Page 23 of Love Bites (Timber Creek #2)

CHAPTER 23

MAX

“Okay, if I were a shady vampire duke, where would I make my nest?” Summer tapped her chin in thought as she peered over the map spread across her lap. Her long, tanned legs stretched out in front of her, the city’s twinkling lights illuminating her face.

That jaunty ponytail swished as she twisted and turned the map, her bottom lip pinched between her teeth. My hands itched to reach over and free it, or better yet, cover her lips with mine like she’d asked me to an hour ago.

Fuck, I wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Back in the park, Summer’s every moan and lick snapped what little control I had, but at least I’d kept myself from giving in to her demands. By the time I had her underneath me on my bed, she’d forgotten all about her request as I brought her to orgasm.

After a short nap and a shower each, we’d moved to the patio for some much needed fresh air and to regroup.

The fact that we hadn’t found anything on the vampire den in Paris was getting downright annoying. Between the pointed news cast and the size of the city, it was impossible there wasn’t a den here. So why couldn’t we find it?

Was it this thing between us, this magnetic attraction distracting us at every freaking turn? Because I’d never had this much trouble on a job. Not in a hundred years.

I’d been to Paris dozens of times both alone and with my father, but experiencing it these past few days with Summer was another thing entirely. She had an opinion and a reaction to everything, and that damn ice cream cone… I’d never forget it.

I leaned over, trying not to notice how my chest brushed her shoulder and her subsequent intake of breath, and pointed to a section of the map.

“Let’s try the college quarter,” I murmured. “Dumb drunk college kids always make for an easy buffet, and they don’t think twice when they wake up the next morning and can’t remember what happened.”

Summer’s eyes were on my lips, then jerked back to the map. “Yep, exactly that.” Hastily folding up the map, she headed inside, quickly grabbing her purse and a new pair of high heels to head out again.

Standing, I followed behind her, unable to ignore the sashay in her hips as she strolled ahead of me. Hips I had been gripping only an hour ago from behind, while her ponytail bounced with every thrust.

I adjusted myself in my pants, grabbed my jacket, and followed her out into the night. The temperature had cooled considerably since earlier, so I wrapped my leather jacket around her lightly shivering shoulders.

“Oh — thanks.” She glanced up in surprise before sliding her arms into the sleeves. “I meant to grab mine but I forgot.”

“I noticed.”

Before long, we traded the residential atmosphere where my apartment was for college kids partying out on the town. Dance music drifted out from every corner bar and cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air.

“Let’s grab a drink,” Summer said, pointing at the closest bar, a small line forming outside highlighting its popularity in the neighborhood.

I grabbed her hand, peering over the crowd for any lingering shadows or recognizable faces. “Do you already smell something?”

“Not yet, but we should blend in.” Summer leaned back, pressing her back to my chest and tilting her head up to look at me. She fit perfectly against me, and I tugged her closer, unable to stop myself. “And I might need a top-up. For the magic.” She winked, then ducked inside.

A low growl escaped me at the memory of her sucking the blood off my finger in that club in Boston, and I was right on her heels.

Inside the bar, the scent of beer and sweaty bodies permeated so strongly, I wasn’t sure how Summer expected to smell anything else, but she had in Boston, so maybe she could again. We wove our way through the mass of bodies to the wood-paneled bar, pushed closer by the crowd. Summer stood on her tiptoes to lean over the counter and shoved her tits out, smiling coquettishly at the bartender. The guy practically drooled as he rushed over, and I fought back an eye roll.

Stepping forward, I slid one hand under my jacket Summer still wore, settling on her hip. I held up two fingers on my left hand, showcasing my wedding band as I leaned over to order our drinks. “ Soixante-Quinze. ”

“Subtle.” Summer smirked as the bartender’s smile melted then went to make our drinks.

I squeezed her hip before I let her go. “You started it.”

She spun towards me, leaning back against the bar as she fluttered a hand over her chest in mock affront. “I was trying to get service.”

“He wanted to service you, all right.”

The bartender returned with our drinks, and Summer held hers aloft.

“To wedded bliss,” Summer said with a twinkle in her eyes as she tapped her glass to mine.

“ Salut .” I tipped up my drink, taking a long sip but never taking my eyes off her. She stared at my throat working for several beats before taking a sip of her own.

Our gazes locked, neither one willing to back down. The loud music faded to a dull roar, the crowd blurring as my focus zeroed in on her, time slowing around us.

“Quit looking at me before we end up fucking in public again,” Summer said decisively, dropping her eyes to our drinks and breaking the moment. “Spike my drink so we can get to work, will you?”

I nearly choked on my drink as I glanced around to make sure no one overheard her, but the lively music and myriad conversations made it too loud for humans to make out our words.

Stepping in close, Summer was forced to tilt her head up and look at me. I leaned in, my cheek brushing against hers as I whispered, “Did you learn nothing, sunshine?”

With a shake of her head, Summer pulled back. “You really are such a prude.”

She grabbed my hand, presumably to go find somewhere private, but I froze, something prickling in my awareness again, like it had a few times this week.

My head jerked around the room as I did a quick scan, but couldn’t pinpoint what had drawn my attention. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, just college kids having a night out, but my gut instincts rarely steered me wrong.

Summer whirled on me, then stilled at my expression. “Do you sense something?”

“I thought” — I frowned, unsure how to explain it — “I don’t know. But I think we might’ve been followed.”

Her gaze snapped up, fully focused now as she surveyed the room like the predator she also was. “By who? A vampire?”

I lifted a shoulder, my senses still on high alert but trying to appear unaffected, just in case we were being watched. “I’m not sure. Just a feeling.”

Discreetly, Summer lifted her head, her nostrils flaring ever so slightly as she tried to scent in this busy room. “I don’t smell one.”

Swallowing, I licked my lips, my eyes unconsciously dropping to Summer’s mouth. If someone was watching us, following us, we needed to be subtle. Lure them out of here without their knowledge, get somewhere easier to confront them.

And we might not have long to do so.

Fuck it .

My hand went to the back of her head, and I brought my lips to hers. Swallowing down her soft gasp of surprise, she opened for me, leaning into me like this was where she belonged.

This kiss was intoxicating, just like our first, and I was lost to the heady sensation flowing through my veins. I simultaneously remembered why I’d made kissing off limits, and hated myself for denying us both.

Only that same prickling sense of being watched kept me focused, from pushing her into a dark corner where I could vanish us back to my apartment again.

My fangs descended and I let her feel them against her tongue, sending a shiver through her body. Nicking my own tongue with them, I pushed it into her mouth and groaned when she sucked.

She whimpered, clawing at my shirt as my blood hit her system, that same drunken haze taking over like it had in Boston. I pulled back, wiping the corner of my lips with my thumb and drawing my fangs back up.

Summer’s pupils were wide, rimmed in her wolf’s golden hue. She panted heavily, her face and chest flushed with the rush and arousal. Her eyes kept going to my lips, and it took all my restraint not to wrench her to me again and keep going.

My blood drove her wild, and I fucking loved it.

But we had a job to do here.

“Summer, focus. Scent.”

With a deep inhale, she closed her eyes for a moment. Her fingers still gripped my shirt, my hands still held her waist, but neither of us seemed capable of pulling away.

After a few beats, her eyes snapped open, her wolf’s gold fully replacing her usual hazel. Looping a hand around my neck, she pulled me down until her lips were at my ear. “We have company.”

I skimmed my hands up her waist, tightening my fingers like I had so many times this week. “Vampire?”

She arched her back, her chest pressing into mine deliciously as she nodded against my cheek.

My dick was hardening in my jeans, and I realized at some point I’d slid one thigh between Summer’s legs. Fuck.

Exhaling slowly, I forced myself to focus. One of us had to be lucid, and with Summer blood-drunk, that role fell to me. I gave her ponytail a quick tug — part of the ruse, I told myself, but it worked against me more than her as her soft gasp reached my ears — then dropped my hand to hers, leading her back towards the entrance.

Pushing through the crowd at the door, I leaned in close when we were a block or so away. “Still scent them?”

“Yes.”

I risked a glance over my shoulder at the crowded road, streetlights shining down except for.... There, to our left — a shadow, moving almost imperceptibly closer.

My blood boiled as I appraised the situation, coming up with a plan. Fucker thought they could sneak up on us? On me , another vampire? A growl built in my throat, and I pulled Summer into a dark alley a little harder than I intended.

She yelped, stumbling over the cobblestones in her high heels, but caught her balance quickly. Her eyes glittered as she grinned at me, lust clouding her gaze. “Do that shadow thing again so we don’t have to waste —”

Shadow caught the corner of my eye a second before it reached her. I shoved her behind me and called up my own shadow, reinforcing it with lightning. Wrapping it around the stalker, I shoved them against the wall with an audible oomph .

“What do you want?” I demanded, my hand firmly around their neck.

“Calm yer tits, Russo,” the vampire answered with a Scottish lilt.

I reared back, a wave of shock rolling through me that a vampire had used my real name, not Dante . I’d never met a Scottish vampire before, and certainly none that knew my real identity. Slamming him against the brick again, I snarled, “Who are you, and why are you following us?”

Before me, the vampire allowed their shadow to dissolve, revealing a male I’d never met, but who clearly thought he knew me.

He had slightly messy dark blond hair, and was dressed for a night out in Paris — his dark shirt unbuttoned just a little too far, tucked into crisp suit pants. He was big, almost my height but stockier, but I still had no doubt I could take him with my added angel powers.

Amused green eyes flicked between me and Summer, and the fucker tilted his head in some mockery of a bow. “If you’d kindly stop strangling me, we have some things to discuss, Massimo.”

I tightened my grip around his neck, my lips peeling back in a snarl, but he only laughed in my face, his fangs shining in the lamplight. “I asked you a question, and I don’t repeat myself.”

“Rhain Allaway, pleased to meet you. I’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.”