Page 3 of Every Bite You Take (Midnight Siren Supernatural Cruises #1)

CHAPTER 3

KYLIE

“ T hat was weird,” Piper said as we left the Nocturnal Lounge and spilled into the throngs of people crisscrossing this deck.

“Is he usually so?—”

While I searched for the word, Piper offered, “Awkward?”

Despite Damien being a vampire, he had an irresistible bad boy look. That wavy dark hair, those soulful green eyes under dark lashes, and that low, almost haunting baritone. I’d dubbed him Hotty-McHotty-Pants before I knew his name. While bartending, I often came up with nicknames for customers to help me remember a bit about each.

But Damien had looked at me as if I had three heads, all of which had sprouted snakes that slithered toward him in slow motion. Like I needed attitude from a surly bloodsucker.

“No. Not sure what got into him,” Piper replied and tapped her lips. “Must be an off night.”

Fantastic. Immortal and moody. Screw that. “I need to find the restrooms.”

While I looked around for a sign, Piper said, “Go through that door.” She pointed down the hall, away from all the bustling activity on this deck. “There’s one down that hallway that no one really knows about.”

“Okay. Be right back.” I wandered down the ship’s hallway, trying to get my bearings. Which way was port and which was stern again? In which direction were we headed? Without the view of the sea, I’d lost all sense of where we were.

I found the restroom, tucked away unobtrusively with a white door that matched the walls of this hallway, but with a small sign. While the rest of the ship gleamed with entertainment for the eye, this section was barren, save for a lone, oversize plant. Somehow it accentuated the lack of decor in the white space, like a halfhearted attempt say we tried. As I finished up and washed my hands, I muttered to myself, “So what if he's hot and talented? He's a total?—”

I pulled the door open and stopped dead.

Alone in the hallway stood Damien just a few feet away. His head was tilted back as he downed a blood bag pressed to his lips.

Eww…

He jolted upright and opened his eyes, pinning them on me with a horrified expression—which must have mirrored my own.

We froze, staring at each other for an excruciatingly long second before he jerked back and tightened his clutch on the bag. A spray of red arced my way.

“Oh shit—” he muttered.

A strange yelp escaped me as I stumbled backward into the closed bathroom door, just as the blood hit my cheek. It was warm and gooey and utterly disgusting.

“Yech!” I flapped my arms like a duck, desperate to get the blood off me.

“Oh my god.” His voice was barely audible. “I’m so sorry.” He stepped forward and raised his hand to my cheek as if about to wipe it away.

I attempted to move backward but was already pressed against the door. “I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I mumbled, glancing around this barren hallway. What the heck could I use to get this horrible blood off my face? Plunging overboard headfirst into the ocean was tempting.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “This isn't what it—I mean, it is, but—” He closed his eyes, appearing horrified. “I don't…in the hallway like this…” He grimaced, then squinted one eye open before the other.

“Totally fine,” I squeaked out. “Everyone needs to eat. Or drink.” I gestured at the near-empty blood bag he was stuffing into his pocket. “Totally normal. I serve blood in cocktails to vampires all the time. No, not all the time. Sometimes.” Ugh, why was I babbling when I just wanted to escape? “When vampires order them. Like you.”

Stop. Talking!

He ran a hand through his dark hair and shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. “Can we pretend this never happened?”

I squirmed. “Yes. Right. Sure. Just as soon as I wash this blood off me.”

He paled, as if all the blood ran from his cheeks.

I stared at the lone plant and remembered where I’d just come from. Took me long enough. I rushed back into the ladies' room before I said anything else horrifying. When I glanced at my reflection, I gagged in revulsion. My aversion to blood hit me full force. Droplets splattered across my cheek. Or was it spatter? I should know from all the crime podcasts I listened to.

Not the point right now. I grabbed a paper towel and wet it, then washed the lovely red bodily fluid away, forcing myself not to think about where or who it came from. How could vampires willingly drink this stuff? A full-body shudder racked my body.

When I stepped out of the ladies' room for the second time, I was more cautious and looked both ways. What would I wander into next—a supernatural orgy?

The vampire formerly known as Hotty-McHotty-Pants stood there alone. I downgraded his nickname to Blood-Spewing-Machine. Fortunately, he didn’t have a bag of that nastiness fastened to his mouth.

He gave me a weak smile. “You okay?”

“Sure.” I forced a smile. “I better go find Piper before she thinks I fell in.” Classy. Now I was bringing up toilets?

“Got it.” He nodded with a somber expression. “Thank you for not screaming. Or fainting.”

A pang of empathy hit me. I knew vampires needed blood to survive. Maybe he’d be revolted by my love of chicken parmesan subs, best accompanied by a handful of salt and vinegar chips and pickles. “No worries. I’ve seen worse than a vampire feeding.” I smoothed out my shirt and offered a light smile. “Though they don’t usually spray me with bodily fluids.”

Inner groan of doom. Why was I letting these words spill from my lips? I clamped them shut.

Damien shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact.

To break the uncomfortable silence, I said, “This has been quite mortifying for us both. I think I’ll go find an iceberg to impale myself with.”

Holy cannoli, what was wrong with me? How was mentioning an iceberg on a cruise ship going to make things less awkward? Or bring up impalement in front of a vampire? I seriously had to shut my chicken parmesan-hole.

“Goodnight, Kylie. And—sorry.”

I skittered away from Damien, my heart pounding, before more words of doom gushed out of my mouth.

When I returned to Piper, she said, “Well, hex me sideways, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

No, a vampire. One who I’d be avoiding for the rest of the cruise.