Page 54 of Damian’s Conquest

She turned halfway so she could look at him. “I can keep a secret.”

“Thank you.” He kissed her and turned her fully to him.

Naomi took a breath, because she still had questions, only for herself, not for the newspaper. “You said earlier that the thief stole something from the Mezzanine that you were safekeeping for your father. What was it?”

“It wasn’t something I kept there for my father. The thief stole an entire crate of bottled blood that we keep for the staff members so they can feed when they need to.”

“The bottles with the Scanguards name on it?”

He nodded.

“No wonder you were so furious when you thought I’d taken them.” It all made sense now. “Whoever has the bottles can expose you and Scanguards.”

“Yeah, and that’s why we have to find the thief quickly, before he can put us all in danger.”

“So Mrs. Zhang was right that the person she saw was carrying something when he stumbled. He must have broken one of the bottles and then tossed it. But that still doesn’t explain the little vial that I found with it. I wish Heather would have been able to analyze what was inside it.”

“I know what was inside it,” Damian said to her surprise. “I could smell it. It was vampire blood.”

Something clicked in her mind. “That’s why you wanted me to show you the vial. So you could smell it. What did you do with it?”

“I gave it to my father. I spoke to him and Samson during the housewarming party. They’re both very concerned.”

“Why would somebody put vampire blood into a vial? What for? To turn a human into a vampire?” she asked, shivering at the thought.

“No. You’d need a lot more blood to turn a human. But it would be sufficient to heal somebody depending on the severity of the injury or illness.”

Naomi shot up to sit. “What?”

Damian sat up too. “Vampire blood can heal a human, just like human blood can heal a vampire.”

“Wow. That’s amazing.” She shook her head in wonder. Then she realized something. “So in a way it’s a drug. What if what Mrs. Zhang saw during the nights before the Halloween party was a drug deal after all? Just not for coke or heroin, but for vampire blood?”

“That’s what I’ve been suspecting too. I might have a way of confirming who’s been dealing out of the back of the Mezzanine.” He looked at the clock on the bedside table. “But we have to wait for daytime. Let’s sleep a few hours, and then we’ll look into it.”

Damian pressed her back into the sheets, and she pulled him to her.

“Do we have to sleep?” she murmured and ran her hand down his torso to his groin, where she found his cock hard and heavy.

“Well, since you asked so nicely, maybe you get to stay up a little longer.”

Before she could take another breath, he’d rolled her to the side and spooned her. He gripped her thigh and lifted it, and his erection slid between her legs. With one thrust, he was inside her, seated in her still-wet channel.

“Oh,” she said on a breathless moan, “that feels good.”

Damian kissed her neck and began to move inside her in slow and measured strokes. “Is that what you had in mind?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was talking about.”

“Then let me take care of you, or we’ll never get a wink of sleep,” Damian said with a chuckle in his voice, and made good on his promise.

25

Damian had slept well with Naomi in his arms. When he woke mid-morning, she was still sleeping peacefully, and he realized how relieved he was that she trusted him enough to allow herself to be vulnerable in his arms. It filled his heart with warmth, and his cock with blood. But there was time for that later.

He had work to do. Nearly thirty hours ago, the case of blood had been stolen, and Mick Solvang hadn’t been seen for over forty-eight hours. And as much as he wanted to stay in bed with Naomi, he had responsibilities. The theft of blood and the disappearance of his bartender fell within his domain.

“Time to get up, chérie,” he whispered to her, and she finally stirred.