Blood of the Maple

“A vampire botanist?” Amara’s lips twitched.

He shrugged. “Long story.” One he might be willing to tell her someday. “I’m impressed with what you’ve done here.”

That blush raced across her cheeks once more, and he was in serious danger of having his socks, and other parts of his apparel, charmed off. “Thank you.”

“Someone’s planning on gettin’ some.”

“Shut up, Greg,” he muttered.

“Greg? Was that the name of your friend?” Amara seemed illuminated by the moonlight, fey and shy and so beautiful his heart lurched.

“Yup. Some days it’s like he still talks to me.”

“Bow-chicka-bow-wow.”

Parker gritted his teeth against the cheesy bump-and-grind noises.

“I know the feeling.” Amara grimaced, caressing a rare Sterling rose, so pale and delicate in her hand. “I was with Glinda since childhood. She raised me.”

Parker could almost feel Greg’s interest perk up. “Are you a witch?”

Amara’s expression was serene, almost reverent, as she let go of the rose. “No. I’m something else.” She turned back toward her house, her gaze at once sad and distant. “I have to go.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I was enjoying your company.”

She looked up and smiled at him, and damn if Parker couldn’t see tiny Cupids dancing around her head. “I was too.”

He grinned. “It’s always good to enjoy your own company.”

Her brows rose.

“Ignore me. I have an odd sense of humor.”

“Something tells me you’re going to be very hard to ignore.”

He could live with that. He followed her to the gate and opened it for her. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

Amara looked up at him, and he almost swallowed his tongue at the lust pooling in his belly. He couldn’t remember ever having a reaction like this to a woman. He wanted to cart her into his house, tie her to his bed and never let her go.

Some of the distance in her eyes eased, and she smiled at him once more. “I enjoyed our chat. I’ll come visit the garden again.”

“Not me?” Parker pouted and put his hand to his heart, feigning hurt. Parker wanted her to visit more than his rhododendrons. He wanted her in his bed. On his couch. Even in the kitchen, if he could keep Greg from bitching about his precious countertops. He would keep her for however long it took to work her out of his system.

But she was distracted by something only she could see. “Perhaps.” She walked across his lawn, and for the first time he noticed her bare feet, as she bent not a single blade of grass. Something else, indeed. “Good night, Parker Hollis.”

“Good night, Amara Schwedler.”

“That is one strange woman.”

“Yes. She is.” Parker narrowed his eyes as she glided onto her front porch and through the door. “She surely is.”

“What did I tell you about the crazy?”

Parker shook his head. “I don’t think she’s crazy. She’s…different. But not crazy.” Reaching for the latch to close the gate, he hissed and pulled his hand back. The metal had shocked him. “Greg.”

“Sorry.”

It wasn’t the first time the ghost had worked up enough energy to affect things in the physical world, but it was the first time he’d done it by accident. “What’s wrong?”

“She seems familiar somehow, like I should know her. But why would I? I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“If I have my way, you’ll be seeing a lot of her. Preferably naked and bent over my couch.” He went back to the front porch and hefted the urn with a grunt. “Damn, Greg. Have you gained weight?”

“Shut the hell up.”

Grinning, Parker carried his friend into their new home, turned on the lights and sighed. “It looks better than I thought it would.”

“Yeah. A few touches here and there and it will feel like home.”

Parker nodded as he carried Greg into the living room. The movers had set everything up. His caramel-colored leather couch was in place in front of the fireplace. The mantel and surround were made out of dark, rich wood with opalescent glass tile around the firebox opening. A huge red-and-gray geometric-patterned rug anchored the area. His chrome-and-glass table lamps gleamed against all the dark wood. It would be a perfect place to cuddle on a cold winter night. The walls were done in a mocha color he was debating painting over. Greg liked it, but it was too bland. Parker liked color, inside and out. Oak floors ran throughout the house.

Parker placed Greg’s urn on the mantel and explored the rest of the house.

The first hallway off the living room led straight into the dining room. His table was too small for the space; he’d either have to leave it fully extended or purchase a new one. The chandelier was beautiful, but its crystal elegance was wasted on his table. “We need a new dining set,” he muttered, running his fingers along the wood.

“Seriously. We could look online.”

“Or visit that antique shop we passed on the way through town.”

“Even better.”

The kitchen was a slice of heaven. Stainless steel appliances gleamed. Dark granite countertops and dark, mission-style cabinets complemented the home beautifully. There was a banquette that Parker might rip out. A pantry was better than an eat-in space, but once again Greg disagreed. They’d decided to live there awhile and see which would suit them better after they’d settled in.

Parker headed back to the living room and down the right-hand corridor. This one led to two guest bedrooms and a bath. The bedroom facing the front of the house was Parker’s office.

The other corridor led to the third guest bedroom and master bedroom, where Parker’s king-size sleigh bed fit right in.

“I’ll bet you anything the little chickie next door has a four-poster.”

Parker ignored his friend and checked out the master bath. It held a tub big enough for two and a shower big enough for three, double sinks and marble vanities. Perfect. He stripped and left his clothes on the heated natural stone floor.

“Pig. Didn’t your mama teach you to pick up after yourself?”

“Oink, oink.” He turned on the hot water and basked under the spray. Thoughts of the cute redhead next door drifted through his mind. His lips curled in a hungry smile.

Something told him he was going to love it here in Maggie’s Grove.

Amara breathed in the night air, somehow invigorated by her interactions with her new neighbor. He’d stared at her with heated eyes, watching her move around his garden.

He’d wanted her. No one had wanted her like that before. Amara wasn’t quite sure what to do about that. The few times she’d been with a man had been pleasant, but there had been none of the heat a single glance from Parker’s rich brown eyes had caused. She could drown in those eyes, lose herself forever in them.

That couldn’t be good. Besides, even if she did try to pursue something with him, she was almost positive they would be…incompatible. No vampire could feast on her. They required human blood, and hers was anything but.

She stood beneath her tree, surrounded by its heavy, comforting warmth. Deep roots tapped into the earth, drank in its lushness, its life, and filled her with peace. But the memory of brown eyes and tousled brown hair darkened to near-black in the night marred her usual serene union with her tree. The man drew her like a moth to flame, and if she weren’t careful, her wings would get singed.

She understood the fire that burned inside her when she protected the forest, but she didn’t understand this new need that beckoned her toward the man next door. The one that told her to crawl into the vampire’s lap and