Billionaires and Bodybags

by Keira Blackwood

  I could’ve spent all day like this, simply being with her, listening to her little murmurs and comments as she took in the natural world around us. But real life barged in to smash paradise, as often happened.

  And paradise wouldn’t be quite so precious without real life to temper it, I supposed.

  We wandered back to where I’d left my clothes, and I shifted into my human form again, feeling the stretching and crackling of muscles and bones as they rearranged.

  “Does it hurt?” Marla asked. “It seems like it would be painful.”

  I tugged on my pants. “It doesn’t feel good, but it isn’t agony. I’m used to it.”

  Marla was watching me, her focus moving from my face and over my chest and abs. She smelled like desire, and I flashed back to our time in that alley, when she’d been in my arms, her skin smooth against my hands.

  I had to kiss her. Here. In the clean, cold forest.

  Bending toward her, I waited to see if she’d step back, if she’d shut me down. But instead, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine.

  Yes, I thought. This was everything.

  Marla tasted sweet, like cherries, and I opened my mouth and touched her lips with my tongue. She parted her lips, allowing me in, and then the kiss deepened. Heat. Passion. Desire. Need. My inner wolf was howling, celebrating the rightness of this kiss.

  Not enough time had passed, but Marla stepped back. I wanted to reach for her again, haul her against me, and then maybe drag her up to my room at the B&B for some more kissing. Preferably without our clothes on.

  Her eyes blazed as she looked up at me. “I—I have to go. Work. I have to go to work.”

  I nodded. “You do that. I’ll meet you there at sunset, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She spun to go, but I grabbed her wrist and tugged her against me for one more kiss. She melted against me and kissed me back. This time, I pulled away with a soft smacking of our lips.

  “See you soon,” I said.

  The sun was just setting as I reached the door to Forbidden Fangs. A guy with bleach-blond hair knocked into my shoulder, leaving the parlor as I opened the door. His scent was human, and his expression was unapologetic. It was a dick move, but nothing could get my mood down. Especially not when Marla was smiling at me from behind the counter. She had on a pair of jeans and a black V-neck top that gave me a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage.

  “How was the rest of your afternoon?” she asked.

  “Good. I took a long nap.” I’d also gathered a few things that might be able to help protect her, but I didn’t know what we’d need, so I didn’t mention it yet. It had been tempting to spend the entire four hours jerking off to thoughts of Marla, but I knew I needed rest if I was going to be her bodyguard until sunrise, so I had slept.

  Which meant my dick twitched a hello at the very sight of Marla.

  She reached under the counter and came back up with a rag and a spray bottle of what smelled like cleaning solution. I wrinkled my nose.

  “Yeah, I know,” she said. “It’s the worst, but it’s regulation.”

  Before she started spraying, I said, “I had some ideas for traps and stuff to guard the building. And Cordelia’s coming by in a few minutes.”

  “She is?” Marla asked.

  I held up my phone. “She texted us both, didn’t you get it?”

  “I haven’t checked.” She reached into her shirt and pulled her phone out from between her breasts. Looking at the screen, she said, “Yeah, there it is. Ooh, magical protection. Sounds fancy.”

  “Indeed. Do you mind if I set some things up out in the alley?”

  “Go for it.” She grinned at me, flashing those fangs. I knew the fangs meant she was a predator, and dangerous, yet I couldn’t help but think of how cute she was. And I couldn’t help but think about how much I wanted to kiss her again.

  With a spring in my step, I went back out to the street to gather supplies from the trunk of my car. I had to shove a bunch of stuffed animals out of the way—a growing collection I was gathering for my nephew, Baylor. Just as I hauled out a bear trap, an older couple walked past.

  “Go get her, tiger,” the woman said.

  I looked from her to the bear trap in my hands. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re a shifter,” she said. “I assume you’ve fallen in love with a bear shifter and you’re trying to snag her. Or him, I suppose.”

  The gentleman with her tried to nudge her along. “Come on, Estelle, not everyone traps their mates like you did to me.”

  “I had to get your attention somehow,” she muttered.

  They walked away slowly, arm in arm, and I looked up and down the sidewalk to make sure no one else would show up to comment on my bear trap. I’d found it in a junk pile about a mile away from the B&B. When I’d mentioned needing some traps or other weapons to keep Marla safe, Daphne had been full of ideas, most of them involving fire and flamethrowers. Then she’d talked about the pile of old things from the B&B’s basement that she’d hauled out of sight until Declan could drive them to the Forbidden scrap yard. She’d mentioned some truly alarming pieces of equipment, and when I’d seen the pile, I knew what she had been talking about. The 1940s and 1950s had not been kind to the mentally ill.

  And I didn’t even want to know what the bear trap had been for. I glanced down at the rusted edges. Hmm. Maybe Estelle had used one just like it on her mate.

  I grabbed the thick mat that protected the trunk’s interior from spills and scrapes and wrapped it around the trap. The sidewalk was fairly empty, but I didn’t want more curious people asking me what I was up to.

  Marla was still busy wiping down her work station as I headed through the parlor. She looked up and gave me a bright smile. I’d definitely made the right call in offering to protect her. If my multibillion-dollar business ever failed, maybe I could make a career out of being a bodyguard.

  I’d only want to protect Marla, though.

  I continued out the back door and surveyed the narrow alley between Marla’s building and the one behind it. Not a lot of room to work with, and I needed to make sure nobody else came out here and got hurt. Luckily, I’d thought of that already, and I would get some “danger” signs and cones from the back of my car next. Those, I’d picked up at Forbidden Hardware. A cougar shifter named Caleb had helped me with the purchase.

  There was a low step beneath Marla’s back door, and shadows to the side of it. I walked around the alley, evaluating it as if I were hoping to break in. I would probably come at it from the right. There was a perfect spot next to the door. Someone going in would have to step there as the door swung open. Satisfied with my choice, I pulled the bear trap from the mat and set it up. Then I covered it with the mat again.

  Perfect. It looked like a discarded floor mat, folded up and waiting to be taken to the dumpster at the wide end of the alley.

  Footsteps alerted me to someone else’s presence, and I turned. The witch from the B&B, Cordelia, gave me a little wave.

  “Hey,” she said, “I thought I’d set up some perimeter spells.”

  “Thanks. I’ll get inside so I’m out of your way.” I pointed to the concealed trap. “Don’t step there.”

  “Got it.”

  I hurried back through the parlor, out to my car, and opened the trunk for the danger signs and cones. Marla’s eyebrows rose as I carried them back through the parlor again.

  I paused. “I don’t want an innocent to get hurt. I figure a vampire lackey would ignore signs like these.”

  “Yes, they definitely would,” Marla said with a grim smile. “Good thinking.”

  I carefully opened the back door. Cordelia was sitting at one end of the alley, cross-legged and muttering over a sizzling spot on the ground. While I watched, she put an eyedropper into a jar, pulled it out, and put a drop of liquid onto the same spot. It sizzled again, and she continued muttering.

  Not wanting to disturb her process, I dropped the cones and signs around t
he low step by the door, then hurried back inside to Marla.

  “All set?” she asked.

  “All set. Well, Cordelia’s still working.”

  “Great.” She put away the cleaning fluid, her movements fast yet graceful. Now that it was dark, she seemed even more predatory than before.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “Yep.”

  I looked at her. “That didn’t sound convincing at all.”

  “I’m a little hangry, that’s all,” she said. “That last client pissed me off and made me bloodlustier than usual.”

  “Do we need to go to The Watering Hole?” I asked. I hated the idea of her drinking from some random stranger—and maybe worse, flirting with him beforehand. But I also knew that she had to feed herself at some point.

  “No, I want to stay in tonight,” she said. “I just have a bad feeling, and I can go a night without blood, if I have to.”

  “Don’t you have any extra bags or anything?” I asked.

  “Like from the hospital?” she said. “Like the stuff they have on hand for humans who are sick or injured?”

  “Um…” I didn’t like the way her turquoise eyes were flashing in indignation.

  “Because my undead life is more important than theirs? I don’t think so.”

  To me, yeah, her undead life was more important than theirs. But I had the feeling that saying so would lose me points with her, and fast.

  Instead, I held my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, I never thought of it like that. It makes sense. And if you can go without, okay. I just don’t want you to be too weak to help protect yourself if it comes to that.”

  Her expression softened. “Thanks for understanding. Kelly would tell me to steal from the hospital supply—she’s practical like that.”

  Kelly was the one who’d called to warn her about the danger that was coming. I’d overhead their phone conversation in the bar. If I had to guess, Kelly was one of Marla’s vampire sisters.

  “She’d remind me they could do more blood drives to replenish,” Marla said. “But I don’t want to be the reason they’re low on blood for even a day or two.”

  Marla—the thoughtful, compassionate vampire. I knew I was attracted to her body and her mind, but now I was getting more glimpses into her heart.

  I reached for her, and she stepped into my embrace. She pressed her body against the front of mine and a pulse of lust rocked through me at the feeling of her curves. Tugging her tighter, I leaned down to touch my lips to hers.

  Just then, the front door of the shop opened, and someone cleared her throat.

  I looked up to see Cordelia giving us a knowing smirk.

  “Hey guys,” she said. “I wanted to run through the alarm system I set up.”

  “Great,” Marla said, letting me go and taking a few steps back.

  I didn’t like the distance between us. I wanted to close it.

  “So first of all, there’s an alert system up front,” Cordelia said. “Anyone comes by and even pauses along the front of the shop, you’ll hear it.”

  “Hear what, exactly?” I asked.

  Cordelia pointed to a clock on the wall that I hadn’t noticed before. It was one of those old cat clocks with the swiveling eyes. “The clock will start wailing. Trust me, you won’t be able to ignore it. It’ll also go off if someone tries to get in from the back. To turn off the alarm, poke its nose.”

  “Awesome,” Marla said.

  As Marla moved toward the clock, a low growling sound came from somewhere in the building.

  “What the hell is that?” Cordelia asked.

  “His Lordship,” Marla said, her voice unconcerned.

  “His Lordship?” Cordelia repeated, looking at me.

  “A devil cat,” I explained. “Picture hell in black, matted fur.”

  Cordelia nodded like this made perfect sense. “Well, on that note, I’m going to head out. You know where to find me if you need anything.”

  Marla nodded and walked her to the front door. “Thanks so much.”

  I said my goodbye and followed the strange sounds to a set of stairs. At the top, the “cat” stood staring at me. His golden eyes seemed to glow in the dark hall. He lifted a paw, showing off his dagger-like talons, before running his sandpaper tongue slowly down to each point. He never blinked, and his gaze remained fixed on me. It was unnerving, like watching a serial killer sharpen his blades.

  “Hey.” Marla grabbed my arm, startling me. She said, “I want to check out the alarm stuff.”

  I nodded. “Sure, let’s go.”

  As her fingers slipped from my bicep, I could still feel the ghost of her touch. I followed her to the back door.

  Just as Marla opened the back door to step outside, I realized my mistake.

  “Wait—Marla!”

  There was a loud snap of metal. Marla shrieked in pain.

  I was at her side in an instant and looking at her leg, which was crushed in the steel bear trap. The denim covering her calm was stained deep red, and the metallic scent of blood filled the air.

  Shit. Fuck. Shitfuck. Her blue eyes showed pain, and it wrenched something in my chest.

  “It’s going to be okay,” I said, as much for myself as for her.

  Fingers trembling, I tested for somewhere to grip. If I got it wrong, the trap could snap back and make it worse. Fixing my fingers between the trap’s metal teeth, I looked at Marla’s pale and cringing face. “Ready?”

  She nodded emphatically and turned her head so as not to watch.

  I pried the trap open, and she pulled her leg out. The bleeding was worse than before, but I carried her inside and found her a towel to press against the wound.

  In the relief that she was free, I had the craziest thought.

  Estelle would be proud—I’d caught myself a potential mate.

  But putting a towel around her leg wasn’t going to heal her.

  “I’m going to have to look at that,” I told her.

  She pulled her leg away defensively. “It’s broken. No big deal. “I’ll be jumping and dancing again in two or three days.”

  I looked at her. There was something she wasn’t telling me.

  “You don’t heal as fast as shifters?” I asked. “Is that a vampire thing, or a you thing, or…?” I raised my eyebrows, waiting for her answer.

  She sighed. “I’d heal faster with blood. But I’ll also heal without it, and still faster than a human. Okay?”

  “Cool,” I said, unbuttoning the top button of my shirt and tugging down my collar. “You can have some of this blood right here.”

  “No.” She shook her head and backed away, limping.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want to drink from you.”

  I grinned. “You think I’ll taste bad?”

  “No, of course not. You’d taste...wonderful.” Her eyes were dilated, pupils completely blown out. This was what Marla looked like when she was hungry.

  “I’m offering some of my blood freely, to heal you. Take it.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head and closing her eyes. “I made rules.”

  I couldn’t believe her stubborn streak.

  “Some rules,” I said, “were meant to be broken.”

  She turned and started walking away, hobbling on her good leg. “Not this rule. I’ll heal.”

  “Yeah, eventually.” I caught up to her and spun her to face me. “Marla, take this. I’m offering it.”

  Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted. Without another word, she lunged for my neck with her mouth and locked her hands on my shoulders. Twin pricks of pain bloomed as her teeth sliced into my neck.

  “Marla,” I moaned, holding her close. This hurt, but it also felt good.

  Her body was supple and flush against mine. The pain in my neck faded to nothing as she drank from me. My cock hardened and I pressed it against her, backing her to the wall. She might control how she took blood, but I wouldn’t be a passive food source.<
br />
  As she fed, healing, I ran my hands through her hair, over her shoulders, and cradled her to me like she was the most precious person in the world...because, I was starting to realize, she was the most precious person in the world.

  7

  Marla

  I didn’t think I’d share the general vampire sentiment about sunrise. I’d thought the charm on my wrist would make me immune to the sadness that came along with knowing the night was about to come to an end.

  But after spending hours with Grayson, and the way he’d been just the right amount of rough as I drank from his neck, and he’d held me so tenderly after, I hated to say goodbye.

  Grayson and I sat side-by-side in my shop, in two of the hard plastic waiting chairs, watching the sunrise through the big picture window. The darkness faded from behind the treetops, and our time slipped away. I thought it would be nice to have someone watch my back, but I never imagined feeling happy in his company.

  I could still taste him on my lips, and that sensation would stay with me long after he left. I had been ready to take things further, even with my injuries. But my take charge shifter alpha went all protective caregiver on me. He’d been packing a hard-on for the ages, and the way he’d looked at me—he’d wanted me as much as I’d wanted him.

  He pressed his thigh against mine and squeezed my knee in his palm. “It looks like it’s time for me to go.”

  “I guess so,” I said. “I need to sleep before work. If I don’t, I get cranky.”

  “Cranky and vampire sounds like a dangerous combination,” he said in a playful tone. “I better go before I face your wrath.”

  “Damage is done. I already bit you,” I said. “You’re forever tied to me and my wrath.”

  His expression became way too serious for our goodbye. If my heart had been beating, it would have skipped when he looked at me like that, like we should spend the day wrapped up in each other and let the world be damned.

  I rose from my seat so I wouldn’t succumb to the temptation to kiss him. I stretched my arms and turned my back to him, like there was something incredibly interesting on my desk that I had to look at. Truth be told, my calendar was mostly empty, and I already knew when my clients would be in.