“She craves your blood—and yours alone, as I understand it. Not the blood of a human, nor the blood of any other vampire.”

“Because I finished the turning.”

“No. Because there’s something in your blood that she needs. Maybe something her body recognizes.”

“You make it sound like I’m a drug to her.”

“In a way you are. But we won’t know for sure until I’ve analyzed blood samples of both of you.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “If this is a trick for you to get vampire blood so you can—”

Francine let out an exasperated huff. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a vampire, who’s more suspicious than you are. Trust me, vampire: if I wanted to harm you, I could have done so long ago.”

Trust her? Maybe he had to if he wanted to know what was wrong with Maya and with him. “Maybe if you called me ‘Gabriel’ instead of ‘vampire,’ I’d have an easier time trusting in your good intentions.” He paused. “Francine.”

She raised an eyebrow. “If that’s all it takes, I can do that.” She paused for effect. “Gabriel.”

Gabriel relaxed and sat back down in the armchair by the fireplace. “How much of my blood do you need?”

“Just a small vial. I’ll take it to my lab and analyze it. Won’t take more than an hour.”

“You have a lab?”

“You didn’t think I could live off being a witch, did you? I work at a commercial lab downtown. It pays—” She winked. “—enough to buy crow’s feet for my potions.”

“Let’s go upstairs. I hope you don’t mind if we perform the bloodletting in the bedroom. I’d rather not be interrupted. My associates would find it strange to say the least if I gave blood to a witch.”

She stood and took her satchel which presumably contained all kinds of witchy things. “Normally I’d say no way, but seeing how infatuated you’re with Maya, I daresay you’re no danger to me.”

For the first time since the witch had arrived, Gabriel let out a small chuckle. “You’re an attractive woman, but no offense—I have no interest in you or any other woman besides Maya.”

Once in the master bedroom, Gabriel closed the door quietly behind him. “Just one request: let’s be quiet. Maya is next door, and I don’t want her to hear us.”

“Fine.”

Francine took out a tourniquet and a syringe. Gabriel merely glanced at it and shook his head.

“That won’t be necessary. Just give me the vial.”

She handed it to him. He willed his fingers to turn into claws and sliced a small cut into his thumb. Blood instantly oozed from it. Gabriel held the vial underneath it and filled it with the red liquid. A moment later, he licked his thumb with his tongue, closing the incision.

Francine took the vial from him and closed it before putting it into her bag. “Good. I’ll leave you one for Maya. Call me when you have it ready for me, and I’ll send somebody over to get it. Now, let’s check on your problem. I believe we were interrupted last time just as I was about to examine you.”

Gabriel swallowed. This was the part he dreaded most. “Can I have your word that whatever you discover, you won’t discuss with anybody?”

“Witch–Vampire confidentiality, goes without saying,” she joked, but Gabriel didn’t feel like laughing.

With unsteady hands, he loosened his belt, then opened the button of his jeans. The noise the zipper made as he lowered it seemed to echo in the room. Could everybody in the house hear it? When he shoved his pants down mid-thigh, he heard Francine’s breath whoosh out of her lungs.

As he stood before her, she dropped down onto the chaise lounge, bringing her head level with his crotch. “Oh, boy,” she whispered.

***

Maya’s stomach growled, but she tried to tamp down her hunger. She’d paced for a good length of time, deciding what to do. Now, she couldn’t stall any longer. She had to face Gabriel and explain to him why she’d reacted so harshly when she’d returned. For the sake of what was growing between them, she had to make the first step and apologize for her harsh words.

And then she needed to feed. By God, she craved him. Not just his blood, but his touch, his lips, his kisses. She felt weak in the knees just thinking about him, remembering how he’d touched her and kissed her, how he’d made her come, using his tongue and his hands. Small beads of perspiration collected on her neck. She felt hot just thinking about being in his arms.