Must Love Fangs

His eyes flared with interest, his attention moving back to me. The grin returned to his face. “You don’t say?”

God help me, but I was desperate and didn’t want him to end this date. “Oh yes, all the time. I totally need it.”

He leaned down and examined my hand, then pulled it to his mouth, kissing the back of it delicately. “You smell incredible. What’s your blood type again?”

“O positive.”

“My favorite flavor,” he said with another close-lipped smile before leaning in to kiss my hand again.

I let him, pleased that the date had turned around. “So what about you?” I asked. “What do you like to do at home?”

“I like,” he began slowly, then nipped at one of my fingers. “Reading.”

“Oh?” I asked. “What sorts of things?”

“My favorite is The Perfumed Garden.” And he nipped at another one of my fingers. “Though I am also fond of The Story of O and Lolita.”

I knew of Lolita, but not the other two. Classics? Or maybe he was a poet at heart? Not really my thing, but kind of sweet. “Those sound nice. I haven’t read them.”

“I’d love to go through a few passages with you,” he said and rubbed a hand down my arm.

“Sure,” I said. “Maybe next time we get together, you can bring me one to borrow.”

His eyes narrowed, and I could practically hear his breath hiss. “That sounds incredible.”

Wow, this guy was really into those books. I began to feel a little uneasy about that and decided to turn the subject. “So what else are you into?”

“Frottage.”

I frowned. “I . . . see.” What was that? I was pretty sure that it was dirty, but I wasn’t sure how dirty. I decided to play stupid, smiling widely. “I’m a big fan of fromage myself.”

He studied me a moment, then laughed as if I’d said something hilarious. “You have quite a clever tongue.”

“Thank you.” Why did everything this man was saying sound dirtier than it was? Was I just taking things the wrong way? I continued to smile at him as if we’d connected at some deeper level.

At least he wasn’t looking at the door anymore.

“I do have a particular favorite,” he said, leaning in and running a finger down my bare shoulder.

“Do tell.”

“Have you heard of ‘the shocker’?”

“Is that a TV show?” I asked politely.

“All right,” Josh said, appearing from behind the wall. “That fucking does it.” He grabbed my date by the collar and hauled him into the air.

“Josh!” I got to my feet. “What are you doing?”

Lonnie clawed at his throat, glancing over at me with alarm.

“I’m ending this date,” Josh said. “This asshole is done with you.”

“Butt out,” I snapped at him. “It’s my date.”

“You’re done,” he repeated, setting Lonnie on his feet and leaning into his face. “Get out of here.”

“Now see here,” Lonnie began.

Josh’s eyes began to gleam like a cat’s and he leaned in, so close that only I could hear it. “Beat it, buddy. She’s human.”

The vampire’s eyes widened and he looked over at me, then back at Josh. And then he took off, weaving between tables as he exited the restaurant.

Outrage slammed through me and I turned to Josh, fists clenched. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Saving you from a bad situation,” he told me, grabbing my hand and beginning to pull me toward the front door. “We need to talk. Somewhere private.”

I bit my lip—it was either that or start screaming at him. I was so angry that I couldn’t see straight as Josh dragged me out of the restaurant. So the vampire had been a little fresh. Who cared? I needed to be turned. And about two minutes ago, I’d had a vampire practically eating out of the palm of my hand until my do-gooder “coach” had decided to change the rules on me.

As soon as we got to the parking lot, I jerked my arm from his grasp. “I thought you said you were helping me date vampires!”

“I am,” he told me between gritted teeth and steered me away from the crowd. “Just not that one.”

“What was wrong with that one? He liked me!”

“Yeah, because you told him you like puzzles and knitting and oh yeah, sex. Way to break the ice.”

“I didn’t tell him I liked knitting,” I said. “And he looked like he was bored! He was staring at the door! I had to keep his interest somehow.”

Josh glared back at me, walking quickly to the far edge of the parking lot and dragging me along behind him. He halted so abruptly when we were at his car that I almost ran into his back. Then he turned and pulled me against his car, his arms grasping mine. He looked furious and oddly possessive. His jaw was clenched, his mouth turned down into a frown. And he was staring at my mouth. He looked like he was inches away from kissing me. A lot.

And that made my breath quicken.

“Do you even know what ‘the shocker’ is, Marie?”

“I’m guessing it’s not a game show,” I snapped back at him.

He held his hand up and tucked his fourth finger back against his thumb. Then he tilted his hand and showed me the gesture. “This is the shocker.”

I stared at the pairing of his first two fingers and the pinky, not recognizing the gesture. If it weren’t for the fact that his ring finger was tucked in, it’d almost look like a Vulcan hand gesture. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

“You’re really sheltered, aren’t you?” Josh stared at me, then shook his head. He did the gesture again and explained, “The saying is ‘Two in the pink, one in the stink.’?”

I stared at his hand. Two in the pink . . . ? And then I blushed, hard, slapping his hand away. “Oh. Ew.”

“Yeah. Not exactly first-date material. Which, I might add, you set yourself up for.”

“I’m guessing frottage is pretty dirty, too, then.”

“You’d be guessing right,” he said, a hard edge in his voice. “Jesus, Marie. How is it that a smart, pretty girl like you can be so clueless when it comes to men?”

I stared at him, wounded. “I just wanted him to like me.”

“And would you have slept with him just to get him to like you?”

I hesitated. If he wanted the honest-to-God truth, I didn’t have that answer. I’d thought about it, and I wasn’t averse to using my body to get a vampire’s interest. If sleeping with someone bought me fifty extra years of life? I’d do it in a heartbeat.

“I don’t believe you, Marie.” Josh stared at me as if he didn’t know me. “What is going on in that brain of yours?”

I shook my head and got my keys out of my purse. “I’m going home.”

I expected him to protest, but he only stared at me.

I got in my car and left.

• • •

I dated another vampire the next night, and I didn’t tell Josh. I didn’t want him sabotaging my personal business.

As soon as I got there, though, I realized I’d made a mistake. This one? Flat-out scared me. He arrived with a bodyguard walking two feet behind him. The bodyguard stood behind the table at all times, and he jumped at the slightest noise.

We dined at an Italian restaurant, though my date ate and drank nothing. It made me uncomfortable, and I had a hard time eating my meal as well. We made small talk, and I didn’t throw down the sex-bomb. I’d learned