Must Love Fangs

turned me, it’d be a death sentence, like Sara said. It would destroy the Russell clan if one of the cougars turned a human when they’d banned the act for others. No one would trust them, and the Alliance would crumble.

So I still needed a vampire.

But I could have just a quick fling, like he’d offered. Get this wild attraction out of our blood, since he didn’t do long term and I couldn’t do long term. We could make wild, passionate love with no strings attached.

And then he could go back to just being Josh, and I could go back to finding a vampire to turn me.

Did I want a one-night stand? I wasn’t a virgin. I’d given that up back in high school, despite being gawky and insecure. My boyfriend then had been equally gawky and insecure, and a few rounds of sex had done nothing for his confidence or mine. After my mother’s death, I’d deliberately had very few friends. I didn’t date. I didn’t do casual sex.

I didn’t do casual anything, I realized. Maybe it was time to change that.

I thought of the vampire I’d had dinner with tonight and I shuddered, getting back into my car. Josh was sexy and alive and inviting. That man had been a cold killer. A night of hot were-cougar sex might be the only opportunity I had for pleasurable sex ever again.

• • •

The rest of that evening at work crawled by. Ryder and I answered phones, updated files, and went through a backlog of email. The usual stuff, except that I was working at half speed. I was finding it hard to focus, and I kept rubbing my eyes and seeing the letters on the screen blur anyhow.

“Girl, you need to go home and get a good night’s sleep,” Ryder told me, sounding cheerful and buzzed despite the early hour. She sipped another cup of coffee and straightened her stack of folders. “You look wiped.”

I shook my head and squinted, trying to focus my gaze. “I’m good.” It wasn’t as if I’d be able to sleep anyhow.

My phone rang and I picked it up, fighting the wave of anxiety crashing through me. My screen was still blurry, my vision skewed. “Hello?”

“Ma petite puce, it’s me. Got a minute?”

Oh, Lord. Little flea—my nickname from when I was a child. “Of course, Dad. What’s up?”

“Well, I was realizing it’s been a few weeks since we’ve gotten together,” he said, all smiles in his voice.

My vision finally cleared, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “It has been a few,” I agreed. “I thought you were busy with work?”

“I am, but I have this next week off,” he said. “Posey and I are going to Vegas again!”

I forced a smile so he’d hear it in my voice. “That sounds great, Dad. You’ll have to have a drink on me.”

“We want you to come with us! It’ll be fun, just the three of us. We can hit all the casinos. You haven’t seen someone play blackjack until you’ve seen Posey play.”

I grimaced at the thought. “I don’t think I can get off work, Dad.”

“Oh, call in sick. How often do you get to spend time with your dear old dad?”

Not often enough. But I looked at the box of chocolates on my desk. Thought about the fierce kiss Josh had given me in the parking lot. Thought about the next vampire date, booked two days from now. “I wish I could. Maybe you guys can swing by after the trip and tell me about it?”

We chatted for a bit longer, my father extolling the virtues of Posey and me listening patiently as I nibbled on a chocolate. They were delicious—the expensive kind, and Ryder had swooped up a handful, unable to resist as well. I nodded and made the appropriate responses as my father talked about the adventures on his latest flight. The weather had been bad on his last trip; he’d been stranded for two days in Manila. And did I know that he’d tried balut for the first time last week?

When Bathsheba entered the office, I decided to end the call. “I’m sorry, Dad, but my shift’s about to end. Call me when you’re back from Vegas and we’ll meet up, okay?”

“Sounds good. I’ll put a few chips down in your honor.”

I smiled. “You do that. Love you, Dad; have fun.”

Bath paused by my desk, eyeing the half-eaten box of chocolates and scattered cans of Red Bull on my desk. “Long night? You look wiped.”

I was getting really damn tired of everyone telling me that I looked awful. But I knew she didn’t mean anything by it, so I simply gave her a faint smile and held the box up. “Chocolate?”

As she plucked one from the box, my vision wavered and went blurry again. Anxiety clenched my stomach as strange lights flashed before my eyes.

Was my disease getting worse? The next step was hallucinations—which meant it was progressing, and fast. I rubbed my eyes and silently willed the sliding colors to go away.

When I opened them again, the colors were gone. Relieved, I reached for my computer mouse . . . and halted.

It looked like a giant cockroach.

I held in a screech and abruptly got up from my chair. Ryder glanced up at me, and I gave her a shaky smile. “I think I need a soda.” I hurried away from my desk, hoping that by the time I returned, my mind would stop playing tricks on me.

It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Seven

I was just sitting down to one of my puzzles when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey. You asleep?” It was Josh.

Oh, if he only knew the answer to that question. “I’m not tired,” I lied. “Why?”

“I have to run some errands today and I was wondering if you wanted to come along.”

I tapped a puzzle piece on the table, thinking. Was this a trick question? My suspicious mind automatically wondered what he was up to. “Exactly why would I want to come along with you to run errands? Are you bored?”

“Nah. I just like spending time with you.”

“You do?” I blurted out, surprised. Josh . . . liked to spend time with me? Immediately I wondered if it was just another flirty come-on and felt stupid. Of course it was.

“I do,” he responded cheerfully. “Plus, I have a surprise for you if you spend the day with me. It’ll mean an all-nighter for you, but I can handle it if you can handle it.”

I couldn’t resist the smile tugging at my mouth despite myself. “I’m used to all-nighters,” I told him. “But tell me the surprise first.”

“Nope. It’s a secret. I’ll tell you if you spend the day with me.”

“Is this bribery?”

He laughed. “Of course it is. It’s the only way I can get you out of your pajamas and into my arms, so I’ll use it.”

I blushed and put down the puzzle piece. “I’m not falling into your arms.”

“I’ll settle for spending some time together, then. Come on. What do you say?”

I hesitated.

“Remember, big surprise at the end of the day,” he teased. “Well worth the missing hours of sleep.”

“I’m getting dressed,” I said, standing up and heading to my bedroom, curious despite myself. “Are you coming by to pick me up, then?”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Only ten minutes? I thought you lived farther away.”

“I do. I’m already on my way there.”

Figured. “And what would you have done if I’d said no?”