Page 80 of The Vampire Always Rises

Is this about the otter again? I told you that the swimming pool is not a suitable habitat for an otter, not that they are indigenous to this part of the world.

I laughed aloud. “All right, but if we get a house back in Oregon, I want to have an otter sanctuary. Kelso would love that.”

Do you really wish to return to Oregon?

Yes, but I’m willing to split our time between this house and one back home.

As it happens, Han seems to think there’s a facility in northern California we should investigate,he said, looking thoughtful.A home on the West Coast might be very beneficial.

I’ll start looking up what it takes to open an otter sanctuary.I leaned back against the headboard of his bed. Outside the French doors, the twinkling lights of the town below us glittered like diamonds set in onyx.

Life, I decided, my gaze going back to Merrick, was shaping up to be everything I hoped it would be.

It is now that you are in it,he said, sending me a look of sapphire heat that shone as brightly as the lights of the town.

I picked up a small notebook. “Item number one hundred fourteen, name an otter Aloysius. Number one hundred fifteen, lick every inch of Merrick.”

Abruptly, he closed the lid of his laptop and stalked toward me, pulling off his clothing piece by piece. “Number one hundred and sixteen, allow Merrick to indulge every fantasy he can think of, and, my darling Tempest, I have a very good imagination.”

I giggled, and tossed the notebook to the side as the vampire of my dreams fulfilled that promise.

And how!