Page 7 of Love Bites Extra Hard

I pulled Talon’s scales out of my pockets and placed them carefully on the bathroom countertop, assuming he had only put them there because he didn’t have pockets of his own. They were still warm from being so close to my skin, and when I dragged a finger lightly over the surface of one, I couldn’t help but shiver a little.

Maybe they weren’t like lost strands of hair. Maybe there was something special about them. He hadn’t been willing to leave them on the ground, after all.

I figured I didn’t have much time left before he came back, so I left the scales and slipped into the shower. I tested the water with my hand, and swore, jerking away before it could scald me.

It was insanely hot. Definitely hotter than any shower I’d ever felt before.

I cranked the temperature down, and waited until the crazy amount of steam had retreated some. When I tested it again, it didn’t burn me, so I slipped beneath it.

There was a bar of soap that looked brand new sitting on a built-in tile dish.

Hmm.

When I checked the bottles of shampoo and conditioner, they still had seals over them. They were also new.

Maybe the room wasn’t Talon’s after all.

My bun was precariously loose, but my hair was still tied back enough that there was only a little blood in the few strands that had slipped free entirely. I didn’t bother opening the shampoo to wash it out of them, just using a little water to do it.

The soap had a nice, neutral scent when I used it to carefully scrub the blood off my upper half. It stung a little, but I didn’t slow down.

A few minutes later, I was drying off with a light gray towel that smelled strongly of a laundry detergent that reminded me of the soap’s smell. It definitely hadn’t been used since being washed.

It was clean, and soft. My cuts had all stopped bleeding, except one on my inner bicep that was deeper than the others. I grimaced at the blood that stained the towel as I tried to dry the wound. Wrapping the fabric around my middle, I opened the bathroom cabinets, hoping to find a bandage.

They were empty, other than two extra, folded towels.

So, Talon definitely didn’t live there.

I closed the cabinet again and tucked the towel tighter around me, then opened the bathroom door and peered out into the room.

It looked… empty.

Huh.

“Talon?” I called out.

He didn’t answer.

Was he going to jump me when I stepped out of the bathroom or something? That would seem out of character. The man was big enough and bad enough not to need surprise on his side.

I sent a wave of my magic into the room anyway. If he was in there, he wouldn’t be able to resist the pull of it. That was one perk, and detriment, of being a siren.

There was no response to my power.

Apparently, he had left.

After all but tossing me in the shower.

Weird.

Very weird.

I stepped out of the bathroom and eyed the bed.

The canopy attached to it was a sure sign that the room wasn’t meant for a dragon. I should’ve put that together sooner. Only parasitic magical beings like vampires and sirens needed coffins to sleep, and the canopies that could raise and lower over our beds were the modern-day take on them.

I found a closet door nearby. When I opened it, my eyebrows shot upward.

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