Page 605 of Love Bites

“Oh my god,” I shrieked. “You scared me to death.”

He grinned and slipped into the back seat. “You look alive to me.”

“Why are you in the back?” I asked.

“I’ve seen this in the movies,” he explained. “No one will actually know we’re having a conversation. They’ll think you’re my driver and pass right on by.”

Deciding not to touch that theory, I waited for him to continue.

“They’re not human. They’re Dragons.”

“What?” I hissed.

“I said they’re not hum…”

“I heard you. Are you sure?” My skin felt tight on my body and I prayed he was mistaken. This was far worse than I ever could have imagined. I thought maybe they were wolves from a rival Pack and they’d used the self tanner to disguise their scent and possibly blackmail our Pack into paying ransom…

“This is not very good, Essie.” Dwayne fretted in the back seat.

He was right. My brain was on overload. They were rich, smart, dangerous and seriously hard to kill. They had clearly duped the Council and now they were using science to do god knows what with my Pack.

“Listen to me,” I snapped, formulating a plan as it fell from my lips. “I am going in and I’m going to let them take me to the other girls. You are going to the sheriff’s office and when his meeting with the assholes is over you will tell Hank what you told me. Detain the Dragons if you can. I’ll be safer with only one Dragon and three, soon-to-be-dead, traitorous she-wolves. Let him know the Tinas are involved and the Dragons are experimenting on our wolves. Tell him if he tries to stop me from going to the girls he’ll be signing their death warrant. He has to trust me and let me do my job. Do you understand me?” I sucked in a huge breath as I’d not taken in a lick of air during my diatribe.

“Can I ask you something weird?” Dwayne inquired.

“Does it pertain?”

“Yes.”

“Fine, but hurry. I’m due in the agency in ten.”

“Don’t speak till I finish,” Dwayne said in a weary voice I’d never heard. “I am going to bite you. I will drink a very small amount of your blood so I can track you definitively. I don’t trust my sense of smell enough where your life is concerned. You will then bite me and drink. You will find it disgusting, disturbing and possibly somewhat erotic, which is gross because you’re straight and I’m gay, but you will do it. My blood will give you vampire strength. It’s temporary, so don’t freak. Let’s do it.”

“Was all that a joke?” I stammered.

“What? The straight and gay part?” He was confused. “Or the temporary part?”

“All of it,” I yelled.

“None of it’s a joke, Essie. We don’t have a lot of time here, so I’d suggest you slap your fangs onto my neck and suck.”

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever thought about doing,” I muttered as Dwayne crawled over the seat and settled himself next to me.

“No crazier than going after Dragons,” he countered.

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly let my fangs descend. “What super powers will this give me? Will I be able to fly?”

Dwayne grinned and shrugged. “You’d have to pretty much drain me to get that skill.”

“Shut the hell up! You can fly? You never told me that.” Color me very impressed.

“You never asked. Give me your wrist and you take my neck.”

“Will this hurt you?” I asked as I leaned in.

“Don’t know. Never let a wolf near my neck.” He grinned and gave me a quick hug. “I love you, Essie. Before you came into my life, I had considered ending myself. Three hundred years is a long time to be alone. You’ve given me hope, a career as a drag queen and a dysfunctional family. I am supremely grateful. Bite me.”

And because I trusted him…I did.

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