Page 3 of Big Enough to Bite (Harmony Glen #3)

Chapter Three

Mari

I ’m not out of bed yet when the digging noises begin. Admittedly, I’m not an early riser. I don’t sleep much at all. But I enjoy lying in bed and reading or relaxing after my evening walk.

My bedroom has sliding doors that open onto the back porch. I peek around the curtains.

My giant has a giant-sized shovel. It’s taller than I am and has a spade at least two feet wide.

His cut-off shirt is already dirty, as are his arms, as he stabs the ground and moves great globs of dirt with ease.

I’m not sorry to have the view of his bulging biceps or the tight cords of his neck.

I’m mesmerized. If I weren’t trying not to like him, I’d sit on the porch and watch him all day.

I would have thought it was a job for a backhoe, but it’s evident that when you hire Sam, heavy machinery isn’t necessary.

Wanting the giant won’t do. If this place is going to be my home for the time being, it’s better to be cordial with my neighbors, but not get too close. That way, when it all blows up and I’m forced to move on, I won’t have regrets.

With a long sigh, I drop the curtain back in place and head for the kitchen. I have a stock of blood in the refrigerator. It’s pig’s blood, but it will keep me alive if hunting isn’t possible or successful.

Of course, human blood is superior, more nutritious, and more beneficial. Still, even in bottled form, I stay away from it. It would be like teasing myself, and the desire for more may become too great to resist.

A loud grunt from the backyard pulls my attention away from warming the blood in the microwave. I rush to the French doors and out onto the porch.

Sam has four large bags of concrete hoisted on one shoulder. When he sees me, he stops. Eyes wide, he scans me from head to toe.

“I heard a noise and thought you were hurt.” I could try to cover myself since my sheer black nightshirt disguises nothing, but deciding that would make the situation worse, I lift my chin and stare back.

Meeting my gaze, he opens and closes his mouth twice before saying, “I’m fine. Just moving these bags over so I can get the mixer back here.”

As exposed as I am, there is also no hiding the tightening and bulging in his jeans. I try not to look, but fail. “I apologize for my inappropriate appearance. I’ve just gotten up.” Taking a step back, I place my hand on the doorknob.

Slow and steady, he lowers the bags to the ground. “Your apology is unnecessary. I wish I could say I’m too much of a gentleman to look, Mari. But I am male, and you are stunning.”

My cheeks heat, and I turn so he can only see my side. “I’m glad you’re uninjured.”

There’s a kind of pain that crosses his face that only happens when arousal is keen and relief is not possible. “It was nice of you to check on me. I promise I’m tough to damage.”

I step one foot back inside, thinking of how yesterday he asked if I wanted to bite him. If he knew how much I long for a taste of him, he wouldn’t be standing in my backyard, and he certainly wouldn’t be aroused. “I’m glad to hear that.”

The sound of him letting out a long breath, then groaning, reaches my keen hearing even through the closed door. When I peek through the curtains, he’s staring out over the cemetery with his hands on his hips and his shoulders rigid.

Sam is the first giant I’ve ever met. He’s strong and taller than any human, at probably eight feet.

His shoulders would barely fit through the double doors.

I’m intrigued by his huge hands and how they’re capable of hauling rocks and bags of concrete, yet also gentle enough to plant flowers and maintain a meticulous garden.

I shake myself out of it. I need to stay away from Sam.

He’ll build my wall, and then I’ll hardly see him.

I can keep away from one handsome giant with blue-green eyes and a cock that looked very much proportionate to the rest of his magnificent body.

Squeezing my thighs together does nothing to relieve my arousal. In fact, it makes it worse.

Frustrated, I return to the kitchen and drink my blood cold. Once the cup is washed out, I head for the music room. I can take my frustrations out on my piano.

Hours later, a knock on the back door shakes me out of my concentration. My fingers tingle from playing too hard and for too long. Stretching them, I rise and go to the door.

Rather than hovering at a door too small for him, Sam sits on the steps of the deck and waits for me. He looks up when I step out in jeans and a black blouse.

“I hope my playing wasn’t bothering you.” I sit but keep space between us.

His smile makes my heart pound. He shakes his head. “Your music was wonderful. I had hoped you would sing, but maybe it’s for the best you didn’t.”

“Why is that?”

“I’d never have gotten any work done. When you sing, I find it hard to concentrate on anything else. Of course, when you walk outside naked or nearly so, not much work gets done either.” His eyes flash with danger and desire.

My clit tingles to life as if I hadn’t banished romance with dozens of harshly played notes. “Are you done for the day?”

With a nod, he says, “The footing is in for the wall. I’ll work on your tower’s footing tomorrow.”

Wishing my life were different, that I were different, won’t make it so. This may be a town full of monsters, but I’m dangerous, and Sam is good. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” I stand.

Brushing dirt from his jeans, he stands so that he’s on the ground and I’m above on the deck. Even so, he’s still taller than I. “I wonder if you’d have dinner with me, Mari?”

“I don’t really eat.” My pulse thrums in an almost human way.

“A glass of wine then?” he asks without pause.

I back up a few steps, hoping the earthy scent of him will be less torture to my overactive libido if there’s distance between us. “It’s a bad idea.”

“That’s not a no.” He grins. “A glass of wine and a walk along the river after dark?”

My back hits the French door before I realize I’ve been backing away from what I want. “I know you’re attracted to me, Sam. I’m flattered. I really am. You don’t know what I am. All monsters are not the same.”

“I’m older than I look, Mari. As I told you, I’ve met other vampires. I’ve seen evil and good.” His eyes grow distant for the briefest moment before the joy inside him shines again. “I’ll pick you up at ten, and I’ll bring the wine.”

Without waiting for my next argument, he turns and walks around my house.

Why didn’t I protest? I could still send him away when he gets here later. I’m lying to myself. I have no intention of sending him away.

I haven’t had a date in decades. “What am I going to wear?”

It’s ridiculous that at my age, I spent an hour debating over a red skirt or a pair of jeans. I settled on the jeans and a red fitted blouse. Nervousness is for the young, and I wasn’t young for long. My foolish years were stolen when I became a vampire.

Shaking off the bitter thoughts of the past, I step out of my front door when the warm scent of Sam reaches me.

His hair is brushed back from his face. This is the first time I’ve seen him cleaned up, and he doesn’t disappoint. Dark jeans and a crisp white button-down make him look every bit the dashing suitor. He stops and stares. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. You are very handsome.” I meet him halfway down the walkway to my door.

“I would have knocked.” He nods toward the door.

Shrugging, I say, “I caught your scent and figured I would save you the trouble.”

In his hand is a picnic basket. He offers his other arm. He guides me around my house, past the construction, and into the cemetery. “Do you like how I smell?”

If I told him the entire truth, he might not want to continue. “Your scent is very pleasing.”

“I’m glad to hear it, but you hesitated. That makes me think you were going to say something else.” Steering us around headstones, we make our way to the conservation area.

I let out a breath. Lies are something I despise. “I haven’t been on a date in a long time. I don’t want it to end before it’s begun, and if I tell you too much truth, I think this date will be over.”

“Why don’t you take a leap of faith, Mari?” He slips my hand from the crook of his arm and into his hand as if it’s the most normal thing to walk hand in hand through the woods with me.

Stopping our progress, I pull my hand free.

I wait until he faces me and let the moment build.

“I was forced to do many terrible things in my life. It took me a lifetime to break free from the one who made me. Once I was free, I decided never to feed on humans again. You make me want to break that vow. I can hear the blood rushing through your veins, and I long to taste it. I want things with you that I have no business wanting. Even this date is a mistake, but I couldn’t help myself. ”

Stepping close, he brushes my hair away from my face. “I’m not human, and neither is my blood.” Taking my hand, he presses his lips to the inside of my wrist, then continues toward the river.

I follow in a kind of trance. He should have been horrified and walked or run away. “You understand I wish to bite you and drink your blood?”

“Yes. I also believe you won’t do so without my permission.” He turns toward the falls, and when the water grows louder, he stops. “Or am I wrong?”

My mouth goes dry. “It’s intimate. I would… I mean… I don’t know how to answer that.”

The way he smiles is both wicked and sexy. He places the basket under a large oak and spreads a blanket that’s big enough for both of us to sit on while he pulls two glasses and a bottle of wine out. “Will you sit?”

Shyness is a human trait that I haven’t succumbed to in so long that I barely recognize it. “I’m sorry I didn’t explain myself better.” I take a glass of red wine and sip the deep Merlot. “This is very good. Thank you.”

In his hand, the glass looks like it’s for a child. He sips, then looks me in the eyes. “I gather that you believe that biting me would be sexual. I also think so.”

“Have you been with a vampire before?” Jealousy courses through me. I have no right to it, but it’s there just the same.

Shaking his head, he laughs. “No, but I told you that I knew a vampire in Belgium. He and I were friends, and he mentioned that being a blood host was pleasurable.”

“It can be.” I spit it out before I have a chance to make my tone neutral.

All joy washes from his face. “Someone hurt you? This vampire who sired you, or was it someone else?”

I drink the wine and consider whether or not to answer. “We should speak of nicer things, Sam. The past is riddled with difficulties that I’d rather not share yet.”

“I hope at some point you’ll change your mind and share those things with me.” He leans his back against the thick trunk of the tree and closes his eyes.

It might be the first time since I became a monster that anyone has relaxed in my presence.