Page 39 of The Baby Hex
I wasn’t going to tell him that my crow’s spoiled ass had never eaten carrion or anything like that because I wanted another bite of his burger. I opened my mouth to ask but a caw-caw came out as I shrank down and grew feathers.
Fucking crow!
He was always pulling that stunt at the worst possible moments. At least Pierce already knew I was a crow in addition to being an elf and a wolf. Plus, he didn’t seem to mind me pecking at his food. Which was a good thing because my bird wasn’t about to stop. I’m sure plenty of vampires would’ve taken issue with their mates shifting on the dinner table but if anything, Pierce seemed amused as he left me to peck at his burger while he set out my food and filled our cups with iced tea.
When my crow had eaten enough, he relinquished control and allowed me to slip back into my elf form. I sat crisscross applesauce in the middle of the table as Pierce took his seat at the head of the table.
“I can’t believe he did that.”
“He? He is you,” Pierce said. “Right? That’s how shifters have always been explained to me.”
“Yes and no. I mean, obviously yes. But also they have their own set of instincts and sometimes they don’t align with ours.”
“Did you not like the burger?” he asked me.
“No, I loved it!” I said.
“There’s another in the bag if you want it instead,” he said. “I would’ve woken you to ask what you wanted but you were sleeping so well. I know sleep is splotchy during heat and I want you well rested.”
I ate the chicken tenders because at the end of the day, I loved chicken and wasn’t sure I wanted that much blood floating around in my belly.
“But he’s right about sharing,” Pierce said as if I had missed some conversation between him and my bird. “I’m not going to ever say no. I mean, maybe if I was sucking a bear dry or something. I’d tell you to wait to eat him until I had finished.”
I lost it. I wasn’t sure if Pierce was trying to be funny but the hormones circling around my heat made that into a verynaughty mental image that had nothing to do with blood. Pink rose on Pierce’s cheeks, and I cocked my head to the side.
“I didn’t know it was possible for you to blush,” I grinned.
“I can almost see what you must be seeing,” Pierce said.
“Do all vampires talk like that?”
“Sometimes,” he shrugged. “At times we do think more about blood than sex. For some of us it all mingles together but for others that doesn’t happen.”
“You’ve never bitten someone during sex?” I asked.
“Uh… Yeah. Of course, I have. I’m a vampire but that doesn’t mean I’m going to bite you. Not for blood anyway. You’re a treasure, a gem, maybe even a sword or a wand with your attitude, but you’re not food.”
“Okay, but…” I took a deep breath. “I’m an elf. Not an object. If I’m a sword, you’re a book duct taped closed. Because you know plenty about me but I don’t know much about you.”
“What would you like to know?”
“Are we alone in the house?” I asked.
“Yes,” Pierce nodded. “The house will appear to be a living entity from time to time because the magic is set to respond to my commands but we are alone in the house except for a raccoon who occasionally hangs out in the attic.”
“Wild or shifter?”
“Wild of course. I don’t think I’ve met a raccoon shifter,” Pierce said. “If I have, they were covering their scent.”
“What does it mean to be born under the sign of the fang?” I asked, stealing one of Pierce’s fries because I’d already finished mine. He pushed what was left of them over to me. Usually, I’d argue that the person trying to share with me needed to eat but I was ravenous and if I planned to grow a baby in the near future, I’d need all the calories I could get ahead of time.
“I know that you have freewill before and after the claiming vows. I know there isn’t some secret keeping spell involved but---”
“If you’re a serial killer just tell me. I mean, look at what Teal and Morvan do. Polite to a bloody fault and they have a type. The whole warehouse has a type but at the end of the day that’s what they do. It’s why Teal never ratted out my business.”
“Quite the opposite actually,” Pierce chuckled. “Promise you won’t freak out?”
“I promise not to freak out if it’s within my control,” I nodded.
