“I love this song. Dance with me.” I didn’t give him the chance to argue, just grabbed his hand and led him over to an empty space by the jukebox and the door.
He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, leading me as we swayed to the music. He felt surprisingly good against me, and not just in a meal way, either. He felt strong with ripped muscles and clear confidence. Our bodies fit together like they were built for this. He was hard everywhere I was soft. And the semi behind his zipper was full of promise. Was it wrong to consider using him for more than a drink?
It was one thing to manipulate someone into believing he wanted me to feed on him, then gift him a pretty story after that left him feeling content with the world. But I liked to consider myself a good person, and good people didn’t use their influence to take more than they needed.
I didn’t need him. I didn’t need to kiss him, to feel his chest, to do anything but bite him.
So I told myself that was all I would do.
And I felt both better and worse for that decision.
My phone buzzed in my bra, tickling my boob. The only ones who had my number were my vampire besties. We were so close we were more like sisters, after everything we’d been through together.
Kelly had a knack for seeing things that would happen, while Aubrey knew things no one should have been able to know. We’d gone separate ways during our escape from the Collector’s dungeon, figuring we’d be harder to find if we were apart.
If either of them was calling, it was bad news. Really bad.
I stepped away. “Sorry,” I said. “I have to take this.”
And I was sorry. I’d been enjoying myself a hell of a lot more than I’d expected.
I walked far enough away that he wouldn’t hear me, sparing a glance back at him. He gave me a small smile and a nod, then returned to his drink at the bar.
Not knowing the number, or which sister was calling, I answered. “Hello?”
In a rush, a hard voice replied, “You’re in it deep.”
“Kelly,” I said.
The last we spoke, we hadn’t exactly spoken. She’d invaded my dream with a weird warning about my path leading to trouble. As I saw it, all of our paths led to trouble. We were being hunted, so duh.
“Rising-tide-of-hell deep,” she said.
“He’s coming? Here?” I asked, my chest growing tighter by the second. Of course the Collector would come after us. I knew it would happen, ever since we escaped, but hearing the certainty in Kelly’s voice brought me up to a whole new level of panic.
“Bloody hell, I don’t know exactly,” she said, her accent becoming more pronounced. “Something is coming.” Then softer, she added, “A vampire. I think he’s a loyalist from the dungeon.”
Shit. Shit shit shit. I hadn’t been in Forbidden long, but I was putting down roots. It was a good place. There was magic here. If I ran from this town, whatever was destined to reach me might be worse. The Collector had sent one of his minions. Out of the group of us he’d captured and turned over the years, not everyone shared the same feelings about him. There was some serious Stockholm Syndrome going on in that dungeon tangled into the experience of being locked up and expected to perform. If I never saw a set of fingerpaints again, it would be too soon.
What I needed now was the help of a witch. As soon as I’d arrived in Forbidden, I’d known that the town had to have a witch. Forbidden, it turned out, had two. What they would actually do for me when I revealed my plight and my vampire nature, I had no idea, but asking for their help was my best chance. Probably.
Or, as a last resort, I could run.
“Tell me what to do,” I said.
“Stay where you are,” Kelly said.
Exactly the opposite of what I’d expected.
“I’m coming to you,” Kelly said. “It’ll take me some time. Be vigilant. Be safe.” With that, she hung up.
I slid my phone back into my bra. My pale skin was even paler than usual. My hands were shaking. What was I supposed to do now?
I didn’t want to run, but waiting—and not knowing what I was waiting for—that was just as bad, if not worse.
Someone with a deep voice cleared his throat behind me, startling me. I turned on my heel and found Grayson standing there.
“You’re in trouble,” he said.
Here I was thinking he was a good guy, and he’d snuck up behind me and caught at least part of my conversation. Great job being vigilant, Marla.
I neither confirmed nor denied his statement.
He flashed me another one of those sexy, genuine smiles, and said, “I can help.”
4
Grayson
A maiden in distress. Not my specialty, but something I felt fully capable of managing.
Managing was my expertise. I managed businesses, managed partnerships, managed complications. Now I could manage Marla’s safety. No biggie...right?
“You think you can help me,” she said, doubt filling her tone.
I nodded. “Helping people is what I do.”
Businesses. I helped businesses, not individuals, but I didn’t want to split hairs, at least not now. How hard could protecting her be, anyway? As a wolf shifter, I was fuckin’ built for it. That conversation she’d had with her friend had triggered my protective instincts.
“You know, I’m not entirely helpless,” she said.
“Of course not,” I said.
Ire flashed in her eyes. “That wasn’t patronizing or anything.”
“Of course not,” I repeated, just as easily despite a soft, niggling voice of warning in the back of my mind.
“I didn’t want to have to do this yet,” she said, almost sounding a little sad. Then she looked back to my eyes and gave me a brilliant smile. “What do you say the two of us get some air?”
This was a rather fast turn from her accusing me of being patronizing. But the feel of her skin under my palms, her body pressing against mine while we danced, was still fresh in my mind. Tantalizing.
“Sure,” I said. “Lead the way.”
She sent a flirtatious glance over her shoulder as she walked to the door, as if she needed to be certain I was following. Hell yes, I was following. Her light blond hair was a beacon, her shapely legs a siren’s call.
The air cooled my face and hands as we stepped outside, and I followed Marla around the corner of the building to the back. She shivered with the cold, clearly not immune to winter’s bite like I was. Still, she didn’t close her coat, and she’d chosen to stay in her sexy red dress that she’d had on earlier. It was like she was pretending not to feel the chill in the air, and I had no idea why.
The darkness was more pronounced as we walked between the bar and the buildings behind it. My shifter eyes had no trouble seeing, but Marla reached for my hand, probably needing my guidance.
“Be careful, there’s a fallen crate right there on your left,” she said.
Wait. She was holding my hand because she was guiding me?
What the hell was going on?
Bemused, I followed along, allowing her to take me to an even more protected doorway, a small indentation in the building to protect us from the wind blowing through the alley. As soon as we stepped into the shadows, I spun her around and pressed her back to the door before nuzzling her neck.
“What—what are you doing?” she asked, her blue-green eyes wide.
That had not been the reaction I expected.
“I’m hoping to kiss you. I thought that’s why we came out here?”
She made a soft mmm sound, then said, “I thought I was in charge of this.”
I let her go. Usually I liked to lead sexy fun, but if that was a dealbreaker for her, I could be accommodating. “You can be in charge, sure.”
Grinning at me, but looking less certain than she had in the bar, she said, “Don’t worry, you won’t remember this afterward.”
I wouldn’t remember it? This night was a big turd of bizarre and it was currently swirling in a bac
ked-up crazy toilet.
“Wait just a second,” I said, grabbing her and pushing her against the door again.
She frowned. “What are you?”
“What are you?” I asked. It began to make sense. Her odd way of flirting, her small comments to herself. I wasn’t dealing with a human. Marla was some kind of supernatural.
“Well, I’m not helpless, that’s for darn sure.” She smiled, revealing sharp canines.
“You’re a vampire,” I said, hardly believing my eyes. I’d never met one before, but my assistant’s sister had been turned. I knew the basics, that they were more like shifters than the monster media portrayals. If anything, the idea of Marla being a vampire made her more intriguing.
Her smile widened. “Yep.”
I growled low in my chest, just loud enough for her to hear it.
“You’re a shifter,” she said simply.
I nodded. With the kind of inhuman speed I usually hid from others, I gripped her wrists and held her arms above her head on the door behind her. It was freeing to let her see exactly who I was. I didn’t have to tiptoe around the truth, or be gentler than I liked.
“You didn’t bring me out here to mess around, did you?” I said. “You thought I’d make an easy snack?”
“Well, you were interested. And up until now, you were captivated by my powers.”
“Why do you think I was captivated?”
“You were flirting back.”
“That wasn’t any magical manipulation,” I said with a laugh. “I was genuinely enjoying your company. I think you’re hot, and I’ve wanted to kiss you since I met you in your shop this morning.”
“Oh.”
One word. I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or confused or what. I still wanted to kiss her, but if she’d been in this for a drink of my blood and not because she wanted to kiss me, then I had to shelve the kissing idea for now.
Just for now, though, because I totally intended to pursue this woman.
“So you’ll let me help you?” I asked, keeping her hands pinned over her head. She struggled to move them, but I was strong enough to hold her in place—and from the way her eyes widened, she hadn’t expected that.
From the way her sweet scent of arousal filled the air, she liked it.
First, protection so she’d be safe.
After that, kissing.
“I’ll let you help me,” she said. “It’s been awhile since I had someone to watch my back—other than His Lordship King Snugglebumpkins.”
I wondered how long she had been alone, and who it was who had watched her back before. Since she was a vampire, she could be a century old. She could have had a husband a lifetime ago. The thought riled the animal inside of me, sparking jealousy over a past that may not even exist. I also had major doubts as to the devil feline’s effectiveness as a bodyguard, but I kept those thoughts to myself.
“So we need rules,” she said.
“Rules?”
Marla’s eyes sparkled back at me in the darkness. “Well, you can’t follow me around all the time.”
I so could, but that would be creepy. And probably unnecessary. Also, I was here to conduct business, and I should maybe do some of that, too.
“When do you need protection?” I asked.
“Just at night,” she said. “My sire’s minions can’t come after me in the daytime, not without burning in the sunlight.”
She tugged on her arms again. With a bit of regret, I let her go.
“Hang on,” I said, “how come you were out in the daylight? You were indoors, but sunlight comes through your shop windows.”
“I have a bit of magic that allows it.”
“And this asshole doesn’t have the same bit of magic?”
“As of right now, no.”
So it was possible that could change in the future. I nodded. “So you just want some extra muscle during the nights. Got it.”
“I don’t drink from you,” she said.
I nodded again, thinking that had been a given. “I have some rules, too.”
She leaned back slightly. She thought she could put a bunch of regulations and rules in place on an alpha shifter, and not get any rules in return? This little vampire had so much to learn about shifters.
“Okay,” she said, “what are your rules?”
“Rule One,” I said. “When we mess around, you have to tell me what you like.”
Her breath hitched, a soft gasp that spoke of shock and arousal. Then she narrowed her eyes at me. “You mean if we mess around.”
“Nope, I meant what I said.”
“You’re pretty full of yourself.”
I shrugged. I just knew there was a draw between us. I didn’t think she was faking it, not entirely. She had been, at first, pushing a little too hard, putting too much work into the flirtation. But underneath it all, her scent, the dilation of her pupils, the way she took in an extra breath that she didn’t necessarily need—all of it spoke to her attraction to me. And two people attracted to each other often acted on those attractions if nothing else stood in the way. As far as I could see, there was nothing in the way except our clothes.
And sometime—hopefully soon—I would remedy the clothing obstacle.
“Fine, what’s your next rule?” she said.
“No lying.”
“No lying?”
“If I’m going to protect you, I need to know the truth, all of it. If I ask you a question, you need to answer honestly, and not with half-truths or any shit like that. Got it?”
She shivered, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with the cold. “Got it.”
“Good.” I looked her over while enjoying the way her soft lily scent felt in my lungs. She pulled her lower lip gently between her teeth, flashing the tip of her fang. I stared at that cherry colored lip, wondering what it would taste like when I kissed her. I wondered what it would feel like to run my hands inside her coat and up her thigh, lifting the hem of her red dress. Would she insist on taking control, moving my hand where she wanted me? Or when it came time, would she submit?
Her phone buzzed from somewhere on her person. I squinted, trying to figure out where she was hiding it.
She reached between her breasts. A second later, she pulled her phone from her cleavage. She read the lighted screen.
“Good,” she said.
“What?”
“Kelly followed up. The vampire won’t make it here until tomorrow night.”
I guessed that was good news. Although I’d been hoping to start my bodyguard duties immediately.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked.
I grinned, letting my teeth show. “Because we like each other.”
She shivered again, but then stood up straight and looked me in the eye. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“I like a challenge.”
“Well, I don’t. So I’ll see you tomorrow? Be at the tattoo parlor at sunset.”
One second she was in front of me, the next she was walking away. I didn’t mind watching her walk—in fact, I could easily see that becoming one of my favorite pastimes. But I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
“Wait,” I said.
She turned halfway, looking impatient. “What?”
I didn’t know what to say. Don’t go. Stay with me tonight. Let me protect you starting now. I wanted to protect her body and her heart. Unsure of how to put all of that into words that wouldn’t scare her off, I said, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Sunset.”
5
Marla
After a sleepless morning of stress-prepping the shop for the soon-to-come trouble, I walked to the same place I did just about every morning—Pearl’s Doughnuts.
The food truck was parked outside the supermarket, with a crowd of humans and shifters lined up to buy the best breakfast in Forbidden. People didn’t just come for the doughnuts, either. On the side of the truck was a painting of a winking woman wearing a pointed hat, and below the name of the truck were the words “Delic
iously Magical.”
I took a mindless step forward, following the line.
My first week in Forbidden, I’d spotted Pearl’s truck. She was the reason I stayed—well, her and her assistant. I’d pegged both women as witches the first time I’d met them. There was an air of power that swirled through their truck that had nothing to do with the scrumptious doughnuts they created.
And I’d guessed Cordelia, Pearl’s assistant, was the more powerful of the two. It was a buried power, a new power, kind of like mine. It was fierce, raw, and mostly suppressed.
But that was all based on my intuition. And after the Grayson incident, I knew my intuition wasn’t everything I’d thought it was. How had I not figured out he was a shifter?
We had been close, bodies-rubbing-together close, and I hadn’t figured it out. I felt the air change, and the prickle on my skin. But the first time, Joe had been there, and I’d written the feeling off because there was already a shifter in the room. Then at the bar, there were plenty more shifters around. Still, when we were alone in the alley, the truth should have dawned on me. I guessed I was too busy focusing on other tingling sensations. And we were about to spend the night together. How the hell was I supposed to feel about that?
I really wanted to put my mouth on him. All over him would be nice. That’s why I’d made the rule that I wasn’t going to feed on him. It was kind of like a work relationship, and there was no drinking at work.
Grayson was off limits, I told myself, because apparently I needed to hear it again.
The guy I’d ended up feeding on after I sent Grayson home had been a bit of a disappointment. I’d been salivating for filet mignon, and ended up with roadkill.
Roadkill went home happy, with the false memory of drinking too much and making out with a redhead. One of those was true. And I went home unsatisfied, but at least my stomach had stopped gurgling like a wildebeest.
“Hi, Marla. How can I help you?” Cordelia’s voice pulled me from my head.
I was at the front of the line.
“Hi,” I said. I could feel the presence of someone behind me. I really needed to do this without people watching. “Strawberry filled, please.”
Billionaires and Bodybags Page 3
