Page 26 of Road Trip with a Vampire

Doing my magic in here would probably be my best bet. This resort was crawling with people. Finding any other secluded spot where I could do my magic undetected probably wasn’t happening.

When I walked back into the living area, Peter was standing in front of the large window, looking down.

Our view—a fourteenth-floor lookout onto a large parking structure and the fields beyond it—was the only downside to this hotel I’d seen so far.

Given our location, the hotel was probably doing the best it could with what it had.

“I’m…um, going exploring,” Peter said. The way he wouldn’t meet my eyes probably meant that exploring was his code for feeding.

“I’ll see you later?” His tone was as close to casual as Peter got, but I could tell by the way he couldn’t stop fidgeting with his key card that he was invested in my answer.

He was nervous. But why? I didn’t let myself consider it.

“I’ll see you later,” I agreed, though I wasn’t certain what I was agreeing to.

Right then, though, it didn’t matter. Now that the novelty of checking into a resort in the middle of nowhere had worn off, my hands were beginning to shake.

I needed to conduct another experiment, and soon.

“It might be a while before I’m ready to hang out. I have…things to take care of first.”

Peter nodded, understanding what I wasn’t saying. “Text me when you’re finished?” he asked hopefully.

“Sure.”

Peter lingered another moment at the window, the fading light from the setting sun bathing half his face in shadow. “Bye for now,” he said before striding from the room.

I hadn’t realized how gross staying in that cheap motel, then driving all day, had made me feel until I slid into the elegant bathtub, lathered up with the little lavender soaps, and scrubbed the travel grime off.

Heaven. Time floated away as I luxuriated in the warm, soapy water. Maybe visiting the hotel’s spa wasn’t even necessary. This, right here, was all I needed. Why didn’t every bathroom have a tub like this? My mind was made up; I was installing one as soon as I got home.

I couldn’t fully enjoy myself, though. Even as I soaked in the blissfully warm water, the tension simmering in my bloodstream was ratcheting up, reminding me it was time to get to work.

I reluctantly sat up in the bathtub and closed my eyes, directing my attention inward to the place deep inside where my power eddied and pooled. I grabbed up a big handful of it, yelping in surprise to find it was hot to the touch. Nearly scalding.

That wasn’t good. If I wanted to find equilibrium and determine the minimum amount of magic I could safely get away with using without causing discomfort or risk starting another accidental fire, I clearly needed to go bigger than I had the night before.

My power buzzed insistently through my bloodstream as I gently but purposefully dipped my hands beneath the water, then raised them up again above my head.

Magic poured out through my fingertips as half of the water in the bathtub shot up, up, up into the air.

I sat there, shivering a little, as I played, parting the water into three separate streams and braiding it in the air.

Each tiny movement of my fingertips moved the water, caused it to ripple and roil, and eased more of the tension I now realized had been building up inside me all day.

It was like the first sip of ice-cold lemonade on a blazing-hot day. Like finally allowing myself to breathe again after holding my breath a few seconds too long. The physical relief I felt was so acute I actually sighed.

I felt good.

No, not simply good.

I felt like myself .

After what might have been five minutes—ten minutes, an hour—and with slow, careful movements so that the bathroom wouldn’t get drenched, I let the water slide back down into the tub like a lazy waterfall.

I sighed and did a full-body stretch in the still-warm water, letting my head loll against the edge of the clawfoot tub.

Another successful experiment. And still no urge to run off into the night and join a vampire circus.

As I dried off from my bath in the most luxurious towel I’d used in years, my mind drifted to Peter.

When I’d explained the general shape of my problems, he had only listened, wanting to know more.

Maybe letting him in on some of what had happened in my past would be all right.

He had been nothing but open and vulnerable with me about his situation; I had no reason to think he would judge me if he knew about mine.

Perhaps he’d even think some of what I could do with my magic was impressive. The thought of impressing him made my stomach do a weird sort of flip it hadn’t done in over a century.

No time to analyze that , though. I wanted to grab dinner before the hotel restaurants closed. They would likely be the best offerings for miles, so after quickly dressing in a clean T-shirt and a pair of jeans I made my way downstairs.

There were multiple places to choose from, but most seemed fancier than what I was in the mood for. I opted for the relatively casual bar, even though it was crowded with what looked like drunken wedding guests who’d somehow escaped the festivities.

I eased my way through the crowd until I found a small table in the back.

The menu was simple, but it did have the fries I was suddenly craving, so it was good enough for me.

As I waited for a server to take my order, I amused myself by watching an especially drunk guy try to impress a young woman with how quickly he could undo and then redo his bow tie.

She was hardly paying him any attention.

“You can do better, honey,” I muttered under my breath. She seemed to think the same thing, abandoning him a moment later to join people at another table.

The server who approached ten minutes later looked so frazzled and overwhelmed I couldn’t help but wonder whether this bar wasn’t usually this crowded.

“I’m Sadie,” she said, plunking a glass down on the table so quickly the water inside sloshed against the rim. “What can I get you?”

“I’ll have a veggie burger and fries.” I leafed through the beer menu. “And a Sierra Nevada.”

“Anything else?”

“A Diet Coke for me.”

I looked up, and there was Peter, standing by the table in a place he hadn’t been mere seconds ago. His pupils were so fat they nearly swallowed up his dark irises. He wore the satisfied, half-drunk expression of a vampire who’d just had his fill.

And the way he smelled…

Peter had clearly just eaten, but he must have forgotten to shut off the potent pheromones vampires utilized to entice their meals. In that moment, he oozed seduction.

I tore my eyes from his with difficulty, trying to ignore the way my heart was pounding, trying to focus on our server.

She was openly gaping at him, her eyes glazing over.

“Yes,” I managed. “A Diet Coke for my… friend , please.”

Peter took the seat opposite mine without waiting for an invitation. I dug my fingernails into my palms to stay grounded, but even still, I found myself leaning closer to him. Unable to resist the way his scent dug its claws into me and wouldn’t let go.

All at once, lurid images began flashing behind my eyelids. Peter laying me down on a bed. Me hastily peeling off my clothes and presenting my body to him like an offering.

His large, capable hands, positioning me exactly the way he wanted me. One hand wrapping around his cock before he entered me in one fluid movement.

“Thank you, Sadie,” Peter said to our server, unaware of the horny crisis I was having.

If I was reacting to him this way, knowing exactly what was happening, I could only imagine what poor Sadie was going through.

He turned his back on her, signaling to her louder than words could have that their conversation was over.

“You’re welcome, sir,” she said, but she was still staring at him, awestruck. Then she hurried off to the kitchen, throwing backwards glances in our direction the whole time.

When she left, Peter turned his attention to the bar menu.

I rounded on him. “You need to be more careful.”

“More careful about what?” He frowned. “I wasn’t spotted while I was hunting.”

“I wasn’t talking about that, though I’m glad to hear you were discreet.” I inclined my head in the direction our server had just gone. “That vampire thing you’re doing right now. The pheromones. Shut it off.”

Peter blinked at me in confusion before understanding dawned. “Oh. Shit.” He set the menu to the side and had the audacity to look sheepish. “Sorry. I forget to turn it off sometimes.”

“I noticed.” I shook my head to try and clear it. “That poor girl had no idea what just happened. One minute she was just doing her job, the next she wanted to peel off her clothes and sit in your lap.”

Peter regarded me. “Is mind reading one of your powers?”

His question caught me by surprise. “No. Why?”

“Then how do you know what she was thinking?”

My eyes widened. I’d said too much.

“I…” I licked my lips, not missing the way Peter’s eyes darkened as he tracked the movement of my tongue. Fuck. “It was…just a guess?” I grabbed the menu and flipped through the pages at random just to hide my face.

Peter gently tugged the menu from my hands and set it on the table beside him. The bar around us had grown noisier as more people from the wedding filed in. I could barely hear them over the roaring in my ears.

“Is that what my scent does to you ?” He leaned in closer until I was all but bathing in the heady cocktail of sex and desire pouring off him.

Despite my earlier admonition, his vampire beacon still blazed like a lighthouse at dawn.

Damn him. “Does it make you want to take off your clothes? Sit in my lap?” He tilted his head a little to the side, dark eyes fixed on the side of my neck. “Offer yourself to me?”

He was looking straight through me. Wetness was already pooling between my thighs. No, no, no . This was not happening.