“You’ve been weirdly quiet and sullen lately. Why?”
“It’s nothing,” he muttered, unwilling to tell her.
“Come on. I’m your Second. You can tell me anything.”
“Not anything.”
“Anything,” she insisted.
“Fine.” He released a long-suffering sigh. “I need sex.”
“Anything but that.”
He laughed. “Well, you asked.”
“I did, didn’t I?” She was quiet for a moment as she tucked into her meal once more. “Yeah. I do, too.”
“Do what?”
“Need sex,” she confessed, surprising him. “I love this job. But it has put a serious dent in my love life.”
He snorted. “At least you have a love life for it to dent.”
“Oh please. As handsome as you are, I doubt you’d have any trouble finding a woman interested in getting naked with you.”
“Thank you. But one-night stands don’t really interest me, and even if they did…”
“Yes?” she prompted.
“I can’t keep my damn eyes from glowing when I’m turned on.”
“Oh.” She stared into his brown eyes. “Right. I guess that would be a little hard to explain.”
“Exactly.”
She chewed another mouthful. “Maybe you could find someone who’s into dominance and submission and blindfold her.”
He smiled. “That’s not really my thing.”
Her lips twitched. “Me either. I hate being ordered to do shit. And if any man spanked me, it would just piss me off.”
He chuckled. “Since it took me so long to get used to sparring with you, I’m sure you know I wouldn’t get off on spanking a woman. I would much rather have her climb all over me and ride me hard than submit to me.”
She pointed her fork at him. “That’s an image I could’ve done without.”
He smiled.
“Well, if all else fails, you can always… take care of your own needs.”
He shook his head. “Masturbation just depresses me.”
“Because you wouldn’t have to do it if you had a woman?”
“Exactly. And…” He hesitated, unsure if he should say it.
She raised her eyebrows. “Let me guess. Your hand just can’t compete with a warm, willing woman?”
“Exactly. In the end, it just makes me feel more lonely.”
She chewed thoughtfully. “Yeah. I get that. Masturbation depresses me, too.”
A statement which, of course, brought images to mind of her touching herself. He’d had a hard time ignoring the fact that Nicole was a very desirable woman. A head shorter than he was, she had a slender build with curves in all the right places. Imagining her naked and writhing on a bed while she touched herself, one hand cupping her breast as she slid the other down her pale, flat stomach and—
“Great,” he grumbled as his body responded. “Thanks for that. Now I’m hard again.”
Her face lit with surprise. “Because I mentioned masturbating?”
“Yes, damn it.”
She stared at him with an expression he couldn’t quite pin down. Curiosity? Intrigue? He didn’t know. “I see what you mean about your eyes.”
“They’re glowing, right?”
“Superbright amber.”
“Wonderful.”
She bit her lip. “I can’t think of a way around that.”
“Me either.”
“What do the other Immortal Guardians do?”
“You mean the ones who aren’t married?”
“Yes.”
“Abstain, based on everything I’ve heard.”
“That sucks.”
“Yes, it does.”
“You could always do it doggy-style. If she isn’t facing you—”
“I already thought of that. But it’s been so long at this point that just kissing a woman and holding her close makes my eyes glow. Wouldn’t you want to be held and kissed and stroked first before a guy spun you around, bent you over, and took you from behind?”
“Definitely.” She frowned. “And now I’m turned on.”
“That isn’t helping.”
“Sorry. Maybe you could wear contact lenses that—”
“I tried. They just change the color my eyes glow.”
“That sucks,” she said again.
It really did.
The sound of an approaching car reached his ears, still a few miles away. “My sister and Étienne are here and will draw the wrong conclusion if they find me sporting a major erection while in your company. Quick, make me think of something that will kill it.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment, then blurted out, “Zombies!”
“What?”
“I watched a zombie movie the other day that was really revolting.”
“Says the woman who has watched me decapitate countless vampires, then helped me dispose of their remains.”
“Fine. Gross zombies who are half-decayed and falling apart while feasting on the entrails of other gross zombies,” she elaborated. “And vomiting.”
He grimaced.
“Then eating the vomit.”
He laughed. “Ugh! Okay! Okay! Thank you. That’s disgusting. And it worked.”
She grinned. “Always happy to be of assistance.”
Rising, he left the kitchen and headed for his home armory.
Nicole followed him and helped him arm up. The katana she’d carefully cleaned and sharpened came first. Next she held his coat for him and helped him shrug it on. The many pockets and loops sewn into the lining already housed multiple knives and throwing stars. Nicole was a very efficient Second.
He glanced down at her as they finished.
She was five foot five to his six foot one. Her chestnut brows drew down as she stared at his chest.
“What is it?” he asked. She seemed troubled suddenly.
“I think I should shadow you tonight.”
“Why?”
“Just a feeling.”
Nicole was a gifted one and, like Dr. Lipton, sometimes got feelings of foreboding whenever something foul was about to go down. He had made the mistake of ignoring that feeling the night Seth had to teleport in and save his ass. He didn’t think it wise to ignore it now.
“Okay. Arm up.”
In the original manuscript, the scene in which Cliff trashed his apartment and decimated his phone included a lengthier moment with Jared. Instead of saying “sleep” when he touched Cliff’s forehead, Jared initially said “peace,” and the following ensued.
Cliff scrambled across the mess and grabbed the box of graham crackers. Hands shaking, he dumped it upside down. Two sleeves of brown crackers fell atop the mess, followed by a cell phone.
Cliff fumbled to catch it before it could hit the floor, then stood up.
As soon as he touched it, the lock screen lit up and Emma gazed up at him.
His hands shook so badly it took him four tries to type in the passcode.
While the voices howled for him to put the phone down and go fuck someone up, he swiped through the photos.
Emma smiling. Emma laughing. Emma teaching him how to knit winter hats.