Carolyn stopped walking to stare as Julius dragged Christian away, and then glanced around at a touch on her arm. She blinked at Zanipolo's solemn face and then, recalling Julius's last order, she assured him, "Oh, we don't have to dance."

"Don't be silly, it's always a pleasure to dance with a beautiful woman," Zanipolo said, tugging her toward the dance floor.

"Oh," she mumbled on a sigh.

A slow song was playing, and Carolyn wasn't used to dancing to slow music anymore. Robert had always refused to dance and it had been years since she'd accompanied Brent to business functions with dancing, so she felt awkward and stiff when Zanipolo took her into his arms.

"Relax," he chastised. "I'm a good dancer, I dance a lot... with women. Because I like women. A lot."

Carolyn stared at him blankly. "Ah. Well, that's nice.

I guess."

"It is," he assured her, and asked, "Do you like my new haircut?"

Carolyn glanced at his hair. She'd noticed that he now sported a brush cut. It actually looked good on him, though, and she nodded. "It's very nice."

"Very manly," he pointed out. "Not gay at all."

"Ah." Carolyn bit her lip to keep from laughing as she realized he was still bothered by the fact that she'd thought him the homosexual in the band. Relaxing completely now, she patted his arm. "Don't worry, Zanipolo.

Gia was just teasing you. I never said I thought you were gay," she assured him, and then added, "I'm not even sure how she knew I thought that. I didn't say it out loud."

Zanipolo had started to relax after her first words, but looked stricken by her last ones, and Carolyn could have kicked herself as she realized what she'd said.

"I mean-Ignore that last part. I was just..." Unsure what to say to repair the matter, she cleared her throat, and asked, "Why was Julius rushing Christian away?"

Zanipolo hesitated, and then suddenly brightened and announced, "Julius caught him winking at one of the waiters. No doubt he is demanding an explanation."

"Oh dear," Carolyn breathed, glancing anxiously toward the bathrooms.

"No, this might be good," Zanipolo assured her.

"Christian will tell the truth and then he won't have to hang all over you and make you uncomfortable anymore."

Carolyn frowned, part of her relieved at the idea and the other part just worried about Christian and how Julius would react if he did come out of the closet. Cripes, if he was really as homophobic as all that... at the very least it would be unpleasant, but it was possible the two men could come to blows. Halting, she said, "You have to go check on Christian."

"Julius said to dance with you."

Carolyn clucked with exasperation. What control did Julius have over these people that they obeyed his every order without question? she wondered with irritation.

Tugging herself free of his arms, she said, "Well, you can tell Julius I refused. And I do," she assured him firmly.

"Now go check on Christian or I'll march into the men's room and check on him myself."

"Fine, I'll go, but only because I have good news to impart," Zanipolo announced as he began to lead her back to the table. She didn't bother to ask what the good news was, merely smiled, grateful Christian would have support in dealing with his brother.

"If the passion is that strong, surely she won't be able to resist," Christian muttered, pacing the bathroom, his mind working on overdrive as he sought excuses to go out there and drag Carolyn straight back to the resort.

But the resort was so far away, he thought with dismay.

There must be hotels nearby they could go to. Yes, a hotel would do. Even a cheap, dingy one if necessary so long as it was close. He just needed to get her alone, get her naked and show her what they could have together.

"Once she sees what I can offer her, she can't possibly run from it. She'll want it. She'll want me. She-"

He stopped abruptly as cold water suddenly splashed across his groin. He stood gasping for a second, but raised his head, gaping when he saw that his father had turned on the taps in the sink, and cupped his hand under the faucet to send a stream of the liquid at him.

"What are you doing?" he cried, stepping quickly to the side.

"Putting out the fire." Julius simply turned his hand to make the water jet follow. "Your pants were about to start smoking."

"Christ!" Christian snapped, moving again. "Stop that."

"In a minute," he said calmly. "You're halfway back to human again."

"Halfway back to human? What the hell?" Christian shifted again, only to be followed once more, but he began to understand what the man was saying when he saw the bulge in his jeans. He'd been half-erect since he'd started to watch Carolyn dance on arriving here. But his talk with his father and the resulting thoughts it had stirred in him had probably raised it to a full erection before the first gush of water. It was definitely receding now, however.

"That's better," Julius announced cheerfully, turning off the taps. "Good talk, son. Let's go back and join the women."

When Christian just stood there dripping and glowering at him, he sighed.

"Your pene was doing your thinking for you. But I'm sure you're a little more clearheaded now and can see that you need to continue on the path that was set."

"No, I don't see that," Christian growled. "She's had enough time to get to know me. We're friends now. She won't-"

He paused with surprise when his father cuffed him in the back of the head.

"Snap out of it!" Julius roared. "It's only been twenty-four hours for Christ's sake!"

"What?" Christian asked with amazement, and then protested hotly, "It has not."

"It has," Julius said at once, and then sighed and pointed out, "You only met her yesterday evening before the show, son."

Christian blinked several times, his mind going back over the events in his head. It felt like months, but he knew that wasn't the case. Still, surely it had been longer than twenty-four hours?

"It feels like months have passed because your adrenaline has been on high and your emotions and hormones have been going crazy," Julius said quietly, apparently reading his mind. "But it's only been a day."

"Jesus," Christian muttered, sagging with defeat.

"So," Julius said after a moment. "Do you think you can control yourself for the rest of the night?"

Christian nodded wearily. He'd have to.

"Good." Julius patted his back, and then glanced down at his jeans and muttered, "Maybe you should stand under the hand-dryer for a bit or something. You look like you wet yourself... a lot."

Christian glared. "And whose fault is that?"

Julius grinned, but before he could respond the bathroom door opened. His smile was immediately replaced with a scowl when Zanipolo entered. "What are you doing here? I told you to dance with Carolyn."

"I did, but then she wanted to stop and she insisted I come check on Christian," he explained as the door closed behind him.

"Why would you need to check on me?" Christian asked with surprise.

"What happened?" Zanipolo asked rather than answer the question.. "You look like you wet yourself."

"Zanipolo," Julius gasped. "What have you done?"

Christian glanced to his father with surprise. Judging by his expression, he was reading Zanipolo's mind and was horrified by what he'd found there.

"Uh." Zanipolo eyed Julius warily and then glanced to Christian and said, "I was helping."

"Helping?" Julius asked with disbelief. "That wasn't helping you idiot."

"What did you do?" Christian asked, alarm beginning to crawl up his spine.

"Uh, well," Zanipolo was beginning to look worried.

"Carolyn asked me if you were all right because of how Julius dragged you off."

"And he told Carolyn that I had caught you winking at a waiter and I'd dragged you in here for an explanation," Julius said heavily.

Christian grimaced, but relaxed a little. She already thought him gay, telling her he'd winked at a waiter wasn't great, but he couldn't see it really being a problem.

He could explain everything when he revealed all later.

"And then he told Carolyn that this might be for the best and if you came out of the closet you wouldn't have to hang all over her anymore."

"What?" Christian squawked.

"But this way you don't have to kiss her and stuff. You can keep your distance and just gain her friendship and trust," Zanipolo said quickly. "I mean, I thought the kissing and having to control yourself was proving to be a problem." He glanced to Julius with alarm. "Isn't that why you dragged him in here?"

Christian growled deep in his throat and headed for Zanipolo, physical violence on his mind, but Julius caught his arm.

"We can fix this," he assured him quickly when Christian turned on him.

"Fix what?" Zanipolo asked with confusion. "She already thought he was gay. Now she just thinks you might know."

"Which means he doesn't need a beard," Julius snapped.

Zanipolo frowned. "Well, yeah, but they're becoming friends and-"

"We can't trust in that," Julius growled. "It's only been twenty-four hours. It's a very tentative friendship at best right now. Should that roommate of hers wake up in the morning feeling better and ready to have fun, Carolyn could drop spending any time at all with Christian."

"Oh," Zanipolo said, with dismay. "I didn't-I mean, I thought-"

He paused when Christian began growling again and sighed. "How do I fix this?"

Julius thought briefly and then said, "An orchid. You'll find one and-"

"Where am I going to find an orchid?" Zanipolo interrupted with a frown.

"I don't care. Rob a florist's if you have to, but if you do, leave the money in the till for it," Julius added with a frown. "But find an orchid, or something equally exotic and have the waiter bring it to her along with a card saying that she is as beautiful and rare as the flower."

Christian cleared his throat, and asked, "How is that going to fix-"

"Because you are going to tell her that was the explanation you gave me when we got in here, that you'd paid the waiter to go get the flower for her. That he'd winked to let you know that he had found a flower and that you winked back to indicate you understood. And, of course, you'll tell her that Zanipolo is out getting a flower now to uphold the lie."

"Right," Christian muttered on a sigh. Honestly, he'd never thought he'd find himself telling lies to make his lifemate think he was gay of all things. It was just...

well, he didn't know what the hell it was. He was so confused he didn't know what to think.

"Okay," Julius said. "Zanipolo, go find that flower. Christian lets you and I get back to the table."

"Does this mean I can dance with her and-"

"No!" His eyes narrowed. "Do I need to take you back to the sink?"

Christian scowled and pushed past him to get out of the room in case the man decided to splash him again.

Once in the hall, however, he asked, "So how am I supposed to tell her all this at the table with everyone there?"

Julius paused abruptly and cursed. He thought briefly, and Christian was just getting his hopes up when he suddenly relaxed. "You don't have to explain anything. She won't ask in front of everyone and once the flower arrives, I will explain that I nearly ruined the surprise when I caught you and the waiter communicating across the room with your eyes and misunderstood." He nodded.

"That should do it."

"That should do it all right," Christian said glumly.

"Can you manage the good night kiss?" Julius asked suddenly. "Or should I arrange it that-"

"I can manage it," Christian snapped. Cripes, there was no way they were taking that away too.

Julius nodded, but patted his shoulder and said, "Well, if you find yourself losing control, just remember you have sweet dreams to look forward to."

Christian just nodded and led the way up the hall. Zanipolo broke away, heading for the exit as they stepped out into the main room, but Christian hardly noticed.

Carolyn was at the table, looking worried. He offered a reassuring smile and found himself picking up speed to reach her side.

The moment he settled in the chair next to hers, she turned to him, her hand resting on his knee as she leaned up to ask in his ear, "Is everything all right?"

"Fine," he assured her, but Carolyn wasn't paying attention.

Her gaze had dropped and she was now feeling her way up his leg. He sucked in a breath as her fingers crept up, but didn't move to stop her until he noted the way his father was eyeing him.

"Christian, you're all wet. What-?" she began, but paused and glanced up with surprise when he caught her hand.

"It goes all the way up," he growled, his voice not the only thing affected by her touch. Christ, at this rate his father would be pouring his drink in his lap, he thought with disgust.

"Oh." Flushing, Carolyn glanced away, looking embarrassed.

"Sorry. I-"

"It's water," he added gently, releasing her hand.

"There is a problem with the taps in the washroom."

"Oh." She grimaced. "I hate when that happens."

"So do I," Christian said dryly, casting his father a scowl.

"What?" Julius asked innocently. "I didn't have any problems. It was you who couldn't handle his taps."

"I can handle my taps just fine," Christian growled.

"It didn't look that way to me, son," Julius said and when Marguerite elbowed him, added, "Shine. Sunshine."

Christian rolled his eyes at the effort to cover the slip, and glanced at Carolyn to see her peering from him to his supposed brother with confusion.

"Come on Caro," Gia said suddenly, standing up.

"They're playing fast music again. Let's go dance."

Carolyn peered uncertainly at Christian.

"Will you be all right? Is everything okay?"

Obviously the sniping between him and Julius had her worried that things weren't as fine as he'd claimed. He forced a smile. "Yes. Go ahead. Have fun."

"Aren't you going to dance?" she asked, still hesitating.

"I don't do fast dancing," he said at once.

A surprised laugh slipped from Carolyn's lips and she shook her head. "You are so lame for a gayyyy..." she drew the word out, her eyes widening with horror as she realized what she was saying and then quickly tacked on... "mer."

"Gamer?" Julius chuckled as if not noticing the slip.

"Has Christian been telling you about his love for that vampire game of his brother, Etienne's? What is it? Blood something?" he asked Christian.

"Wouldn't he be your brother too, Julius?" Carolyn asked.

Christian sighed as everyone went still, and said calmly, "Julius and I have different mothers." At least that was true. "And Etienne and the others and I share the same mother and different fathers."

Carolyn frowned. "So you and Julius have the same father and different mothers, and you and this Etienne and the others have the same mother and different fathers."

"It's very complicated," his mother intervened. "Why don't we dance now?"

"Wait a minute. Etienne? With a game called Blood something?" Carolyn asked with amazement. "Not Etienne Argeneau of Blood Lust?"

"Oh, you've heard of him?" Marguerite asked and Christian had to hide his grin as his mother preened with pride. She was proud of all her children.

"Of course," Carolyn said at once. "My advertising agency is pitching ideas for the ad campaign for his latest version of the game."

"My, what a delightfully small world," Marguerite said beaming, and Christian narrowed his eyes on his mother, but she ignored him. "I'm sure you'll win him over and get the contract, Caro dear. We'll put in a good word for you."

"Oh, no, don't be silly," Carolyn said at once. "If he likes the ideas that's one thing, but-"

"Nonsense, men do it all the time with their old boy's club business. We can start a girl's club," Marguerite said, slipping her arm through Carolyn's to draw her away toward the dance floor with Gia and Genie following.

Christian watched until they were swallowed up by the crowd, then settled back in his seat, waiting for them to reappear on the slightly upraised dance floor so he could watch Carolyn dance again.

"Take Gia's seat, Christian," Julius said suddenly.

He glanced around with surprise. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to have to take you back to the bathroom for a second round with the taps before we head to the resort," Julius said dryly.

Christian scowled, but switched seats so that his back was to the dance floor. He wasn't happy though, and was suddenly positive it was going to be a very long night for him.

"We'll leave as soon as Zanipolo returns with the flower," Julius said quietly.

Christian nodded silently.

"Thank you for my flower. I mean, I know it was just to cover for-"

Christian caught her arm and drew her to a halt as they reached the door to her villa. She'd been chattering nervously since he'd helped her out of the van. It was a notable difference from the relaxed woman he'd spent the day and dinner with. She'd grown a bit tense when the others had joined them for dinner, but as the evening had progressed without his kissing or putting his arm around her, she'd relaxed again. Now, however, just the thought of his kissing her had her all atwitter and it made him sad to see her like this. He couldn't wait for the day when she was relaxed with him all the time, well, except for when she was excited, he thought wryly and then sighed as he noted the way she was peering up at him.

"I'm going to kiss you," he said solemnly.

She nodded, but grimaced which really wasn't very flattering, or wouldn't be if he didn't know that the passion he stirred in her upset and embarrassed her mostly because she was afraid he would realize she was attracted to him and be offended.

"I know you're not attracted to me," he lied, "but I'd appreciate it if you could maybe close your eyes and pretend I'm someone you'd really like to kiss." He smiled and suggested, "Consider it practice for when you find someone you want to kiss."

"Practice?" Carolyn echoed blankly.

"Well, you said it had been seven years since you'd been intimate with anyone. I suspect that alone will make you a nervous wreck about it. But a little practice ahead of time with someone you aren't interested in and who you know won't take it the wrong way and expect you to go further might reassure you."

She blinked at the suggestion and suddenly smiled.

"You know, it just might."

For some reason, that reaction sent a shot of alarm through Christian, but he nodded, drew her into his arms, and lowered his mouth to hers... and immediately understood the reason for the alarm. He'd meant to relax her and lay a quick gentle kiss on her lips, then leave... which proved what a fool he was. He doubted he'd have managed that even if he hadn't calmed Carolyn's nerves first, but his saying he knew she wasn't attracted to him and to think of it as practice without the worry of it going further... well, it seemed to have freed Carolyn somehow. The moment his lips touched hers, she opened her mouth for him and moved closer. That startled him enough that he paused briefly, but then she slid her tongue out and past his lips and slid her hands up to curl around his neck. The move raised her breasts and pressed them against his chest. It also snugged her hips to his, her softness rubbing against his sudden hardness.

When she then tentatively lashed his tongue with her own, he just lost it. In the next heartbeat, Christian had one hand on her bottom, pressing her forward as he ground against her and the other hand sliding up under her top in search of her breast.

When Carolyn gasped and moaned, her body shuddering at his touch, he backed her up to the door, used his hand on her ass to lift her and then pinned her there with his hips so that both his hands were free. His second hand immediately joined the first under her top, and then he was tugging at her bra cups, trying to pull them aside to free the bounty he'd found. He'd nearly accomplished it too when a sudden sharp pain in his ear made him break their kiss. Turning his head, Christian hissed, so far gone he bared his fangs before he recognized that it was his mother who had grabbed him by the ear.

"Uh, sorry," he muttered, retracting his fangs.

Marguerite nodded, but held on to his ear and said, "Release her."

Sighing, Christian closed his eyes briefly, and then slowly turned to peer at Carolyn. She was still and silent, her eyes vacant. His mother had taken control of her.

Christian slowly retrieved his hands from under her shirt and clasped her arms to lower her to the ground as he eased away. He then stepped back and stood silently as his mother concentrated on Carolyn's forehead. After a moment, Carolyn turned, opened the villa door and moved silently inside before closing it behind her.

"I veiled her memories of what happened so she thinks it was just a very pleasant kiss and she's comfortable with it." His mother shifted to peer through the window beside the door, dragging him with her.

"Thank you," Christian said uncomfortably. "Do you think you could let go of my ear now, Mom?"

"Calling me Mom is not going to lessen my annoyance with you, Christian Notte," she announced grimly, still watching through the window. "I cannot believe you would jeopardize your entire future for one minute of pleasure."

"I'm sure it would have been more than a minute," Christian muttered, but felt himself flushing. He felt about twelve years old. How did parents do that to you? How could they make a five-hundred-year-old feel like a teenager caught parking with their girlfriend?

"Don't flatter yourself," Marguerite snapped, finally releasing his ear. "I read your thoughts as I approached.

You were about to pull her legs around your hips, reach under her skirt, tug her panties aside, and slide home. A heartbeat after that the two of you would have been an unconscious heap on the stone."

Christian didn't try to deny it. But really, it was incredibly embarrassing to have his mother talking to him about this stuff.

"I don't care if it's embarrassing," she said with exasperation.

"It has to be said. And just be glad it's me. Your father was going to intervene, but I managed to convince him to let me do it."

Christian glanced to the van where five pairs of eyes were watching. The only one not gaping out the van windows at them was the driver of the resort van.

"Your father's controlling him," Marguerite announced.

"I sent Carolyn in to go to bed. We had best get you back to the villa so you can do the same. And the first dream you enter with her, I suggest you move it out in front of the villa here for at least a quickie so that if my veiling of her memories doesn't hold, she'll just think those memories are from dreams."

"Right," Christian agreed, suddenly eager to get to bed.

"But Christian," she said solemnly, "you need to take this as a warning. You have to control yourself. If something like this happens when one of us isn't around to intervene you could send her running for the hills."

"Right." He nodded again. "Control myself."

Marguerite shook her head and led the way back to the van.