Page 14 of Happily Undead in Dark River

My phone beeped in my purse and I pulled it out.

Brody:The Pup has a surprise. You guys are going to be so impressed, especially Rainey.

Me: What is it?

Tex: It’s a surprise!

Me: Is the surprise you guys are coming home early?

Brody: No, but we are on our way home. We’ve done what we could. We are about an hour from Dark River.

Me: Then what is it?!

Brody just sentme the emoji with the zipped lips and I smiled. I hated surprises. It was weird using my phone again, and the constant temptation to call home was still there but not quite as strongly. Reading about Rosalita murdering her family was enough to warn me off. I wasn’t special or unique. I still hungered. I liked to think I would never hurt my family, but I couldn’t ever be sure.

I set the groceries on the bench and poured some more wine. It was a wine kind of day. I let myself relax into the food prep. I mean, it wasn’t hard. I wasn’t making a twelve-course degustation menu. There was just something soothing about such a human task. I didn’t need to eat anymore, except for other people I guess. My fangs ached at the thought. It had been too long since I’d had blood. Because I had access to both Brody and Tex, whose blood was as wild and fulfilling as they were, I didn’t suffer from the hunger pangs a normal fledgling vampire would have. I got so lucky, ending up here in Dark River, which Judge liked to remind me of periodically. This was as close to a utopian version of a vampire community as we were ever going to get.

The door open and closed, and Walker appeared, freshly scrubbed and handsome as hell. He was wearing a tight grey tee and dark blue jeans. His hair was still a little damp and he just took my breath away. My knife stilled where it was chopping salad ingredients, and I just drank him in.

“You look…” Delicious. Breathtaking.

He strolled over, stepping into my space and wrapping his arms around my waist. “You do too.”

I scoffed. I was still in the clothes I wore to work, no shoes, the polish on my toes were starting to chip. I wasn’t in any way beautiful or glamorous at that moment, but Walker was looking at me like I might be a goddess he wanted to worship on his knees.

Actually, I wouldn’t mind that either.

He rested his hands on my hips, leaning forward to kiss me tenderly. “What time is everyone coming over?”

“About four I think, why?”

He looked at his watch. “Just wanted to know if we had time for this.” He grabbed me and lifted me onto the bench. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pressing my heels into his ass. He ran his hands under my shirt, sliding the tips of his fingers up my spine, making me shiver. He kissed my temple, the curve of my jaw, the pulse point in my neck. When he scraped his fangs along the column of my throat, I moaned.

His hands slid up my thighs, pulling me closer to his body. He lifted my shirt up until it bunched above my breasts, and ran his tongue down the curve of my breast until teeth scraped against my nipple. I moaned again, louder this time so it echoed around the kitchen.

“If I knew it was going to be this kind of feast, I would have left my pants at home,” came X’s sarcastic voice.

Walker looked up at me from where his face was still pressed against my boob. “I think I might hate this guy.”

I laughed and ran my hand over his soft brown hair. “Stay the night?”

He shook his head, but there was a moment of hesitation that wasn’t there last night. I was wearing down my straight-laced Sheriff, one sexy moment at a time.

Judge strolled in behind X, took a look at me on the bench, Walker still between my knees giving the sarcastic Brit a death glare, and held up a bottle in his hand. “I brought really strong moonshine. This shit will kill a horse. Brewed it myself in Bert’s back shed. It makes X tolerable, I swear.”

“The only thing that would make him more tolerable is a ballgag,” Walker whispered in my ear, but he stood up to his full height, straightening my shirt and lifting me from the bench. I laughed and gave him a quick side hug. X was a six-foot-five cockblock for sure.

I waved them into the living room as Walker grabbed three beers from the fridge. He handed two to me and picked up the steaks. “I’ll go put these on the grill.”

I tilted my face up for one last kiss, which he happily provided. “Thanks. Throw a couple of extra on for Brody and Tex? They should be here soon.”

He was still muttering under his breath about X as he walked out onto the back deck. The first thing I’d purchased for the house had been a grill for out back. My Dad had always said that a home without a grill was no home at all. Might have been an exaggeration, and probably just because he wanted a new grill and my Mom had said no, but the idea had stuck.

As always, thoughts of my parents made the pain of their loss fresh again. But I refused to not think of my family. I wouldn’t forget them.

I wandered into the living room, handing X a beer and standing on my tippy toes to kiss Judge. “You guys are early,” I chastised gently.

Judge kissed the top of my head. “Mmm, sorry about that, Rainy Day. It looked like you and Walker were finally about to go all the way.”

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