Page 8 of Love Bites (Timber Creek #2)

CHAPTER 8

MAX

Everything was loud.

I stared at the ceiling, the blackout curtains doing nothing to block out the sounds of the T, bell dinging and wheels screeching as the subway car turned. Car horns alternated in a chaotic rhythm with sirens and drunken passersby on the street below. Boston was alive even in the early hours of the morning, hours after Summer put her ear plugs in and fell asleep.

I’d never been much of a sleeper — blame the vampire genes, probably — but in the same room, same bed as Summer Larkin?

My head turned against my will, staring at her sleeping peacefully, hands under her face as she laid on her side facing me with a smile on her face, because of course she smiled even while unconscious. Her hair was tied up in a knot on the top of her head, but several tendrils had come loose, draping over the side of her face, only adding to the angelic look she had going on. The sheets draped over her body, but I saw the skimpy yellow pajama set she wore before she snuck under the covers, and the sight was seared into my mind.

And this pillow barrier was a joke. It did nothing to stop her intoxicating scent from reaching me, nothing to dull the beat of her heart, or the memory of how she’d refused to take no for an answer the day before.

She was a puzzle, one my mind refused to let go of until I could figure her out. I couldn’t decide if she was incredibly short-sighted and impulsive or the bravest woman I’d ever met, but the moment she’d met my glare with one of her own, I’d barely held myself back from pinning her against the wall and silencing her with a searing kiss.

Just the memory of it had my fangs descending, ready for a taste of her. I ran my tongue over them, willing them to recede. I’d just fed a few days ago, even if I hadn’t had time to fight or fuck the adrenaline out of me — I should have been fine.

But I wasn’t fine.

I was ravenous.

My fangs pricked my lower lip as I looked back up at the ceiling, the taste of my own blood doing nothing for me.

With a long sigh, I gave up on sleep even though it was only four in the morning. Slipping silently from the bed, careful not to wake Summer, I made my way to the shower. I just needed a few minutes respite from her sweet scent invading my nose, and I’d be able to think again.

Not waiting for the water to heat up, I stripped and stepped under the frigid water. Goosebumps raised on my skin as I tilted my head back, drawing shadows around me to clear my thoughts.

I still couldn’t wrap my brain around how exactly Summer had convinced me to bring her along and give this a try. One minute I just wanted to run the idea of testing her powers by her so I knew if there was any truth to the whole wolves-scenting-vampires thing, the next her arms were wrapped around my waist as I vanished us across the country.

The memory of our bodies pressed close together had my cock twitching as I washed up, and I gritted my teeth. I could not have an interest like that in Summer.

Summer was… good.

I had enough scars lacing my skin to tell the tale of the many dark deeds I’d done, both at my father’s will and on my own. There was no saving me, and I’d only poison someone like Summer, leeching her of any light she had inside her just like my shadows leeched the world of color.

Reminding her she was West’s little sister had pissed her off, and rightfully so, but the facts were the same — she was as off limits as they came for me romantically.

And my original plan was still in place. As business partners, we’d try to find this one den as a trial, and if it worked, I could find another wolf to find the rest of them. Summer would go back to her life, and we’d go back to passing acquaintances.

Simple.

After dressing, I ran a towel over my hair as I left the bathroom, doing my best to stay quiet. Steam billowed out of the doorway as I opened it, and I was nearly bowled over by a yellow blur on her way into the bathroom.

“Give me five minutes and we’re making this town our oyster!”

The door slammed, followed by the shower running again.

“I don’t think that’s the saying,” I muttered, but I doubted she heard me. She was already belting out song lyrics.

Fucking hell, she was naked in there now. I took a long, measured breath, which only served to fill my lungs with her lemony scent from the still-warm bed.

I gripped the dresser, letting my head fall between my arms as the wood creaked under my fingertips, and worked to keep my fangs from descending. Maybe I needed to feed again. Just to take the edge off.

“Almost done!” she called as the water turned off.

I sat on the edge of the bed to put my shoes on as I calculated the plan for the day. It was still early, but she was a baker, probably used to early mornings. We could scope out the city to get our bearings before the hunt began tonight when vampires were most likely to be active.

I was still trying to get my reaction to her under control when Summer emerged from the bathroom.

“What are you thinking for breakfast? Because, damn, could I eat after all that travel. Is it also called flickering, or do you have your own name for it? Should traveling like that be tiring? Well, it was, or maybe I forgot to eat last night, or maybe it’s jetlag? I’ve never had jetlag before.” Summer paused, clipping on her crossbody bag, and tilted her head at me. “Do you eat breakfast? Beyond croissants, I mean. Oh, crap — do you need blood? I have no idea —”

I stood, trying not to grin at what was clearly her sightseeing ensemble. White sneakers, those figure-hugging jeans again, and a breezy pink Hawaiian shirt.

“Breathe. It’s called vanishing for vampires. And no, I don’t need blood.” Yes, I do . Yours. “But breakfast sounds good.”

“Awesome!” Summer grinned. “Okay, so while I was waiting for you to finish up your beauty routine, I found these two restaurants that look amazing and are already open. One is just down the street, and the other one is downtown but it’s right next to the Public Gardens, which I really want to check out while we’re here, and then maybe we can do part of the Freedom Trail — not all of it, maybe just over to Faneuil Hall, unless you want to keep going — so if you don’t mind —”

When the hell had she researched all this? “Gardens it is.”

Summer fist-pumped the air. “Ducklings, here we come!”

I furrowed my brow as I followed her out of the room, closing the door behind us and heading for the elevator. “Ducklings?”

Summer’s eyes met mine in the elevator’s reflective doors. “ Make Way For Ducklings ?” She raised her eyebrows significantly, then frowned. “Did you not read that one as a kid?”

“Apparently not.”

“Probably wasn’t written yet, right?” She smirked.

“Oh, she’s got jokes today.”

Her fist half-heartedly met my shoulder, but the little touch was enough to remind me how badly I wanted to taste her.

We stepped onto the elevator and I hit the button for the ground floor. “Have you really not been to Boston before?”

“Nope. But I can Google like the best of them.”

The elevator dinged, and Summer waltzed out, pulling oversized heart-shaped sunglasses from her bag and sliding them on.

“Keep up, Maximus. I’m on a mission.”

“So you don’t need blood everyday like food.”

“Nope.”

“And your fangs obviously retract.”

I sipped my black coffee while Summer lobbed question after question at me between bites of her fresh berry French toast, topped with a mountain of whipped cream. We sat at a café on the edge of the Public Gardens, tourists and traffic bustling all around us.

“Obviously.”

“And you don’t turn into a bat or sleep in a coffin. Garlic?” she asked while wiping a stray bit of whipped cream from her chin with her thumb, then licked it off. My fangs tingled, but I didn’t look away, enraptured by her unintentional erotic display.

“Great with butter.”

“I saw your reflection in the elevator.”

“Very astute.”

“What about the whole blood lust thing?”

“Some vampires do experience something like the blood madness you’re probably picturing, but it’s more common in Turned than Natural vampires.”

“So you’ve never experienced it?”

“Blood madness?” I scoffed. “No.”

“Because you’re half?”

“Because” — I furrowed my brow — “because I’m half, and I manage my blood requirements well, and I’m not an irresponsible, impulsive delinquent.”

Summer hummed, taking a sip of her orange juice. “What about the other blood lust?”

“What do you mean?”

Her brows shot up as she leaned closer, lowering her voice. “You know. Like, feeding during sex?”

I blinked.

“It’s always this life-changing orgasmic experience in the books.”

The damn books again. Fuck, was it getting hot here? I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Aw, you’re uncomfortable. That’s adorable. Okay, moving on. What about wolf bites?”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Talking about feeding during sex was the last thing I wanted to be doing when I needed to keep Summer firmly in the friend zone. No, not even the friend zone. The business-partnership-acquaintance zone.

“I imagine a good bite would be painful, no matter the species.”

“But you don’t know if it kills or poisons a vampire?”

I shook my head.

She narrowed her eyes, swirling the last of her French toast in the whipped cream. “Maxwell, I’m beginning to think you don’t know much more about vampires than I do.”

I chose not to respond to that, her observation hitting a little too close to the truth for my liking.

Sightseeing with Summer was like getting a history lecture from a golden retriever puppy hopped up on cocaine. She walked backwards, arms wide as she gushed out endless facts I still couldn’t figure out when she’d had time to research, much less memorize, the brightest smile on her face.

I followed her through the Boston Public Gardens, listening as she told me about every fresh bloom that lined the walkways, then posed for a picture next to the George Washington statue. Giving him the finger.

“Did you know this was the first public botanical garden in the United States?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but she gasped so loud I turned around. Summer was pointing excitedly towards a row of duck statues.

“Get my picture like I’m one of the ducklings!” She threw her phone at me then crept up behind the ducks, squatting down and wiggling her butt. My thumb hesitated on the camera button, my heart doing a weird fluttering thing. I didn’t know if I’d ever seen anyone as vibrant and full of life as Summer, and it was hard to look away.

I cleared my throat, took the picture, and held the phone back out to her. She took it, stared at the picture with a bright smile, and laughed. “This is perfect. Remind me to send this to my dad later, I’ll definitely forget.”

I nodded, shoving my hands deep in my pockets as I followed her.

“So” — she spun around, walking backwards again — “what’s up with the shadows thing? Is it like a glamour? That’s the only thing I can think of to relate it to. You don’t actually disappear, just hiding in plain sight. So you’re just manipulating the light around you, right?”

“Close enough.”

“Ohmygosh the swan boats! C’mon, we’re riding one —”

And that was how I found myself amongst a sea of tourists on a swan boat , of all things, while my lemon Italian Ice — the correct flavor, both for authenticity and also because I had lemon on the mind — melted in my hand.

“Smile!”

Summer snapped the photo before I could even register what she was doing.

I glared at her. “Absolutely not. Delete that.”

“Hm.” She pursed her lips. “No way, I look fantastic. Also, you do show up in photos.”

“Clearly.” With a snap of my magic, her phone was in my hand.

Her eyes widened, looking pointedly at the humans around us on the clear spring day. But they were too busy sightseeing to have noticed anything, and besides, we were relatively hidden in our seats.

“Do not delete that photo.”

I rolled my eyes, but settled for cropping myself out of it, then passed her phone back. “Try that again and I’m keeping your phone until we’re back in Colorado.”

Summer snorted, grabbed my Italian Ice, and took a large spoonful for herself. “Sure. See where ultimatums get you, tough guy. Need I remind you — three older brothers? You will rue the day you put your foot down.”

The rest of the day was a whirlwind of Boston facts, snacks, and alternating sun and drizzle as we explored the city, fruitlessly searching for any hint of vampires. Even Summer’s usually smooth, shiny hair was adorably fluffed up and frizzy by the time we made it back to the hotel after dinner.

Scratch that. Not adorably. Just, frizzy.

While Summer took a power nap before our evening plans, I slipped out onto the balcony. Cars zipped by as the sun lowered behind the buildings around us, casting the world in a pink hazy glow. At least outside, the distinctly urban scent washed away all hints of Summer from my nose, replaced by exhaust fumes, stale beer, and trash, a far cry from the clean mountain air of Timber Creek.

Switching my focus, I pulled out my phone to read through missed messages from the day, scowling at the last email from the Council.

Krista, a witch I’d had an unfortunate, on-again, off-again situationship with and who’d been involved in the Black Rose Coven takedown a few months ago, had finally been sentenced.

Two years in the Iron Keep for her part in the kidnapping and imprisonment of shifter kids just like Hailey. I gritted my teeth. It wasn’t nearly enough for what she’d been involved with, but I wasn’t the most impartial when it came to my cheating ex-girlfriend.

When the sliding balcony door cracked open, all thoughts of Krista vanished as I looked up from my phone.

“Okay, admittedly — and this isn’t a flex, just a fact — my boobs are bigger than Aspen’s, but honestly the fact she even owns anything like this is mind-boggling.” Summer stepped out onto the balcony, wrestling with the top of the sleek, skin-tight black mini dress she wore.

I nearly choked on my tongue as I stared at the dark fabric highlighting every single one of her curves, and that stopped far too high up her toned thighs.

Thighs I suddenly pictured wrapped around my waist. Or my head. Both, in turns, if possible.

“What is it?” Summer glanced from me, ogling her, to her dress, and smoothed it down. “Is there a stain or something I missed?”

“No.” My voice was pure gravel, but I was too busy fighting my adrenaline and my fangs to care. I met her eyes, my hand raising of its own accord, reaching out to her. Drawn to her, unable to resist the pull between us. She took it, her palm so much smaller, warmer than my own, and I raised both our arms.

On instinct, she twirled with the motion, giving me a 360 view.

Perfection.

Her self-conscious giggle snapped me out of it, and I dropped her hand unceremoniously, stepping back. Away .

“Okay,” she said, laughing again. “Are you changing? I just have to put my shoes on.”

She lifted the sexy black heels she’d been holding in her other hand.

Fuck me. We needed to get out of this room. Needed… other people. Buffers.

“If you’re finally done powdering your nose, let’s get out of here.” I gestured back into the room, closing the sliding door behind us.

This might have been a huge mistake.

“I love this song! And the lights!” Summer grinned in the middle of the dance floor, bouncing and swaying to the music. “A+ to my first club!”

I couldn’t stop the corner of my mouth twitching as I put a hand between her shoulders, gently guiding her over to the bar. I needed a drink.

“How is this possibly your first club? You’re — what, twenty-eight?”

“Twenty-nine, for another month at least. My parents were kinda literal with the Summer thing. And what part of Timber Creek screams club scene to you?”

I chuckled. She had me there.

“How old are you, by the way?”

I tried to flag down the bartender, but they didn’t even glance our way. “Older than you.”

“Aw, c’mon. Angels are like, ageless, right? So what, are you forty? Two hundred? Give me something. And don’t worry, I won’t make fun of you. My best friend Indi is ancient.”

She waved at the bartender, golden-brown loose curls sliding over her shoulder as she leaned over the counter. Of course, he saw her immediately and hustled right over. Figured.

“I’ll have a mojito, and he’ll have an old fashioned.”

I raised a brow, but said nothing, remembering the drink I’d had on the balcony earlier and her ability to scent out what I’d last eaten in Timber Creek. No matter how much my attraction to her made this complicated, I’d chosen one hell of a wolf to accompany me.

Summer waved a hand to encompass my entire being. “Am I wrong? But c’mon — age, now. Or I’m drinking yours too and I won’t even like it.”

Sighing, I leaned an elbow on the counter, turning towards her. She mirrored my pose, and the rest of the bar seemed to fade away, the two of us in our own little world as our gazes met.

“A hundred and twenty-five.”

Hazel eyes searched mine for a minute, then Summer patted my arm. “Aw, you’re a century baby. Were your parents all, new century, new life ?”

Our drinks arrived, saving me from delving into that, and I took a long sip.

“Back to work, wolf. You dilly-dallied all day. Any senses going off detecting vampires nearby?”

Summer hummed, leaning back against the bar to survey the room full of writhing bodies and flashing lights. How she could smell anything aside from sweaty bodies and alcohol in here was beyond me. “So far, the only vamp I sense is you, buddy.”

I nodded, not having expected anything else. “Are you still willing to try it — with my blood?”

Tapping and swaying to the beat without seeming to realize it, Summer held out her glass. “Spike me up.”

Scowling at the mere suggestion of doing such a thing as sharing blood in public, I grabbed her wrist, tugging her out of the main room.

The hallway to the bathrooms was already occupied; the couple grinding up on each other didn’t even look over as we passed through.

At the end of the hallway, we found a storage room, and I closed the door behind us as Summer flicked on the lights.

“How do we do this? Couple drops in my drink, or do I just give you a good chomp?”

I eyed her. “You’re so nonchalant about this, I don’t think you fully understand the implications of blood sharing with a vampire.”

Summer threw her hands up. “Look, we came all this way. You need to find dens. I’m willing to try this. Now I think you’re just procrastinating.”

She was right, I was. Everyone I’d ever bitten had no memory of it, essential to keep my persona as the Dark Angel intact. It’s not like I could just bite a girlfriend without explaining my fangs.

And the truth was, I’d never allowed anyone to taste my blood. Yes, I’d fed from others, so maybe that was hypocritical of me. But allowing someone else to taste me like that required an amount of trust, of vulnerability, that I’d never had.

I was aware that this was just a few drops of blood. Summer was hardly going to drain me dry. But if a few drops might allow her to find a whole den, what would it mean for us?

At the very least, any vampire we encountered in the next few days before the effects wore off would know she’d had my blood, and there was no ring on her finger to brand her as mine.

Would her family be able to sense it?

Would it give her an increased ability to sense me ?

I realized I was tapping my fingers against my leg and made a conscious effort to still them. Why had I spent so long running from my vampire heritage, instead of trying to learn everything about it that I could? Why hadn’t I paid more attention to the few vampire interactions I’d had to know more about all of this?

But she was right. We were here, and we had to try it.

One thing I did know was that blood sharing could get — well, heated .

“Okay,” I said, trying to psych myself into it, then internally rolled my eyes at myself. I was acting like some virgin bride on her wedding night. “Couple drops. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Summer waited expectantly, clueless to my inner turmoil.

Keeping my eyes on her, I let my fangs drop, and bit into my thumb.

I held out my hand to drop it into her cup, but she must have misinterpreted my motion. The next thing I knew, Summer’s soft lips had closed around my thumb and I had to fight my knees from buckling.

“Oh, fuck —”

She sucked .