“No!” she refused with a laugh. “Let me go, you egomaniac!”
“Never,” he declared with a grin, tickling more giggles from her. When he finally stopped, she sprawled on top of him, gasping for air.
A warm smile bathed his face as he watched her. Reaching up, he brushed her mussed hair back from her face. “Never,” he whispered.
Nicole stared at him. Did he mean…?
Was that love she saw in his eyes? More than the love one felt for a friend?
Her heart began to beat faster.
Then his stomach growled.
She grinned. “As much as I’d like to spend the whole day in bed—”
“That’s music to my ears,” he proclaimed, resting his hands on her hips.
“I’m sure it is.” His arousal was prodding her in the stomach. “But I need to go for my daily run. I’ll pick up some lunch for us while I’m out.” With much reluctance, she slid off of him, then stood beside the bed.
Sitting up, he glanced at the window. Beyond the curtains, bright sunlight shone. “Let me tank up on blood, and I’ll go with you.”
She frowned. “You can’t. You have no tolerance for sunlight, Sean.” He was one of the youngest immortals in the area and had not been turned by an ancient, so he lacked older immortals’ limited endurance. “You’d have to carry a couple of blood bags with you to keep your skin from blistering when the first infusion wore off.”
He slid out of bed and stood before her. “Then I’ll carry a couple of bags with me.”
“Seriously? You don’t think people will freak out if they see you holding a bag of blood to your fangs?”
Scowling, he stepped closer. “Then don’t go jogging.”
“I have to,” she reminded him patiently. “I’m supposed to be Becca and need to adhere to at least some of her normal schedule. She jogs every day after class, so I jog every day. Besides, vampires can’t attack me when the sun’s up. They’re even more photosensitive than you are.”
“I still don’t like it.”
She stared up at him. The moment stretched. “I’m sorry. I can’t concentrate when you’re standing there looking so irresistibly rumpled and poking me in the stomach. I’m not used to having naked conversations.”
He glanced down at his erection and laughed. “I can’t help it. It’s just what you do to me. And I not only enjoy having naked conversations with you—even though you’re currently aggravating me—I hope to have many more in the future.”
Nicole grinned as some of her initial self-consciousness fell away. “That may take some getting used to.” She had little experience with this kind of intimacy and familiarity. “But we can give it a try. For now, though, I have to go.” Since they had showered last night before finally falling into an exhausted slumber, she grabbed a bra and panties from the top dresser drawer and donned them. “I’ll take my phone so you can track me and pester me with texts.”
“You aren’t leaving campus, are you?”
“No. I’ll just jog a couple of miles and then get us some goodies from one of my favorite lunch trucks.”
“I still don’t think you should go alone. Let me call Cliff. Or better yet, Aidan.”
“I won’t be alone, Sean. Did you forget Chris has stationed a special ops team on campus?”
His frown eased a bit. “Actually, I did.”
“They work eight-hour shifts and cover us night and day. I’ll have eyes on me the whole time I’m gone.” She dug a pair of sweatpants out and pulled them on. “Plus, no one is going to try anything in broad daylight with over fifteen thousand students on campus, ready to witness it and record it on their phones.”
“Okay.” He sat on the side of the bed. “I still wish I could go with you.”
Something in his voice compelled Nicole to pause and study him. She’d expected Sean to look worried. But a hint of wistfulness had entered his expression.
Did he miss being able to go out during the day and feel warm sunlight on his skin?
Though he had transformed voluntarily, she suspected his answer would be yes if she asked him.
Odd that she hadn’t noticed that before, perhaps because he usually slept while she ran errands during the day.
She forced a rueful smile. “Well, I don’t. You would insist on carrying the food for me and eat it all before we got back.”
He laughed. “True.”
Happy to have lifted his spirits, she drew a Blue Devils sweatshirt over her head and stuffed her feet into her favorite running shoes. “It’s Taco Tuesday. Do you want tacos, quesadillas, or burritos?”
“Yes,” he answered promptly.
She grinned. “Want me to get enough for dinner, too, so we can eat in?”
“No.” Rising, he loosed a beleaguered sigh. “You’re Becca. As you keep reminding me, you’re supposed to be seen.” Closing the distance between them, he looped his arms around her and pressed his forehead to hers. “I don’t like this. I don’t like you taking risks.” He had made that abundantly clear the previous night.
Resting her hands on his chest, Nicole toyed with the hair there. “Want to know a little secret?”
He nodded.
“That feeling you’re having right now? That feeling in here?” She tapped his chest.
“Yeah?”
“That’s how I feel every night when you leave to hunt.”
He regarded her with surprise. “It is?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Sean.”
“You worry about me?”
“Of course I do.”
“But I’m immortal.”
“You’re mostly immortal. And you’ve almost died twice during my time as your Second.”
“So have you,” he pointed out.
“Yeah.” She faked a frown. “We’re going to have to stop doing that.”
Smiling, he hugged her a little tighter. “I tell you what. I don’t get many nights off, so I may as well enjoy it while I can, especially since Tessa intends to watch over us.”
“Who is she partnering with?”
“I don’t know. I forgot to ask,” he answered absently. “Let’s have a date night and eat at your favorite restaurant tonight.”
A little flutter of anticipation filled her. “Because you’re supposed to be Becca’s boyfriend?”
He shook his head, rubbing noses with her. “Because I want more than friendship with you.”
Her heart beat faster. “You do?” she whispered. More than friends with benefits? She’d feared it was too soon to clarify that, so she hadn’t asked.
“Yes.” Smiling, he pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “Be safe.”
“I will.”
Chapter Eleven
Nicole’s jog ended up being as uneventful as all the previous runs she’d embarked upon as Becca. She didn’t wear earbuds, though many runners did. It was kinda hard to hear someone coming up behind you when you had music in your ears. And her belief that no one would try to kidnap Becca in broad daylight did not reduce her vigilance. The network had trained her well.