"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't believe it worked! I can't believe you got me off that horrible bridge! Boy, do I owe you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. Whenever I need an incubus, you're going to be the one I call, I guarantee you that."

He looked inordinately pleased. "It was nothing. I have much more impressive skills ... in bed."

"Ah." I stepped back, aware that I was standing in full view of the restaurant windows with a naked incubus. One who, indeed, looked fully prepared to fulfill his promise. "About that—you know, I'm ... urn ... thinking that my trauma about the bridge was so great, that I couldn't really appreciate any of your wonderful love-making talents tonight, But if you don't mind"—with a glance over my shoulder at a small group of people who emerged from the restaurant, I gently pushed Jacob toward a tall hedge that would provide a bit of privacy— "I'd like to ask you some questions."

"Questions?" He looked at me sullenly. "You question my ability to give you pleasure? I am almost six hundred years old, lady. I have pleasured thousands of women in that time. Hundreds of thousands!"

"I'm sure you have," I said softly, shoving him a bit farther along the hedge.

"I am a lover extraordinaire! No matter how debauched your tastes, I will satisfy you."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you would."

"Flogging, bondage, fetishes—T have experience in all methods."

"Just so, but the thing is, I don't want to question you about your technique. I want to ask you about the number of times you can do it in a night."

He stared at me, his mouth slightly ajar.

"That thousand times you mentioned a minute ago— is there a limit to the times you can make love in one night, or are you pretty much the Energizer Bunny?"

"The what?"

"Limitless?"

He looked taken aback for a moment, then he puffed out his chest again, his chin up, his eyes blazing. "I am an incubus of the House of Balint. We are the oldest and most virile line in all of Eastern Europe. My loins can provide you with as much pleasure as you can survive."

"Ah, but how much would it take to kill someone, I wonder?" I asked, one piece of the puzzle sliding into place.

"A dozen times, perhaps less, depending on the strength of your heart," Jacob answered matter-of-factly. "Of course, that matters not if you are immortal."

I looked up from where I was contemplating the hedge, startled by what he said. "Guardians aren't immortal."

"No, they are not. Come, lovely one. Let us find your bed, and I will put your mind at rest as to the power to be found in my manhood."

"Just a second. I have another question. You said you are from the House of Balint. Are all incubi from specific houses?"

"Yes. It is a family designation, you understand."

"And are they regional? That is, do all the incubi who work this area belong to the same house?"

"Yes," he said, tugging me toward the hotel.

"So you know all the others who hang out around here?"

He stopped tugging and gave me an outraged look. "You will want no other after you have had me!"

I held up my hand "I'm certain I won't. I just wanted ID know if you know everyone in this area."

"They are family, brothers in the House of Balint. I know them. But none are such a good lover as me."

I eluded his grasp. "You wouldn't happen to know if one of your brothers had been to the hotel the last couple of nights ... er ... visiting Guardians?"

"Many of my brothers have pleasured women here," be said, grabbing me around the waist like he was going ID pick me up and carry me.

"Lately?" I asked, trying to squirm out of his grasp without much Luck.

"Yes, recently. The last few nights. Many have summoned us, just as you summoned me. Come, my adorable one, and allow me to worship you as you deserve to be worshiped."

"Names," I squawked. "Do you have their names?"

He let go of me, putting his hands on his naked hips as he glared. "I begin to think it is not me you desire at all. I begin to think you question me about another of my house."

"It's not that. I'm just interested in who has been visiting Guardians during the last few nights. If you could give me their names, I'd be very grateful."

He thought about it for a minute, then suddenly he scooped me up in his arms and started walking—buck naked—toward the hotel. "No. You have heard tales from these other women about their dream lovers, and you think that only they can satisfy you. But I tell you I am better than them. I will make you forget all about them."

"Oh, look, there's Drake! My dragon!"

Jacob stopped dead, but still held me.

"Uh-oh. I think he's seen us. And he looks angry. Is that fire coming out of his nose? The last incubus he caught with me—ooof!" I hit the ground hard. Jacob, without waiting to see Drake (which was a good thing, since he wasn't there), dissolved into smoke and disappeared into the night.

I got painfully to my feet, carefully brushing grass off my gorgeous dress before limping into the hotel. A quick stop by the front desk to get a room key, an elevator ride to the seventh floor, and before you could say "Ricky Ricardo" I was throwing open the doors to Drake's suite.

Drake, Istvan, and Pal all looked up from where they were sitting.

I stared at each one of them, letting them see everything they'd put me through before slamming the door behind me with a particularly meaningful "Honey, I'm home!"

Chapter 19

"Asling, I am not lying. I do not lie."

"Oh, I like that!"

"When have I lied to you?"

"Just three seconds ago when you told me you knew I would get off that damned bridge."

"Kincsem—"

I jerked away from where Drake was trying to grab me, marching past him with a glare so fulminating that it literally started a fire on the bureau behind him. "Don't you dare kincsem me!"

Drake absently slapped the fire out, watching as I paced back and forth between the bed and the wall.

"How could you do it, Drake? How could you park me on top of that bridge and just go blithely on your way?"

"I told you, mate. I knew you would find a way down. If nothing else, you could have dived into the river."