Page 6 of Every Bite You Take
When I stepped out of the ladies' room for the second time, I was more cautious and looked both ways. What would I wander into next—a supernatural orgy?
The vampire formerly known as Hotty-McHotty-Pants stood there alone. I downgraded his nickname to Blood-Spewing-Machine. Fortunately, he didn’t have a bag of that nastiness fastened to his mouth.
He gave me a weak smile. “You okay?”
“Sure.” I forced a smile. “I better go find Piper before she thinks I fell in.” Classy. Now I was bringing up toilets?
“Got it.” He nodded with a somber expression. “Thank you for not screaming. Or fainting.”
A pang of empathy hit me. I knew vampires needed blood to survive. Maybe he’d be revolted by my love of chicken parmesan subs, best accompanied by a handful of salt and vinegar chips and pickles. “No worries. I’ve seen worse than a vampire feeding.” I smoothed out my shirt and offered a light smile. “Though they don’t usually spray me with bodily fluids.”
Inner groan of doom. Why was I letting these words spill from my lips? I clamped them shut.
Damien shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact.
To break the uncomfortable silence, I said, “This has been quite mortifying for us both. I think I’ll go find an iceberg to impale myself with.”
Holy cannoli, what was wrong with me? How was mentioning an iceberg on a cruise ship going to make things less awkward? Or bring up impalement in front of a vampire? I seriously had to shut my chicken parmesan-hole.
“Goodnight, Kylie. And—sorry.”
I skittered away from Damien, my heart pounding, before more words of doom gushed out of my mouth.
When I returned to Piper, she said, “Well, hex me sideways, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
No, a vampire. One who I’d be avoiding for the rest of the cruise.
CHAPTER 4
DAMIEN
After Kylie all but sprinted from me, regret burned through my veins. Way to go. The first woman who’d made my heart sing in years and I went and sprayed blood all over her face. Real freakin’ smooth. I pictured her horrified eyes and closed mine with a grimace. Ten years as a vampire and I couldn’t handle a bloody introduction?
More like handled an introduction with blood. I groaned.
Behind where she’d stood, droplets of red spread across the freshly painted white wall like crimson stars in a blinding bright sky. Maintenance staff wouldlovehaving to clean up my mess. I rushed into the men’s room and grabbed a handful of paper towels, soaking them with soap and water.
Returning to the scene of utmost humiliation, I scrubbed away as much of the stains as possible. That damn life force had a strong signature and clung no matter how hard I wiped. Clearevidence of a vampire lacking self-control. Great. The cruise line should feel confident they’d made a good hire with me.
I should have ordered blood at the crew bar like a normal vampire, the way I did to replenish myself after every show. But the hunger around Kylie had grown so strong and so sudden that I had to dosomethingto curtail it—and fast—before I did something foolish.
Which I’d ended up doing anyway.
I straightened. “Splendid first impression, Rockwell,” I chastised myself as I tossed the stained paper towels into the trash of the men’s room.
When I returned to the hallway, I caught a trace of her scent lingering. I inhaled more deeply, and her fragrance melted away much of my horror. That floral aroma called to me like a siren song, and the urge to follow it rose. I could track her. Find her.
And then what?
She’d think the whacko vampire feeding from a blood bag in the hall was stalking her. Sure to make her rest easily tonight.
Time to get my head back on straight before I did something stupid that could cost me my job. Spraying passengers with blood and then hunting them down wouldn’t exactly win me cruise entertainer of the year points.
At least the ship was large enough that we might be able to avoid running into each other again.
As soon as that idea crossed my mind, I swallowed it back. Ihadto see her again. Find out more about her. And figure out why one woman ignited such a chaotic reaction in me.
The next night,when we played in the Nocturnal Lounge, I kept my senses attuned for Kylie. She didn’t show. Not that I blamed her. I wouldn’t seek out the vampire who’d acted like a buffoon and squirted blood on my face either.
