Lucien had never experienced anything like this before. He'd been working with the police for going on a year now. And before that, he'd always had a knack at solving mysteries, though usually of the medical sort in his capacity as a physician. He had never not solved it. There was no mystery, medical or murder, that he had not been able to figure out.

Until now.

There were three deaths caused, at least in part, by a vampire. Andrew Jenkins who had been dazed after being fed on and gotten accidentally shot by a loan shark waving a gun in his face. The still unnamed girl who had been drained of blood by a vampire's hunger. Roger Miggs who had been bitten and weakened from blood loss and fallen to hit his head on the table in the projection room and died while the film played to unsuspecting viewers.

Was it the same vampire who had bitten all three of them? It made sense that it would be; three bites in Ballarat that weren't from Alice or Jean—the only known vampires in town as far as they knew—would seemingly have come from the same person. But what if they were unrelated? There was no way to know. Lucien did not know where to look. He did not have clues to investigate, leads to follow, ideas to explore.

Alice had assured him that she did not know of any other vampires of the area. Jean didn't know any vampires at all other than Alice. But neither Jean nor Alice spent a lot of time among strangers. They did not go to the pub, the hotel bar, the Colonists' Club. Alice frequented two cafés in town, but she kept to herself at the hospital and did not have many friends. Jean had the various places she did her shopping, and she went to church each week, but she had been forced to remain outside the main social circles there. They'd both been keeping their powers at the ready in search of drifting thoughts that might give the vampire away. But of course, as Alice pointed out, most vampires knew to shield their thoughts. Though Jean had pointed out that a vampire who did not know they were among other vampires would not necessarily take such precautions; Jean herself had never needed to shield her thoughts before she met Alice only a few short months ago.

Lucien sighed heavily and leaned his head back, scrubbing his face in frustration. He could get through his days just fine, seeing his patients, attending to other business with the police, chatting with Mattie. But when night fell and the world was quiet and there wasn't activity to distract him, Lucien's thoughts drifted back to this case he could not solve and the worry over more lives that might be lost if he couldn't.

"I know, love," Jean murmured softly. Her gentle hand landed on his chest and soothingly caressed him though his pajamas.

In spite of his mood, he smirked. "There you go again," he said quietly.

"What?"

"I know you can't read my mind, but somehow you always seem to know what I'm thinking."

Jean smiled up at him. "I know you, Lucien. More now than ever. Though I think perhaps that might be another symptom of being soulmates. I can't help but know you."

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him so she rested her cheek against his chest beside where her hand still continued to move lazily over him. "And

I'm grateful for it each and every day, my darling."

"We've done all we can for now, Lucien," Jean reminded him. "I know how much you hate feeling like you're doing nothing, but there's nothing for you to do. Until the vampire does something else, leaves some other clue for us to follow, we can't very well try and interrogate every person in Ballarat, can we?"

"Well, we could," he grumbled.

He earned a nudge in his ribs for that, making them both laugh. "Be serious. You know I'm right. And lying in bed worrying yourself about it won't do anyone any good," she said.

Lucien tilted his head down to press a kiss to her hair. "I know. I know you're right, but it still bothers me. It's just as you said, Jean, this…doing nothing just bothers me."

"I think you could use a distraction," she suggested. "Otherwise, you'll be tossing and turning all night and I might be forced to go back to my own bedroom to get some sleep."

He thought he noted a slight tone to her voice, but he couldn't see her face to know whether she meant what he thought. Lucien shifted so that he could look into her eyes. "What sort of distraction do you have in mind?" he asked slightly warily.

But, oh, then he saw that little smile on her face and the glint in her eyes. That had been quite the surprise to Lucien over these last months since their miraculous discovery of being soulmates: Jean was quite playful when she was in the right mood. When Lucien took the time to contemplate it, he wondered if perhaps she liked to tease and have fun with him in the way that they did when they were alone because she'd had so little ability to be comfortable enough with a person before now to express herself that way. She was kind and gentle in a polite, almost stern manner with the patients who came to see him, somewhat more familiar with Mattie and some of the ladies she was nearly friends with at church. But Jean had been so alone for so long. She could not let her hair down, so to speak, with anyone else. She was bound by her secrets and the duty prescribed by her position in life.

With Lucien, though, she had been free to be herself. Her truest self. All the supernatural ability of being a vampire that she did not need to hide with him, of course, but also this lighter side of her personality that had to be hidden away for so long. Jean was full of joy and fun and passion. Lucien perhaps flattered himself to think that he had something to do with bringing that out of her, but he felt proud and honored to see her express herself that way nonetheless.

"I think…" she began slowly, sitting herself up slightly. Her deft fingers found the buttons on his pajama shirt and began undoing them. "Perhaps there is a way I can put your mind on other things, if you'll trust me to try…"

"I trust you with my life, Jean," he told her earnestly. "And with things much more important than that."

"Oh hush," she chuckled. She continued to undress him and sighed to herself, muttering, "Silly man."

Lucien grinned, happy to sit back and allow her to do whatever she wanted with him. "What other things might my mind be better occupied with, do you think?" he asked, teasing once more.

"Well," Jean began again, "for starters, I am feeling a bit peckish. I might light a midnight snack. And there are some places I've been longing to sink my teeth into."

He shivered in anticipation. The bubble of arousal that always blossomed into a flame of need was forming deep in his belly. His cock was starting to come to life. "What places?" he asked her, already practically panting as the teasing started to fall away and pure eroticism took its place.

Jean pushed the shirt off his shoulders, and Lucien tore it from his arms, tossing off the side of the bed without concern. She smiled. Her eyes were growing darker. "Here," she whispered, leaning in to kiss the left side of his neck. "And here." Her lips dragged down his neck and pressed against his shoulder. "And here," she added, her tongue darting out to tease his pectoral muscle.

Lucien could hardly restrain himself now. He wanted very much for her to bite him there. Anywhere she wanted, really. From the first, the sensation of her fangs sinking into his flesh had been vaguely erotic. He'd thought it was just because of her proximity, the knowledge that her lips and tongue were on his skin. He wanted her so badly in those early days when they had gone from employer and housekeeper to friends, when he was curious about her and wanted to do anything he could to learn more and to be close to her and help her however he could.

Now, though, he'd lost count of the number of times he had gotten to make love to her. And he still got the same electric thrill from her bites. Never before had pain or roughness from a woman been something that intrigued him in a sexual manner. Perhaps it was something to do with them being soulmates. The nearness of Jean, no matter what she was doing, no matter what intent was behind her touch, enflamed him every time. This time, her touch was intended to distract him and turn him on. It had done that already. And then some.

When his self-control shattered, Lucien gathered Jean into his arms and pulled her into a fiery kiss. He would let her continue on with her plan of seduction and whatever else she wanted to do to distract him. But first, he simply had to kiss her.