Page 10 of Slay All Day

“What’d you do, bring the entire town with you?” the sheriff grumbled, shaking his head. “There are already too many damn outsiders around here, messing up the investigation. They sent three wildlife officials to try to hunt down the damn bear that caused all this trouble in the first place, and now the four of you came into my town to interrogate my people—which doesn’t even make a lick of sense. What do you think? That someone is hiding a feral bear in their backyard or something?”

“Stranger things have happened”—and currently were in Pine Ridge since there was a vampire who had a taste for draining young men and mesmerizing girls—“but we didn’t think we were going to stumble across a rampaging bear being protected by one of your citizens. Sorry, we didn’t mean to step on your toes.”

The sheriff seemed taken aback by my apology and lost most of his bluster. Jake took the opportunity to step in and say, “I think I mentioned that Trey is an excellent tracker when I was in your office yesterday. Connor is too, which is why he came with us today even though he had plenty to do back in Tigerville. After we did the tourist thing, we planned to stop by your office to see if you wanted our help with trying to find the bear.”

The sheriff eyed Connor and me up and down before giving us a jerky nod. “I guess I’d rather have you guys helping than the wildlife officials the state sent. They looked down their noses at me when I was filling them in on what I had so far and haven’t bothered to check in at all today. I can’t kick the bastards out of the investigation, but it sure would be nice to show ’em up by finding the damn bear before they do.”

Our interaction with the sheriff hadn’t gone exactly as planned, but we accomplished our goal—we had his permission to go hunting in Pine Ridge. Our prey wasn’t what he thought, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him because we were going to take care of the problem for him.

9

Denica

The relief I’d felt when Pine Ridge’s sheriff had accepted our help slowly ebbed away over the next few days. We’d kept a close eye on the two girls who the vampire had glamoured, but nothing had come from the hours spent watching them. The girls hadn’t done much more than go between work and home, with a quick trip to the grocery store. Their behavior was unusual for someone under the influence of a bloodsucker. Normally, there was a purpose behind the effort a nightwalker expended to control a human, but I hadn’t been able to figure out what he wanted from either of the girls yet.

I clenched my fist and punched one of Trey’s pillows, trying to vent some of the frustration I felt over our lack of progress. During the years I’d spent as a slayer, I had many assignments that took a lot longer than I’d spent in Tigerville so far. Heck, one of my slayer sisters just wrapped up a case that took her more than three weeks. But since I’d taken the bounty, the nightwalker had managed to nab four more citizens of the tiny town and had drained each of them of all their blood. The pace of his kills was escalating, and he’d taken the last two lives back-to-back only three hours ago. Guilt over their deaths burned in my gut.

Trey had quickly proven to be keyed in to my emotions, and tonight was no exception. Curving his strong body around mine, he slid his hand up my arm and wrapped his hand around my wrist. “It isn’t your fault.”

Burying my face in the pillow, I mumbled, “I can’t help but wonder if our mating threw me off my game enough that it’s interfering with my ability to do my job.”

Trey rolled me onto my back and kissed me until the tension left my body and I melted into the mattress. “Tell me one thing you would’ve done differently if you were hunting this vampire before we met.”

Connor, Jake, Trey, and I had spent up to sixteen hours of each day in Pine Ridge trying to track the bloodsucker down. Four other members of their streak had rotated through on the watch over the glamoured girls, giving us time to search for other leads. We’d covered more than two hundred square miles of land in our hunt but hadn’t found where the vampire was spending his daylight hours. I couldn’t pin down anything specific that would’ve made a difference, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I should’ve done more to prevent the bloodsucker from taking more lives. “I’m just worried that I missed something because I was distracted by my feelings for you—someone else the vampire has glamoured or the perfect place for him to lay low during the daylight hours.”

Trey brushed his lips against mine before staring into my eyes. “I think you need to cut yourself some slack. We wouldn’t have a single damn lead if it weren’t for you.”

“Maybe I’m being harder on myself because this bounty seems more personal since the outcome could impact your streak.” I stroked my hands up his chest and twined my arms around his neck. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, baby. I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured me.

I hugged him close and warned, “You better not.”

“And neither are you,” he added with a grin.

“Crap, good point.” I pushed at his chest so I could reach over to grab my cell phone off the bedside table. “I should call Jason and make sure he went over to check on Cara.”

“Who the hell is Jason?” Trey growled, tugging me back before I got my phone and pressing me into the mattress. His eyes flashed gold, a sure sign that his animal was close to the surface.

Stroking my hands up his chest, I explained, “My eighty-year-old neighbor who looks after my cat when I’m out of town for more than two or three days. His wife passed away last year, and helping me gets him out of the house.”

Most of the tension eased from his body, and he suggested, “Maybe we should go get Cara and bring her back here, along with more of your stuff.”

“If we don’t make any more progress over the next few days, I’d really like that,” I agreed with a smile. I was curious to see how my cat reacted to living in a house with a tiger, and it would be a quick trip if I used the nearby portal. My family was going to think it was hilarious since they gave me a hard time when I got Cara. They thought it was funny that I was the only dragon in my hold who had a pet, and I’d picked a fluffy tabby instead of something ferocious.

“Three days, that’s all I’m giving you,” he growled into my ear, nipping at the lobe.

My focus was quickly moving from our conversation to what he was doing with his lips and teeth. “Uh-huh.”

“My baby is so agreeable right now.” He licked the seam of my mouth, and I immediately opened for him, our tongues tangling. What probably started out as a gesture to soothe me quickly spiraled out of control. We devoured each other until we were breathless.

When Trey finally lifted his head, there was only one thing on my mind—him. “I need you so much.”

“You have me, baby. Always and forever,” he promised as he kissed his way down my neck to lick over my mating mark. I felt the swipe of his tongue deep in my womb and shivered. His lips curved and a knowing chuckle rumbled up his chest. He whipped my shirt over my head, leaving me naked since it was the only thing I’d put on after my shower. His hands glided up my torso to cup my tits, and the tips pebbled against his palms. Shifting lower, he trailed kisses across my chest until he sucked a stiff peak into his mouth. I delved my hands into his dark hair and dug my fingers into his scalp to press him closer when he switched to the other side. He bit down hard enough to leave a mark before letting my nipple go with a little pop.

His scruff left a smattering of red abrasions decorating my chest. I traced the path he’d taken, his dark gaze following my hand. “I love seeing my marks all over your skin.”

“Make more of them,” I urged, arching my back off the mattress.

---