Chapter 46

Following Kim's directions, they returned her to her home on the other side of the city. Elaina pulled up in front of the building indicated, then set the brake and turned off the engine. She turned to face Kim in the back with Rob looking on.

"So, we're good, right? You never saw us and this never happened, agreed?" she asked.

"What are you, the Men in Black or something," Kim joked shakily.

Rob started to chuckle at Kim's comment, and Elaina shot a glance at him to shut him up.

"Kim, please, this is very important to us."

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to get a handle on all of this," she said contritely. "Yes, of course. I promise, I won't to say a word to anyone." Kim followed that up with a nod.

"Good," Elaina replied. She opened her door and got out, pulling the seat forward to let Kim out. "Go home, lock your doors and windows, then soak in a hot bath for an hour."

"Ooo, a bath sounds like a great idea," she said with wan enthusiasm. "But why lock everything?"

"You'll feel safer, trust me on that," Elaina replied kindly.

Kim thanked them again and then, pulling her keys from her purse, entered her building. They waited until they saw a light come on in an upstairs window before driving away.

"Think she'll keep her word?" Rob asked thoughtfully.

"I'm certain of it," Elaina replied. "She has every reason to be grateful she's alive, and no real reason to go to the police. You know how rape victims are treated. The threat is gone, and she'll never fear that man again." Rob grunted his feelings on that.

"And what did you do to get her cleaned up?" he asked a short while later. He shot her a skeptical look to show her he thought he knew.

Elaina shrugged. "They weren't the best rags I could find, but I had to do something," she replied innocently. Rob wasn't buying it.

"Elaina..." he growled in warning. She gave him a guilty look then faced the road again.

"She was bleeding to death, Rob," she answered quietly. "I had to do something. I really did use a rag to clean most of it, but I needed to get my saliva on the wounds ... and they were internal as well as external." Rob rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I guess it's just as well she was asleep then," he said relenting. "It also kept her from seeing what you did to that guy."

"That, actually, was the point of lulling her to sleep," she answered tartly.

They continued to bicker quietly the rest of the way home, neither realizing how much like an old married couple they sounded.

Elaina had insisted on parking the Mustang in the garage, with Rob wisely not objecting, and they were still wound up as they walked back to the apartment.

When they walked through the door, Rob felt a sudden exhaustion settle over him. He'd had a busy day followed by a busy night and he was tapped out. It was two a.m. and he was ready for bed. Elaina caught him as he started to tip over and guided him to the bedroom. She sat him on the bed and helped him strip down, setting the leathers aside for cleaning later.

"Rob," she suddenly asked, "Where's your hat?"

"Left it in the car," he mumbled tiredly. "Sorry."

"Just as long as you didn't lose it," she sighed gratefully. "I had that custom made just for you."

"Love the hat," he murmured. "Love you..."

She wrestled him to bed; he had fallen asleep sitting up. She gazed fondly down at him, then left the room. She prepared a huge breakfast for when he got up, needing only to cook it when it was time to serve it. She grabbed her keys and headed out. She knew he'd regret it if the hat wasn't there when he got up.

An hour later, she came back through the door with the hat in her hand. She went to the bedroom and on into the closet, and came out with a plush black hat stand that was a replica of Rob's head. She knew it was over the top, but she couldn't resist when she found a website where all she needed was his hat size and three pictures – front, back, and profile – to get it made. The black velvet coating nearly doubled the price, but she thought it was worth it.

She set it on the dresser next to her jewelry hand and set the hat carefully on top. Then she stripped down, putting her leathers with Rob's, set the alarm and crawled into bed. Even in his sleep, Rob knew when she was there, and he rolled to pull her into his arms. Elaina more than allowed it: she reveled in it. She had never felt like this, in either life, and she planned on staying with him for as long as he lived.

That got her thinking about Rob's mortality. She'd been noticing that he seemed to be age-regressing, with his thickening hair being the most obvious indicator. That he hadn't noticed was a sign of his lack of vanity in general, or maybe just proof he was absent-minded. Another sign had been that he no longer had grey hairs. He hadn't had many, but with her eyesight, they had stood out. Now they were gone. The crow's-feet at the corners of his eyes had smoothed out too, only showing when he smiled now. He would likely always have that, just like some people had dimples. The general improvement of his health was another. Despite working out, Rob had still been a light-weight, just a very well toned light-weight. Now he might be classified as a middle-weight, trending toward heavy.

And he had noticed none of this.

She was beginning to suspect there was more to being a blood servant than just being tied to a vampire. He was improving as a human. Based on Stefan's life, his life expectancy was probably improving too. And she had noticed his penchant for tasting her blood when he got the chance.

But he was still mortal. He could still be killed.

She rolled in his arms to face him. He grumbled his discontent and rolled to his back. She pulled the covers down to look at him, really look at him, and appreciate the man he was and the man he was becoming. She noticed that the hair on his chest had thickened, presenting more of a carpet than the dusting it had been before. She looked further down to see he was firming up in his sleep. She wondered who he was dreaming of, and got her answer when he called out her name – and Dawn's. She smiled fondly at hearing him say that.

Pulling herself back from her reverie, she looked again at what made him a man and noted there didn't seem to be any changes there. She realized there didn't need to be: he fit her quite nicely, thank you very much. She knew Dawn would be pleased when she found out for herself.

She looked at the clock and saw that dawn was approaching. She smiled for her inadvertent pun, and then laid her head on the pillow. She knew she could go days without sleep, and she didn't actually intend to sleep now. She just wanted to be near him.

Despite that, she awoke when the alarm went off.

Rob was sitting at the table working diligently at the breakfast Elaina had prepared. When he complained about the amount on the table, she calmly and firmly pointed out that he'd been involved in two fights last night, as well as a very intense lesson at Archer's hands, and he had a lot of juice to replace. He frowned, looking inward to test the well, and he found it was, in fact, empty. He sighed knowing she was right, and set to it.

He had been over the moon when he spotted the hat sitting on its stand. He was even more surprised when he recognized his own profile. He thanked her sweetly for always taking care of him, and he kissed her until they were dizzy. She shooed him off, telling him to get ready, but she was secretly delighted with his reaction. She was afraid he would have found the bust to be creepy.

Rob finally finished his breakfast and frowned when he realized he could've fit more.

"Either I gotta cut back, or we need to find better food," he complained. "I can't keep eating like this."

"Well, you were warned, after all," she said soothingly. "We can afford it. Just think of it as eating for two: you and me. You damned near eat that much now anyway."

He left for work grumbling about being a human garbage disposal. He had wanted to wear his hat to work, but it wouldn't work with the cloak, and the duster would have been too much for the office.

Rob had his first experience with firing an employee. Bob had mentioned off-handedly that Rob would be responsible for hiring and firing, but Rob had let it slip in one ear and out the other.

He'd discovered that one of the accountants had been selling details of some of his cases to a competitor, allowing them to underbid the company when it came to retainers. The matter could have been actionable, if the company wanted to go to the expense of having him prosecuted. Rather than do that, it was decided to fire him, blacklisting him and offering no letter of recommendation. If he fought the termination, then they would prosecute.

When faced with the charges, the man tried to deny it; but when he was shown the proof, he relented and admitted his guilt. He next begged for another chance, but Rob had to tell him that, because he'd cost the company clients, there would be no second chances. They could never trust him. He threatened to sue and was told to go right ahead: they would sue back for damages – and win.