I felt myself frown because I was clearly not understanding. I was pretty sure he realized this because he went on.
“What I meant was that I needed your permission because you are special to me. You are not just any human, Romeo. I never wanted to compel you. I told you that I don’t want that to define what we are to each other the way I define other humans. I told you that I would never compel you because I want things to be honest between us. I don’t ever want to take away your decisions or your power.”
“Why?” I persisted. Vincent’s answer was important to me because I was beginning to want more from him.
He looked like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
“Because you are special. I know you’re not hearing me, Romeo. You. Are. Special. Am I going to have to keep repeating it because I’m willing to do that if it will convince you that I’m telling you the truth.”
I slowly shook my head, sighing deeply. “I guess not. It’s just hard to believe. No one has ever talked to me like you do.”
Vincent smirked. “You’ve met a lot of vampires, have you?”
I returned his smirk. “If I’ve been compelled in the past, how would I know?”
Vincent chuckled. “Oh, I do love your sense of humor.” He leaned in and kissed me softly. As his kisses grew more and more insistent, I realized that I was growing hard again. Only the distant trilling of my phone made me pull back.
“That’s my phone,” I said.” He tightened his hold. I leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips before pulling back. “I should answer it.” I looked past him to the clock on the bed table. It read 2:35. I glanced back at him. “No one would call me at this hour if it wasn’t important. It’s the middle of the night.”
He let go of me with seeming reluctance and I rolled to the side of the bed which was stained with my blood. The sight of it startled me for a moment and I reached up, touching the side of my neck. I felt nothing but smooth skin but my fingers came away sticky with blood when I trailed them down to my collarbone.
My phone stopped ringing and then there was the beep for a notification that I’d received a voicemail message. I glanced at Vincent before climbing off the bed and going in search of my jeans. I picked them up off the floor and looked at my phone. Sally had called. I put the phone to my ear and listened.
“Sheriff, it’s Sally. There’s been a murder. I need you to come down to the station. I swung by your place but you weren’t there. Please call me when you get this.”
“Shit.” I hit redial as I looked at Vincent who was sitting up in bed watching me, looking absolutely radiant with his long brown hair flowing around his shoulders. It seemed to have red highlights in it that I hadn’t noticed until just now. Sally picked up on the first ring.
“Sheriff?”
“It’s me. Sorry. I was asleep.”
“Oh, I must have missed you. I swung by your cabin on the way into town but didn’t see your truck and you didn’t answer the door.”
I ignored her unspoken query and asked a question of my own. “You said something about a murder?”
“I got a call from a sheriff in Frederick. He and some campers found a body, or what was left of it. He said it seems to be some sort of gruesome murder scene.”
“Sorry, but Frederick is the town a few miles away, right?”
“Yes, it borders us to the north, way off the main highway.”
“Right. So why is the sheriff of Frederick calling us if the murder was in his town?”
“Oh, sorry, I guess I didn’t make myself clear. He isn’t the sheriff of Frederick. He’s a sheriff in Lompoc down south of us but he and his family are camping in the Prosper Woods. He and some other campers nearby heard a scream and then when they went looking to see if they could offer to help, that’s when they found a body. He called us because there isn’t a sheriff in Frederick which is closer to their campsite. The town is too small. Our office handles any complaints from Frederick because we’re neighbors.”
I had wondered about jurisdiction when I checked out the advertisement for the job of Prosper Woods sheriff. Being in the LAPD, I’d thought all sheriffs were elected in California but after a little research, I’d learned that the California state constitution required only that each of the state’s fifty-eight counties have an elected sheriff. Tulare County, which Prosper Woods was a tiny part of, therefore had one elected sheriff with satellite offices throughout the county. My position was not one that required an election. It might have been nice to know my jurisdiction included Frederick before taking the job though. I’d have to make a trip to the town to check it out in a few days.
“Okay, well, I’ll be at the station as soon as possible. Give me twenty minutes or so.”
“See you then, Sheriff.”
I swiped the screen and glanced back at Vincent who was still watching me.
“You have to go,” he said. “Some campers found a body.”
“How’d you…”
He smiled, lifting a finger to point to his ear. “Vampire hearing.”
I nodded, smirking at him. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll remember not to have any private phone calls around you.” I put my phone down and began pulling on my briefs and jeans as Vincent got off the bed and walked
