Page 44 of Hot Blooded

“Hundreds. But as far as famous lines? A dozen or so. The Zenobian line is small and fairly well-renowned, but it’s not particularly powerful or revered like some lines are.”

“Hmm.” Tessa went back to her pastry, looking contemplative. When she finished it, Amos slid drinks towards her. She picked a brightly-colored soda and twisted it open. “Can you show me the shadow thing?” she asked.

Amos rose from his chair. “Of course.” He flipped the lights off. The kitchen was plunged into darkness, to which Amos’s eyes adjusted immediately. He waited until the ambient streetlight coming in the windows was enough for Tessa to see by. When her gaze found him and focused, he smiled at her.

“Watch.”

And then he let himself sink into the darkness, like stepping into warm water. He felt the cover of it slip over him, enclose him.

Tessa gasped.

Slowly, so that he didn’t startle her, he extended one hand out. “Join me.”

Without hesitation, she took his hand, and let him pull her into the darkness alongside him.

Much, much later, in the wee hours of the morning, Amos walked with Tessa to her front steps. He’d had every intention of bidding her goodbye with a lingering, but respectful, kiss. Tessa put paid to that notion when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like he was going off to war. He groaned and clutched her tightly against him, deepening the kiss. The taste of her was the most intoxicating thing he’d ever known, no matter what part of her the taste came from. Her rich blood. Her hot mouth. Her sweet cunt.

His cock hardened against her. Amos tried to shift his hips back, but Tessa shifted with him, rolling her hips against his erection with a pleased, throaty little moan.

Amos grasped her by the shoulders, setting her back from him, breathing raggedly. “Christ, Tessa, do you want me to fuck you right here in the street?”

Her shocked expression shifted to one of impish delight. “There’s nobody around.”

With impeccable timing, the front door opened on one of the neighboring houses. A burly, middle-aged man wearing steel-toed boots and a florescent yellow visibility vest over his coat emerged.

Amos and Tessa shared conspiratorial grins.

“Tessa? That you?” the man called.

“Yeah, it’s me. Morning, Marcus.”

“Morning. Have a good day.”

“Yep, you too.”

The man trotted down his steps, nodded to Amos, and went on his way.

Amos turned his attention back to Tessa, bringing one hand to her face, gently stroking her kiss-swollen bottom lip. She playfully bit the tip of his thumb.

“I bite harder,” he warned.

She grinned, releasing him. “Lucky me.”

He was already aching with want for her, and she wasn’t making it any easier to be a gentleman about it. The scent of her arousal teased him, and he was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that she had no underwear. It’d be so easy to lift her dress, spread her thighs, and sink into the soft heat of her pussy.

A purr rose to his throat so violently, it bordered on a snarl. He needed to get a hold of himself.

“I can feel sunrise approaching,” he said, allowing himself one more gentle caress against her cheek. “Sleep well, Tessa.”

“You too, Amos.” She rose up onto her tip-toes, pressing a kiss to his mouth, light as a butterfly, quick as a blink. She smiled, and then she was climbing her stairs, reaching into her coat for her keys.

Amos waited until she was inside, until he heard the lock engage, before he turned to leave.

Amos only made it to the corner before a familiar scent stopped him dead. A thrall. Unacceptably close to Tessa’s house. He cut hard to the left, instantly spotting the source of the scent. The thrall tried to run, suddenly aware he’d been spotted. But a sireless thrall was no match for a century-old vampire. Amos closed the distance between them in a single heartbeat, leaping over a low iron fence and tackling his quarry to the ground. He landed on top, with the thrall belly-down on the ground. Amos captured him in a chokehold. The thrall hissed like a scalded cat, thrashing desperately.

“Stop,” Amos growled, tightening his hold. They were sprawled on the small patch of grass in front of a small redbrick workers cottage, whose upstairs lights were on. Somebody could emerge at any moment. “I’m not going to hurt you, but we have to get out of here. The sun will rise soon.”

The thrall only fought harder.

---