Page 7

Jude and Cope had been arguing for fifteen minutes about something stupid. Cope was angry that Jude had to work a stakeout with Ronan on the night he was supposed to go to a school committee meeting. Jude hated those meetings and knew Cope liked to have him on hand in the likely event that his stand on the budget irritated other parents.

“You’re just making shit up! There is no stakeout! I called Tennyson.” Cope crossed his arms over his chest.

Fuuuuck… Jude should have gotten with Ronan ahead of time, so their stories would be straight. “Cope, I-”

“You, what , Jude?” Cope shook his head. “I want Wolf and the other kids to get the best education possible. The school committee wants to cut next year’s budget by twenty percent. That mean bye-bye to art supplies, musical instruments, not to mention the art and music teachers. We’d also lose several classroom teachers and two aids, one of whom works with Aurora on her sensory issues.”

Jude understood how much Miss Tina helped Aurora. “It would suck for those teachers to lose their jobs. I agree completely with you.”

“So why are you being such a dick about going to the meeting tonight?” Cope asked, his tone softer than it had been minutes ago.

“It’s been a long week and I’m tired.” Jude shook his head. “We’ve been working on this case and getting no where with it. I just wanted sometime to myself to throw a pity party for one and get my bad mood out of my system.”

“For the love of God, Jude!” Cope shouted, anger coloring his cheeks. “Don’t you think I’d like a night to myself too? I spent the week consoling people who are going through the worst loss of their lives. I cried along with them and felt their pain. Don’t you think I deserve a night off too?”

“Sure,” Jude agreed easily. “I’ll go first.” He had a feeling Cope would be totally in line with the idea of them taking turns with nights to themselves.

Cope raised an eyebrow. “Bite me, Jude.” Cope crossed his arms over his chest and headed for the stairs.

Jude hurried to catch up with his angry husband. “Your wish is my command.” He sunk his teeth gently into the meaty part of Cope’s left arm.

“Ow! What the actual fuck are you doing!” Cope yelped.

“Biting you! Just like you told me too. Mmm…” Jude had a feeling this little stunt might get him out of the doghouse.

“What? No! Stop!” Cope shoved Jude away from him. “I don’t want you to bite me.” A smile curved his lips and he didn’t look as angry as he had minutes before.

“Not even for science?” Jude wore a cheeky grin.

“Especially not for science.”

“Biting is like kissing, only there’s a winner at the end.” Jude waggled his eyebrows at his husband.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cope wore a curious look.

“Lips are involved in biting and kissing.” Jude gave his husband a demonstration.

Cope rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother.”

“So are teeth,” Jude continued, undeterred by his husband’s reluctance to follow the plot. He nibbled Cope’s lips gently with his own teeth to prove his point.

“Uh, huh.”

“Tongues are used in kissing and biting.”

“How do you use your tongue in biting? You’d chomp it off for god’s sake. Damn, caveman.”

“You use your tongue to taste the juicy meat you’re about to chomp. Do I have to teach you everything?”

“Juicy meat? Ew, Jude. Just ew.” Cope didn’t look as put off as he sounded.

“Let me bite you, please.”

Cope laughed. “No. I’m not going to let my husband -the father of my child- take a bite out of me like some kabob on a stick.”

“Don’t think of me as your husband right now…”

“Good, because I wasn’t.”

Jude grinned, his eyes glittered. “Think of me as an elemental man. A hunter. A predator.”

“A troglodyte, more like.”

“Vampires bite people and you don’t say ‘ew’ to them.” Jude put his hands on his hips.

“Firstly, I’ve never met a vampire. Well, not one that wanted to bite me anyway.” Cope looked like he wasn’t opposed to the idea.

Jude knew Cope was thinking about Salem’s former resident vampire Luca Pennington.

“Are you saying you want to suck my blood like some deranged modern-day Count Dracula?”

“Fuck, no! That’s gross. I’m just trying to explain that biting, love biting, specifically is more common than you think.”

“You just said, and I quote, ‘Vampire’s bite people.’” Cope said, grinning at Jude.

“Grrr,” Jude growled, wishing he had more time to explain the idea to his husband.

“Toddlers bite too. Do you want me to wake Wolf up and let him gnaw on your shin?”

“You’re missing the point entirely.” Jude shook his head.

“What is the point?

“That I love you and don’t want to sleep on the sofa because I’m an idiot.”

“I’m listening,” Cope said.

“It’s been a long and frustrating week.”

“Jude, it’s Tuesday.”

“Exactly my point,” Jude agreed. “I know how important this school committee meeting is. I also know how hard you’re going to fight for our kids and their classmates. I just wish we could slow down a bit, that’s all. I need a break.”

“I do too,” Cope said, thoughtfully. “Let’s get through this meeting tonight and if you want, we can sit down and look at trip ideas later.”

“After the love bites?”

Cope snorted. “Yes, my fuzzy Wolfman.”

Jude growled and nuzzled his face into Cope’s neck. He knew he could make it through the boring school committee meeting, so long as he and Cope had a little time to themselves after Cope won the day.

Jude was going to win the night.