Free Vampires Are Forever by Lynsay Sands

her clothes and then caressing every inch of skin revealed…
     
    Oh, yes, Inez had woven a lovely little fantasy in her mind and had been happy when he’d woken up and come to join her…right up until he bit her.
     
    “I won’t hurt you,” Thomas said solemnly through the door. “I could have broken down this door if I wanted, but I haven’t, have I? I don’t want to hurt or frighten you, Inez. Once we leave this suite, you’ll be surrounded by people in the hotel, the taxi driver in the car, the people at the airport and on the plane, and you’ll have your own room at the hotel. You only have to see me in public where you feel safe so I can explain everything. Surely you’re curious to know about us?”
     
    Inez scowled at the door, cursing herself for being tempted by the promise of an explanation.
     
    “Please,” he said quietly, and then added, “You’ve worked for Bastien for…how long now?”
     
    “Eight years,” she admitted reluctantly.
     
    “Right. Eight years. And he says you’re one of the best employees he’s ever had. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”
     
    “You just told me not five minutes ago that he told you to bite me,” she pointed out dryly.
     
    “Yes, but he didn’t think it would hurt you, or that you’d even remember it. I was supposed to wipe it from your memory.”
     
    She snorted at that.
     
    “Look, Inez. If you don’t come with me and let me explain things, he’s going to send over someone to clean up this mess.”
     
    Inez frowned at the door. “Clean up this mess?”
     
    “Yes. He’ll send an immortal to come here and remove this incident from your memory.”
     
    “Like you were supposed to do?” she asked dryly.
     
    “Yes.”
     
    She ignored the fear that quivered through her at the thought and said, “You couldn’t do it. What makes you think anyone else could?”
     
    “I’ll explain that too, but we really don’t have time right this minute. I have to head to the airport. So make up your mind. Do we wait here for someone to come remove this whole incident from your memory, or do you come with me, memory intact and perfectly safe?”
     
    Inez hesitated, considering her alternatives, and then Thomas added, “If they remove your memory, they’ll probably remove the memory of everything from the day you were promoted on. You’ll go back to being whatever you were before being promoted to vice president.”
     
    “What?” she squawked with dismay. While Inez wasn’t completely sure she wanted the job anymore, she wasn’t sure she wanted to give it up either. This whole working for and with a nest of vampires rather sullied things. But Inez had worked for Argeneau Enterprises for eight years and enjoyed her greatest triumphs there. She’d also worked long and hard for that promotion. She’d neglected her own social life, forsaking dates for work and pouring all her energy and time into it, building a career and climbing the corporate ladder to her vice presidency. She’d worked too damned hard and given up too much to let anyone take it away.
     
    “That’s the only alternative,” Thomas explained. “Either you come with me to Amsterdam and allow me to explain things, or we wait here for Wyatt to come wipe everything from your memory.”
     
    “But just the memory of the bite,” she protested. “He wouldn’t—”
     
    “He’ll wipe everything from the last few months,” Thomas responded firmly. “Bastien was supposed to explain about our people to you when you were promoted. In fact, you shouldn’t have been promoted without it. You were sent to New York to be told about us. If you’d been able to accept it and agreed to keep the secret, you would have been promoted. If you hadn’t, what he’d told you would have been wiped from your memory and you wouldn’t ever have been promoted.
     
    “Unfortunately,” he added dryly, “Bastien was a bit distracted at the time. He’d just met his lifemate and there was a