Changes

Orithain and Rina

"Casey!"

Rick York drummed his fingers on his desk as he watched the strange readouts on his computer.

"Casey! Where the hell is she, and why the hell did I agree to let her work here—oh yeah, Carly’s on her damn honeymoon."

"Keep your pants on, cute stuff. Or better still take ‘em off, and we can go for it right here." Casey sauntered into the inner office, legs looking a mile long between her four-inch heels and four-inch skirt.

Rick groaned and shook his blond head, though he did have to admire the bare legs and tight body as Casey strolled toward his desk. "You do realize if Hal was here, his pout would kill us both?" he commented, then pointed at the screen. "Just what did you do to the identity files?"

Casey shuddered at the thought of Hal’s reaction if he thought his lover was cheating on him. She did not need to feel like the person who shot Bambi’s mother. Straightening up so Rick was no longer looking down her cleavage, the redhead frowned at the monitor. "I haven’t touched those files. At all."

"Shit." Rick scanned several other files and cursed again. "Well, you didn’t, and I didn’t; that means we have a mouse looking around where it shouldn’t be. Just great."

"A mouse? Could you please just speak English?" Casey grumbled, peering over his shoulder. "And are you going to tell me what the fuck’s wrong?"

"Someone has been looking around where they shouldn’t be looking." At Casey’s blank look, Rick growled. "Technology is a wonderful thing, but it makes it hell for us to stay legally alive, can you understand that?" At her nod, he continued. "Someone’s been sniffing around the programs I have for getting us new identities."

Her green eyes widened. "Someone’s trying to track us... you?" she amended, knowing that she and her street family were too young as vampires to have attracted attention. Some of the others though, they were far from young, and her eyes narrowed again. "Someone’s trying to fuck with my family."

"Possibly not," Rick murmured, hitting a series of keys, his frown deepening when he saw how deep the probes had gone into his systems. "It could be someone looking for a hacker, but this isn’t good."

"We all need to get the fuck out of Beantown," Casey said instantly. "We can live anywhere."

"Why would we need to do that? Vampires, remember? A little mind mojo and poof, the mousie goes bye-bye."

"And just how exactly do you plan to do ‘mind mojo’ on a hard drive or tape back up?"

Rick chuckled. "We find the person behind this and mojo him or her; after that, the computers are easy enough to deal with."

Casey shook her head. "Yeah right. I’ve seen Wargames and 2001."

"Oh ye of little faith," Rick sighed. "Would you feel better if I let you mojo whoever it was checking us out while I handled the electronic end?"

"I’d feel better if the sonovabitch were dead!"

"Only if he or she threatens us, my little bloodthirsty bitch," Rick chuckled, shaking his head. Baby vamps... always thought they were crusaders.

"And what is this if not a threat?" Casey demanded. "We don’t need people poking around in our business."

"It could be someone doing their job—what I’m doing is illegal if you recall."

"Yeah, so? This is someone who seems to be finding out way too much about us. Even I know there really are vampire hunters out there, idiots who think they’re Van Helsing or something. I’d rather not see some of them messing with my family."

He sighed again. "Casey, all this person knows right now is that I’m creating identities, not who or what we are. If you go in guns or fangs a’blazing, what happens when the people he or she works for decide to see what happened?"

"We have a buffet instead of a snack."

He looked up at her, suddenly serious. "Not something to joke about, Casey. That’s the first step to being declared rogue."

"Hey, I’m not talking about turning them! Don’t even try to tell me you’ve never killed a human ‘cause I won’t believe you."

"I never said that, but going on a witch hunt before you know the facts is just as bad."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can tell you never had to live on the streets... Your Highness."

"No, I just had my uncle lock me in a tower to prepare to kill me. Trust me, Casey, I don’t trust this either, but we are not going in there and killing blindly. Can you do that, or do I need to send you home now?"

"Oh fine, I won’t kill anyone unless you say it’s okay or they’re trying to kill me first. Should I intervene if you’re about to die?"

"Hal will pout at you if you don’t."

"Shit. That kid is nuts. I don’t know how you put up with him full time."

Rick smirked. "He’s a tiger in bed."

"Really?" She suddenly looked interested, red eyebrows rising inquisitively.

"You touch him, I’ll tear your tits off," he added in a conversational tone.

Her jaw dropped as she gaped at him. Finally recovering, she said wryly, "Possessive much?"

"Never before this," he admitted, grinning wryly. "Guess he’s the one for me."

"I hope you know what you’re getting into. He’s cute enough, but he’s a fruitcake. And what is with everyone pairing off? It’s as bad as being on Noah’s Ark."

"Don’t knock it ‘til you tried it, sweetcheeks," Rick laughed, pulling Casey into his lap and patting her hip.

"But you just told me I couldn’t," Casey pointed out. "Which isn’t fair. Doing both of you would be fun."

"Falling in love," he laughed, standing up and bringing her to her feet as well. "Besides, you had both Ned and I more than once."

"Mmm, you were very good," Casey purred, leaning into him.

"And I’m going to keep being good so I can keep my crazy lover," he answered, kissing her on the forehead. "Now go file or something so I can do some work and figure out who’s checking up on us."

"Am I distracting you?" She bit his chin lightly, just drawing blood, and lapped it away.

He groaned and shook his head. "What do you think? But it’s not happening, Casey, so let me find out what’s going on, and you can try your seduction technique on them."

"Gee, can I watch?" Hal asked from where he leaned against the doorjamb, having come in while the other two were distracted. He gave Casey a smug smile and wormed his way between them, pushing her away from Rick, and tangled his fingers in Rick’s longish blond hair to draw him down for a kiss.

Rick slid a hand behind Hal’s head, holding him into the kiss and praying that he wouldn’t see hurt in the young man’s big brown eyes when they broke apart. "Hey, baby," he murmured. "How was class?"

"Bo-oring. The prof was sick, and his TA subbed for him." Hal rolled his eyes. "I could have done a better job. I don’t think he knew a Tory from a Whig. But at least it gave me lots of time to dream up things for tonight." He grinned at Rick. "I think I may have come up with something new to you."

Casey groaned. "Fuck, I need to get more batteries for my vibrator!"

Rick tossed a twenty at her. "Why don’t you take a long lunch, Casey, and call before you come back!"

"I thought we were supposed to be finding the person hacking your files!"

"Hacking your files?" Hal stepped back, looking from one to the other.

Now it was Rick’s turn to pout. "A guy has to have priorities!"

"I’m fairly certain that the others would think the security of their lives is a higher priority than fucking."

"I hate to say it, but she has a point," Hal said.

"That’s the first time anyone has heard Casey say anything came before fucking," Rick sighed. "Okay, the two of you can deal with the filing and leave me to track our mousie in peace."

Casey eyed Hal and licked her lips.

Eyes widening, Hal moved closer to Rick. "Isn’t there something I can do in here?" he asked nervously.

Rick growled. "Remember what I said I’d do to you, Casey? I will."

"Aw, I wouldn’t hurt him," Casey grumbled.

"Rick!" Hal moved to put Rick between himself and the female vamp.

"If dear Casey touches you, she’ll need plastic surgery before she can wear any of her tops again," Rick promised. "But yeah, you can deal with the mess in here while she works out there—alone."

Rolling her eyes, Casey headed back to the outer office. A moment later her head popped back in. "I hear any thuds or moans and I’m coming back to break it up!" she warned.

Rick sighed when she closed the door again and pulled Hal into his lap. "Why the hell did I agree to this?" he moaned.

"Because you’re a nice guy and you know I’ll reward you tonight." Hal snuggled against him, perfectly happy. "I’m impressed, by the way. Saying no to Casey intent on seduction? My hero!"

"You’ve reformed a rake; Anne will roll on the floor laughing at me."

"Let her reform her own rake and leave mine alone," Hal snorted.

Rick chuckled. "It would have served her right if she’d ended up with a shy virgin."

Hal stuck his tongue out at Rick. "Are you complaining?"

"Baby, you may have been a virgin, but you weren’t shy once I got you in bed," Rick chuckled, nipping Hal’s tongue before kissing him. "And I suppose if I ever want to find out what you thought of in class, I’d better get some work done."

"And I guess that means I have to move," Hal sighed, standing up and pushing tousled dark hair out of his eyes. He looked around the office, his eyebrows rising. "Rick, I love you, but you’re a pig."

Rick shrugged grandly. "The price of growing up with servants—and if you throw out my comic collection, I won’t bite you tonight!"

"You’re assuming I could even find it without heavy equipment!"

Rick stuck his tongue out at Hal, then began to work at following the trail back to the person who had found them out.

Shaking his head, Hal busied himself trying to organize the chaos that was Rick’s office. He wondered how Rick ever managed to find anything, but he supposed the older vampire kept anything he really needed on the computer, which he seemed to love.

"Okay, if this takes any longer, someone’s going to have to dust me," Casey announced grumpily as she came back into the office some time later. "Tell me you’ve found something, anything."

Hal raised his head and peered over the end of the couch at her. "Dunno, I’ve been napping since I don’t expect to get much sleep tonight."

"Fuck you."

"Exactly."

Casey burst into laughter. "You know what, you’re all right."

Rick looked up from the screen and rubbed his eyes, smiling. "I taught him everything he knows."

"Oh, don’t start that again," Casey groaned. "I’ll be sick if I have to listen to any more billing and cooing."

"We’re not turtledoves!" Hal exclaimed, insulted.

"We’re pit bulls compared to the others, including your sister, and you know it!"

"Uh huh." Casey didn’t seem convinced. "So have you found anything yet?"

Rick looked insulted. "She wants to know if I found anything, Hal."

"So do I!"

"Nyah!" Casey muttered.

"I traced back the probe, so I have an address, but I want to talk this over with the others before we do anything, so I’m not showing it to either of you."

"Don’t you trust us?" Casey asked while Hal pouted.

Rick just looked at them.

Hal’s lip crept out a bit more.

"No."

"No?" Hal repeated while Casey tried not to laugh.

"No, because I don’t want either of you to getting the notion to go find this person and deal with them."

"You would just have to make sure to keep me close," Hal suggested.

"And what about Casey?"

"Be careful how you answer that," Casey growled.

Hal eyed her warily again. "You could just tell me."

"I could just tell neither of you until everyone else hears it," Rick countered.

"I don’t really like that plan. I’m your lover; you should tell me things first," Hal shot back.

"And what are you going to do if I do tell you?"

"Kiss you."

Casey rolled her eyes and made gagging noises.

Rick sighed. "If either of you go near this place before I can check it out, I will strangle you myself. Do you understand?"

Both of them batted their eyelashes at him and tried to look innocent.

"Now I’m the one who needs to gag," he grumbled, then told them the address. "But I’m serious, if either one of you went there and hurt someone or got hurt... just don’t."

"Look, I already said I wouldn’t kill anyone without your okay," Casey snapped.

"And I’m not going anywhere without you. I leave the heroic shit to you royal types."

"Fine, now can we get out of here? All this dust you two stirred up is giving me a headache, and I know I’m never going to be able to find anything again."

"No, we cannot get out of here. You haven’t told us yet what you found," Casey pointed out, Hal nodding vigorously.

"Just what I thought I’d find," Rick said in exasperation. "Someone has been following the additions I’ve made to the DMV lists and traced them back to the Social Security add-ons I inserted years ago. Whoever they are, they’re good, and whoever they are, we need to stop them—without killing them unless it’s necessary."

"Whoever they are?" Hal repeated. "You mean you still don’t know?"

"I have a search going; the apartment is leased to a MIT professor, but I really doubt one of those eggheads would be living there."

"I’m sure a lot of people said the same about Derek," Hal shrugged. "But who do you think it’s going to turn out to be?"

Rick scratched his head. "Possibly a student, unless the egghead’s got a love nest where he does hacking work."

"An egghead hacker’s love nest. Gee, that sounds appealing," Casey snorted.

"Oh, would you just quit bitching already," Hal said. "You know nothing could keep you from going."

She glared at him.

Rick pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, pleased that Hal was beginning to stand up for himself to others. "When we go, and that when hasn’t been decided yet."

Hal snorted. "You know we will. We have to do something about this. Besides Casey’ll scare the poor guy to death."

"Fuck you."

"Sorry, that’s reserved for Rick," Hal retorted, smirking.

"Exactly," Rick chuckled, though he kept a close eye on the other two. "No visits until we talk to everyone and get more information."

A couple of hours later Casey slipped out of Xio’s mansion where the others had gathered to plan their next move. Whoever was digging into their backgrounds was a threat to her family, and Casey knew how to deal with threats.

Not bothering with a car, she ran through the streets to the address Rick had discovered and knocked on the door.

"That’s why I gave you a key, Jon!" a voice yelled from inside, followed by a number of thumps and curses. "God, ask a guy to get you a coffee, and he makes you get up and open the door..." The voice’s owner was still grumbling when he undid the lock and pulled the door open, hopping back out of the way on the crutches he was using.

"Sorry, not Jon, don’t have coffee, and definitely not a guy," Casey drawled, strutting through the open door.

The young man stared, open-mouthed, before peering around her. "Okay, this a take pity on the cripple gag?" he asked before frowning and looking at her closer. "Do I know you?"

"Does that line actually work?" Casey started to scoff before frowning as well. "You do look kinda familiar." She shrugged, figuring he’d been a john. "Got a name?"

"Yeah, Josh. What about you?" He hopped back from the door.

"Casey, but I used to go by Sugar sometimes," she added in case he knew her by her street name. Perching on the arm of the couch facing him, she crossed her legs, knowing the micro mini skirt and spike heels showed them off to advantage.

He blinked, blue eyes moving quickly up from her legs to her face. "Casey... Do you have a sister named Carly?"

Frowning, she stood back up. "How do you know my sister?" she demanded aggressively.

"Did you go to West Junior High?" he continued, settling some weight on his right leg regardless of the large brace immobilizing it.

Her frown deepened. "For all of a year." She stared at him searchingly. Her eyes widened. "Wait, you can’t be that scrawny kid, Jack, John, something like that?"

"Josh," he repeated, this time with an air of resignation. "Only time you ever could remember my name was when you were shrieking at Carly to get away from me or she’d get called a nerd too."

"Holy shit!" She eyed him up and down. "You definitely improved with age."

He snorted and shook his head. "And you still have the same way with words."

She shrugged. "Then let’s not waste time. Why the fuck are you hacking our database?"

"Hacking into your... what the hell are you talking about, and what gives you the right to barge into my place acting like you own it?"

"What gave you the right to hack the York Agency’s files?" she snapped back. "Or doesn’t other people’s privacy matter?"

"What the fuck?" he asked, now staring openly at her. "Obviously I’m not the only one doing some snooping if you found out where I live."

"You thought we’d just ignore the invasion?" she demanded, not seeing the need to explain that it had been Rick who traced him. "And you haven’t answered my question."

"Better me than the cops," he retorted, limping over to the table and leaning against it. "Hacking the DMV is a hell of a lot more illegal than looking to see who was doing it."

"What are you talking about?" she asked in annoyance.

"I don’t know, what are you talking about?" he parroted back.

"Look, it’ll be a lot easier if you talk to me," Casey warned.

"Or what? You’ll go to the cops?"

She laughed as she resumed her perch on the arm of the couch. "We prefer to handle problems ourselves."

He sighed. "And who is this ‘we’? You in the mob or something? I can’t figure who else would need so many fake identities."

"You wouldn’t believe me if I told you," Casey chuckled, recrossing her legs.

"Witness protection? If you are, you have shitty firewalls."

Snickering, Casey gave him a smile that bared her fangs. "Vampires."

Josh’s expression turned flat, and he lifted a crutch, pointing it toward the door. "I think you can leave now."

"’Fraid not. You know too much. Besides, they should have noticed I’m gone by now, so the others will be here any minute."

"You know, you always were bitch to me in school, but this takes the cake."

Not bothering to argue with the bitch comment since she knew very well she wasn’t very nice to people she didn’t care about, Casey raised her eyebrows. "Lemme guess, you don’t believe me. Would you like me to bite you to prove it?" She eyed him. "It wouldn’t be a hardship, believe me."

He glared at her and moved back over to the door, nudging it open again. "Say hello to your sister for me."

"Gee, thanks for the invitation," Kel said, strolling in to stand beside Casey, several of the others following him. Kel eyed the stranger. "I’m impressed, Case, no damage. Unless you’ve been here long enough for him to already have a brace on it." The violet eyes sparkled with laughter.

"I thought you promised to wait," Hal said quietly.

"Geez, you’d all be still back at the house yakking away if I hadn’t done something," Casey retorted.

"Told you we needed to tie her up," Rick growled.

"Okay, that’s it. I want all of you out of here, or I’m calling the cops," Josh stated, heading for the phone.

"God, what a mess," Kel sighed. "You’re the old-timer here, Rick; what do you suggest? Shut up, Casey; I wasn’t asking you," he added immediately, not even needing to look at her to know her mouth had opened.

Grumbling, Casey subsided, arms crossed over her chest.

"What have you said so far, Casey?" Rick finally asked.

"Well, I agreed to say hi to Carly for him, forgot his name again, agreed I was a bitch to him in junior high, and told him I was a vampire, but he doesn’t believe that part."

Hal groaned and covered his eyes with a hand while Kel rolled his eyes. "Way to go, Casey," Kel sighed.

Josh edged closer to the phone and picked it up, starting to dial 911.

"Sorry, child, can’t let you do that," Rick said quietly, appearing at his side and taking the phone from his hand.

"And Carly’ll kill us if we hurt him," Casey sighed. "She liked the little twerp back in school. So time to do your mojo thing, Rick."

"What the hell is going on here?" Josh yelled. "You people are fucking around with the DMV’s files, and you act like I’m the one who did something wrong!"

"Not wrong," Kel sighed, "but definitely something you shouldn’t have seen. It’s not safe for us to have anyone know that much about us. Which means we definitely need better security," he added, glaring at Rick. He knew that he and the other new ones were safe since there had been no need to change anything for them yet, but the older ones, including Xio, were in danger of exposure.

"There wasn’t anything wrong with my security," Rick growled. "One of you deal with our mouse while I undo what he did." As he spoke, he dropped into the chair at the computer desk.

"Get away from that!" Josh yelled again, feeling afraid for the first time that evening.

"Just relax, Josh," Casey said almost sympathetically. "It won’t hurt a bit, and you won’t remember any of this. I’ll tell Carly you said hi, though. She might arrange for you to meet ‘accidentally’ when she gets back."

Letting the crutches fall, he moved into a defensive posture. "Just because I knew you once doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you if I have to."

She sighed, wondering why the others weren’t saying anything rather than leaving her to deal with this on her own. "You can’t hurt me, Josh. Nothing you could do could ever hurt me. Or any of us." She stood up, moving slowly toward him. "It really would be easier if you would just relax."

Hal watched wide-eyed, darting a questioning glance at Rick.

Rick shrugged and started to work on getting into the computer’s memory. "She wanted to deal with him; she deals with him. You and Kel just make sure she doesn’t go too far."

"I mean it, Casey," Josh cautioned. "Don’t make me do this."

"I really am kinda sorry about this," she said, moving suddenly faster than he could see. Grasping him from behind, she bit into his neck, wanting to at least give him that pleasure as she took his memories away.

Rick spared a glance when he smelled blood, then went back to his work, nodding absently when Hal murmured to him that it was done. Several hours later, he sat back and groaned, smiling when Hal rubbed his shoulders. "That looks like it’s all of it; I give him credit, the boy was good."

"Don’t get too interested in the boy," Hal murmured jealously, fingers tightening momentarily on Rick’s shoulders.

"I hope you’re right. I don’t want to have to mess with his head a second time," Casey said, glancing toward the bedroom where both Josh and his friend Jon, who had finally shown up with the coffee, rested asleep, neither of them having any memory of the vampires.

Rick chuckled and turned his head to kiss Hal’s hand. "Only one boy I’m interested in and you know it, baby. I’ll make a few changes in my worm, and that should keep Casey’s boyfriend’s sniffer from finding it again if he decides to go looking around where he shouldn’t be."

"He’s not my boyfriend!" Casey growled.

"Ooo, touchy, touchy!"

"Smart ass." She glared at him. "Can we get out of here now? Kel had the right idea when he left. I still don’t think you needed me to stay here till you were done."

"Why? You have a hot date or something?"

"I could have found one!"

"I dunno, you looked sweet sitting there with his head in your lap..."

She bared her fangs at him. "Keep it up and you’ll see just how sweet I am."

Rick chuckled and slid an arm around Hal’s waist. "We’re out of here. Lock up behind us, then come out the easy way, okay?"

She saluted him—with one finger. "Oh go home and try not to break any furniture. Remember the kid’s breakable." She ignored Hal’s glare. "I know how to leave."

Sweeping Hal toward the door, Rick hustled him into the hall before calling back over his shoulder, "And be sure you check on your boyfriend before you go!"

Rubbing his forehead, Josh King looked up from the lines of code he was debugging, noticing absently that it was eight in the morning and that he probably should get some sleep as he’d been up all night—again. Of course sleep in and of itself had become a strange experience the past few months, plagued by strange dreams that were part nightmare, part erotic fantasy.

It didn’t help that his knee still wasn’t one hundred percent, so he couldn’t practice tai kwan do as he usually did, something that made both his body and mind feel sluggish. "Maybe that’s where the weird dreams are coming from," he muttered, pushing back from his desk and hobbling to the fridge in search of some orange juice. Of course, there wasn’t any, so he grumbled and pulled on a sweatshirt and jacket against the chill early spring air before heading out to the small corner grocery store to get some.

Watching him from an alley across the street, Casey finally made a decision and followed him to the store. She’d been intrigued by him and surprised by how much he’d changed from the ‘ninety-eight-pound weakling’ she remembered, and she wanted to find out if he remained interesting on closer inspection.

She glanced down at the black leather mini-dress she was still wearing from last night’s clubbing, realizing it was a bit much for early morning in a residential neighborhood, but she shrugged and went into the store anyway, not letting a little thing like that stop her.

Casey sauntered down the aisle directly toward the cooler filled with milk, juices, and other cold drinks, remembering how thirsty she used to get after a night dancing. And there he was. She bit back the sultry smile that wanted to curve her lips as she stared at him, pretending confusion.

"Don’t I know you? Josh, right?"

Looking over from the juice selections, Josh frowned as he experienced what could only be termed deja vu when he saw the gorgeous redhead standing there. Nodding, he managed to keep from giving her a once-over even though she certainly merited one. "Yes, and I hate to say it, but I don’t know who you are, though you look familiar... I just can’t place the face."

"Well, it has been about eight years. Carly and I looked a little different back then." She grinned. "And you probably tried to forget about me."

He looked closer at her, frowning slightly. "Carly... Hang on, are you telling me you’re Casey? The two of you just vanished one day! I missed her," he added, before clearing his throat, feeling self-conscious. "So, how’s she doing?"

"Well, I suppose you get points for honesty. We’re both doing fine, thanks. Now. She just got married a couple of months ago; she and her husband split their time between here and Texas." Casey leaned against a shelf, not hiding the appreciative once-over she gave him.

"You’ve certainly changed," she said, licking her lips.

"And you still say exactly what you’re thinking," he returned. "I’m actually amazed you even remembered my name; you certainly never could before. It was always, ‘Hey, geek, get away from my sister!’"

Casey shrugged. "We had enough problems without being unpopular too. And I usually do say what I’m thinking. It saves a lot of wasted time." She ignored the comment about remembering his name since she wasn’t about to explain that she’d been reminded of it fairly recently.

"I suppose that’s true, if not tactful," he allowed, taking a half-gallon of orange juice from the cooler. "Did you need anything in there?"

She reached in for a bottle of water. "Dancing’s thirsty work. This’ll keep me going till I can get a cup of coffee and some breakfast." She eyed him again.

Giving in to the all too obvious hint, Josh chuckled. "Well, if you’d like some coffee, I can offer you that; I just live down the block from here." As they walked up to the counter to pay, he shrugged out of his coat. "And here, that dress looks amazing, but it can’t be keeping you warm."

She smiled as she pulled it around her shoulders. "Thanks. I hadn’t even noticed, but you’re right." She paid for her water and waited for him, then left the store walking companionably at his side. "So what do you do now?" she asked curiously. She knew he worked with computers but not what he did or why.

"I’m working on my masters at MIT—computer science," he answered, giving a rueful smile. "You can take the boy out of the geek and all that. In my free time I compete in martial arts tournaments; that’s how I wrecked my knee, tore the ACL a few months ago."

"Tore the what?" she said blankly even as she wondered what on earth he’d been looking for when he hacked Rick’s system.

"The ACL—anterior cruciate ligament—the one that keeps your knee stable." He chuckled and looked over and up at her. "So I take it you aren’t in med school then."

Casey just looked at him. "I spent five years on the streets clawing and scratching to stay alive. Right now I’m just enjoying having a roof over my head and not having to worry about where my next meal is coming from. I’ll probably decide to go to school eventually, but right now I like being able to just relax and have fun."

"Oh." Josh seemed at a loss as to what to say after that, and he fumbled for the keys to unlock the outer door to his building. "Are you going to ream me a new one if I say I’m sorry you and Carly had to go through that?"

"I’m not that bad. No, I’ll thank you for the thought. Coulda been a lot worse than it was," she shrugged. "Fortunately, I happen to like sex, and I’ve always been big on safety, so no big. I was even sorta engaged for a while after we got off the streets, but it didn’t work out." She smiled crookedly. "He was too nice for me."

Deciding he really needed to change the subject before he swallowed any more of his foot, Josh managed a nod. "So, you said Carly got married? Is he a nice guy too?"

Casey chuckled. "JT’s a real live Southern gentleman. He kept calling her Miss Carly and ma’am till I wasn’t sure if she was going to marry him or kill him. But he really loves her, and she loves him. But it still feels weird not having her here all the time."

"I can imagine." Josh led Casey up the stairs and unlocked his door, holding it open for her. "Sit down if you want; I’ll get the coffee going. Sorry about the mess, I’ve been working a lot lately."

"You should see my room, that is if you could find it under all the mess." Casey sat down on the sofa, looking around curiously. "Looks like you spend a lot of time here."

"Crutches plus snow and ice aren’t a good combination," Josh called from the small kitchen. "I’ve been working on my dissertation, but I’m not getting anywhere."

"What’s your topic?" Casey replied curiously, getting up to explore the apartment.

"I’m working on anti-hacking measures, but my big test bombed massively, so I’m back to square one."

Casey’s eyes widened as she realized what he was referring to. "Oh fuck," she breathed. "Shouldn’t you try again?" she asked faintly. "I mean, don’t results sometimes get skewed so you need to run a test more than once?"

Josh shrugged as he came out of the kitchen and leaned against the doorway, watching Casey prowl around his apartment. "No point; I sent in hacking probes to the target running my program, and it didn’t even pick them up. So, like I said, back to square one." He chuckled ruefully. "Good thing I don’t have a life."

She stared at him in dismay. They’d never thought that his hacking might have so innocent—and important—a reason, and they’d screwed up his life and his education. "Maybe... maybe the person you hacked spotted it and blocked it?" she suggested weakly.

"It’s a nice thought, but even if that happened, there would have been a record of the hit on Matilda over there." He gestured toward the array of computers in the corner of the room. "No hits equals I messed up somewhere; it happens to everyone."

She groaned, slowly sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, knees pulled up to her chest, indifferent to the view she was providing in the mini-dress. "Not necessarily," she muttered.

Coughing, he looked anywhere but up her dress, feeling very warm all of a sudden. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it didn’t work. Hell, even Steve Jobs fucked up a program once in a while."

Casey chewed her lip, trying to figure out what to do. "Is it going to take long to start over?"

Wondering just why she cared, Josh ran a hand through his dark hair. "Yeah, this was three years’ work; that’s the problem with these programs, they work in all the trials then boom—crash and burn.

"Anyway, it’s only time; I’ll figure it out eventually."

"Three years?" Casey let out a heartfelt groan and thumped her head against the wall a couple of times. "Shit, shit, shit!" She stared at him and realized that she couldn’t let him waste that much of his life and throw out something that had worked to start all over from scratch.

"Actually, uh, it didn’t. Crash and burn, that is."

"I think it’s time for some coffee; you’re dreaming." Josh vanished into the kitchen again and poured them both mugs. "Milk or sugar?"

"Okay, I did this; I can undo it." Casey pushed to her feet and followed him into the kitchen. "Okay, try to remember, Josh. A horde of people bursting into your place, you threatening to hurt me," she grinned at that, "vampires."

He stared at her over the coffee. "Uh huh, hordes of people and vampires? How about I give you this coffee to go, call you a cab and ask you to give me Carly’s e-mail or phone number on your way out?"

She sighed. "Am I going to have to bite you again?"

"Now it’s really time for you to go."

"Oh, for crying out loud, I’m trying to fix what we messed up, so stop being so damned antsy! Just listen to me. Kel remembered once something triggered it, so having me here again should do it for you when I’m telling you what happened."

"All you’re telling me is that you haven’t changed a bit since school," Josh snapped, turning and glaring at her. "Yeah, it’s a blast to make fun of the geek, I know, but the geek’s had enough."

Casey let out a growl and just like the last time, moved faster than the human eye could follow. One moment she was standing across the room, the next she was behind Josh, holding him still, her tongue licking the side of his neck over his jugular.

Josh froze, overwhelmed by conflicting memories that poured over him. "Oh my... you were here before, and those guys you brought trashed my program."

"Now you’re getting it," she murmured in his ear. "You picked the wrong people to hack, and we had no idea why you did it. Guess we should have asked. But when you told me what it meant to you..." She let go of him and backed up a step. "I couldn’t leave it like that."

He spun and swayed, momentarily off balance, and stared at her. "So now you leave me with remembering that my fucking program worked and I trashed it because you did whatever the fuck it was to my head because I caught you where you weren’t supposed to be?"

"You trashed it?" Her eyes widened again. "You don’t still have it... backed up or something?"

Josh’s face was expressionless. "I was a little upset when it failed. I have earlier copies somewhere, I think."

"I... Rick might be able to help. He was impressed," she said helplessly. "And it wasn’t because we were somewhere we weren’t supposed to be. You hacked into our identities. You could have exposed who we really are, the older ones, that is. We thought you were a vampire hunter."

"So it was easier to erase me than to find out anything about me."

She flushed with embarrassment. "Rick wanted to. Hell, all of the old ones and even some of the other new ones did. But... Oh fuck, it’s my fault, okay? I go off the deep end when I think people I care about are in danger, and I jumped the gun, and they didn’t have any choice after that."

"Noble reasons and all that, fuck them before they fuck you," Josh muttered.

Casey stared at him. "It kept us alive, all of us, when other kids ended up in dumpsters."

"Well, good for you." He went back into the kitchen and poured the coffee down the sink.

She winced at the sound of the splash. "I’m sorry," she whispered, something she’d said a bare handful of times in her life.

Josh sighed, looking back over his shoulder at her. "So why did you come up to me today?"

"Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you... and not just because you’re hotter than hell."

"Feeling guilty or just sympathetic?"

"Umm, well, neither actually till you told me what you’d lost," she admitted. "Intrigued. I liked what I saw when we were here, the way you refused to give up and were ready to fight us all."

Josh leaned against the counter, staring at Casey. "So you came back to get to know me better?"

She shrugged and nodded. "Sex figured in there somewhere too."

"Oh, so you wanted to fuck me, great..."

"You didn’t seem to mind that so much half an hour ago."

He looked at her incredulously. "You think I invited you up here to fuck you?"

"No, I think you invited me up here because I made it obvious I wanted to fuck you, and you hadn’t decided yet if you were going to let me seduce you today."

Josh sighed. "Okay, I won’t say it didn’t feel good to have you look at me that way, but honestly, the main reason I asked you up was to get Carly’s number. Now... So, are you going to tell your crew I remember?"

"Of course. And I’ll sit through all the I-told-you-so’s," she sighed. "But if you’re going to recreate your test, you may want to try a different target. Rick beefed up the security. It is people’s lives we’re talking about here."

"No matter what you think, I didn’t target your friend or any of you; my program followed taps back to their point of origination; I hadn’t even pulled the information from it yet."

She groaned again. "I think Rick did mention something about that being a possibility. I thought he was just wasting time." She couldn’t look Josh in the face.

"So, you’re really... vampires?" he asked, frowning.

"Yup, fangs, drinking blood, immortal. Vampires."

"That mean you don’t sleep a lot?"

"Hardly ever. Just when we want to relax. It’s kinda like bio-feedback for vampires."

Josh slowly smiled. "Good, then you and your friends won’t have a problem helping me recreate my work."

She winced, imagining Rick’s reaction. "The least we can do," she sighed, knowing she was going to hear about this until she wanted to kill someone.

"Cool, so why don’t you give them a call, and then we can get to work; I’ll start to look for my printouts and CDs."

"So much for sex," she grumbled. "Hell, I’m going to have to pay for it at this rate!"

Josh snorted. "Poor baby, and if one of your friends wants to oblige you, you aren’t going near my bed."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Most of them are so possessive it’s not funny. Hal would flip if anyone looked at Rick. Some of the others don’t mind an occasional playmate, but I’ve never liked being a fifth wheel, ya know?"

"I thought you said you were engaged?"

"No, I said I had been, and it didn’t work out. Carly was right; I just said yes because he was safe, not because I wanted to spend forever with him. Once I realized that..." She shrugged.

"Back to being a fifth wheel?" As he spoke, Josh sat down and set a large pile of papers on the table in front of him. When Casey didn’t join him, he looked up at her. "Well, going to join me?"

"Uh, lemme call Rick. I just answer the phones for him when Carly’s away. I know shit about computers."

"I’d rather not have the whole vamp squad here right now; guess I’m a little twitchy."

"Well, Rick’s the one who can help. Best I can offer is to keep the coffee coming. And can I have a cup now?" she asked plaintively.

"Sure, go ahead." Josh was already digging through his printouts, searching for relevant data.

Sighing, Casey went into the kitchen, where she called Rick on her cell phone and explained the situation to him, adding that Josh wasn’t ready to deal with any of the others yet.

"Huh? What time is it?" Josh mumbled, wincing when he lifted his head from the keyboard, realizing he’d fallen asleep there.

Casey lowered the book she’d been reading and peered over at him. "Almost noon. Good thing you have some good books."

"What’re you reading?" he asked, sitting up and yawning.

"Time Enough for Love," Casey replied. "It’s always been my favorite book, ever since I first read it when I was thirteen."

He smiled. "Funny, I can’t picture you as reading anything but Teen Beat back then."

She laughed. "I read that to know what the other fluff heads were talking about. I read Heinlein and Cherryh and Bradley because I loved them. Even on the streets, I picked up books whenever I could. It was great when I could get at the garbage from a bookstore after they stripped the paperbacks."

"A woman after my own reading tastes, but you don’t have to stay here, you know—what’s it been? A week? Don’t you have to go hunt or eat or something?"

"Well, first of all, I figure I sort of owe you. And secondly, I’m not moving till you finish with that so I can get your attention long enough to seduce you."

He looked a little more awake at that. "I didn’t realize you were still trying to do that."

She gaped at him. "One of us has a serious problem then."

"Well, I have been a little distracted, and then there was the whole making me lose my memory thing."

"Okay, let me put this in a way you can understand. I want you. I want us to fuck until we break that bed and push the debris out of our way to keep going. I want you to fuck me till neither of us can walk."

"Oh." Josh scrubbed at his face and stood. "Be right back." Saying that, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"What the fuck?" Casey stared at the closed door in disbelief.

Taking five minutes to wash his face and brush his teeth, Josh came back out, feeling much more awake. "So about what you just suggested..."

"You mean I actually dragged your attention away from your computer?" Coppery eyebrows shot up, and Casey rose to her feet in a single catlike movement.

"I even brushed my teeth and gargled," he said wryly.

"Oh, can’t waste that." Casey pulled her halter-top over her head and unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to the floor where she stepped out of it.

"Holy shit..." Josh murmured when Casey was suddenly standing naked before him. "So is this a you-want-to-be-in-charge thing because if you do, I think I’m okay with that."

"How ‘bout we try it both ways and see which we like better?" Casey purred, pacing toward him.

"That I know I’m okay with," he rasped, pulling off his own shirt and tossing it away before realizing his sweats were going to prove difficult unless he got his knee brace off first.

She grinned as she reached out to run a hand down his bare chest. "Mmm, whatever you’ve been doing, keep it up. You’re gorgeous."

Raising a hand to trail his fingers through her hair, Josh gave a breathless chuckle. "And I guess could say being dead agrees with you."

"At least you didn’t say it becomes me." Casey laughed as she moved closer, rocking against him. Josh groaned and tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her down for a kiss to keep her quiet.

Casey groaned into the kiss, arms wrapping around his neck and pulling him closer. "We need to move this to the bed or couch or table or floor," she panted. "I don’t want to hurt your knee."

"I’m betting the bed would be best, and I’m hoping you don’t mind being on top; less chance of me having to stop because something turned the wrong way." Josh stepped back, trailing his hands down Casey’s arms to catch her hands and lead her toward the bedroom.

"Do I mind riding a gorgeous guy? Hmm, let me think about it." She rolled her eyes. "Idiot. What do you think?"

He chuckled. "Well, unlike others, I don’t assume anything."

"I’m never going to live that down, am I?" she sighed. "However, when a woman is naked and trying to climb up you, it’s a fairly safe bet that she’s not going to say no."

Josh got them into his bedroom and backed toward the bed, having to let go of Casey’s hands so that he could sit down without falling over. "I’ll just keep that in mind the next time a gorgeous woman is naked and trying to climb up me."

"Gorgeous, huh?" She knelt on the edge of the bed, straddling his lap, only the thin cotton of his sweats between them. "The clothes have really got to go," she panted.

"Gotta get the torture device off first," he groaned, feeling her heat and wetness soaking through his pants. "And yes, gorgeous, as if you didn’t know that already."

"It’s still nice to hear from a man who’s been ignoring me for weeks." She twisted to the side and slid down to the floor, reaching for the brace to help him remove it.

Josh gave a weak laugh as their fingers bumped and slid together, working the heavy Velcro straps. "Ignoring, yeah, right."

"Sure seemed that way to me." Since she was on her knees in front of him, Casey leaned forward and mouthed him through the soft cotton.

"Oh God..." he groaned, his hip and leg muscles tightening. "And later, ask me how often I beat off when you were gone."

"What a waste. I’ll have to make sure you don’t have the energy to do that any more." Casey nuzzled him, nibbling gently, tasting him through the worn fabric.

"Good thing I found those back up drives so I don’t have to start from scratch again because I have the feeling I’m going to be too tired to do anything else for a while."

"I certainly hope so." She smiled up at him, her hands resting on his thighs. "But if not, I’ll just have to try harder."

He gave a pained chuckle. "I think if things get any harder, I’m going to have an aneurysm."

Casey snickered. "Seems just about right to me," she decided after rubbing her cheek against him.

"Keep that up and it won’t be for much longer."

"Oh, we can’t have that. I have plans for this." She petted him lazily before her hands rose to his waist and gripped the top of his sweats, slowly tugging them downward.

Josh groaned, sitting up enough to reach for Casey, pulling her in for a kiss even as he felt her body slide over his now bare flesh to settle on top of him.

She moaned into his mouth, rocking against him, teasing them both with the merest hint of contact as she knelt over him.

Getting a hand between them, Josh slid a finger against Casey’s wet slit, rubbing her clit and swallowing her cry, needing her to feel as out of control as he did.

Casey’s arms went around his neck as her back arched, and she clung to him, moaning as he drove her crazy. Tremors of pleasure rippled through her, and she started to sink down, unable to hold herself above him any longer when what she really wanted was Josh inside her.

"Do—is biting part of this?" Josh rasped, moving his hand to his cock and steadying it as Casey sank down onto it, encasing him in wet heat.

"Not if you don’t want it to be, but believe me, it feels incredible." Casey shivered, remembering the first time she’d experienced it, and moaned as she felt Josh fill her.

He swallowed and bucked upward as Casey took him in completely, his eyes locked on hers the whole while. "As—oh fuck—" his hands closed on her hips as they moved together. "Bite away as long as it’s not going to kill me."

"Only with pleasure," she whispered huskily, licking his throat but not biting yet, teasing herself with the promise of what was to come while the pleasure mounted in each of them, their bodies moving in perfect counterpoint.

"R-rather not die just yet, thanks," he gasped, sliding his hands up to cup her breasts, rubbing his thumb over her nipples.

"Good ‘cause we’re just getting started." Casey groaned and thrust her chest forward, breasts filling his palms. "Oh fuck, even better than I thought!"

He nodded and sat up enough to suckle at her breast, on the edge of orgasm but striving not to fall.

Casey panted, pressing closer as her hips sped up, and she nuzzled against his throat, licking again and then biting down.

Josh gave a strangled cry when he felt the fangs pierce his skin, and he bucked up under Casey, barely noticing the twinge his leg gave. He managed a few more thrusts as she sucked on his neck, then he was coming harder than he’d ever dreamed.

Casey reached for his mind, feeling Josh’s pleasure and letting it carry her to climax as well, his blood in her mouth making her shudder with pleasure. After a moment, as the spasms ebbed, she forced herself to stop and licked the marks, healing them.

Looking up at her with dazed eyes, Josh smiled blearily. "Casey, that was... wow."

Casey grinned at him, bit her lip, and had to say it. "I told you so."

"So is that why you... you know, got changed?"

"No, I did that because half my family already had, and I wanted us to stay together. Even managed to convince myself I was in love with one of the vamps who hung around a lot, but I wasn’t. He kept trying to ‘improve’ me." She made a face.

"Was he the one who, you know, changed you?"

Casey shook her head. "No, I asked him to, but he was being all gentlemanly and trying to save me from myself, so one night I got really pissed off and asked Marc to do it. Marc’s Angel’s mate and was the one to help him and teach him about being a vamp after he was attacked and turned. I could’ve asked Derek or Xio, they’re older, but well, I like Marc, and one night I was in bed with him and Angel and Kitten, and well..." she shrugged. "Kitten’s majorly pissed that he wouldn’t turn her too, but she really is still too young."

Casey had lost him somewhere along the way with all the names she spouted off, so Josh just nodded, looking dazed.

Recognizing the glazed expression, Casey chuckled. "If you’re going to stick around, you’ll get to know them all. As for the other..." she shrugged. "I don’t think I’ll run into him too often. He wasn’t too happy with me when he left, especially that I’d had Marc turn me. Coulda been worse though; I might have actually married him." She stretched out on top of him, shifting till she was comfortable, long red curls covering his shoulder and falling to the bed beside him.

"Which would definitely have nixed any of this happening," Josh chuckled, stroking a hand over her back. "And not that I guess Rick isn’t hot if you like guys, but there’s no chance he’d be here with me now."

"Even less than you think," Casey snickered. "Hal does everything but pee on him to stake his claim.

"And for the record I’m glad I’m here." She tilted her head to look up at him.

"Quite a change from junior high," he murmured. "And after hearing that, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look Hal or Rick in the eye again."

"You don’t need to tell Rick I said that," Casey said hastily, easily able to imagine his reaction—and revenge. "I think we’ve both changed a lot since junior high," she added, raising her head to run admiring eyes over him.

"Some of us more than others," he murmured, grinning.

"And very nicely too," she replied, running a caressing hand over his chest. She chuckled suddenly. "You’re going to have fun shocking everyone the first time you go to a high school reunion."

"If I go. Honestly, aside from a few people I still see anyway, I didn’t like anyone there much."

"Hmmm. Others may have changed too, you know," Casey pointed out. "But since this bed really isn’t big enough for anyone else, maybe you should stay away after all." She eyed him. "Assuming I’ll be invited back, of course."

He frowned. "Why do you think you wouldn’t be?"

"Just trying not to make assumptions. I know I wasn’t very nice to you when we were kids. And this could have been a one-shot deal for you," Casey said with a slight shrug. "It’s not like we made any promises. I’d like it to be more though. I like you."

"Like you said, I’m not the only one who changed." Josh stroked a hand over Casey’s back, staying silent for a moment. "I’m still not thrilled with what you did to me, but I can understand why, and the fact that you’re trying to help means a lot. Yeah, I didn’t like you before, but that’s changed, and I’m willing to see where this goes if you want to give it a try."

"I think I’d like that," she replied, nails idly tracing patterns on his chest. "I never expected you," she said, half to herself.

He smiled. "See what happens when you break into people’s homes and mess with their minds?"

"Technically, I didn’t break in, you know. You opened the door. And I have to admit I nearly drooled when you did."

"And you had no idea who I was."

"I knew your name started with a J," she offered a bit sheepishly.

"A one out of twenty-six chance."

"At least I remembered that much," she retorted, getting a bit defensive but too comfortable to react as much as she normally would have.

"True," he chuckled. "Better that than what you called me in school."

She groaned. "I’m never going to live that down, am I? I’ll just have to work on making you forget... It would be much easier if I could do just that, but I have a feeling you’d kill me."

"Probably," he admitted. "But it’s the past; I’d rather deal with the present."

"I can do present." Casey raised her head to kiss him lightly. "I like the present."

Josh smiled. "Me too."

"Have you ever thought about living with someone?" Casey asked out of the blue one afternoon. It had been a quiet day with Josh working on his program and her reading a book until she’d started to think. And being Casey, once she thought of something, she had to act on it.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking up, then processing the question she’d asked. "Well, that depends on which someone you mean. If it’s Rick and his psycho boyfriend, no, but if it’s you..."

"I didn’t really think Rick and Hal were your type, fool." Casey shook her head at him. "Of course I meant me!"

"Not in the least, gay on top of geeky would just have been too much a cliche, don’t you think?"

Casey groaned. "Would you forget Rick and Hal already? I just asked you if you wanted to live together, and you’re rambling about two guys!"

Josh quirked an eyebrow at her. "I’d have thought the answer was pretty obvious; what do you think we’ve been doing the past month anyway?"

"Oh. Well, I have been going back to Kel and Xio’s place..." She trailed off as she tried to remember the last time she’d done that and couldn’t. "Or maybe not. So, uh, you’re okay with me officially moving in?"

"To quote the ROG, ‘mi casa es su casa’."

"The rug?" Casey eyed him oddly. "Your floor coverings talk to you?"

Josh groaned. "The R-O-G—Methos? Ever seen Highlander??"

"Sure, the same time you did, when they took a bunch of us to see a movie. I remember Connor MacLeod and Sean Connery looking really hot. No Methos though."

"Movie... Well then, if you’ve never seen the TV show, I’m going to have to plan a viewing marathon for the two of us, and so you know, Methos is the oldest of the Immortals, as in 5000 or so."

"Like Tarik, huh?" Casey laughed before remembering that Josh hadn’t met him yet. "Oh, you’ll probably run into him eventually. Tarik’s about five or six thousand years old, I forget which. Looks about sixteen though, which pisses him off in clubs," she snickered. "And of course, Derek and Anne are about three thousand, and Xio’s about two. Lots of oldsters around here."

Josh’s jaw dropped, and he stared at Casey. "Thousands of years old? Fuck."

"Yeah, they do a lot of that." Casey grinned at his expression. "Didn’t you realize that except for the few of us who were together on the streets, all the others are older, some a lot older? Here, I’ll freak you out even more. Rick, the guy you like to drive nuts, and his brother Ned are the Princes in the Tower, you know, the ones Richard the something locked up to be king way back when? We’re not kidding when we call Ned his majesty. And Marc—you’ve met him, haven’t you? Angel’s guy? Well, he’s a bastard son of that French king they called the Sun King." She started laughing at the look on Josh’s face.

"I feel like I’m in a walking history book," Josh muttered, glad that he hadn’t known all this before he’d met some of the vampires in question.

Casey shrugged. "They’re still the same people you’ve gotten to know. They just have rather longer lives than you realized. Which explains some of their attitudes. And really, I doubt you’re going to stop needling Rick because of it, are you?"

"Hardly," he smiled. "I have the feeling he walks all over anyone who doesn’t give it right back to him, and since we just agreed we’re living together, why are you sitting way over there?"

"Because you were working and I was trying not to distract you." She tossed her book aside and crawled along the couch toward him.

"Casey Benedict behaving: who would believe it?" he chuckled, gathering her into his lap once she left the couch and moved over by his computer chair.

Straddling him comfortably, she smirked and rocked her hips slightly. "I have my moments. Just don’t expect them very often."

"Now there’s a shock," Josh chuckled, circling her waist with his hands.

"Very funny." She let her nails bite slightly into Josh’s shoulders. "So does this mean you’re finished working for now?"

"If I wasn’t, I would be now. No way I can concentrate on anything except you."

"Oh, good answer," she praised, her lips brushing his as she leaned toward him while speaking, then covered his mouth in a deep kiss.

He chuckled as they kissed, holding her close, loving the feel of her in his lap and the way she wrapped herself around him.

"I hope this chair doesn’t tilt back, or we’re going to be in trouble," Casey chuckled.

Josh pushed a foot against the floor, rolling the chair back against his desk. "There, no tumbling us anywhere."

"Oh good. We need to be careful since you’re breakable," Casey murmured against his throat as she licked it.

Josh grew serious for a moment, before smiling. "Only one part of me, Casey."

She placed a hand on his chest. "I would have said that there’s only part of you that will never be hurt."

Not wanting to pressure her, he grinned. "The one you’re sitting on?"

"Okay, two parts. The two best parts," she decided, "though that brilliant mind of yours is a close second." She wished Carly were there to talk to—phone calls just weren’t the same—because she wanted to ask her twin how she’d known for sure JT was the one for her. She’d never felt like this with anyone before, and she was desperately afraid of screwing it up and driving Josh away.

He paused and looked at her closely. "You’re serious, aren’t you?"

"You think I ask a lot of guys if they want to live together? Of course I’m serious. Forever kind of serious."

"I like the sound of that." He raised a hand and stroked her long red hair, tangling the curls around his fingers. "I may have hated you in school, but I think I’m falling in love with you, Casey."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. "I... I’ve never been in love before, so I’m not sure what it feels like, but, well, I like being with you. I miss you when we’re not together. I think I love you too."

"Good." Josh leaned in and kissed Casey gently, not allowing her to deepen the touch, this once, wanting to romance her.

When Josh drew back, Casey stared at him searchingly, her green eyes wide. "I don’t want to lose you, Josh," she whispered.

He frowned slightly. "Why do you think you would?"

"You’re mortal, Josh. Human. Someday you will die, from age if nothing else happens first." She shut her eyes as if to close out the idea.

"And you won’t," he said after a long silence.

"And I won’t." She looked at him searchingly. "Have you ever thought about...?"

He shook his head. "Don’t ask, Casey, not now, okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Not now then," she agreed. "But I will ask eventually, Josh. I do not want to lose you now that I’ve found you."

"Well, as long as no more pissed off vamps come banging on my door, I should be okay."

Knowing that Josh wasn’t ready to consider the other option, Casey didn’t push the issue, but she promised herself to keep a close eye on him. No random traffic accident or mugger was going to take him from her if she could prevent it.

"No more pissed off vamps," she promised, brushing her lips lightly over his. "And you realize, of course, now that you’re officially my boyfriend, it’s your duty to help me pack and move my stuff."

Josh groaned at that. "And just how much ‘stuff’ is that?"

Casey smiled sweetly. "Well, I’ve been living with Xio for about a year or so, and he’s richer than God and let me use his money to shop."

"Good God, there’ll be no room for us!"

Bursting into laughter, Casey slumped in his lap, shaking with her mirth. "I’m not that bad," she gasped out a little later. "Besides, my clothes don’t take up much room; they’re all pretty small."

Josh nodded in appreciation. "Yeah, I kind of noticed that."

Casey grinned. "Which is why they keep getting smaller."

"Any smaller and you may get arrested, babe."

"I’ll keep the smaller stuff for when we’re alone at home."

"I prefer nothing at all for then," Josh grinned.

"And here I thought you liked the unwrapping." Casey smiled wickedly as she squirmed in his lap and lightly ran her nails over his chest.

Josh groaned and moved his hands to her hips, holding her in place. "I do, but I like what I find at the end even better."

"Good answer." She exerted her strength enough to move again, now rocking against him and smiling as she felt him rouse to her. "Feel free to unwrap me any time you like."

"Oh, I plan on it, but not here in the chair. Let’s go to bed, Casey; I want to touch you all over."

She shivered with pleasure, the green eyes darkening with arousal. "Good plan," she said in a low, sensuous purr. "But you have to let me go if you want me to stand up," she pointed out with a wicked chuckle.

"You sure about that?" Josh asked, tightening his arms around her waist and carefully standing, gauging his knee’s strength, then grinning when it held. "I may not be huge or a vamp, but I can carry you." Proving this point and helped by the way Casey wound herself around him, Josh started toward the bedroom.

"Mm, my hero," she murmured, ducking her head to nip gently at the side of his throat.

He chuckled and tightened his hands on her ass, squeezing the firm globes as he walked into the bedroom and carried her over to the bed. "I do try, and next time you can carry me." Grinning as he said this, Josh carefully laid Casey back down on the bed and stretched out beside her.

"Don’t say that to anyone else, or they’ll want pictures!" Casey laughed, shifting with sensual delight against the soft comforter. She rolled toward him, her tiny skirt riding even higher as she hooked a knee over his hip, pressing against him.

Josh sighed, pretending to be disgusted. "Casey, I love you, but you have a very strange family." He grinned after that, and pulled her in for a kiss, his hands roaming over her body—over her clothes for now.

More interested in what Josh was doing than in talking, Casey abandoned the conversation in favor of dragging her fangs over his throat, not biting yet, but letting him feel her hunger for him.

"Mmmm," he moaned, cupping her ass with one hand and rubbing her against him.

She raised her leg higher, pressing harder against him, already wet for him. "Want you in me," she rasped. "Want to drink from you while you fuck me."

Josh shuddered and rolled them both over so that he was on top of Casey. Rearing up on his knees, he shoved her short mini-skirt up to her waist with one hand and his sweats down with the other then thrust into her wet heat, groaning at the sensation as they began to move together.

Casey cried out at the sudden entry, her body clenching around him, and she arched up to meet him. "Love you," she gasped an instant before her fangs sank into his throat.

"Ditto," Josh gasped, trying to hold his head still as he thrust into her, knowing he wasn’t going to last long, Casey felt too damn good to even consider it.

Casey could feel how close Josh was, and she swallowed hungrily as her body spasmed, the first shock of pleasure washing over her. She reached down, fingertips lightly flicking his balls as they slammed together.

Josh groaned, his back arching as he pounded into Casey’s pliant body, her orgasm triggering his own as her tight sheath rippled around him.

"Josh!" Casey wailed his name, only slightly muffled by his neck, writhing beneath him as they came virtually together. The heat of his seed filled her, making her cry out again, her legs tightening almost painfully around his waist.

"Mmm," Josh murmured some time later when he’d recovered and pushed up on his elbows to smile down at Casey. "You rock my world, Casey Benedict."

She returned the smile, one hand rising to brush his hair back and remaining cupped over his cheek. "Likewise, Josh King. We’re going to have fun together."

  Since 10-29-06

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