"It's not a problem, Inez. I know you two are busy trying to locate Marguerite. This will leave you free to do that. Good luck with that by the way. Marguerite's a fine woman and I know Thomas is very fond of her. I hope you find her safe and sound."
"So do I, Wyatt," she said solemnly.
"Right. Well, I'll get off here and take care of that other matter for you," he said, then hesitated briefly before asking tentatively, "Will you be returning to work once you've found her?"
"Of course," Inez said at once, startled that he'd even ask the question.
"Good, good," Wyatt said at once. "I just worried that...well, Thomas lives in Canada and...Never mind. Good luck on your hunt. I'll see you when you get back."
There was a click as he hung up and Inez flipped her cell phone closed, but then just stood there staring at it, Wyatt's words ringing in her ears.
Thomas lives in Canada and...
That hadn't occurred to her. This lifemate business had seemed so perfect with the complete lack of a necessity to bother with awkward first dates and everything else, but it didn't resolve issues such as the two of them living in separate countries.
Surely, that wasn't really an issue though, Inez thought with a frown. She had a career here in the U.K. She was a vice president with an excellent salary and wonderful prospects while he just delivered blood in Canada and doodled music on a notepad.
No, it wouldn't be an issue, Inez decided with a faint smile at herself for thinking even for a minute that it might be. Thomas wouldn't have any problem moving here to be with her. Everything would be fine. She was just borrowing trouble in her usual manner, spotting possible problems before they could become problems.
Shaking her head, Inez slid her cell phone into her purse and started out of the room, coming to a halt in the hall when she heard the muffled sound of a door closing in Thomas's room. Not the soft thud of the bathroom door closing, but a suction type sound, the insulation around the door to the hall had made when it opened and closed.
Frowning, she moved to his door and pressed her ear to it, disturbed by the silence beyond the wooden panel. The shower was now silent and Inez didn't hear him moving around or anything.
Biting her lip, she knocked lightly at the door. "Thomas?"
Inez waited a moment, but when she got no answer, opened the door and peered into the room. The lights were off. She flipped them on, her gaze moving over the empty bed and to the dark and equally empty bathroom.
Cursing, she started toward the door leading out into the hotel hall, but then realized she didn't have her purse and hurried back to her room to collect it knowing she might need her pass and the key to the hotel suite. She hurried out into the hall through her own door then, pausing abruptly when she saw the elevator doors closing.
"Damn," Inez muttered, sure that by the time another elevator arrived he'd be exiting the lobby and lost in the crowds out on the street. She didn't know her way around Amsterdam and even if she did, had no idea where he was going.
That thought sent her back to the hotel room door. She used the card key she'd received when they'd checked in and rushed inside, heading straight for the table in the living room and the notepad on it. A smile claimed her lips when she spotted the bold writing on it. He hadn't taken the note. A quick glance told her they were the latest coordinates for Marguerite's phone and no doubt where he was heading.
Inez ripped the top page off the pad and whirled away to rush for the door. She'd need a map of Amsterdam before she could find the spot, but she would find it and then she'd find Thomas.
He'd probably be annoyed that she'd come after him, but if he was going to be her lifemate, he might as well know right now that she didn't like to share. She wasn't going to leave the foolish man wandering around alone megadosed on Immortal Spanish fly. Especially not in Amsterdam.
Chapter Six
Thomas tapped his fingers impatiently against his leg as he waited for the tram. He could have walked the distance from the hotel to the city center easily, but the tram would be faster, and the faster he got there the better.
He'd hoped that once he was out of the hotel and away from Inez some of the need coursing through his body would ease, but it wasn't working out quite that way. It was a struggle for him not to turn around and march the twenty feet back to the hotel and back up to their suite. The only thing stopping him was his worry for his aunt and the knowledge that if he did march back in, he wasn't likely to stop marching until he reached Inez. And then he would probably still keep moving, just taking her with him, stripping away every bit of clothing she wore as he went. If they reached a bed or some other soft surface before he had her naked, she would be lucky, because the moment he had them both free of their binding clothes he was likely to crawl all over and inside her body.
Thomas knew he wouldn't be able to help himself. He was now sporting a killer erection and one that wasn't going away anytime soon. He'd never experienced need like this before. He'd thought the hunger was irresistible when he'd gone too long without blood, but in comparison, the effects of the Sweet Ecstasy were devastating. He felt like he was dancing on the edge of a knife, need lancing through him in pulsating waves.
His gaze slid around the few people near him waiting for the tram, gliding over one woman then another, noting their interested smiles with complete indifference. Horny as the Sweet Ecstasy was making him, Thomas knew they couldn't slake his thirst, it was Inez he wanted. Sweet Inez with her full, pouty lips, her curved body, and all her passion. He wanted her naked beneath him, her warm body embracing his, her need as hot and unbearable as his own.
Of course, she wasn't likely to have any need for him at all yet, let alone one as unbearable as what he was suffering. She hadn't had any Sweet Ecstasy. If anything, the woman was more likely to be screaming blue, bloody murder...or to be more literal, rape, as he bore her down to the carpet in their suite.
Grimacing, Thomas glanced up the road, relieved to see the tram coming. The further he got away from Inez and temptation, the better. When the tram stopped, he allowed the others to board before him, then retrieved his pass and followed. Despite the hour, the tram was busy. Tourists traveled around the city at all hours of the night, enjoying the pleasures on offer like naughty children who unexpectedly found themselves free of parental supervision for a weekend.
Thomas glanced over the seats still available as he slid his pass back into his pocket, then moved toward a pair of empty seats near the middle of the tram. He dropped into the aisle seat to discourage anyone from deciding to join him. They would have to be a bold person indeed, since they'd have to crawl over him to get to the window seat. Just to ensure none of the women smiling so prettily at him felt a sudden desire to do so, Thomas crossed his arms over his chest and glared around briefly, before turning his gaze out the window to wait for the tram to move.
It didn't leave the stop right away, but sat idling for a couple of moments. Thomas had just noticed this and glanced to the front of the tram when the driver opened the doors again. Realizing he must have been waiting for someone running for the tram, Thomas turned his attention back to the window, mentally reviewing the map he'd purchased in the hotel lobby. Marguerite's cell phone had last been tracked to the heart of the oldest part of Amsterdam, De Wallen. It was also known as Walletjes ("little walls") or Rosse Buurt...the Red Light District.
Thomas couldn't imagine what Marguerite would be doing there. Not that it was what one would expect from the title. It wasn't grubby or seedy. All in all it was a rather unique neighborhood with rows of buildings on either side of the canals. Bridges crossed the canal at intervals, and walkways ran along each side, lined with bars and night clubs along with sex shows and the infamous red-lit windows displaying scantily clad women inside. Most people would be surprised at how clean and attractive it all was.