Page 54 of Hot Blooded

Etta and Fran seemed to cautiously resume existing. “Well, we’ll be there,” Etta promised. She brightened suddenly, straightening in her chair. “You’ll need a dress! We’ll take you shopping!”

“Oh, I don’t need—”

“Yes you do,” Etta said, waving away Tessa’s feeble objection. “You’re going to look amazing. Amos will pay for it.”

Tessa stammered, flustered. It was one thing for Amos to give her gifts—flowers, meals—it was quite another for her to just presume he would buy her things.

Amos leaned over. In a low voice, lips close to her ear, he told her, “She’s right. Pick out something gorgeous.”

Tessa instantly flushed from head to toe. His easy confidence, his casual assertiveness… it did things to her insides.

Fran let out a low whistle. “Amos, I’m not even into men and that almost melted my panties.”

Amos and Etta laughed while Tessa joined in feebly, wishing she could go stick her head in the freezer.

Mercifully, the conversation moved on. More relaxed now, Tessa found it a bit easier to talk about herself. She ended up talking about the years she’d spent working as a travel nurse and the interesting cities she’d lived in. Etta’s, Fran’s, and Amos’s sincere interest in her stories was such a stark contrast from her family’s blatant disinterest that she kept getting self-conscious in the middle of talking, convinced she was boring them with stupid details. But then one of them would ask a question—a good question, a question that showed they had been listening and cared—and Tessa would find herself talking more. It was a strange feeling.

Of course, Etta, Fran, and Amos all had fascinating stories, too. Tessa hung on their every word, never once feeling obligated to fake her interest or make dutifully polite remarks. The conversations and stories all flowed together, punctuated by laughter and sighs and groans. Even though she was decades younger than them all, and a stranger to their secret world, she felt like she was part of their circle, rather than the outside observer she usually felt like. She felt more at home than she had in years.

A few hours and several glasses of wine later, Etta and Fran departed. Before she left, Etta made firm plans to take Tessa shopping for a dress for the Council presentation, and Tessa had both Etta’s and Fran’s numbers stored in her phone.

Amos closed and locked the door behind them and turned to Tessa, brows raised. “Well?”

Tessa wrapped her arms around Amos’s middle, snuggling in close. “I really like them both. A lot.”

His hands landed on her back, stroking up and down. “They liked you, too.”

“Oh, good,” she sighed.

“Sweetheart.”

“Hm?”

“You sound a little tipsy.”

She giggled. “I’m a lightweight. But I’m serious about Etta and Fran. They’re wonderful.”

Amos made a pleased sound that turned into a low purr. “I think so too,” he said gruffly. “Why don’t we get some food in you to soak up that wine?”

By the time Amos took Tessa home, her wine buzz had faded. That didn’t stop her from throwing herself at him and kissing him like she was trying to steal his soul through his mouth. Amos’s grip on her became crushing as he growled against her lips. The points of his fangs dragged over her tongue, an erotic threat.

He broke away from her, breathing hard, eyes wild. “Tessa,” he grated her name. “The things I want to do to you.”

She grinned. “Do them.”

With a groan, he dropped his forehead to hers. “No time. The sun is rising.”

“Tonight, then?”

He huffed out a soft laugh. “Tonight,” he promised darkly. He kissed her forehead. “Sleep well, sweetheart.”

Tessa was about to tip her mouth up for one last goodbye kiss when movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head in time to see a shadow slip between the narrow space between her mother’s house and the neighbor’s.

Amos stiffened. “Get inside,” he said abruptly.

Tessa didn’t waste time. She hurried up the steps, pulling out her house key. As she unlocked the front door, she realized something was dangling from the doorknob. She picked it up without examining it and stepped inside. When the door was locked behind her, she peered out the side window. Amos was gone. Chasing the thrall? Tessa’s gaze lifted nervously to the skyline. She didn’t like that a thrall was hanging around her neighborhood, but she wanted Amos safely home, protected from the sun.

Nothing she could do about it now. With a sigh, she turned away from the window and looked down at the object in her hand. It was a small brass locket on a cheap chain, similar to one she’d had as a child. The whole thing was caked in grime and the latch was broken, so it couldn’t close properly. Inside, it was empty. Tessa turned it over and over in her hand, confused. Who would’ve hung a broken old necklace on the front door? Maybe the mail carrier had found it on the sidewalk and assumed it belonged to Tessa or Ma? Maybe kids had left it as a joke? But what was the joke?

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