"See? I told Flo this is no ordinary storm. The sooner we can get this stopped, the better."

"We'll get right on it. It's only a few minutes until dawn. Stay safe."

"Richard! I just had a thought. We don't want any of the good guys to accidentally fry. What if they hear the Siren's song and go south?"

"Damn. You're right."

I rubbed my head. Thinking. Then I remembered something I'd seen recently, when I'd been with Ray. "You have some of those noise cancellation headphones? Like techies use when they're on the computer in Mugs and Muffins?"

"Yes, I do. I use them when Flo's watching the DVR of her soap operas. I get it, Glory. The good guys need to wear them. I'll tell Damian and he should tell the council members to use them too. That way even if your Siren is singing when they go over, hopefully they'll be all right."

"I hope it works." I hung up and turned to Jerry. "Did you hear that?"

"Brilliant. And obviously Florence and Richard are making those calls." He smiled and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Yes, they're on it. Thank God for friends."

"You're right. Now look at you, soaked to the skin." Jerry grabbed my sweater and ripped it off over my head.

"Yes, that's happened to me a lot lately." I stood and unbuttoned and unzipped my corduroy jeans. Oh, boy, were they shrinking? I shoved the pants down and they came off easily with Jerry's hands doing most of the work. Jerry smiled as he studied me in my black lace bikini panties and matching push-up bra. "How much time until dawn?"

"I'm going to wash off the flood water." I popped open the clasp on my bra and dropped it on the floor. "I know I offered to let you join me, but obviously you already showered. I could smell that deliciously clean scent when I came up from the dock." I sauntered to the bathroom, pausing to look back over my shoulder. "I'll hurry."

"I could wash your back." Jerry was right behind me, dropping to his knees as he pulled my panties down my legs so I could step out of them. "I could hurry too."

"Doubt it." I turned and buried my fingers in his hair when he kissed my stomach and breathed against me, making me shudder.

"So do I."

"I could spend hours just on this one little part of you." As if to prove it, he used his teeth and tongue to explore me, his hands pushing my legs apart.

I moaned and grabbed the door frame for support. Closing my eyes, I tried to forget that I didn't have time. That there were other things

"Stop!" I stepped back, stumbling on weak knees.

"Why, Glory? Doesn't this please you?" Jerry smiled, knowing good and well it pleased me way too much.

"I hate to say this, but you need to call Lily. To see if she'll agree to bring Drac and the boys here tomorrow night." I backed up to lean against the shower door, even picked up a towel and dragged it around me to show I meant business.

"You're right." Jerry got to his feet, his smile gone. "She may balk. It's one thing to complain about Dracula, another to doom him deliberately. I'll call her while you shower." He rubbed the back of his neck. "My body tells me you have less than fifteen minutes, lass. Make it quick."

"Thanks, Jerry. I know this could harm your relationship with your daughter." I dropped the towel and went to him, resting my head against his chest. "She is yours. I feel it when I look at her. The test will only confirm it."

"We should know tomorrow night." Jerry ran his hand down my back and patted my rump. "Thanks, sweetheart. I've had the feeling too, but I'm glad it's not just my imagination or wishful thinking at work. Now go take that shower." So I got clean, even did a quick shampoo, then staggered out to fall into bed. Jerry barely had time to wrap us both in blankets before we fell into our dead-to-the-world sleep.

woke up with Jerry's arms around me, his lips on mine and the storms still trying to tear the roof off the house. The storms could wait.

"Mmm. Do that again."

"What?" Jerry nudged my knees apart and rolled on top of me. "The kiss or this?" He slipped his fingers inside me, knowing just where to touch to make me tremble.

"Both." I pulled his head down and kissed him, as wild as the storm to make things right between us. The soul-deep connection was still there, the thing that kept pulling us together when the years and others would keep us apart. Thunder roared, the wind battered the walls outside, but my body screamed for Jerry to come inside. I wrapped my legs around him and held on as we created our own category five on a wide bed with soft sheets and the heat of our inner fires. Jerry lifted me above him, staring at me for a long moment. It didn't take a mind reader to see he was remembering that I'd spent days and nights in this house with Ray. Had shared a bed with him.

"Quit thinking, Jerry." I ran my hands along his ribcage, touching old warrior's wounds that had been made centuries ago, before he'd been turned. "You are filling my body, my head, my heart, Jeremiah Campbell." I leaned down and kissed him. "A newly made vampire is nothing compared to you. Now quit fashing yourself and get on with this. Or do you plan to leave me less than satisfied?"

"Have I ever not satisfied you, wench?" He grinned and rolled me under him.

"Well, now. There was that time in 1777. We were supposed to be helping the British, but you took a liking to the American cause." I yawned. "Spying was all you could think about. Many nights I had to, um, take matters into my own hands."

"Did you now?" Jerry sat back and grinned at me. "I'd like to see how you did that." I pulled myself up against the cushioned headboard. "Old news. Back then everything was pretty primitive. They didn't have the modern conveniences like they do now. I love progress, don't you? Sex toys. Wow." I ran my hands over my body, lingering over my nipples then trailing one hand through the curls between my legs.

Jerry's eyes followed my every move. "Ye know, lass. I've always been fond of primitive ways." He growled when I slid a finger inside and moved my hips.

"Mmm. True. Primitive can be very, um, satisfying." I added another finger and saw him swallow. "No, this is a new century." I gave him a measuring look and had to call on my acting ability to keep my cool. He lay on his side, gloriously naked, fully aroused and so deliciously male I wanted to taste every inch of him. Instead I smiled and stretched, flaunting my breasts and letting my knees fall open.

"So what does the modern woman do to satisfy herself?" He reached out and ran a rough fingertip along the same path I'd just usedbreast, tummy, ah, lower. Then he stopped, waiting.

I grinned, ready to challenge him. "Sorry, Jer, but you'd have to go some to beat the Tickler Turbo with the rechargeable battery."

"I would, would I?" He dove between my legs, grabbing my ankles and draping them over his shoulders. "Can this tickler thing do this?" He slid his tongue along my folds.

"Of course." I gasped when he went in for a more up close and personal attack. "I direct it, you see. Put it exactly, ah, where I, um, want it. And then it has different speeds."

Jerry raised his head and grinned. "Do you really want me to rush this?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Give me your hands. What's this? They're shaking. Are you upset? Nervous? Or could it be I'm getting to you already?" He put my hands in his hair.

"Now direct me. Just like you do your little toy. Where do you want me, Gloriana? Well?" I threw back my head, already more aroused than I wanted to be. Because he was making me lose control. And making me forget that this was an important night. Where things could go so horribly wrong What the hell? If I didn't survive, wouldn't I want this to be a fine farewell? So I gripped his hair and had a flashback to riding him through rushing water. His ears! My eyes popped open. Faint pink marks. I should have known he'd have healed. Though I wondered when and where he'd fed. Forget feeding, he was following my directions and taking me into crazy-out-of-my-mind territory, his tongue teasing my pleasure point, circling then drawing the nub inside, between his lips, to suckle it until I bowed off the bed. He pulled back. "Am I pleasing you, my love? I'm not turbo charged but at least you don't have to worry about my battery." I couldn't form words so I just pushed him back to where he was proving to be the ultimate sex toy. He gripped my bottom, holding me down while I blew apart in the kind ofOh. My. God.orgasm the Tickler had never delivered.

"Jerry!" I pulled him up and practically threw him on the bed to climb on top of him. When he entered me, I came again, so sensitive I almost couldn't stand it. But of course I could and did. I leaned down and kissed him, then licked my way down his body, proving that I could toy with him as well.

I knew every muscle, every hard ridge and smooth expanse as I kissed the length and breadth of him. Why did I never tire of this man? Ray had called it habit. More like addiction. Right now it was enough that Jerry still wanted me, still loved me and thought me the best of lovers after all this time. I sat astride him once more and looked down into a face I knew as well as my own. Better, really, since mirrors didn't work for us. But the thought fled as lust took over as it always did. I was crazed as I rode him, glad the thunder kept booming because I screamed my pleasure.

Finally we lay side by side, both of us sated beyond speaking. But of course we didn't have the luxury of just lying there. I glanced at the bedside clock. We'd wiled away more time than we could afford. We had a party to go to. Or to be more accurate, a wake.

"Is Lily going to bring Drac and his crew?" I sat up and kicked away the sheet.

"Yes. I assured her they were only a backup plan. That we hoped to send others first. Lily's not crazy about the idea of dealing with Dracula and the guys this way. She still thinks they're salvageable."

There was a knock on the door. "Glory, your company is arriving." Brittany was on the other side.