Page 7 of How a Vampire Falls

“I did! Finally.”

He chuckled, and to her ears the rumbling growl of his wolf voice was clear; but as always, he’d restrained it below the level of human hearing. Ryker stiffened again, then relaxed after a few seconds. Ezra kindly didn’t point it out, though he must have noticed.

Well. This was interesting.

Ezra and Willow moved on after a few more minutes. When they’d rounded the end of the aisle out of sight, Ryker gave a long sigh.

“Thanks,” Leslie said.

He gave her that funny look again, his mouth a hesitating curve while his brows drew together as though she were a puzzle. “I made that encounter way weirder for you than it would’ve been without me.”

“You tried to keep chill, I could tell. And you succeeded, mostly.”

He huffed a laugh, then wrinkled his nose. “I never knew they smell gamey like that, like actual wolves. I thought they smelled more or less like humans.”

Leslie rolled her eyes. “Do you know how that sounds?”

“Now that I said it out loud, yeah.”

In fairness to him, no vampire could fail to notice the distinct gaminess of a wolf in contrast to the more common scent of humans. But she’d make her point regardless. “Ever wonder how we smell to them?”

“Uh, no, I guess not.”

“We’re sour to their senses. So he wasn’t comfortable either, outnumbered and hit with the odor from both of us.”

Ryker gazed in the direction Willow and Ezra had gone. “I never thought about that. Sorry if I didn’t phrase it well.” He shook his head. “You grew up with wolf neighbors, and I’m clueless about them.”

“I met his little brother in middle school. Funny though, I met Ezra for the first time only about two years ago, one of the town fair events. Took me a few years to get up the courage to bring my stuff here.”

“Sounds like the artists I know. Dedicated, talented, convinced you suck.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “I’m working on it. And I tell Ezra he should too, but I think he’s too reserved to exhibit his work.”

Ryker nodded, but his mind seemed to be occupied now by something else. Sure enough, without segue he said, “Willow didn’t react to us at all.”

“Did you want her to fawn?”

He frowned. “I didn’t say that. It’s the human tendency, that’s all. It doesn’t surprise me; Willow surprised me.”

“To a human who’s capable of bonding to a wolf, a vampire is probably much less impressive.”

“Huh. I’ve never met a wolf’s mate before either.” Ryker’s brows crinkled in thought. Gosh, his face was expressive. Then he flashed his teeth, and his eyes lit up. “A day of firsts. And it’s five minutes to five. Want help packing up?”

They made quick work of it. Ryker collapsed and stacked tables while Leslie secured models in bubble wrap and tucked them in careful self-bracing rows in the back of her parents’ van. Together they wrapped and boxed the pocket-sized models, then nestled the boxes in a row of their own that wouldn’t crush the larger models.

“Is that the last of it?” Ryker said.

“Sure is. Wow, that went so much faster with help. Thanks.”

“My pleasure. So…ready for dinner?” His mouth curved with that annoyingly attractive, slightly mischievous hint of confidence.

“Looking forward to it.” If only to interrogate him and even things up. Right now he had all the advantages.

No. Best to be honest with herself. She was going to dinner because Ryker Maddox intrigued the heck out of her.

Three

Of course Ryker had known what Leslie looked like before today. She’d posted a new reel on social media within the last few weeks. But in person? In person she was stunning. Becoming more attractive with age was a vampire thing. None of them looked their best at twenty; their apex nature wasn’t finished developing yet. Thirty was their prime—a prime they stayed in for the full millennium of their typical lifespan. And Leslie certainly had reached hers.

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