“Well, let’s try it out and see what name she responds to.”

Maya watched with interest. Was Isabelle right?

Yvette shrugged. “I doubt that’ll work.” Then she looked at the baby, who still looked up at Rose.

“Emily,” Yvette called out to her, but the baby didn’t react. “Emily,” she repeated. Then she sighed. “Lydia.” Instantly, the baby turned its head and looked at her, smiling.

“I think you’ve got your answer,” Delilah said.

Yvette chuckled. “If she starts making her own decisions this early, we’re going to have our hands full.”

The others laughed. Suddenly the baby started crying and Yvette reached for it, pulling her into her arms.

“What’s wrong, Lydia?” she asked and rocked her in her arms.

“Maybe she’s hungry,” Delilah suggested. “Did you bring a bottle?”

Yvette nodded and pointed to the bag she’d set down on the floor earlier. She made a motion to get up, but Rose stopped her. “I’ll get it.” She rose and rummaged around in the bag until she pulled out the baby bottle.

Yvette tossed Delilah a questioning look. “Do I have to mix some blood into the formula?”

Delilah shook her head. “Too early. You’ll need to wait until she bites somebody first. After that, she’ll need blood regularly to supplement her human diet.”

Yvette sighed. “How am I going to learn all this?”

Delilah smiled. “Don’t worry! You’ll get the hang of it. But without a doubt, this will change your life dramatically.”

“No more bodyguard assignments for a while,” Maya added. “Have you asked Gabriel for a leave of absence yet?”

Yvette’s gaze collided with hers. A sliver of panic crept into Yvette’s eyes. “I hadn’t even thought that far yet. Oh my god, what if I’m completely useless as a mother? I don’t know the first thing about babies.”

The women chuckled.

“You’re going to do just fine,” Maya assured her and smiled. “You’ll be a wonderful mother.”

Yvette’s eyes moistened, then a pink tear ran down her cheek.

32

Dressed only in his robe, Thomas watched Eddie walk to the door that led down into the garage. Two days and a night had passed since Eddie had surprised him in his dungeon. While they’d both had to go to work during the night, the two days they’d spent making love.

“Are you sure you have to leave already? Your shift doesn’t start till nine.”

Eddie tossed a look over his shoulder as he opened the door. “Nina wants me to stop by her place. I haven’t seen her in a while.” He descended the stairs, disappearing from Thomas’s view.

Still not sated, Thomas followed him into the garage.

“Ah, fuck it,” he cursed under his breath, unable to keep his lust in check. It seemed the more time he spent with his new lover, the less he was able to pull away from him. At the same time, he’d noticed something else. The dark power within him had remained entirely dormant while he and Eddie had lain in each other’s arms. Yet now that Eddie was about to leave the house, he could feel it rising from its slumber. He wasn’t ready to deal with it. He wanted a few more minutes of peace.

Thomas reached the last step when Eddie took his leather jacket from the hook and was about to put it on. Thomas grabbed it, pulling it from his grip, and tossed it onto the motorcycle.

Without a word, he pulled Eddie into his arms and sank his mouth onto his.

A startled groan dislodged from Eddie’s throat, but he gave no resistance. Instead, his arms snaked around Thomas’s waist and slid onto his ass, grabbing his cheeks firmly and pulling him against his groin.

Coming up for air, Thomas moaned out his pleasure at feeling Eddie react to him. He couldn’t imagine anything better in his life than the body of his lover pressed against him, his hands exploring him, his tongue dueling with his.

“Just ten minutes,” Eddie rasped and tugged on the belt of Thomas’s robe, releasing the knot.

Thomas felt like releasing a triumphant growl, but he restrained himself, and instead busied himself with opening Eddie’s pants and shoving them down to his thighs.

“I love the way you get hard within seconds,” Thomas whispered against the tempting column of Eddie’s neck, planting hot kisses on his skin, while he wrapped his palm around Eddie’s cock.

“You don’t exactly give me a chance to ever get soft.”

“Is that a complaint?” Thomas moved his hand up and down Eddie’s erection.