Page 10 of Vampires Don't Give Hickeys
He moaned into my flesh, his tongue circling and sucking, while his hips slowed. A full-body shudder rolled through him. Just as I was starting to sag into my chair and see imaginary spots floating past with the blood loss, he pulled away. His lips were bloodstained, and his eyes were half shuttered behind his glasses.
“You taste”—he licked his lips—“fucking awesome.”
I shrugged, a goofy smile stuck to my mouth, too sated to focus on much of anything except him. “It’s the least we could do for vamps. You know, taste good before we kill them.”
He stood, tucking everything back into his pants and straightening his glasses and hair, his smile as dangerous as the rest of him. “You’re going to kill me?”
“I may have to make an exception,” I said. “Your tongue is too knowledgeable.”
“So is my head.” He zipped up his pants and winked. “Both of them.”
I snorted a laugh as I stood to pull up my yoga pants.
He stopped me with a kiss. His mouth covered mine with a heady mix of his taste and mine. Somehow he touched every part of me with just his lips, simultaneously melting and hardening everything down to my toes.
Dizzying minutes or weeks or years later, he pulled away. “Ready to get down to business with more research?”
Funny, I thought we just had.
Chapter Four
The next night, a colddrizzle coated everything with a fine layer of moisture that made everything slick, including my grip on my stake. My boots cracked only slightly over the gravel path, the ground too wet to roll loose stones under my feet. The night held quiet except for the occasional rattle of tree leaves overhead and a car passing in the distance. I swept my gaze around headstones, cherub and angel statues, and hedges as I went, searching for any sign of movement.
And trying desperately to keep my head in the game. Last night with Eddie had electrified me. His lips, his tongue, the carnal way he looked at me... It had been a hard struggle to keep my mind on anything but him. Even now, his bite between my legs tingled, a not-so-subtle reminder of what I could have again in the next few hours. As if I could forget.
I didn’t mind his no-touching rule, but I did wonder about it, as I did about the scars on Jacek’s back. Maybe someone from their pasts had caused these things, but I hated the thought of either of them being hurt physically, psychologically, or any –lly. True, I didn’t know them all that well, but I knew enough to know they didn’t deserve to suffer. They were too good. I knew that as well as my own name.
Up ahead, something squeaked, low and long, muffled by the veil of mist. My heartbeat spiked and my ears perked. I slowed, trying to zero in on where the sound had come from. There was only one entrance to the cemetery, and that was behind me, not in front. The sound hadn’t come from a gate. A coffin opening in an unfilled grave? Maybe I was about to have company of the undead variety.
Or maybe it was the mausoleum door flapping open in the slight breeze. The squat, stone structure sat tucked in the far corner of the cemetery, on the opposite side as the grounds man’s work shed. A large gnarled tree bent over it and tapped a few branches on the roof as if to see if anyone was home. Was there?
I was about to find out.
I crossed toward it on silent feet. The name Alpert was spelled out over the single door, and I nudged it open with my boot. Damp, stale air rolled from inside. Darkness had swallowed the space, so I dug for my cell in my pocket, keeping a tight grip on my stake with my other hand. Once the flashlight app glowed from my phone, I thrust it forward and followed the meager light inside. Steep stairs led downward, and I stepped carefully to avoid a face-plant. On the opposite wall, a large stained-glass window allowed only faint traces of moonlight through its complicated design. A steady knock echoed throughout the stone walls, making it hard to tell if it came from the tree branches on the rooftop or the inside of the stone coffin in the middle of the floor. The sound came from everywhere, making it hard to discern all other noises.
I didn’t dare go too far down the stairs in case some vampire prankster slammed the door shut behind me, but from my viewpoint, there was nothing in here but death. Thankfully, not mine. I turned to leave.
