Fighting, killing, hunting, and sex seemed to be the norm among her current species. Violence seemed to fulfill their need to feel alive in some way. She understood the drive. Because of her gift, she still retained a tiny bit of human, and it somehow helped her avoid succumbing completely to vampire norms.
Pouring her time and concentration into her responsibilities to Arthur’s corporation helped. Her photography gave her a more creative outlet.
Her few romantic relationships over the years hadn’t worked for long. With immortality came restlessness, and the males were seldom satisfied. There was so much more out there, and an eternity in which to enjoy it. What might have lasted a lifetime, had they been human, always ended up being a short-term affair, and left her feeling rejected and hurt, but also less than what she was. Romance wasn’t worth it.
But her attraction to this male sitting beside her was hard to ignore. He smelled of some light cologne and him, an earthy, masculine scent she wanted to breathe in and savor. He had a focus and strength she was drawn to. Like Arthur’s.
But she couldn’t encourage him or let herself to fall into something when she might have so little time left. If she survived, maybe then she could pursue this. Once she wasn’t married anymore.
And that led her right back to her situation with Trevor. Rage, bone deep and hot as hellfire, scorched through her. Bottom line, his attempt to kill her was nothing more than a quick and easy way to discard her, just as every other male in her life had done.
But he’d put a whole new spin on ending their relationship. Most guys just told her it wasn’t working for them and walked away.
He’d freaking tried to kill her. The dickweed.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t simply have sex with Hunter. He was attracted to her and attractive. Hell, he was more than attractive, he was…breathtakingly male, sexy, and there was an aura of danger about him. All that controlled power and strength could add a whole dimension to bed sport. She needed to feel alive. She needed to be held.
She needed to not be alone.
She wasn’t safe in her own home. What was to keep whoever had added poison to her blood supply from slipping into her room and staking her while she slept?
Although some of the others were able to resist the pull of sunrise for a short time, she died very quickly at dawn. Arthur could even walk outside in daylight without burning. Luke had a few minutes past dawn, but still couldn’t go out into direct sunlight. She didn’t know about the others. But the humans were awake all the time. The doors at the house, for all their added strength and security, wouldn’t deter someone determined to breach one, and it would be easy to…
“Hunter… I don’t want to go back to the house.” She couldn’t believe she was saying it.
He glanced in her direction. “Where would you like to go?”
She swallowed the knot of emotion stuck in her throat. Where could she go? Her house wasn’t ready yet. “Arthur has a cabin out by the lake. I want to stay there tonight.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. No one will know I’m there.”
He frowned. “Do you want to go home and pick up some things?”
“No. I’d like to stop by Grayson’s. They’re open twenty-four/seven, so I can run in and pick up what I need, and it’s right on the way.”
“And what about food, Phoebe?”
“I’ll be okay for a few days.”
“You heard what the lab guy said. Feeding dilutes the poison and helps your system keep it suppressed. You can’t go without feeding.”
“I can’t go back to the house. I’m vulnerable there after sundown.” She glanced at her watch. “And we’ll only just make it to the cabin in time for you to drop me off and make it back to Superstition.”
“Unless I stay,” he suggested.
Her heartbeat rose and her body warmed to the suggestion, though she ignored it. “I’m not doing this to instigate some kind of hookup. I don’t feel safe at the house anymore.” Damn, she’d acknowledged her attraction to him with that statement. Would he pick up on the slip?
“I wouldn’t be staying to instigate some kind of hookup. I’d be there for your protection.”
She studied his profile for a long moment. When he finally looked at her, every hint of flirtation had been swallowed up by his intense focus. He was all business.
“You don’t have to stay. No one will know I’m there. Well, no one but Arthur. I’ll need to call him. I promised to check in.”
Hunter flipped out his phone. “What’s the address? I’ll need to know the GPS coordinates so I can meet the person bringing supplies somewhere along the way.”
“Supplies?” Why was she getting the feeling things were getting out of hand?
“Food and some clothing.”
“Who will we be meeting?”
“My personal assistant.”
“Assistant?”
“Yes. Ancil takes care of my office, accounting, and a few other things while I’m out in the field. He’s a jack of all trades.”
He was a stranger. He’d have no reason to be part of any of this. “How long has he been with you?”
“Eighty years.”
Phoebe gave him the address.
He dialed the number and hit the speaker. A man’s voice filled the car. “What may I do for you, Hunter?”
“I need you to meet me out on Shady Valley Road at…” Hunter waited for Phoebe to speak.
“There’s a store called Johnson’s Pit Stop. They’re Shifters, but very welcoming.”
“Thank you, ma’am. What do you need me to bring?”
“Four packages of O negative and my emergency kit. You’ll probably reach the store before we do. We’ll be there as quickly as possible.”
“I will see you there.” Ancil hung up.
“Emergency kit?” Phoebe asked.
“I’m sometimes called out unexpectedly, and keep a bag packed for just such an occasion. Now I need directions to Grayson’s.”
“Make a right up ahead, and we can take back roads to the store.”
Fifteen minutes later Hunter pulled up before a sprawling cinderblock structure.
“You can buy anything in Grayson’s. They have things inside here I never dreamed they would.”
“Like Wal-Mart?”
She shook her head. “Not even close! It’s like Wal-Mart on crack.”
“Sounds like you enjoy coming here.” Hunter had a look of dread on his face.
Typical male. His assistant probably bought his clothes. Men hated to shop.
Phoebe grinned. “I love shopping here. But I’ll only go in and buy exactly what I need for tonight and tomorrow.”
He didn’t look convinced.
He was so serious. Did he ever relax? “Come in with me.”
“I think I’d better.” He climbed out of the car to join Phoebe. “I don’t want to be caught in the car when the sun comes up.”
Phoebe laughed and impulsively grabbed his hand. “You’re going to like it. I promise.”
* * *
“SHIT!” HUNTER STOPPED at the door, shocked at the depth of the building and how much of everything there was. Huge signs designated each department, just like any other large-scale department store, but there was also furniture at one end, and a rental area for everything from carpet shampooers to tools to smaller things. And the food court positioned to the left of the main entrance had a booming business going, even at three in the morning.
Phoebe got a small basket. “I usually get my shopping done in under fifteen minutes. But then I end up wandering around people-watching and taking it all in.” She led the way to women’s clothing and quickly selected serviceable-looking underwear, socks, a nightshirt, a pair of jeans, a sweater and a T-shirt, apparently unconcerned about the style or name brand of the items. In the pharmacy area, she snagged a toothbrush and toothpaste, then zipped over to beauty aids for a hairbrush and chap stick. She paid for everything at the pharmacy.
&nb
sp; “There’s even a weapons section?” Hunter mused while they wandered the perimeter of the store. “Guns, bows, knives, Tasers, pepper spray, bulletproof vests. Anything you’d need to protect yourself.”
“Do you do your own shopping?” she asked.
“Not often. Ancil keeps me supplied with what I need, and the company I work for supplies me with transportation and weapons when I need them.”
“Weapons?”
“Some of the cases I’ve dealt with involve other species. They sometimes require more than brute strength to control.”
“I have spent more time in my work building bridges between species.”
He had done some research on his own after meeting with Phoebe last night. By the time he finished, he saw how bad a choice she had been to use as a pawn in the kind of situation Arthur Stewart was trying to manipulate. If his goal had been to win over the Ricci clan instead…she’d have been perfect.
Arthur Stewart had endangered someone valuable to their whole species with his choices.
“There’s an art gallery with local artwork displayed over next to the food court.” She pointed to the west front corner. “A tattoo parlor in the east back corner, and a pet department, with a dog groomer and a veterinarian, in the back west.
“And then there’s Dreamland straight ahead,” she added with a twinkle.
“Dreamland.”
“Yes.” She smiled as they came to a stop before double glass doors with an “Eighteen and Over” sign painted in bold letters across them.
“Would that happen to be where you got the leather bustier and pants you wore at the wedding?”
“Yes, it is.”
Had she bought them for Trevor or had she worn them before? A strange feeling overwhelmed him, and he found himself grinding his teeth.
“I bought a formal dress for the wedding, but after Arthur came to my room to discuss what Trevor’s expectations might be afterward, I zoomed over here on my motorcycle and got them. You watched the video?”
So she hadn’t worn them for anyone else. He drew a deep breath and relaxed his jaw. “Yes, I watched the recording.”
“I wanted to scare the shit out of him, so he’d want to get as far away from me as possible the minute the ‘I do’s’ were said. I was thinking the other end of the state, not from here to the hereafter.”
Hunter cleared his throat. She hadn’t been scary. She’d been hot as hell. Trevor was a damn fool, and probably gay. Any red-blooded, heterosexual vampire would have fallen at her feet in a fit of lust. “The riding crop?”
“From the stables.” Her eyes narrowed, and she looked away. “I should have hit him harder. I should have refused the blood exchange.”
Hunter clamped down on the rampant physical response still plaguing him. “You can’t look at what happened from that perspective, Phoebe.”
“I’m looking at it from the perspective that it was a mistake from start to finish. Marriage, even vampire marriages, should be for the right reasons, and being a sacrifice for a cause, no matter how noble, is not one of them.”
“Giving how long we live, I believe you’re right.”
Silence settled between them.
“We’d better go. Unless you want to check out Dreamland,” Hunter said, with a nudge, a teasing gleam in his eye.
Phoebe’s eyes narrowed and her jaw muscle rippled. “When I catch up with that butt-munching dingleberry, I’m going to crush him.”
CHAPTER 9
JOHNSON’S PIT STOP huddled in the middle of a large parking lot. With its rusty tin roof and sagging steps leading up to the rough plank front porch, the structure looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Parked in front were five pickup trucks and a black SUV. Ancil, Hunter’s assistant, was nowhere to be seen.
Aware of dawn creeping closer, Phoebe jumped out of the car. Though they made good time, she could feel the sun coming, and was anxious to get to the safety of the cabin.
Hunter fell in beside her as they approached the store. The screen door screeched a melodic introduction when they entered, interrupting the pool game in progress. Three of the four men standing at the table straightened and turned their attention toward the door. The strong, musky scent of wolf and bear lingered in the air.
“They’re Shifters,” Hunter stated.
“Of course. The store’s owned by Leonard and Clara Johnson, who are bear Shifters. But they’ll wait on us just like they would anyone else. After six at night, they open the bar in the back and do quite a booming business.”
The interior of the store was nothing like the outside. Strong wooden beams crisscrossed the open roof, and the wide, planked floor stretched out of sight, pale gray and shiny clean. Metal shelves holding a selection of items organized with military precision ran in parallel rows and lined the walls on either side.
Phoebe sauntered around the small counter space topped by a cash register and moseyed down the wide middle aisle toward the pool table.
A slender man, who’d been hidden by the large bulk of the other three, straightened after making his shot. “Hey, Hunter.” His dark eyes strayed to Phoebe and he smiled, showing human teeth.
“Hunter?” One of the Shifters braced his feet and eyed Hunter with interest. He rested the thick end of his cue stick on the floor but kept the fingers of both hands wrapped around the narrow end. The Shifter’s shoulders were as wide as a doorway, his arms and legs thick with muscle.
“A man learns to live with the moniker his parents give him, Babe,” Phoebe said in a soothing tone, and patted the big man’s arm.
He continued to study Hunter, but finally tore his gaze away to look at her. “Ain’t that the truth? But to keep the confusion down, he might want to go by his initials while he’s in here. Anybody starts talking about hunters, the temperature drops and tempers rise.”
Hunter nodded. “Understood.” Hunter extended his hand. “You can call me Sam.”
The big Shifter didn’t say pleased to meet you, but he accepted the handshake.
Phoebe stepped in to do the introductions, since the three Shifters and Hunter continued to do the sizing up things men of all ages and species seemed to want to do. “These are Shirley and Marian, Babe’s brothers. They look out for the cabin when I’m not here.”
Hunter nodded to the other two men. “That’s very neighborly of you.”
“Phoebe’s been real kind to our mother. She took family photos of us just a few months back. Did a professional job of it, too.”
Babe’s attention swung back to Phoebe while the other two men eased up close to Hunter. “I drove by the cabin last evening, and musta just missed you, Phoebe. The lights were on, but nobody was there.”
Phoebe controlled her expression with difficulty. If she said they hadn’t been there, the three Bear Shifters were so territorial and protective of the area, they would feel they needed to step in. It would put them at risk and drop them in the midst of a dangerous vampire situation. If something were to happen…
“We were out and about, guys. I’ve been showing Sam around. We’ll just be staying one more day, then going back to Superstition.” Someone at the house had to have fed Trevor information about the cabin. And it was the perfect place to hide. Isolated, yet protected. What were the odds they’d show up in time to discover him? If it was him.
“It’s a shame. The deer are starting to shed their velvet. I know you wanted to get some pictures of them last summer.”
“I didn’t bring my camera.”
Babe’s bushy brows went up. “I didn’t think you went anywhere without it.”
“This was a spur-of-the-moment trip. Sam is new to the area, and wanted to see the mountains and the lake.”
Babe’s face lit up. “Hey, you were supposed to get married this week.”
She’d hoped he’d forgotten about the wedding. How was she supposed to explain, getting married to one man and being here at the cabin with another? “Yeah. We did.” She hooked an arm around Hunter’s
waist and leaned in against him. Hunter wrapped an arm around her waist and snuggled her up against his tall, muscular frame.
“Congrats. No wonder you were out. I suppose this is sort of a short honeymoon trip.”
Hunter gave her a squeeze. “This is only the beginning. We may travel all over the state.”
If Trevor had already left, they certainly might. If he was here, they’d get him. “It won’t be dark much longer, and I’d like to go back to the cabin and settle in before sunrise,” Phoebe said. “Ancil, if you can bring out those few things we forgot, you and the boys can get back to your pool game.”
“They’re just out in the car, Phoebe.”
Ancil placed his cue stick diagonally across one corner of the table and led the way outside.
“I’m sorry.” Phoebe turned to Hunter as soon as they were outside. “I couldn’t think of any graceful way to explain…”
She started to withdraw, but Hunter caught her arm and held it. “It’s all right, Phoebe. I understand how awkward this is for you. You know, I’ve never known a vampire who doesn’t recognize the boundaries between each preternatural species. And you’ve not only managed to make friends, but they accept you without reserve.”
“I don’t see any difference between them and us, other than our eating habits.”
Hunter’s gray eyes darkened, and he leaned in to give her a slow, thorough kiss. She’d been breathing while she spoke, but now she couldn’t seem to. A slow, tingling pulse of need built low in her belly and spread. When he drew back, regret flooded her.
Hunter looked over her shoulder toward the store. “Your friends are watching us, and we need to leave before they decide to join us.”
Had he only been kissing her for show? Based on the flare of color she saw along his cheekbones, that would be a no. Or was it a trick of the lights in the parking lot?
Ancil lifted a large duffel bag and a small cooler out of the SUV and lugged them over. Hunter opened the trunk, and the man loaded the items inside.
Magic and Mayhem: Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Have Wand, Will Travel Book 2) Page 7