Forget Me When the Sun Goes Down (Forged Bloodlines Book 11) (12 page)

The ride into town was smoother than I thought it’d be.  Rob handled the car with skill and assurance, where I would’ve been crawling down the hill at five miles per hour if it’d been me behind the wheel. 

“It’s Whitefish,” I called out when I spotted the first road sign.  I didn’t know much about Whitefish, except that it was a pretty small town in the middle of nowhere to a city girl like me.  “I wonder if we’ll find anyone up and about at this hour?”

“Town’s gotta have a coffee shop, don’t it?  We’ll start there and see if we can’t scare up a hot drink or two,” Rob grinned over at me, and I had to admit, that was a good idea. 

Only all the coffee shops in town were closed, and wouldn’t open for at least a couple of hours.  Sure, we could hang around and risk it, but I wasn’t sure what’d happen to us when the sun rose.  Would we instantly turn to ash?  Pass out into a vampire coma?  It wasn’t something I wanted to experiment with. 

“Could always set off an alarm, see what passes for coppers around these parts,” Rob suggested, but I didn’t care much for that plan. 

“I’d rather not attract the heavily armed.  Besides, I have another idea.”  The scent of baking bread led me down the street to the local bakery, boasting gluten free breads.  While the front was locked up as tight as the rest of the businesses at that hour, the light in the back told me there was someone in there, hard at work.  “Let’s see if we can get in around the back.”

The rear door was propped open with a brick, nothing but a screen door between us and the warm, yeasty bakery.  The twang of country music floated out to us as Luke Bryan sang about playing it again.  Best of all, it was a public building, so we didn’t need an invite in.

“Right then,” Rob said, leading the way, his face alight with anticipation.

The baker’s back was to us, the music masking the whine of hinges from the screen door.  He was heavyset, with salt and pepper hair peeping out from under a baseball cap.  For a man of his size, he was surprisingly light on his feet, bopping around to the music as he worked. 

And then he noticed us, jumping back a foot as he clapped a hand over his heart.  “Oh, you scared me!” he chuckled, scratching his nose with the back of his floury thumb.  “Can I help you folks?”

“We’re looking for a quick bite is all,” Rob replied, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

“Oh, the bakery doesn’t open for a few hours, I’m afraid.  I’d sell you a donut or two, but I have no idea how to work the register.”  He gave a helpless shrug, a commiserating smile on his face.  

“I’m much more partial to the scones, but that ain’t why we came here, mate.”  Rob stepped to the side, flanking him, and the baker’s friendly smile melted away.  

“You’re freaking him out.  We’re not here to rob you or anything,” I said with a reassuring smile.  “We just need a quick drink, and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Oh.” He eased at that.  “Well, I’ve got a pot of coffee on, you’re welcome to a cup.  It’s nothing fancy, just a good old cup of regular Joe.” 

Why did he have to be so nice?  “That’s very sweet of you.  What’s your name?”

“Andy.  And it’s no trouble at all.”  He got down two mugs and set them down by the coffee pot.  “It’s actually kind of nice to have someone to talk to in the morning.  It’s...”  He stopped as Rob took the coffee pot out of his hand, the pucker of worry returning to his florid face. 

“Relax, Andy.  This won’t hurt a bit.”  Rob hooked him with his compulsion, and Andy didn’t so much as flinch. 

I’d thought about letting Rob have him and finding someone else to drink from, but as the scent of blood filled the room, I found myself drifting closer to them.  Andy was a big enough guy to feed us both, right?  I barely spared a moment’s thought about it before I was right there, my fangs sliding into the other side of his neck. 

I couldn’t remember drinking blood before, so I wasn’t sure if it was similar to other feedings, but it was
incredible
.  As far as I was concerned, Andy the baker’s blood was the gourmet experience, so much better than anything I’d ever tasted. For the first time I felt the power of being a vampire.  Not the super strength or the healing, but the real power of holding another man’s life in the palm of my hand, and it was a heady feeling.  It was Andy’s life pulsing into me, making me stronger, making me feel so good in a way that was only amplified by the sensuality of our clutching hands.

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t attracted to Andy or any kind of threesome situation, the moment I joined them, I stopped thinking whether it was right or wrong to touch them both.  Rob’s hands roamed over my body, binding me to him as we drank and drank, and I couldn’t tell who made what sounds of satisfaction between us.  I stopped thinking at all, there was only the call of the blood and the feel of us all pulsing together. 

And then another memory hit, sweeping me along in another kind of passionate feeding.   

Dimly I became aware of the fact that Bishop had joined us in the alley, but I was much too distracted to notice if he approved of my selection or technique or whatever he was judging me on.  Suddenly he was at my side, our bodies lightly touching as he joined me in the feast.  Josh didn’t seem to mind the intrusion, in fact, it sounded like he was having a hell of a time from the noises he made. 

The next thing I knew, my hand smoothed up Bishop’s body, seeking him out instead of the victim’s.  Just as I had in his apartment, my body craved his, the blood fueling the desire to touch and be touched.  To my surprise, Bishop responded in kind.  His cool hand splayed across the small of my back, dipping inside the waistband of my jeans.  I felt his moan of pleasure, reverberating through Josh, and a shiver of delight went through me to the core of my being.  

I was adrift on a sea of paradise, my senses drowning from overstimulation and I never wanted it to end.  All too soon I felt Bishop pulling at my shoulders, urging me away from my nirvana.  Stubbornly I resisted, Josh’s heart still beat a mile a minute and there was more blood to be had. 

“Anja…”  His voice was low but firm at my ear as he wrenched me away.  Frustrated, I fought him, so that he had to catch my wrists and hold them tight, pinning me to the wall even as we’d pinned our victim only moments before.  “Calm down, take a breath.  It’ll pass in a minute,” he soothed. 

Take a breath?  That was his advice?  What if I didn’t want it to pass?  Trapped against the wall with his body pressed up against mine, I felt a different kind of appetite flare and sharpen into want.  I sucked in a ragged breath, trying to reign in my impulse to beg him to… to… I couldn’t even say what I wanted Bishop to do, I just know that I wanted him.  

“I’m sorry,” I breathed, my voice hoarse with need.  I met his eyes in the uncertain light, and I saw the struggle behind them.  Was he tempted to keep feeding too?  I was still marveling over his iron willpower, when Bishop’s mouth descended over mine, the taste of Josh’s blood mingling between us.  With a soft sound of surprise, I met his kiss with equal fervor, the blood forgotten as a fresh hunger swept over me.  On and on the kiss went, with Josh’s body slumped against the wall beside us as we grappled with each other, consumed by a new kind of desire. 

Bishop. 

The intimacy of that kiss blindsided me.  I knew he said we’d dated before, but I hadn’t pictured anything like
that
passing between us.  I moaned against Andy’s flesh, the memory adding to the fever pitch building between the three of us, when I realized suddenly – what was I doing getting turned on while this guy gave up his life?  Andy’s heart beat fast, but not nearly as strong as the man in my memory.  Did that mean his heart was weaker?  Or had we already taken too much?  I stopped drinking, a tad freaked out because I didn’t know enough to know if we were gambling too hard and fast with Andy’s life. 

Rob’s body shifted to hold me close as I pulled away, but I didn’t let him draw me back into the blood-fueled haze.  “I think we’ve had enough,” I said, only daring to breathe once I had a few feet of space between me and them.  The only response I got out of him was a low growl, muffled by Andy’s neck.  “Rob, that’s enough,” I said louder, laying a hand on his shoulder.

He growled again, but let go of him after another deep drink, eyes flashing with annoyance as he used his own blood to seal the wounds on Andy’s neck.  The baker slumped backwards, resting his bulk against the counter.   

“Are you alright, Andy?” I asked, trying to tell if he usually looked that flushed, or if I needed to give him some of my blood.

“Alright?” he murmured, dazed.

“Maybe you should rest for a while.  Is there somewhere you can sit or lay down for a bit?”

“The oven...”

“Something tells me the donuts are gonna be a mite late this morning,” Rob smirked, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and I waved him away. 

“Take those outside, you can’t smoke in here.”

Rob frowned in confusion.  “Why not?” 

“Because this is a kitchen, and I don’t want to smell it either,” I snapped, any contentment over the feeding already fading fast. 

“Fine, I’ll be waiting outside then.”  The door slammed after him, and I still caught a whiff of the tobacco through the screen.

“Andy, how are you feeling?” I asked again, holding lightly to his wrist to feel his pulse.  Was it stronger?  I couldn’t tell. 

“I feel... strange.   Did you kiss me?” he wondered aloud, his face still slack.

“No, I didn’t kiss you,” I replied, catching hold of his will with mine.  “You don’t remember us stopping by.  You were baking and started to feel lightheaded, so you sat down for a rest.  Maybe it’s time to lay off the donuts yourself, huh?”

“Lay off the donuts,” he nodded with a faint smile.

“You’re going to take it easy today.  Is there another baker you can call to come in and help out?”

“Yes, I can call Julia to come in early.”

“Good, that’s what you’ll do.  And you won’t remember me or my friend at all.  Go make that phone call and then sit down for a while.  And don’t forget to take the bread out of the oven when the timer goes off.”

Andy went trundling off to the office obediently, and I took a moment to look around the kitchen.  Apart from a tiny drop of blood on the tile floor, there was no sign that we’d ever been there.  I wiped it up and put the two coffee mugs back up on the shelf, and it was like we’d never been there.

“Finally.  I thought you was gonna tuck him into bed and make him a cuppa tea,” Rob snorted when I stepped outside. 

My frustration surged at his tone of voice.  “What was I supposed to do, leave him there to burn the place down because he’s so out of it?”

His brows pinched closer together.  “What’s got your knickers in a knot?”

“You almost killed that guy back there.” 

“Don’t you reckon you’re being a bit dramatic?  He’s fine.”

“Only because I made you stop.  If I hadn’t been there, would you have drained him dry?”

He took a long drag on his cigarette and stubbed it out on the side of the building.  “If you hadn’t been there, I could’ve drunk my fill without putting him in danger.”

He had a point there, but I wasn’t ready to let go of my irritation.  “That doesn’t change the fact that you played it pretty close to the wire for him.  He could’ve died.”

“What if he had?” Rob shrugged.  “I daresay he’s not got too many days left in him as it is.”

“So what?  That doesn’t give us the right to make his life any shorter.”

“You’re making it sound like I tore his head off and drank from his veins like a fountain,” he grumbled.  “He wouldn’t have felt any pain if we took too much.”

“But we shouldn’t let it get that close, don’t you see?  Say Andy had died back there.  Then we’d have to deal with his body, trying to avoid the police, making sure we weren’t seen anywhere near him.  Even if you don’t care about his life, it makes better sense to practice safe feeding.”  Why did it feel like I’d made that same argument before again and again?  Was this something I normally fought about with Rob?  He didn’t seem to care a thing about the morality of taking a human life. 

Whether he did or not, his face softened, and he opened his arms to me.  “Don’t take on so, luv.  I’m sorry if I was rude and thoughtless.  I should’ve been more mindful of your tender feelings.”

Somewhat mollified, I went into his embrace, trying to ignore the feeling that he didn’t give a rat’s behind for anything I’d said, beyond trying not to upset me.  “It’s okay, I know you couldn’t have known how I’d feel about it.  I’m sure you didn’t expect me to be pro-human.  It’s bound to be weird trying to figure out how we work together, our likes and dislikes.”

“How about we start anew then, yeah?  Let’s go, you and me.  We’ve at least an hour until the sun comes up, we can be long gone from here before we have to settle in for the day.  We can go anywhere you like.”

“You mean
not
go back to the house?”  I pulled back to look at him, only to find his forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. 

“You’re not serious about going back to that prison, are you?”

“Of course I am.  That’s the plan we discussed.  That’s why we left our things back there.”