“You could have hired help.”
Stella shrugged. “It’s not how I work. I start with a basic design and then add elements. It’s a creative process, and each piece is unique.”
“Perhaps that’s why you are so successful. You put your heart into each costume.”
“I guess.” She readjusted her skirt. “But it would be nice to slow down and go back to traveling. Maybe not as extensively as I did before, but a couple of weeks twice or three times a year would be nice.”
“Where would you like to go? Back to the East?”
“No, not the East.” Definitely not there. “Maybe Northern Europe. I’ve never been to Finland. I hear that Lapland is an interesting place to visit.”
He cast her a doubtful smile. “You don’t strike me like someone who enjoys the snow. You look like a sun worshiper.”
That was true.
“I’m willing to broaden my horizons. Lapland’s traditional costumes are very colorful. They might inspire my designs.”
15
Richard
Throughout the lunch prep and then the lunch itself, Stella had been vacillating between seemingly at ease and anxious. Richard had learned a lot just from paying attention to which topics caused her to tense up.
It had something to do with her travels in the East and Vlad’s conception, which pointed toward Vlad’s father.
The kid had dark straight hair and thick lips, but the rest of his features were Caucasian. That didn’t mean that the father hadn’t been Asian, though. Vlad could’ve taken after his mother. Stella’s natural hair color was dark brown, which was the color of her eyes as well.
Vlad’s eyes, however, were one blue and one green, and since he hadn’t gotten them from Stella, it was more likely that he had gotten them from the father.
That meant that the guy might not have been an Asian, but Stella had probably met him in the East. Maybe he’d been a fellow traveler?
Whoever the sperm donor had been, Stella felt the need to guard his identity for some reason. Perhaps the guy was married?
But that shouldn’t matter to her. None of the clan females who had children with mortals kept in touch with the fathers. In fact, the clan policy was not to let them even know that they had fathered a child.
Perhaps the guy was someone famous and married?
Or maybe he wasn’t famous but infamous? A murderer?
That would be a good reason to keep his identity a secret from Vlad. As long as he didn’t know that he’d been fathered by a monster, it wouldn’t influence the kind of man he became.
But what about genetics?
Richard had read articles that debated whether nature or nurture had more influence on shaping a person’s character. Evidently, those who believed that nature had a stronger influence expected the sons of violent criminals to follow their fathers’ proclivity for violence, even when adopted and raised by others.
Vlad seemed like the nicest, kindest guy, but Richard had seen the murderous gleam in his eyes when he’d talked about Wendy’s father. Not that he blamed the kid for feeling that way. Richard felt the same. But there was a big difference between fantasizing about killing someone and actually doing it.
Then again, immortals were a different breed, and supposedly they were more aggressive than humans. Except, Richard hadn’t seen any evidence of that. No one got into fights in the village, vocal or physical, and if they got vicious when fighting an enemy, he had no problem with that.
Good for them.
“What are you thinking about?” Stella put her fork down. “You’ve been uncharacteristically quiet for the past five minutes or so.”
“I wondered how come I haven’t seen any fights in the village. Aren’t immortals supposed to be aggressive by nature?”
“We are. But we are also civilized.” She sounded proud.
“How does that aggression manifest then?”
Her eyelids dropped, and she looked at him from under her thick, dark lashes. “I’m sure that you’ve experienced it with the females you’ve bedded. We are sexually aggressive.”
Was she coming on to him?
Sweet.
He wasn’t sure, though, and it was safer to stay away from the topic of the clan females who’d won his gigolo services in auctions.
“Just sexually? That’s not a big deal. I was given the impression that immortal males are fierce warriors.”
“The Guardians are trained to be the best in the world. The other males are a different story, though. They don’t have the skills or the inclination, but if provoked, I’m sure their instincts would take over.”
“Define provocation. Are we talking insults or physical threats?”
“If their family is threatened, especially their mate, the animal that’s inside each immortal male takes over, and even the mellowest, gentlest poet can become a fierce fighter.” She leaned forward. “And the same goes for the females. We don’t have built-in weapons like the males do, but even without fangs and venom, we would fight to defend our family.”
Richard could believe it. Stella’s eyes were blazing from the inside, and her body was coiled like it was ready to pounce. Apparently, Vlad had inherited his fierceness from his mother.
She was so damn hot.
“You look extremely sexy when you get riled up like that.”
Stella smiled, revealing her tiny fangs. “I’m glad that my assertiveness turns you on and not off. When I reveal the fierce side of me, some males back off.”
“Not this one.” Richard pushed to his feet and offered her a hand up. “And if you don’t believe me, you are welcome to check.” He glanced down at his bulging erection.
As Stella followed his gaze, a wicked grin spread over her beautiful face. “Oh my, that’s one hell of a proof.” She let him pull her up against his body.
Evidently, her stress had nothing to do with the anticipation of their first time together. She seemed just as eager as he was to get busy, which was good because Richard doubted that he could summon the patience to go slow.
He was too hungry for her.
Still, he started with a soft kiss, but it wasn’t what Stella wanted. Taking over, she held him by the neck and kissed him back with unsuppressed hunger. It was as if a switch had flipped inside her, and she let her inner animal roar to life.
Was he the luckiest bastard on earth, or what?
Stella let go of his mouth. “Take me to bed, Richard.”
Definitely, the luckiest.
He grinned. “With pleasure.”
In a quick move that surprised them both, he lifted her into his arms and smashed his mouth over hers.
With a throaty moan, Stella wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
Their mouths remained fused all the way to the bedroom and continued as he sat down with her still cradled in his arms.
16
Sari
They’d made love again in the shower, and the only reason Sari hadn’t gone for a third round was her fear of exhausting David.
Already, she feared that she’d overdone it.
Torn by conflicting emotions, she’d vacillated between wanting to preserve his energy and to squeeze out every last bit of joy with him until the start of his transition.