A Quick Bite

Chapter 10

Lissianna was sleepy and not at all interested in waking up, but some sense that there was something looming over her kept tugging at her consciousness and urging her awake. She tried to burrow deeper into the nest of pillows and comforter and ignore it, but there wasn't much give to her pillow and there wasn't any blanket at all. Frowning, she blinked her eyes open.
It took Lissianna's half-asleep mind a moment to figure out that it wasn't a pillow her head was nestled on, but a chest. She'd fallen asleep while talking to Greg, she realized, and at some point during the day had apparently cuddled up against him. Sucking in a breath, she stilled, then started to ease away from him, only to freeze at the sight of her cousins. The six of them were gathered around the bed, looming as they stared down at her and Greg with great interest.
Lissianna opened her mouth to speak, then paused and glanced toward Greg to find his eyes open and on her. She quickly sat up and glanced toward her cousins, finding them easier to face than he was at that moment. "What's wrong?"
"We're hungry," Juli announced. "We haven't eaten since your party."
"The twins aren't used to a liquid diet, and hunger pangs woke them up," Elspeth said apologetically. "They checked the kitchen, but Aunt Marguerite didn't get to buy groceries as planned because they brought Greg back. So they woke me up to see if I thought it would be ail right for them to order in something to eat."
"But the pizza place and Chinese restaurants don't open for a couple more hours and Aunt Marguerite lives far enough out that no one else will deliver," Jeanne Louise took up the explanation. "So I suggested we wake Thomas up to see if he'd drive them to a restaurant for breakfast, and then maybe a grocery store."
"How did you end up being there?" Lissianna asked Jeanne Louise with confusion.
"They got Elspeth's room mixed up with mine and woke me by mistake." Jeanne Louise shrugged. "When they explained they were looking for Elspeth, I tagged along."
Lissianna grunted. That explained why everyone was up but Mirabeau, but before she could ask, Mirabeau announced, "My room's between Jeanne Louise and Elspeth's. All the racket woke me up."
"And when they came to see me about a ride, I suggested we check and see if Greg was hungry, too," Thomas announced, explaining their presence around the bed.
"Oh." She turned to glance at Greg.
"He's starved," Mirabeau announced dryly.
"You can read his mind, too?" Lissianna asked, recalling her conversation with Thomas the night before.
"He'd just told us that he was starved before you woke up," Mirabeau explained, then added, "But, yes, I can read him."
Lissianna frowned at this news, then let her gaze sweep her other cousins. "Can the rest of you read him too? Surely I'm not the only one who--'?"
"I can read him," Juli announced. "He thinks you're beautiful in the morning, even with bed head."
Lissianna raised a hand to her hair with dismay and could feel it was a knotted mess.
"He's wondering if you have morning breath," Vicki added with a giggle.
Lissianna snapped her mouth closed, afraid she probably did.
"He's glad to know you aren't dead and thinks that for a bunch of bloodsuckers we're a rather nice family." Elspeth smiled at Greg. "We like you, too."
"Thanks," he muttered.
"He wants to see you cured, but he'd rather someone else do the actual therapy because he's interested in you in ways it isn't ethical for a therapist to be interested," Jeanne Louise announced, showing that she, too, could read him. To Greg she said, "I admire your ethics, but this isn't really your standard case is it? I mean, surely you can't be held to the same ethics as you would if she'd come to your office as a patient?"
"I--Er..." Greg shook his head. "I come from a pretty close family, but this is just a little bit much."
"Give him a break, girls," Thomas said with amusement. "The poor guy isn't used to this stuff. Besides, I can read his mind, too, and he isn't kidding about being starved. He hasn't eaten since Friday afternoon. He also has no intention of trying to escape, so I suggest we take him and the twins to a restaurant that serves all-day breakfast, then pick up some groceries on the way back."
"Thomas, I don't think that's a good idea," Mirabeau said quietly.
Thomas glanced at her, and merely said, "You can read his mind. Read it, Beau."
Mirabeau hesitated, then turned her gaze to Greg, and Lissianna found herself glancing at him too, but when she again tried to read him, she came up against a brick wall of nothingness. This time she wasn't just confused by her inability to penetrate his thoughts, she was also somewhat alarmed. Everyone else could read him. Why couldn't she? Her conversation with Thomas about his possibly being her true life mate came to mind, but before she could consider it too deeply, Mirabeau said, "You're right, Thomas. He can go, too."
It seemed that whatever she'd seen in his mind had been enough to convince Mirabeau it was safe to take him out, that he wouldn't try to escape.
"We have to shower and change then!" Juli was suddenly in a panic.
"And do our makeup," Vicki added, and Lissianna watched the pair run for the door in their baby dolls, then glanced at the others, only then noticing that they were all still in their nightwear.
"Meet back here in half an hour?" Thomas suggested, heading for the door.
Elspeth snorted as she followed. "You have got to be kidding. It'll take that long for the twins to decide what to wear. You'd better make it an hour."
"What about Greg?" Jeanne Louise asked, bringing everyone to a halt. When they turned to look at her, she pointed out, "He's slept in his clothes and might want a shower and change of clothes, too."
Lissianna glanced at Greg, guilt assailing her that she hadn't thought of this. The man was still wearing the jeans and T-shirt he'd had on when she'd arrived home, the clothes he'd obviously been wearing when he'd been brought here last night.
"He's a little bigger than me, or I'd loan him something," Thomas said. While Thomas and Greg were about the same height, Greg was wider through the chest and shoulders, more the size of her brothers.
"'He should fit in your brothers' clothes," Jeanne Louise pointed out, her thoughts apparently running along the same line as Lissianna's. "They leave clothes here, too. I'll grab some on my way back."
"Thanks," she said, as the foursome continued out of the room.
"I'd better get ready, too," Lissianna murmured, avoiding meeting Greg's gaze as she slid off the bed. She found herself suddenly terribly aware of how she must look in her sleep-wrinkled clothing, her hair a mess, and her face without fresh makeup. Not that she wore a lot of makeup anyway, but still...
Lissianna walked to the dresser, grabbed a pair of panties and a bra from the top drawer, stopped at the closet to pull out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then went into the bathroom. A glance at herself in the mirror made her groan. Bed head wasn't a joke. It looked like someone had gone at her hair with a mixer. Grimacing, she decided a good dose of cream rinse was probably the only thing likely to get the knots out of her hair which meant a shower was in order.
Fifteen minutes later Lissianna was showered, changed, had brushed her teeth and slapped some lipstick on and was about to dry her hair when she realized that she'd thoughtlessly left Greg tied to the bed. Setting her hair dryer aside, she hurried out to the bedroom, apologizing as she went, "I'm sorry, Greg. I should have untied you instead of just taking off like that."
"That's okay, but I'm glad you remembered when you did. I could use the bathroom," he admitted, as she set to work on the ropes.
"There are towels in there if you want to shower," Lissianna said once he was untied and scrambling off the bed.
"Thanks."
"Oh, and I'll bring you a toothbrush. Mom always keeps new ones in the linen closet for visitors."
"Well, I guess dental care is a big deal for you guys," Greg commented as he crossed the room to the bathroom door.
Lissianna was trying to figure out how she should take that, when he glanced over his shoulder with amusement, and said, "That was a joke."
"Oh." She relaxed and managed a smile as he disappeared into the bathroom.
"Idiot, of course it was a joke. Wake up," she muttered to herself once the door was closed.
Lissianna headed out in search of a toothbrush, but her mind was busy guessing what time it was. A little after noon by her guess, which meant she'd slept no more than five hours again. It was becoming a habit, she thought with a sigh.
As it turned out, the linen closet was fresh out of toothbrushes. Lissianna went downstairs to check the pantry just to be sure they hadn't been put in the wrong place, but didn't find any there. She did find her mother's housekeeper on the way back; Maria explained that several guests had forgotten their toothbrushes this time around and used them all. She had them on the list for her weekly shopping trip, but there were none at the moment.
Greg was whistling in the bathroom as Lissianna reentered the bedroom, but there was no sound of running water. She tapped on the door. "Greg?"
The whistling died. "Yeah?"
"I guess we're out of toothbrushes right now, I'm sorry."
"That's okay." There was a hesitation, then, "Would you mind if I use yours? It's not like we haven't swapped spit or anything."
Lissianna was staring blankly at the bathroom door, a little thrown by the swapped spit phrase, when Greg pulled the door open and peered at her.
"That was another joke, Lissianna," he said, then amended himself. "Well, not that we haven't swapped spit, but calling it that is the joke part."
"Oh yes," Lissianna murmured, though she'd hardly heard him, her attention was focused on his chest. She'd thought the lack of running water had meant he hadn't showered yet, but he'd obviously done so while she was downstairs. His hair was damp and he was standing there with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Dear God, the man was gorgeous.
"Is that 'oh yes' I can use your toothbrush or 'oh yes' we swapped spit?" he asked. When Lissianna raised a blank gaze to him, he tilted his head, and said, "You really aren't a morning person, are you?"
Lissianna closed her eyes and turned away while she still had a brain cell left in her head. They all seemed to be traveling south. And she'd thought it was only men who had that problem.
"You don't happen to have a razor I can use, too, do you?" Greg asked.
"Yes." Pausing, Lissianna turned back and moved past him to get it out of the bathroom drawer.
"Thanks," Greg said as he accepted it.
"I'm afraid I don't have any shaving cream," she said apologetically.
"I'll make do with soap lather," he said with a shrug, then caught her arm as she moved to leave the bathroom again. "You were going to dry your hair, weren't you?" He gestured to the hair dryer lying on the bathroom counter to explain how he knew.
"Oh, yes." She'd just gotten it out when she'd realized that Greg was still tied up.
"Well I'm just shaving and stuff right now. You can share the mirror, if you like. The vanity space is large enough for both of us."
Lissianna hesitated, shy at the idea of sharing bathroom space with him, then realized she was being silly and nodded.
"Good." Greg turned to the counter and staked out the sink on the right.
Not half an hour ago the bathroom had seemed a large and spacious room. There was plenty of floor space, a huge tub, a toilet, clothes hamper, and a counter that ran the length of one entire wall with two sinks in it and a mirror overhead. But once Lissianna was in there with Greg it seemed incredibly small, and at first she was clumsy and uncomfortable as she found her hairbrush, took the hair dryer, unraveled the cord and plugged it in, all while being extra careful not to bump Greg or get too close.
For his part, Greg didn't seem to notice the shrinking size of the room. As far as she could tell, he hardly seemed aware of her presence as he concentrated on making lather from the bar of soap. Giving herself a mental shake for acting so juvenile, Lissianna turned on the dryer and went to work on her hair, doing her best not to stare at his chest in the mirror as she did.
Lissianna didn't do much styling with her hair. It was naturally wavy and looked fine as it was. She only bothered to dry it when she was going out into the cold as she planned to do today, so it didn't take her long to blow the worst of the dampness out of it. Once it was mostly dry, she turned off the dryer and began to rewind the cord.
"You have a reflection."
Lissianna paused and met his gaze in the mirror. "Yes."
"According to all the stories, vampires don't have reflections," he pointed out. "I guess that's something else they got wrong."
"Oh, yes." She nodded and went back to winding the cord.
"I was going to ask you." Greg glanced at her. "Thomas said your father had a problem with alcohol. So, I guess you guys can drink liquids other than blood?"
"Yes we can, but he didn't drink that way."
"Really?" His eyes were curious as they met hers in the mirror, "Then how did your father--"
"Blood," she answered before he could finish the question. "Blood donated by alcoholics on a binge."
Greg frowned with disbelief. "Most blood banks don't take donations from people on substances... I don't think."
"No, but we have our own blood banks," Lissianna informed him. "It's a legitimate blood bank, servicing hospitals and clinics as well as our people."
"And they accept blood from drunks?"
She shrugged. "Yes, it's called Wino Reds, but it never goes to the hospitals or mortal organizations. It's strictly for consumption by our kind."
Greg considered that, then asked, "What about people on substances? Do they take their blood, too?"
Lissianna nodded. "We have a whole range of varieties; High Times, Sweet Ecstasy, Sweet Tooth."
"High Times? That has to be people with high levels of THC in their system. Sweet Ecstasy would be blood from people on ecstasy. What is--?"
"Enough questions, it's my turn," Lissianna interrupted. She had some questions of her own, and said so. "I answered a ton of questions for you earlier. It's your turn."
"Okay. That's fair. What do you want to know?" Greg said easily, and drew the razor down his cheek.
Everything, Lissianna thought, but said, "Well, I'm guessing you aren't married or it would have been more of a problem for Mother to hijack your vacation--I'm sorry about that by the way."
Before she could become too troubled that he wasn't on his way to Cancun, Greg said, "Don't be, she saved me a long wait at the airport for nothing. The flight was canceled, but I gather not until after keeping the passengers all standing around in the airport for three hours."
"Really?" she asked with surprise.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Ironic, isn't it?"
She smiled faintly at his good humor. "Why aren't you angry? Doesn't it freak you out at all?"
Greg paused in his shaving and admitted, "Well, I was pretty angry at first. I mean, being kidnapped twice in twenty-four hours, then finding out your captors are vampires can be a bit much."
Lissianna was pretty sure that could be considered a stressful day by anyone's standards.
"But then..." He hesitated, then said, "Thomas was wearing Spider-Man PJs."
She blinked in confusion at his words, and he laughed.
"I know that sounds weird, but it's hard to be scared or even angry at a guy in Spider-Man pajamas," Greg said helplessly. "Or you gals in your baby dolls for that matter, so I don't feel threatened. And then, your family kind of reminds me of my own."
Lissianna raised her eyebrows, finding it hard to believe his family could be anything like her own.
"Even Marguerite," he added. "My mom is the head of the family, too. She was widowed when we were little, and she ruled the roost. Like your own mother, she'd go a long way to protect or help one of her children. It's obvious there's a lot of love here and... well... you have to admit, it's pretty interesting. Fascinating even."
Lissianna wasn't sure about the fascinating part, but then she'd grown up as she was and with her family around her. It was all pretty normal and commonplace to her, so she said, "Do you have a large family then?"
"Not really. At least, I don't think so. I mean, no one's had ten or twelve kids or anything. Three seems to be the average, and most of them are female," he added with a grimace. "Of my mother's three sisters, only one is still with her husband. One's divorced and one is widowed like my mom. I have two sisters, about eight female cousins and one male cousin. Us guys are a minority."
"What about your father's side?"
"They haven't bothered much with us since Dad ran off with his secretary."
Lissianna frowned. "I thought your mother was widowed?"
"He died before they could divorce," Greg explained. "He and his girlfriend were killed just a week after they ran off. The secretary's husband crashed into the car they were in." Greg smiled wryly. "Mother tried not to be too smug about it, but she did quote the old saw 'you reap what you sow.'"
Lissianna bit her lip to keep back her smile, and asked, "Why did you become a psychologist?"
"Why?" He blew his breath out. "I guess I like to help people. There's no greater satisfaction than knowing you've helped someone get over something and made his or her life a little easier."
Lissianna felt admiration well up in her. "That's--"
"Before you say something nice, you should remember I also get paid to help them."
She laughed and shook her head, knowing he was being modest and probably uncomfortable at appearing too noble. "You could make just as much money at several other jobs and not be helping people."
Greg shrugged and turned back to the mirror. "Why aren't you married?"
Lissianna blinked at the question, opened her mouth to answer, then paused and narrowed her eyes as she recalled she was supposed to be asking questions now. Rather than remind him of that, she simply asked, "Why aren't you?"
His gaze met hers in the mirror, and she almost expected him to argue that he'd asked first, but then he answered, "I almost was."
Lissianna arched an eyebrow. "Almost?"
Greg nodded, his attention on shaving as he said, "Meredith. I met her the first week of the first year of university. I rescued her from an abusive boyfriend outside the university pub. We hit it off and started dating." He shrugged. "We dated for two years, and everyone started expecting we'd marry, so I proposed and everyone started going crazy making wedding arrangements."
"What happened?" Lissianna asked curiously.
Greg sighed and peered down into the sink as he rinsed the razor. "The closer the wedding got, the more anxious I got about the whole thing. Everyone kept saying it was just cold feet, so I kept letting it go; but about a month before the wedding my psychology professor said I seemed off and asked me what was wrong." He paused to explain, "The wedding was set to take place the week after end of term.
"Anyway," Greg continued, "he asked, and I blurted everything out. I don't think I made much sense. He took me down to the break room, gave me a coffee, and got me talking. We were there forever, but by the time I left, I knew I couldn't marry Meredith. The next day I broke it to her, then changed my major to psychology."
Lissianna's eyes widened. "You weren't a psychology major at the time?"
Greg grinned and shook his head. "Journalism, and while I liked it well enough, as far as 1 was concerned, that professor saved me a lot of grief. I wanted to do that for others."
Lissianna considered what he'd said, then considered what he hadn't said and asked, "From one talk with him you were able to see that Meredith wasn't right for you?"
"Not exactly. That one talk made me look at the things that had been bothering me for months, the reasons behind why I was getting anxious about the wedding."
"Which was?"
He grimaced, then blew a breath out, and said, "She was too dependent."
Lissianna waited patiently for him to explain.
"I told you I met her by rescuing her from an abusive boyfriend, but after that 1 was constantly rescuing her.
Not from anything major like that again, but she was always coming to me with little problems and expecting me to solve them. She wanted someone to take care of her. She even admitted she wasn't at university to get an education but to find a husband. She wanted to be a housewife and raise babies. I started having nightmares about drowning and..."
Greg shook his head. "I suppose that sounds odd, since I just said I wanted to help people like my psychology professor had helped me."
"Maybe a little. It is what you do, after all, help people with their problems."
"Ah, but that's the key, I help them with their problems. They do all the hard work, I just guide them and help them work things out. Meredith wanted to be taken care of. She wanted the problems solved for her. It's like the difference between shipping a boatload of bottled water to a drought-stricken area, and sending them some water, plus the equipment and know-how to dig wells and irrigate and so on. If you send them water, they'll just need more later, send them some water and the know-how and equipment, and they have the water to get them through until they can put the equipment and know-how to use it to lake care of their own needs.
"My patients are looking for the equipment and know-how to be independent... like you want to be. Meredith just wanted the water... over and over again. She reveled in her dependency. She flat out said she needed me. She wouldn't even admit to having an opinion about small things like which restaurant to go to when we went out. Every decision was mine."
Greg shook his head. "Some men would like that, but it wasn't what I wanted in a wife. For me, marriage should be about partnership. How can you love someone you have to take care of like a child all the time? A wife is supposed to be a partner, and yes partners help each other when they need it, but they are supposed to be together because they want to in my book, not because one needs the other. With Meredith, I would always have had to be stronger and carry the burden. I wanted--"
"An equal," Lissianna finished for him.
"Yes." Greg met her gaze in the mirror, then shook his head and marveled. "This is all truly strange. I keep forgetting what you are."
Lissianna stilled. "Does it matter?"
"Yes and no," he admitted. "It doesn't seem to affect the way I see you, or I wouldn't keep forgetting it's what you are. On the other hand, it's like meeting a rock star or something. I mean, how many guys can say they know real live vampires?"
"The question is, how many live to repeat it."
Lissianna and Greg turned sharply at that dry remark to find Mirabeau--dressed and ready to go--in the doorway.
"Here you are!" Jeanne Louise appeared behind her and beamed a smile at them. "We brought clothes. Mirabeau and Elspeth helped. Come on out and have a look."
"We weren't sure what you'd want to wear, Greg," Elspeth said, straightening from setting a stack of clothes on the bed beside two others. "So we brought a whole selection."
Lissianna led Greg to the bed to look at the clothes. They had brought quite a selection. Greg had his choice of jeans and T-shirts, suits, or dress pants and sweaters. There was also a bundle of undershirts, boxers, and jockey shorts. He looked over the collection, then chose a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and turned away.
"Thank you, ladies," he said as he disappeared back into the bathroom to dress.
Elspeth glanced at Jeanne Louise and shrugged. "I guess we both lose the bet."
"What bet?" Thomas asked, entering the room.
"Boxers or briefs," Jeanne Louise answered. "I was betting boxers. Elspeth thought briefs. Instead he went commando."
"Perhaps he just didn't want to use someone else's underwear," Lissianna suggested, but her mind was now fixed on the fact that Greg was going commando.
"It's cold out," Elspeth commented. "I hope he doesn't get a chill."
They fell silent as the bathroom door opened and Greg stepped out. "The jeans are a bit tight, but should do."
Lissianna's gaze slid over the jeans and T-shirt he'd selected from the pile on the bed. The clothes fit him like a glove, and the man looked as sexy as hell.
"You look tine," Elspeth assured him.
"Good, then we can go. I'm absolutely starved."
"Hmm. I'm feeling a little peckish, myself," Mirabeau murmured, and Lissianna stopped ogling Greg to turn on her friend with shock. Mirabeau only grinned and moved toward the door, murmuring, "My, my. Someone's protective of the little mortal, aren't they?"
The words had been a bare whisper, and Greg couldn't possibly have heard, but Lissianna felt herself blush as her cousins turned to eye her with amusement. Their hearing was as good as hers and they had, of course, heard the teasing comment.
"Are you sure we should do this? 1 don't think Mother and Aunt Marguerite are going to be too happy about our taking him out," Elspeth suggested.
"Then they should have thought to pick up some food for him," Lissianna said grimly. "Besides, they'll never know we went. We'll be back long before they're awake."