Blood & Honey #1

*Chapter Ten*

"Time's wasting, Kinley. The more of a scene your friend creates, the more people I will have to deal with." I take the bathrobe I tossed at Kinley from her as it appears she is incapable of moving at the moment. I open the robe, positioning it so all Kinley has to do is slip into the softness that awaits her.

This has to be the first time I have helped a human dress. Then again, last night was the first night I undressed one too. This human is taking a lot of my firsts, as I've never slept in the same bed as a human either.

Okay, that is a lie. I have slept next to a human. It was in the 1600s. I overdid it on the feeding and woke up next to five bodies strung about the room. It got worse from there. When I took the staff into account, there were eleven dead humans. I ended up burning the house down to cover up the massacre.

A vampire can get high if we drink enough blood. I wager if I drank enough of Kinley's blood, I could achieve the same high without having to kill so many.

"Open up! I know you are in there. You can try to hide from the world, but you can't hide from me." Her friend, Maya, bangs on the front door making Kinley flinch.

"Promise me you won't hurt her." Kinley reluctantly slips into the robe I'm holding open for her.

"That is really up to you now, isn't it?" I grin wide enough for her to see all of my sharpened teeth.

No shivers of excitement decorate Kinley's skin. Instead, acute dread weakens her already wobbly frame. I guess this smile only works if you don't know what it is these teeth do.

"You stay here, and I'll go see why she is here." Distress makes the octaves in Kinley's voice rise.

"Sure. I'll stay right here." This time I flash a bedazzling smile that generally makes human females all flustered by my attractiveness.

It doesn't fool this human. Instead, it makes Kinley more uncomfortable. She doesn't like how effortlessly I can flip that switch from monster to seemingly human. The ease in which I agreed to "stay right here" also sets Kinley more on edge. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't matter if she believes me. If she doesn't do something to stop her friend's loud squawking, her chances are 100 percent that I will and it will result in an outcome she doesn't want.

Kinley opens the bedroom door, the knob rattling. She closes the door swiftly and rests her forehead against it as if the thought of what I might do to her friend is too heavy for her head to carry.

"Thank you, Tristan, for saving me." She pushes the words past her clenched teeth like I have just made her sign her soul away.

Maybe I have.

"It's a little late to try and win me over." I open the door, forcing Kinley to find the strength to hold herself up. "Now go before bad things start to happen."

The cinnamon-blooded human makes her way to the front door. It's surprising her legs are capable of taking her anywhere considering my last statement caused her whole body to go faint and all the color to drain from her face.

Venom gathers in my mouth in response to Kinley's quickening heartbeat as she approaches the door. I swallow it back, trying to force the warmth that is beginning to surface down before it can mar my skin with black veins of desire.

I listen intently to the sounds of Kinley's bare feet against the tile, the click of metal as she turns the deadbolt, and the subtle creak of hinges that would be undetectable to humans as she opens the front door.

"Maya?"

"About time, girl. These bags are heavy!" I can tell by the pattern of the way the two suitcases roll differently that one of Maya's arms must be weighed down with the addition of a hand-held bag.