Whether it was a side effect of my unusual parentage or a sixth sense developed from residing with creatures who "lived" only at night, I wasn't sure. Either way, dawn always brought a tingle up my spine. Sometimes, it would be so strong it woke me as I tried to go to sleep after a long night of vampire politics.
Ever since I escaped my Father, that little tingle brought joy. I no longer lived on "vampire time". I could throw back my curtains and watch the watery, white light pool over the horizon until the yellow disk emerged, like the yolk of an egg leaving its broken shell.
This dawn, though, brought an added joy. I stood on my very own property.
It was stupid, really, buying a home. Stefan, when I showed it to him, chided me.
"Deeds are easier to track than rent agreements," he remarked dryly. "And you know you could come live with me."
After a century of running, I was done with boarding houses, long-term hotels, and shabby rented spaces in questionable parts of town. I hadn't scented Father or his goons in at least seventy years. That isn't much time to an old vampire but it gave me some hope. Enough hope, anyway, to purchase a home in Richland, on the banks of the Columbia River. The real estate agent called it a "ranch-style" home.
Sipping my coffee, I stood on my back lawn and watched the early morning light play on the waters of the river. The dry, half-frozen grass crinkled underfoot and I barely felt the wind through my long-sleeved shirt.
"Aren't you cold?"
My neighbor, an elderly woman with three cats and a Doberman, squinted at me from her raised deck. She wore a thick, woolen coat and a scarf. I savored the notion—again—of having a neighbor before answering.
"I'm from Toronto," I replied. "This is nothing."
Shrugging, she went back to fussing at her dog, Daisy, for taking so long to relieve her bowels. Since Daisy was glaring at me through the chain link fence as if I was Satan Incarnate, I suspected my neighbor would be waiting a while. I grinned at the animal, provoking a small growl.
Cats and ghosts despise vampires. I didn't know how ghosts felt about me but I had always gotten along with cats. Dogs, though, always seemed to know what was up. It was odd. Maybe they smelled another predator while cats couldn't smell the evil on me present in normal vamps.
Leaving Daisy and my neighbor, I went back inside. I needed to finish getting ready for my new job.
#
My good mood evaporated on reaching my desk. For several days, Mel trained me on my new job. As far as work went, it was fairly simple. Over the weekend, when not trolling Seattle with Stefan, I studied the manuals and things I apparently needed to be a good secretary.
Since I had worked as a secretary at least eight times already, I wasn't concerned. It didn't matter the era: paperwork was paperwork and being a gatekeeper never changed.
No, it wasn't a small mountain of paper waiting for me on the desk that leaked the joy from my step. It was the glowering werewolf.
"You're late," he said in a crisp, British accent.
I raised a brow. "Am I?" With exaggerated care, I checked my watch. "Mel instructed me to be here at 8:30 and it is 8:27. I think that means I'm early." I dropped my purse and lunch bag onto the desk.
Ben scowled at me. Apparently, he wasn't used to people not being intimidated by him. Stefan's warning about laying low ghosted through my ears but the way the wolf stared down at me made my hackles rise. I flicked my gaze up to meet his eyes for the briefest of moments, just long enough for him to tense, before I looked away.
Vampires play dominance games, too, though they would never admit it. Their games consisted of pettiness, casual murder, and Machiavellian-esque power moves. The wolf pack I once ran with taught me something new and I had not forgotten, though sometimes remembering it brought back familiar pain.
As Ben stood over me, I switched on my computer and dropped my belongings into the bottom drawer. He was still there when I straightened. The steady sound of his heartbeat brought a hitch into my breath. His power thrummed around him, bringing to mind the deep wilds of Canada that stretched on into eternity.
"Is there something you needed?" I asked, raising a brow.
He held out a slip of paper. "I need these books from the company library."
Careful to not touch his fingers, I took the list. "I'll get right on that."
"You do that." And he sauntered away, leaving behind the scent of wolf and cool earth. I also did not sneak a peek at his hindquarters; I only happened to look in that direction.
#
Ben heard the new woman, Judith, approach. He'd watched her over the days she trained with Mel and he wasn't especially impressed. Just another secretary. He had to admit, though, that he would miss Mel and not just because of the good coffee she brought him on occasion.
Mostly, it was that werewolves weren't fans of change. But it was also for another reason. Despite seeing him change into a wolf, Mel didn't fall apart in terror whenever she saw him. It was nice. Now, however, he had to break in a whole new secretary.
As he coaxed more speed from a database, he listened to the new girl pause to read the sign outside his office. He half-expected her to ignore it entirely and burst into his personal space.
Earlier, the slight challenge in her eyes surprised him and roused his wolf. Her turning away didn't end the confrontation or make it into a dismissal. Rather, it left things open. This, of course, was ridiculous as hell. She was fully human, if his nose was to be trusted, and humans did not challenge werewolves. Not dominant ones, anyway.
The look Judith shot him reminded Ben of Mercy, to be honest. However, there was only one Mercy (thank fuck), so unless Judith knew about werewolves, she was being an idiotic female with an attitude problem.
Judith moved to stand on the mat, on which were written the words "Wait Here".
Ben did not immediately button up what he was doing or even look for a stopping place. He continued to work, half of him focused on the task while the other half focused on her.
Most people twitched and fidgeted while they waited, maybe even sigh a little. Judith, though, remained still. Her heart rate kept steady. She became a presence at his back, quietly demanding attention. His wolf rumbled in curiosity. There was something different here it seemed to suggest.
Giving it another minute, he stopped what he was doing and swiveled in his chair.
Judith was a good-looking woman. Her perfect posture shouted a posh upbringing, as did her tailored, burgundy skirt suit. She wore her strawberry-blonde hair up in a bun with a few curling tendrils brushing her neck. Dark blue eyes, slender nose, and a full bottom lip made for an unforgettable face. He noted she wore minimal makeup. She didn't need much. Her skin tone was like ivory with a rose blush.
Anymore perfect, he would be flashing back onto his mother. His stomach tightened.
"I have the books," Judith said. In her arms, she cradled the three volumes he requested. Her accent, he noted, was flat Canadian with an Italian lilt and maybe a hint of his England.
"Set them on the desk," he replied, turning back to his computer.
She stepped into the smallish cubicle and placed them near his elbow. She tensed slightly. "Anything else I can get you?"
Judith smelled like coffee, light perfume, and, underneath it, her personal scent. The perfume had to be expensive because it didn't clog his nose with astringent chemicals. He drew in a deep breath, trying to parse it out, and came up with cinnamon, cloves, and orange blossom. It covered her personal aroma to the point where he couldn't get a handle on her emotions. There was nothing to explain the tightness in her voice.
"No," he replied.
"You're welcome, then."
He turned to raise a brow at her but she was already sashaying away. A coworker across the aisle also watched Judith walk away. Their eyes met briefly. Whatever was in Ben's face made the fellow DBA swiftly return to his work.
Ben wasn't sure why the new girl interested him so much. He told himself it was because she was an enigma. She didn't act afraid of him but he couldn't smell her well enough to know if she was only hiding what she really felt. Her body language was all about confidence. If she'd been a wolf, he would have called her dominant, much to his chagrin. Underneath all of that, his wolf whispered there was something more and he itched to uncover what it could be.
#
I burst into the bathroom, startling a coworker washing her hands. I threw myself into a stall and slammed the door closed. My fingers shook as I fumbled with the lock.
Stupid, stupid, stupid girl!
Sucking in a deep breath, I held it before slowly releasing. Stefan had tried to get me to feed while in Seattle. We met three people who could move to Richland and be my menagerie while living their own lives in their own homes. He wanted me to taste one of them but I hadn't.
It had been too long since my last feed. Stefan must have sensed it. He always could tell when I needed blood.
Why had I been so stubborn? Was I having that much fun playing the human? My mind flashed back on sharing meals with Stefan, followed by intense lovemaking where we shared blood with each other. Only with Stefan had I ever reveled in being part vampire. It was still too intimate, too personal, to feed around him, even though he hadn't touched me like that in two centuries.
Maybe I hadn't gotten over him as well as I had thought. Hell, I moved to the Tri-Cities just to reconnect, so maybe I had been lying to myself all along.
I was all right until I set those books on Ben's desk. He had cut himself while shaving and my hypersensitive nose had picked up on a dried drop of blood on his collar. Werewolf blood smelled like rich, dark chocolate. Mingled with Ben's earthy scent and it took every ounce of control not to pounce on him. My stomach cramped around the NEED.
With my control stretched so tautly, my power had to be leaking out, which would only raise the werewolf's suspicions, if they weren't already.
Idiot!
A soft knock on the door. "Hello? Are you okay?"
The calm before the feed swept over me. I unlocked the door. It was one of the women from Human Resources. Not particularly attractive but I had always preferred men. Maybe to a man she was sexy.
"Do you need help?" she asked.
I caught her brown eyes with mine and exerted my influence. She relaxed, her pupils dilating.
"Actually," I said, "I do need something. Go lock the door into the bathroom."
The woman grinned and trotted off, her heels clacking happily against the linoleum. This was dangerous. Dangerous to the point of stupidity. But if I was going to make it through the day…
"Take off your coat and roll up your sleeve," I instructed my prey.
She did so, baring an almost too-thin arm. I took her arm, turning it so I could reach the inside of her elbow.
"This is going to hurt," I told her, "but you will not scream. You will not cry out."
The HR woman smiled. Happy to help, that was her. I bet her office was an effusion of pink and butterflies. My fangs slid from their hiding place and I struck, quick as a snake. The woman tensed but she didn't make a sound.
A vampire's Kiss was a beautiful thing. It gave the victim euphoria, sometimes even sexual enjoyment. I knew one woman who could make her sheep orgasm. However, I couldn't administer a full Kiss. My bite hurt, so I was careful. Not to go too deeply. Not to shred the skin. Some sheep grew to like it when I fed from them. From the small sound this woman made in the back of her throat, I knew she would be one of those.
Her blood was sweet like a candied apple. A diabetic. I loved diabetics.
I withdrew and she shuddered. With my tongue, I laved the two perfect puncture wounds. I bit my wrist and presented it to her.
"Drink," I said, "but only a sip."
The woman took my wrist and wrapped her mouth around the bleeding wound. I sucked in a breath, not finding any enjoyment in this part, either. My blood would close the wound in her elbow, though.
The woman pulled away. Plucking a napkin from a dispenser, I wiped my blood from the corner of her mouth.
"What's your name?" I asked, looking into her eyes.
"Karen," she replied.
"Karen, roll your sleeve down and put on your coat. I'm Judith, the new girl, and you found me upset in a stall because Ben Shaw was rude to me. You comforted me and then you went about your day like normal. Understand?"
"I understand."
"Go on, then."
Karen the Diabetic Sheep left me alone in the bathroom. With the napkin I used to wipe her mouth, I wiped my own. Nearly five centuries of feeding and I was still a little messy. As I washed my hands, I looked at my reflection.
A perfectly normal, professional woman stared back at me. The lie turned my gut. Closing my eyes, I drew in my breath and, with it, my power. With Karen's blood humming in my system, I tamped my other self back down, keeping it tight within me. A werewolf could probably pick up the scent of blood on me but this was an office environment. Everyone gets paper cuts, after all.