"Oh, don't explain. I've never yet met a member of your species to be overly concerned with nesting.'

He went very still in the small kitchen. "My... species?"

"Yeah. Male."

He closed his eyes as his relief emerged in the form of a sigh and every tense muscle relaxed. For a second he'd thought she might have known or guessed what he was.

But why would she guess? She probably didn't even believe creatures such as he existed.

When they finished emptying the grocery bags, she stretched her lovely arms, yawned and said, "It's after midnight. I think I'll get some sleep. I cant believe you're up this late when you have to get up before dawn."

"I rarely sleep much at night."

She shrugged. "Well, you should." She smiled at him. "You don't take very good care of yourself. You need to do better."

"I'll try my best."

Their eyes met and held for a long moment. Finally she sighed and looked away.

"Good night, Michael."

"Good night." Then she headed into her bedroom. Michael sat in the living room, listening to her. Sensing her. He could close his eyes and know where she was, what she was doing, just by opening his mind. He didn't even need to probe hers.

He heard the water in the bathroom, felt her peel away her clothes and step into the shower. He wanted her. It was a hunger, like the hunger for blood. And it was just as natural in his kind. Desire, in a vampire, wasn't a mere fancy or pa.s.sing impulse. It was a demanding, insatiable, driving need. He, for whatever reasons-and he didn't doubt their blood bond was one of them-desired her. He would know no peace until he had her.

He sighed and told himself that likely meant he would never know peace.

Because he wasn't going to have her. The risk that he would loose himself to the need to taste her blood was too great. He knew that now as he'd never known it before. He was going to protect her until he knew she was safe, and then he was going to go on his way, long before she could learn what he was.

He continued sitting there, tuned in to her essence, if not her thoughts for a long, long while. The shower stopped running, and she put on something slight. A T-shirt, perhaps Then she slid into the bed and closed her eyes.

She slept. He felt her sinking into sleep rapidly, and he knew she hadn't been sleeping well since this entire thing had begun. She felt safe here, with him.

For a time he was content to sit there, feeling her sleep. Then he heard her, very clearly, whisper his name. Michael. At first he thought she had spoken it deliberately, called, to him, and he was on his feet and at the bedroom door before it occurred to him that she was still asleep.

She'd said his name in her sleep.

He closed his hand on the doork.n.o.b, turned it, opened the door and stepped into the bedroom. She lay on her side, and he could see her face, serene, relaxed. Yes, she was asleep, hugging he pillow. She nuzzled it's softness with her cheek, and again, she muttered his name. This tie her hips moved just a little as she did, and her arms clutched the pillow fighter to her breast.

She was dreaming. About him.