Page 34 of Santa's Wish
He flopped back to his pillow, and his curls sprang around his head like a halo. I dropped down and kissed him from jaw to clavicle, my every touch making him tremble beneath me.
"I'll be back tonight." He would be at work while I was asleep, so we would have more to discuss then. "You can tell me more about the financial planning department."
"Don't remind me." He sighed. "If it's too much trouble to meet me before work?—"
"Not at all. I'll slip out to Blood Drive, and then we can talk."
He nodded. "I have daily meetings with Colette, so I might be late."
"How about I pick you up?"
He blinked up at me. "You'd do that?"
"Of course." I didn't like the idea of him walking home alone or riding with a human driver. He needed vampire protection from his vampire assailant. I wasn't exactly bodyguard material, but Boz was special to me. If we continued the way we were …
Nope. Still too early to think about that. We'd getthrough Christmas first and then see where things stood between us. We'd both said this was temporary, nothing serious, and Boz was young. I refused to keep him from exploring relationships with other humans now that we'd gotten his first-time jitters out of the way.
Not that I would call him anxious or jittery. I didn't know why those other fools hadn't stuck around to claim his virginity. He was eager to follow instructions. First time or no, he fucked like a champion. I would feel the imprint of his cock in my ass until I drank more blood. My body healed significant damage immediately, but it left bruises to remind me I should be more careful, or in this case, that I'd let this gorgeous man fuck me senseless.
I didn't need a boyfriend. I certainly didn't need a fuck buddy. I couldn't explain it, but I needed something more from Boz.
We stayed like that, lazily kissing and nipping at each other, until my phone alarm buzzed at five. My phone's vibrating notifications were all the alarm I needed for my vampire hearing.
I kissed his cheek and dragged myself out of bed. "See you tonight."
It was cowardly to use my vampire speed to zip out of the room, but I did it anyway. Before Boz sat up in his bed, I hurried into my clothes and fled the apartment.I heard the telltale creak of the frame as I locked his door and shut it behind me.
I'd see him again in ten short hours. Why did it feel like I was leaving my mistress behind to return to my boring old … apartment?
The thought vanished from my mind the moment I climbed into bed after a quick shower, replaced by creeping existential dread. I was scheduled to work tonight, when all I wanted to do was stay home with Boz. I hadn't felt like this since my first crush when I was human.
I'd promised myself I would never feel like that again.
CHAPTER 11
BOZ
That evening,Santa's red Chevelle waited for me at the curb outside the building's main entrance. Colette walked me out to the car, glancing over her shoulder with every other step. She stayed at my pace, but when we reached the car, she shoved me into the back seat and took the bucket seat beside Santa.
"Drive around the block," she said. "I want to test a theory."
Santa did as she asked and backed into an alley when she pointed.
"I think our friends in the financial planning department want to take advantage of the long evenings," she said. "Is your apartment building well warded?"
"It could use some upgrades," Santa said.
"The empress has a witch on her payroll. I'll send her to you."
"Witches are real?" I asked, mostly to remind them I was still here, crammed in the back seat, when all I really wanted to do was make Santa come before he left for work.
"Very real," Santa said, "though not the poor souls who suffered during the witch trials."
"The real witches saw the trials as an invitation to take over," Colette said. "They stopped the murders and have lived in the northeast ever since."
I'd always wanted to be a witch, sorcerer, or other chosen one when I was the child picked last for gym class (and all the other times my classmates made it clear I was the least popular). Somehow, I'd ended up in the backseat of my vampire lover's car with my vampire boss riding shotgun. Maybe I'd done something right, after all.
Santa froze mid-sentence, and Colette motioned me down on the back seat. It was eerie to hear only the sound of my breath in the car.
