Craved by Stephanie Nelson Read Free Book Online

that I have wanted you for two years, body and soul,” He cupped my face in his
hands and pressed a kiss on my forehead, “But I have no problem
wining and dining you. Prepare to be wooed, my Gwen,” a smile of accomplishment
stretched across his lips to reveal perfectly white teeth. I smiled
at him through a strand of my dark hair that acted as an ebony
curtain. I eyed his chest and reluctantly, conjured a gray t-shirt
to cover the masterpiece. Gray fabric crawled along his ribs and up
towards his shoulders, stretching and connecting to form a shirt.
He looked down in awe at his new garment,
    “That’s amazing.”
    “So, what’s this information you just
had to see me about?” I asked.
    “I called a friend of mine that lives
in Chicago and I pretended to be interested in finding something I
could serve in my club that would attract younger
vamps…”
    “Aiden! I told you not to mention
anything,” I interrupted.
    “… I didn’t mention your
name or anything to do with this case, I’m not an idiot. Anyway, my
friend told me about a new blood that I could sell that would keep
a steady flow of young vamps coming. Guess what the blood was,
Gwen?” he asked with sarcastic pleasure.
    “Brew?” I answered
knowingly.
    “Bingo! He said that it had come
through Chicago a couple months ago and the vampires up there love
it.”
    “Does he know what kind of blood it
is?”
    “He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. There
have been a handful of bloods that have been altered to expand our
palate, so I wanted him to think I assumed it was one of those so I
wouldn’t raise suspicion,” he said proudly.
    “Good job, Nancy Drew,” I laughed, “I
can’t share this information with the FPD though because you’re not
supposed to know,” I grinned at him.
    “Don’t you think I thought about that?
He’s shipping me a sample and then if I like it, he’ll have the
dealer contact me,” he said, giving me a smug grin, “Nancy Drew has
nothing on my detective skills.”
    Could it really be as easy as Aiden
getting the culprit’s information just handed to him? I had to stay
optimistic about the possibilities.
    A knock sounded at my door and both
Aiden and I turned our attention toward it.
    “Come in,” I called. Fiona pushed the
door open with her hand covering her eyes and said,
    “Daddy’s gone and I have pizza out
here.”
    “You can uncover your eyes, Fiona,
we’re just talking,” I told her. She dropped her hand and looked at
us with humor.
    “I thought you said you two weren’t
dating?” she teased.
    “We’re not, well we weren’t. It just
kind of happened tonight.”
    “Not for a lack of trying,” Aiden
chimed in, “I must thank you and your father for interrupting what
could have been the highlight of my year.”
    “Sorry, he insisted on driving me
home,” Fiona said.
    “Um, excuse me, we were just making
out. It wouldn’t have gone any further so you didn’t interrupt
anything,” I told both of them. Fiona gave me a “yeah, right” look
while Aiden smiled knowingly. I shook my head in aggravation; even
I couldn’t convince myself.
    We all sat around the table, Fiona and
I stuffing our faces with pizza topped with chicken while Aiden
drank bottled water. I really wanted to play twenty questions with
Fiona about her father but I didn’t think she’d want Aiden to know
her business, so I resolved to just ask later.
    “So I take it you’re going to the
Founder’s Gala together now?” Fiona asked between bites of
pizza.
    “Yep. Everyone will be envious of me
with Gwen on my arm, no offense, Fiona,” Aiden bragged. I looked at
him, remembering I had told him that I already had a date to the
Gala, so I decided to have some fun with it.
    “Aiden, I’m so sorry but I already
have a date, remember?” I said and pretended to wince at the
thought of offending him. The look of shock on his face was
priceless.
    “I thought you said you were going
alone?” Fiona said, blowing my joke out of