“I’m alone. Why? Do we need privacy?”

“It would probably be a good idea.” I smiled into the phone. “I’m taking off my skirt. You take off something.”

“Is this phone sex?”

“Why not?” I couldn’t hear the smile in his voice yet. It made me even more determined to wipe the thought of Westwood out of Jerry’s head for a few minutes. And the memories of the hunter’s sleazy call out of mine. How better than to replace them with new and improved memories with a man who made me melt just hearing his deep, sexy voice?

“I kicked off my shoes, Gloriana.”

“Aw, no good. I want to see some skin. Take off your shirt.” I did drop my skirt to the floor and kicked off my slingbacks. If any customers came in at three thirty in the morning, the dogs would warn me. For once I hoped I didn ’t have any business for a while. I wanted to find out just how hot phone sex could be with the right man.

“My shirt just hit the wall. Take off yours. What color is it?”

“Red. And I’m not wearing a bra.” I tossed the shirt on a chair. “Mmm. It’s a little chilly in here. My nipples are all pointy and tingling. I’m warming them with my hands.”

“God, Gloriana. What kind of panties are you wearing?” Jerry groaned and I knew I had him revved up. Good.

“Black thong. Oops. I was wearing a black thong.” I sighed. “Now all I’m wearing are my earrings. Are you naked yet?”

Silence. One thousand one, one thousand two . . .

“Yes.” There was that growl I loved so much.

“Are you touching yourself like I’m touching myself?” Who was I kidding? Blade was a man. He probably touched himself when deciding whether to wear the black or brown socks.

“No, I’m touching you. Can you feel me, Glory?”

I gasped. Impossible. He was thousands of miles away. He couldn’t possibly . . . But I swear those were his fingers, not mine stroking me. My body wept for him and I quivered from the inside out.

“Now I’m laying you on that big table in your workroom and kissing the curls between your legs. Open for me, sweetheart. That’s right. Now my tongue dips inside you, tasting your honey. Delicious.”

“Blade.” I swear I felt his mouth on me, every sweep of his tongue. Oh, God. Oh, God. Not happening. Mind control across continents. But I was flat on my back on the table and I swear I hadn’t climbed up there. Wow, I thought I had a lot of power. My body clenched until I arched against the table. I closed my eyes and saw Blade’s face, then his naked body where he lay on a cot in a tent. The sounds of Africa were a murmur in the background. Could I touch him?

“Feel my hands on you, Jerry. I’m pulling you up my body to kiss you on the mouth. A soul kiss to show you how much I ’ve missed you. Can you feel it, Jerry?”

“Yes.”

“I swear I can taste you. And then I look at you, just look at you. I love your broad shoulders. Can you feel me touching them?”

I took a breath and knew his scent, unique and all Blade. “I kiss your chest. I sweep my tongue around your nipples and taste the salt on your skin. Is it hot there, Jerry?” I heard him gasp.

“Hot as hell.”

A touch, a pressure then a spasm between my legs. Could he really take me? From so far away?

“I’m pushing inside you, Gloriana. I can’t wait. I’m sorry but I’ve got to have you. Now.”

And I felt it. Insane, but he was hard inside me, filling me and touching my womb. Shock waves rippled through me until even my toes tingled.

“God, I can’t believe this.” I knew I was really alone, flat on my back, legs wide. One hand gripped the phone, the other the wooden table. Blade wasn’t here, but this felt so real. “You can’t be doing this.”

“Yes, I can. Come with me, Gloriana.”

He pushed into me again, harder, deeper. I gasped and the bells on the shop door rang.

“No!”

“Yes.” He thrust again while my body held him inside me. The room swam and I couldn’t seem to focus.

“I mean no, there’s a customer in the shop.”

“Let the dogs handle it.” His hands cupped my breasts before his hot mouth burned a path from one nipple to another.

“I . . . can’t.” I sighed. I had to crash back down to earth. I tried counting ceiling tiles. I ’d made it to three when Blade’s lips circled my belly, then headed south.

A knock on the door.

“Gloriana? Are you all right?” Derek, here to pick up a commission check.

“I’ll be out, uh, in a minute. I’m, oh, on the phone. Would you, um, cover the front for me?” Not a customer. My hips came off the table and I bit back a moan.

“Sure. Take your time. Tell Blade hi for me.”

“Eavesdrop on my conversation and you’re fired.” Damned mind reading vampires. Right now I was, oh yes, the star in my own triple X movie.

“Wouldn’t dare, boss. I’ll be checking on the Web site. My attention is totally on that. ” He laughed. “And I’m turning up the radio.”

The Doobie Brothers blasted through the door. Whatever. I groaned when hands followed lips over my breasts and down my tummy.

“This will take more than a minute, Gloriana.” Blade lifted my hips and pushed into me again. Still hard? Hard again? Obviously this man would never need Vamp Viagra. And, damn, but I didn’t want to think about that stuff right now.

“I’m going to have to go in . . .” Gasp, “Maybe five minutes. ” Could I make him scream his satisfaction? I “saw” his thigh, close to his sacs and imagined my fangs piercing the tender skin.

“God, Gloriana. You’re evil.”

“Evil?” I could definitely taste him. “I’ll show you evil.” I squeezed his cock while his essence flooded my mouth. This was all in my mind, of course. Had to be. But the mind is a powerful thing. Had that been a shriek? Couldn ’t have been. Way too girly for Blade.

“Mara’s here.” Blade sounded like he was strangling.

Ah, the shrieker. I sat up, suddenly aware of the where and the how. “You’d better be covering yourself.” That witch would like nothing better than to take over where I’d left off.

“I told her to get out.” Blade sounded like he was in serious pain. “Where were we?”

I sighed. Just the mention of Blade’s female companion was enough to bring me crashing back to a hard wooden table in a chilly storage room.

“Gloriana?”

“Sorry. But I’d better go.”

“Go?” Blade or something pushed me back on the table. “Not yet.”

I felt his fangs on my inner thigh. Pay back.

“Jerry,” I moaned. He drew on me and I jerked like I’d been electrocuted. The pleasure/pain went on and on. Talk about tsunamis . . . hands, mouth, teeth. Finally I collapsed, hitting my head on the wooden table.

“This did not happen.” I looked at the phone I still clutched in one fist. Yep, same old cell. Who knew? And now I figured I needed a camera phone. Jerry and I both did. Hmm. Phone sex with pictures. I took slow even breaths before I started heating up all over again.

“It did happen. I’ve got Mara sulking outside my tent to prove it.” Jerry’s voice was low, full of satisfaction.

“Back to reality, big guy.” I smiled and sat up. Showing Mara who Blade really wanted was a guaranteed mood enhancer. “Tell me what’s going on there besides a Mara meltdown. ” Did he know about my little confrontation with Greg Kaplan? Apparently not, since he merely gave me a quick rundown of their progress, or lack of, with getting to Westwood. The billionaire was too smart to go out at night and no amount of shape-shifting or other spy techniques had managed to infiltrate his hideout. The guards, who couldn’t be bribed, were armed with vamp detectors and had every entrance, including the windows, well covered.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Gloriana? I haven’t heard from Valdez this week.”

I have no idea how those two communicate. It sure wasn’t with e-mail, since Valdez couldn’t exactly type in dog form. Or with the phone, same problem with dialing. Mental telepathy. I ’d just had a toe-curling example of how that worked no matter the distance. Of course we’d also had cell phones . . .

“We’ve been busy getting the shop back up and running. The TV interview tonight should help get the word out that we’re open again. If it actually airs. And if it doesn’t make us look like the latest vampire hangout.”

“Be careful, Gloriana. Westwood’s men are everywhere.”

“We’re handling it. And I forwarded the e-mail the man himself sent me. Nice to know that he’s saving a stake for me that he plans to deliver personally.”

“Over my dead body.”

“Don’t even joke about it.” I shuddered. I wasn’t about to give Jerry an update on all the e-mails and calls since. “Just stay safe.” I scrambled back into my clothes, one handed because I still had him on the phone.

“I will if you will.”

“I’ll do my best. Say hi to Mara.” Am I civilized, or what? Should I tell Jerry about Greg? Ask his advice about the EVs? I heard the bells tinkle again signaling a customer. Derek could handle it, but I took it as a sign that I should leave it alone. Blade had enough worries.

“I’ll talk to you again soon.” I hung up and sat on a stool to give myself a moment. From sixty to zero in a few minutes wasn ’t exactly an easy trip. I felt drained, yet still hungry. That’s the problem with virtual sex, virtual anything. It wasn’t real. And Blade had no idea when he’d be home. In the meantime, my gut clenched and I still had damp panties. I wanted more than a little, okay, a lot, of phone sex. It made me crazy that I didn ’t feel satisfied. It was like being all dressed up in your cute new leather mini with nowhere to go. I needed something or someone a little more substantial than my own right hand. The bell tinkled again. I unlocked the storeroom door.