“After the last one, I believe you swore you’d never fall for another mortal again.”

“And I haven’t. I’m not in love with Ruby.”

“Ruby? Wait,” Max said, rubbing his chin. “The night Napoleon dropped that blasted trap on you, you told me that a woman named Ruby had come to your aid, a woman who, I might add, you didn’t compel to forget what she saw.”

“They are one and the same, and allow me to call the kettle black. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve had a plethora of mortal boyfriends.”

“True,” Max said, dipping his head. “But speaking from experience, it’s a precarious tightrope to walk. Are you prepared—”

“Yes, of course, I’m prepared. I already told her I’d end her life if she ever spoke about me or our kind to anyone.”

“Why the threat? We both know you can compel her to forget everything.”

“And I will, but that doesn’t hold as much water as threatening her life, and honestly, Max, we all need companionship sometimes, and I’m no different. When the time comes for Ruby and me to part company, I’ll do what’s necessary to protect our breed, but for now, I would like to enjoy a little normalcy in my life. Someone to eat dinner with, someone to talk with…to sleep with, and I don’t think that’s asking too much.”

“It’s not. Our lives can be quite isolated at times, and I won’t fault you for this dalliance. I hazard to guess how many mortal men are still walking this planet that, at one time, listened intently to all my secrets, yet now they’re in the beds of others, and vampires are, once again, fiction. It’s part of what we do to survive, Bennett. You know it. I know it, and Lisa will come to know it, too, unless, of course, she’s changed her mind.”

“She hasn’t, but there’s still time.” Bennett drained what remained in her glass, and going to the credenza, she poured herself another. “Would you like some more?” Bennett said, holding up the bottle.

“No, I’m pacing myself,” Max said, watching as Bennett returned to her seat. “And so are you, by the looks of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re involved with a mortal, you’re no doubt doing what I always did because I can see it in your face, and after the incident with that bloody trap, I would think you would have learned your lesson.”

Bennett released a long, drawn-out breath. “Max, there is no reason I need to sink my teeth into someone every other day, especially now that the council has finally put Napoleon in his place. I can easily make do with the transfused blood, and this way, I get what I need without…um…without—”

“Overwhelming Ruby?”