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“It was definitely more intense, I think. How do you feel?”

“The same. Every touch felt… more. That orgasm was…”

“Yeah, it was,” I laugh. “You’re sure you feel okay?”

“I promise. I only feel good things. Wonderful things.”

We fall silent as our breathing evens out. Instead of dread and panic, my mind is clear and light. Peering over to the clock on the wall, I calculate how long we have until we reach Ireland. Six hours remain. I left the arrangements with my parents. All I know is we will land in Dublin and then we’ll drive an hour to a place called Mullingar.

Erin’s breathing is slow and deep, her body completely lax on my own. Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply, allowing her cherry scent to lull me to sleep.

Twenty-Six

Ileave Erin to wash up in the bathroom. It gives me time to face the family and allow them to get their jibes in. Lucille spots me first and grins. I roll my eyes.

“Good nap?” she asks.

“Spectacular, thanks for asking.”

“Oh, calm down,” she huffs. “We all put our headphones in the minute you dragged poor Erin away.”

I eye her suspiciously. “Did you really?”

“Yes. Believe it or not, Amelia, I do not want to hear you smashing clams with your mate.”

“God, you’re so crass,” I hiss. Lucille laughs.

“We all know what it’s like when you find your mate. Trent and I didn’t leave our room for days.”

Continuing down the aisle, I stop at the table with food piled high. “We’ll be landing soon, Ms. Loch. I need to clear this away.” Amanda, the flight attendant, says. I grab a couple of croissants and a glass of orange juice.

“It’s all yours,” I smile. My parents are sitting with Laurence and Marcus. They have their heads bent over a map of Ireland.

“Ah, Amelia dear, good to see you. Where’s Erin?”

“I’m here,” Erin calls, taking the glass of orange juice from me. I hand her a croissant, too. We worked up an appetite.

“Marvelous. We were just going over the itinerary.”

“Isn’t the itinerary to go to this man’s house?” Jacob laughs, settling on the arm of my father’s chair.

“Yes, and that’s the itinerary I’m talking about.” Mom gets huffy when she’s asked stupid questions. “We land soon. There will be a car waiting for us. Once we reach Mullingar, we need to decide if you want to head straight to the address or find a hotel.”

“Straight for the address,” I say without pause. I have no intention of dragging this out a moment longer than necessary.

“Fine. And if this vampire isn’t there?”

“We find a hotel and regroup,” Erin answers.

“Did anyone think to call the man?” Aliah shouts from further down the aisle.

“No registered telephone,” my father answers.

“Does he live in town or in the countryside?” I ask.

Marcus and Laurence share a smile. “He lives in the countryside. We Googled the address.” Why do I feel I’m missing something?

“And?”