ife didn't get any tougher than this. Robby dashed down the stairs and across the parking lot to the overgrown bush where he'd hidden a small ice chest. He yanked a bottle of synthetic blood out of the ice and unscrewed the top.

He'd drunk two bottles before coming to Olivia's apartment, so he wouldn't be hungry, but he hadn't counted on spending so much time with his mouth on her neck, and her throbbing carotid artery just millimeters away from his fangs.

He guzzled down some bottled blood. Thank God he'd brought an emergency supply. He hadn't expected her to be a virgin. Years ago, when he'd had to feed to survive, he'd learned how to ease the pain of a bite and make the whole experience pleasurable for the donor. He'd used the same technique tonight to lessen Olivia's pain and heighten her pleasure, but the cost had been high.

He'd nearly died, fighting the compulsion to bite her. And the struggle hadn't ended there. He'd had to make sure the sex was good, too.

He strode around the perimeter of the parking lot, looking for anything suspicious. The parked cars were empty. He studied the apartment building while he finished the bottle of blood. If a mortal was hiding in the shadows, he'd be able to hear a heartbeat. Nothing.

He walked over to the Dumpster and tossed his empty bottle inside. There was still another bottle in the ice chest. He might need it before the night was over.

He ran a hand over his hair, pushing back the strands that had come loose during lovemaking. A virgin. He hadn't expected that. And he'd taken it.

He shouldn't have done it. It would be harder now to tell her the truth about himself. No woman would want to hear that she'd lost her virginity to a night creature.

No doubt she was hoping for a normal life. She would want to share normal activities during the day with a normal husband, and give birth to normal children. He could never give her that. He should have been honest with her before taking her to bed.

But dammit, what choice had she given him? He'd had to stop her from throwing herself at a stranger. And he'd tried his damnedest to deflower her with as little pain and as much pleasure as possible.

Stop lying to yourself. He had wanted to do it. He'd wanted Olivia since the first night he'd spotted her on Patmos. He could pretend he regretted behaving in a dishonorable fashion, but the truth was, he was doing exactly what he wanted. He loved her, and he was going to fight for her.

He climbed the steps to her apartment. Round two was about to begin.

A ringing telephone jerked Olivia from a deep sleep. She rolled over and winced. Muscles she never knew she had were sore. She blinked at the sunlight filtering through the edges of her closed blinds. The clock radio on her bedside table beamed 10:16. Good God, she'd slept late.

But then she'd fallen asleep late. Memories of marathon sex flitted through her mind. She glanced at the pillow beside her. Robby was gone. She had a fuzzy memory of him kissing her good-bye at some point.

The phone jangled again, and she fumbled for the receiver. "Hello?"

"Olivia," J.L. said. "Thank God. I tried calling your cell phone and you didn't answer."

"I didn't hear it. I guess it's in the living room."

"Did I wake you?"

"Well...yeah. But I needed to get up." She struggled to sit up and the bedsheet slipped down to her waist. Sheesh, she was still naked. She vaguely remembered putting on a sexy nightgown about 2:00 A.M. Robby had admired it, then promptly removed it for what he called round three.

"Are you all right?" J.L. asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." What was the appropriate term...thoroughly shagged?

"I'll be over in about an hour." J.L. hung up.

She eased out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom. She winced at the sight of herself in the mirror. Her hair was a wild mess, her eyeliner was smudged, and what were those red things on her neck? She peered closer. Good God, they were huge hickeys. She had a matching set. This was embarrassing. She'd have to wear a scarf.

She grinned. Robby had certainly taken on the role of her lover with great enthusiasm.

She took a long shower, and her thoughts went back to round two. She'd just finished her shower when Robby had returned from his perimeter check. He'd ripped the towel off her and tossed her on the bed. He'd kissed her wet and slippery body all over, flipping her over to nibble on her bottom, then flipping her back so he could dive between her legs and wreak havoc with his tongue.

One climax hadn't been enough. He'd slid her to the edge of the bed where he was standing, and raised her hips so he could plunge into her. She hadn't thought she could climax again, but he'd proven her wrong. Several times.

What an insatiable man, she thought with a grin. She dried off from the shower and pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She glanced at the stained comforter and bedsheets. It looked like she'd be doing laundry today.

She padded into the living room and noticed that it had been straightened up. Her handbag and keys were back on the console. Her laptop and legal pad were stacked on the coffee table. A folded note on yellow legal paper rested next to them with her name written on it.

She sat on the love seat and opened the note.

Good morning, Olivia. I was sorry I had to leave you so early. You looked so beautiful in your sleep, I hated to wake you.

I know you'll have some questions. We need to talk. Please remember that no matter what happens, I love you. I will always love you. I want to spend my life with you.

Robert MacKay

With a smile, she lounged back against the love seat. He loved her. He wanted to spend his life with her. That was perfect because she felt exactly the same way.

She read the note again and her smile faded. This time the words "we need to talk" jumped out at her. What was there to talk about?

I know you'll have some questions.

Her hands trembled as she folded the note. Dammit. She didn't want to think about it. Denial was so much better. Last night had been glorious. Perfect.

But this was the morning after. She couldn't deny it any longer. Every time they'd made love, his eyes had glowed red. Medical condition, he'd said. There was no such thing.

Tears gathered in her eyes. He'd lied to her. Knowing how much she hated dishonesty, he'd still lied. What was he covering up?

And then there was his lovemaking. Granted, she had been woefully inexperienced, but even so, she suspected there'd been something unusual about it. Unusually fantastic, she thought with a snort. She'd be crazy to complain about that.

But she might complain about the blue satin pillow that now had two holes in it.

She set the note back on the coffee table. Her heart lurched with a sudden thought. He'd taken the sheet of paper from her legal pad, and it was full of notes from the Great Robby Hunt. She grabbed the legal pad and thumbed through it. He must have seen how hard she'd worked to locate information on him. He knew she hadn't found squat.

I know you'll have some questions.

Damn. She threw the legal pad down and headed for the kitchen. She needed a strong cup of tea. She halted at the kitchen entrance. All the discarded clothes and towels from the bedroom were neatly piled in front of the washer/dryer combo. The sink was empty. She checked the dishwasher and found the glasses from last night inside. Even the trash and the pizza box had been taken out. Hadn't Robby slept at all? He must have done all this while she was sleeping.

A man who voluntarily cleaned up? So what if she had a few questions? The man was worth his weight in gold. And he loved her. She loved him. Whatever the problem was, they'd work it out. They'd certainly resolved her virginity problem with satisfactory results.

She started a load in the washing machine while her water heated on the stove. Her tea was steeping when she heard a knock on the door.

"Olivia, it's me!" J.L. yelled.

She peered through the peephole to make sure, then froze. The door was locked. Robby must have locked it when he left. She glanced at the console where her new key rested, attached to her key ring. This was...odd.

She opened the door.

J.L. strode inside, smiling. "I brought breakfast." He showed her a white paper sack full of doughnuts.

"The dead-bolt lock you put in - it came with two keys, right?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah." He strode over to her kitchen table and set the bag on top.

"Where's the second key?"

He gave her a sheepish look. "I kept it. Just in case I needed to get in here someday."

In case she was attacked or incapacitated by Otis Crump's buddy. Great. She frowned at her key ring on the console. How had Robby managed to lock her door without a key?

I know you'll have some questions.

That evening, Olivia set up her laptop and webcam at the usual time for her daily talk with Robby.

He appeared on screen and smiled. "How are ye, sweetheart?"

She smiled back and touched the monitor. "I wish you were here. Thank you for straightening up. You must not have slept at all."

He shrugged one shoulder. "I'm used to working all night." His smile widened. "Though last night was definitely more pleasure than work."

Her cheeks grew warm. "You must have been exhausted by the time you got back to New York."

"Aye." His mouth twisted with a wry look. "I slept like the dead."

"You're back to doing security at Romatech tonight?"

He nodded. "The danger here is greater at night. The terrorists who attack the Romatechs always strike in the dark."

"What have they got against Romatech?" she asked. "Synthetic blood must save thousands of lives."

"Aye, it does, but these...people doona approve of the cloning of blood." He glanced to the side. "Piss off, Phineas. I doona need any more advice."

Olivia heard some laughter in the background.

Robby turned back to her with an exasperated look. "Sorry about that. The guys are giving me hell tonight."

Olivia sighed. She knew the feeling. J.L. had pretended to gag when she'd carried her bedsheets into the kitchen to stuff them in the washing machine. "Isn't Phineas the one who calls himself the Love Doctor?"

"Aye. He offered to lend me a book for educational purposes. It shows thirty different positions displayed in photographs."

She laughed. "I think we went through half of them last night."

He grinned. "I'm afraid the other half would require us both to be contortionists."

"Ouch. So what kind of advice is the Love Doctor giving you?"

Robby's grin faded. "I should make sure ye know how much I love you."

She touched the screen. "You're doing well on that."

A frown creased his brow. "And I should tell you...everything."

She took a deep breath. "You were right in your note. I do have questions."

He nodded but didn't say anything.

She swallowed hard. "Have you been lying to me?"

He winced. "I always try to be honest. I know it's important to you. There are times, though..." He shifted in his chair. "Sometimes I canna explain things."

"Like the red glowing eyes."

A pained expression flitted over his face. "I will explain. But I need to do it in person."

"What was wrong with last night?"

"I - " He ran a hand through his hair. "I thought ye'd been through enough trauma for one day."

She sat back. Telling her the truth about himself would be traumatic?

"And then I...I became a bit single-minded," he continued. "I wanted to make sure ye enjoyed losing yer virginity."

"Yeah." She gave him a wry smile. "You made sure of that about ten times."

He shrugged one shoulder. "I got a bit carried away. Will ye be free next weekend?"

"Yes." That would be the first weekend in June. "You're coming back?"

He nodded. "We need to talk."

A chill skittered down her arms. "How did you get out of the apartment this morning and lock the door?"

He looked away, frowning. "I'll explain it next weekend."

"Isn't there an easy explanation? Like you took my key to an all-night hardware store and had a copy made while I was sleeping?"

"That would be an easy explanation." He grimaced. "But it would be a lie."

"Oh God." She leaned back against the love seat cushions.

"Olivia, are ye still planning to see Otis Crump tomorrow?"

"Yes." She sat forward so she'd be back in camera range.

"Is there any news from Forensics regarding the box?"

She shook her head. "Not on a Sunday. We might get some results tomorrow."

"Let me know what happens. I'll be happy to deal with him myself, but it would take some planning."

What kind of planning? "I'll update you tomorrow night."

He nodded. "And I'll see you Friday night, so we can talk." He gave her a searching look. "Remember I love you."

"I love you, too." Why did he look so worried? "Can you spend the whole weekend here?"

"Possibly. It...depends."

"Depends on what?" she asked.

He touched the screen. "You."

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but the screen went blank.

He was gone.