the side of the bed, that irresistible, sly smile still on his face, notorious for making me lose control. “Is there a problem?”
Giving in, I dropped the extra clothes on the floor, kissed him fervently, my face flushed. “Josh is in the next room, and we haven’t talked about this,” I whispered, sneaking words in between breaths. “So yeah, there’s a prob—”
“Don’t worry about him,” he laid me down as we hit the edge, where he hovered over me. I reached up, slipped his shirt off before I pulled him down to my level. He scooted my arms above my head and held them in place, went to work on my neck. His lips cool and breath hot, I entered my favorite paradise, the one most mortals knew nothing of. Sliding my hands down to his belt buckle, his hands met mine, but stopped them. “I’m sorry,” he said, out of breath. “Not yet.”
He slipped off of me and grabbed the dry shirt, put it on while I lay there, speechless.
“Right.” I shook my head, slowly sat up. “Our friends are in danger and a lot of pissed-off vampires are after us. I get it.” Shot down. “I’m sorry—”
“No, I’m sorry. There’s more to it,” he picked the clothes up from the floor, “I shouldn’t have started that. You just looked so amazing, and I’m so happy to have you back.…” He ran his hands through his hair, knelt next to me. “You look good enough to eat,” he whispered, kissed my neck once more before he stood. “Any chance we can we talk more about it later?”
“Sure … I guess.”
“Are we good?”
“Of course.” I sent him a smile of assurance, although I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I knew what had stopped him. “I’m holding you to that talk, though.”
“Okay, you got it. Guess I’ll head to the kitchen and catch up with Josh before we get going.” He smiled, stuffed his hands in his pockets and darted for the door.
Laughing to myself as he shut the door behind him, I looked around at the dresser and nightstands, searched for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, but had no luck. Thinking I might ask Josh, I cracked the bedroom door to peek out into the kitchen. Gavin and Josh were at the table, sharing drinks and laughs, apparently catching up. The conversation quickly turned solemn as they began discussing Joel’s death, and then I couldn’t listen anymore.
I shut the door and continued my search. Finally noticing a half-empty pack on the desk near the closet, I scooted out the room’s sliding door to light up on the porch and shake off the awkward rejection. Once back inside, I noticed my image in the dresser’s vanity mirror. I began plucking leaves and muck from my damp hair. I looked like a cadaver who’d been tossed in a swamp, left lying there for a few weeks. Longing for a hot shower, I leaned over to rub some hardened mud from the corner of my eye. A gray blur appeared behind me, sent chills down my arms before I even saw the fangs.
“You’ll be dead before you can scream, so don’t bother.”
“What do you want?” I stood still, stared at the woman behind me in the mirror.
“Quiet. Now do as I tell you and I won’t have to hurt you.”
My only chance was to delay her until I could figure out a way to call for Gavin and Josh without getting all of us killed or hurt. As loud as I thought I could risk, I said, “Who are you? You look familiar.”
“I said be quiet.” She spoke as she grabbed my arms and tied them behind my back. Opening a backpack, she pulled out a roll of duct tape and began wrapping it around my head.
She was going to tape my mouth shut. In a second, maybe two, I wouldn’t be able to call for help.
In my panic, I didn’t think of yelling out for Gavin, but decided to plead with her. “Please, don’t do this—” I whimpered, begged her with my eyes when she stood in front of me, placing the tape on my mouth. She was shorter than me and quite round. Almost harmless looking, like a kind, middle-aged kindergarten teacher.
If a kindergarten teacher had cold, hard eyes.
When she finished with the tape, she noticed and grabbed the locket around my neck and peered at it, then glared up at me.
“You have no idea what you’ve gotten