“Relax, Blade. I come in peace. Simon sends his regards. No hard feelings on our side.” Greg pulled a packet out of his pocket and tossed it at Jerry. It fell at his feet. “Free Vamp Viagra. Don’t be such a hard-ass. Glory will thank you for trying it.” He yelped when Blade suddenly had him up by his shirt front and dangling over the edge of the roof.

“Why don’t I drop you into the alley? The ladies will meet you downstairs.” Blade shook Greg, who’d grabbed his wrists.

“Ease up. Can’t you take a joke?” Greg cut his eyes toward me. “Glory? The cops are still down there. We don’t need this.”

“Jerry, he’s right. He wouldn’t even get a broken bone, and we’d get unwanted attention.” I put my arms around his waist and pulled him back. Not that he’d have moved if he hadn’t realized what I said was true. “And the Vamp Viagra might be fun. Why not take a free ride?” I stood on my toes and ran my fangs along his neck. “I’m having a stressful night. Might help me relax.”

“There you go.” Greg landed on the roof and smoothed out his shirt. “Ladies, shall we take off? Seems Glory’s got an agenda, and we’re in the way.” He steered Aggie and Flo toward the door.

“Glory, I only go if you say it’s okay. Jeremiah is not in such a good mood.” Flo moved away from Greg. “Jeremiah, be kind to her. Glory handled this very well. But she is shook up. Sì?”

“Yes, I am. Look at all those weapons.” I clung to Jerry. Why was he so angry? Not at me, of course. I threw up a block. As long as no one told him I’d gone crawling into Viv’s jeans, I should be golden. Totally the victim.

“Gloriana knows I’m just worried about her. It’s those bastards downstairs I’d like to rip apart. You can leave us, Florence.” Jerry said this quietly. “I’d never hurt Gloriana.”

“Right. Go, Flo. We’re fine.” I finally let go of him. “See you tomorrow night. Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Nadia Komisky is Rafe’s partner. She says she knows you and that we can have the bachelorette party at their new nightclub.”

“Nadia! Yes. She gave Damian a run for his life. Hah!” Flo was now all smiles. “And this bachelorette party will be some fun. I’ll invite her. You and I will talk tomorrow.” She turned on her heel and shoved Aggie and Greg out ahead of her.

“Another Westwood attack.” Jerry looked over the wall as the police cars finally left the alley and all was quiet again.

“Yes. But Greg saw them, and I called nine-one-one. The police handled it. I was never in danger at all.” I tried to relax.

“Then maybe you can explain why you smell like a cheap pancake house.” Jerry didn’t look at me. Just kept staring down at the dark alley.

“What do you know about places like that?” I moved closer.

“I know a lot of things that seem trivial at the moment. And don’t know what I need to.” He finally looked at me. “When I heard there were men in the alley with crossbows and your picture ...” He slapped the wall, and a piece of concrete crumbled. “Damn it, Gloriana, what the hell is going on here?”

“Seems that arrow attack was more than the revenge thing I took it for. Brent Westwood left a will. He’s got two kids. The first one to pop his killer inherits his estate, the whole enchilada. It’s over a billion dollars, and that’s a powerful motivator.” I picked up the baggie of Vampire Viagra. If I could persuade Jerry to use this, I could definitely get his mind off life or death. Does that make me a live-for-the-moment kind of woman? Well, might as well. When you’re being stalked . . .

Suddenly I was grabbed by both arms and shaken until my hair flew around my head like I’d been struck by lightning again.

“What the hell is the matter with you? You could have been killed tonight. Did you see the weapons that mob carried?”

“How could I miss them?” I jerked out of his grasp, the rooftop spinning. “Was that necessary? I think you bruised my arms. And after you told Flo you’d never hurt me.” And what was with my men tonight? Seems I’d pushed Jerry and Rafe too far for once. And how rude of Jerry to poke into my mind without an invitation. It was something we simply didn’t do.

“You’ll heal. It’s a miracle I haven’t knocked you on your arse before now. I swear you are the most damnably provoking woman I’ve ever known.” Jerry ran his hand through his hair.

“Thanks a lot. And, trust me, my arse has suffered enough abuse tonight.” I brushed my hair out of my eyes, then pulled up my sleeves as if to check for those bruises. Laying on some guilt. In case Jerry decided I still had a knock on my arse coming. He was seriously steamed. And I understood. If he’d been in this kind of danger and kept it from me . . .

“I’m afraid to ask what the hell that means. God, Gloriana, you could have stepped out of your back door and been shot through the heart.” He reached for me again, gently this time, and pulled me to his chest. “I remember what those crossbows can do. Saw my best friend taken down with one right in front of me. Remember?” He said this with his face in my hair, arms wrapping me tight as if he could keep me safe single-handedly.

I swallowed. He was right. Of course this had brought back horrific memories for him. But I wasn’t a complete idiot. Hadn’t planned to unwittingly step out there without someone checking the alley first. Though if the men had been wearing vamp-detection glasses . . .

I cleared my throat and looked up. “They hauled David off to jail. I’m safe for tonight anyway.”

Jerry released me and stepped back, under control again. “You said there were two Westwood brats. Where’s the other one now?”

“I ran her off earlier tonight. Stepped in maple syrup doing it. That’s where the pancake smell is coming from.” I glanced down at my shoes. “Anyway, Rafe saw me do it.” Oops. Jerry looked like a thundercloud.

“Great. Valdez knows about this, but he didn’t tell me.”

“He’s not your employee anymore. He doesn’t owe you—”

“I let him out of his contract, but he does still owe me.” Jerry pulled the Vampire Viagra from my hand. “You want to play? Forget the future and live for the night? Why not? Come home with me. I don’t have roommates to hear you scream with pleasure. If your life is going to be cut short, I guess we should make the most of the time we have left.”

“Jerry, I—” Tears clogged my throat, and I followed him dumbly to the door. Did I want to make love with him? Of course I did. Maybe I didn’t like what he said, but he was way better at facing reality than I was. A warrior. And I had a history of running away when things got hot instead of standing and fighting. I hated to do it, but maybe leaving was still my best move. So a night of his lovemaking? Bring it on.

He silently held the door open, and I walked ahead of him down the stairs. My damned sticky boots squeaked with every step. I’d worn tight jeans and a red sweater. I wished I could stop in my apartment to at least change shoes. Or it might help my cause to switch out my bra. What I had on could have carried rocks for David to use against Goliath. The image made my mouth quirk in a smile.

“What’s funny?” He slipped his arm around me at the bottom of the stairs.

“Me, us. Always ending up in bed together. It beats talking when we’ll only fight anyway.” I reached up and brought his head down to kiss his lips. “I know you’re worried about me. I love you for it. Be patient. Give me a night to remember. Tomorrow night, I promise we can take this threat seriously.”

He pulled me tight against him and kissed me deeply until I felt that centuries-old connection I needed so badly. “I love you, Gloriana. I don’t want to live forever if it’s in a world without you.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Jerry. That’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“It’s the God’s truth, but if you tell Valdez I spouted such drivel, I’ll call you a liar.” He kissed my nose, then hit the code to open the security door. “Stay here and let me check to make sure the coast is clear. Just because you ran a Westwood off once doesn’t mean she’s stayed away.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, totally pleased with him, while I waited for him to come back for me. For once I’d relax and let him take charge without a lot of objections. Vampire Viagra. I’d taken it accidentally once with the wrong man. It had made me wild, but I’d been left unsatisfied. It enhanced a vampire’s sexual pleasure and prolonged it. Since we already have amazing libidos and the males can last pretty much all night long, this was going to be quite a night. I remembered that it took a few minutes to get going so we’d swallow our pills in the car on the way to Jerry’s house. Then once in his bedroom . . .

We never made it to the bedroom. Jerry opened the back door and dragged me into the kitchen. The granite counter-top was cold but solid, and I landed on my back, ready to take him on top of me. Thank God, my bum seemed to have healed and it didn’t hurt, or at least not enough to slow me down.

My skin was tingling, on fire. I couldn’t bear the touch of even a stitch of clothing on my body. Jerry had ripped off my sweater in the car. I’d shucked off my boots there too. My jeans and thong were near the door. Jerry ripped my unsexy bra apart down the front, and it was destined for the garbage. Jerry’s shirt hung from the doorknob, and his shoes and pants lay tangled in a heap near the dishwasher.

“Jerry!” I tried to drag him down on top of me.

“Gloriana!” He slapped my hands away, then grinned and leaped on top of the counter to stand behind me. He was being playful. I loved it. He lifted me until I faced him. Good thing he had twelve-foot ceilings in this house.

“You realize mortals would think it’s nasty to make love on kitchen countertops.” I pressed myself against him, rubbing my breasts against his chest and lower.