Sam Mason rose from the barstool like a Greek god and gentleman. He raked his forest-green eyes up and down my body, lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Damn if all my limbs didn’t go weak.
I swept my gaze over him, slow and sure. His white button-down shirt stretched across his broad chest, and the rolled sleeves showed off equally muscled forearms and that massive watch he wore on his right wrist. His faded and tattered blue jeans hugged every inch of his toned thighs, and to complement his outfit, he was sporting black military boots, spit-shined and all.
But what had my lady parts singing a tune was the way his ebony hair was pulled into a low ponytail, highlighting the strong close-shaven beard that had grown in since the last time I’d seen him.
I shouldn’t be checking him out. I should be freaking the fuck out. He was in a vampire hunter’s house.
I rushed out of the kitchen, trying to get air in my lungs. Maybe I was dreaming.
Sam said to my aunt, “She looks pale.”
I searched the media room—for what, I didn’t know. With my heart in my throat, I inched back into the kitchen and tried to speak, but nothing came out.
“There’s coffee,” my aunt said in a calm tone I had yet to hear from her.
My guess—Aunt Tab was under Sam’s spell. She had to have been.
Sam waltzed up to me, grabbed my hand, and guided me to sit on a stool at the end of the island. “You don’t look so good, Layla. Tabitha is right. You need to be seen by a doctor.”
I was sure my complexion was stark white because it felt like the blood had stopped flowing through my veins. “You.” I cleared my throat. “You can’t be here,” I managed to say as I sat on the edge of the stool, ready to run in the event my uncle walked in.
Aunt Tab sipped her coffee. “Jack has gone to Billings today.”
I licked my dry lips. “Noah and Rianne should be home soon.” Or maybe not. Maybe Rianne would avoid me altogether. Though that wasn’t how my sister operated. She lived for confrontation.
Aunt Tab shook her head. “He and Rianne are meeting Jack in Billings.”
I wanted to ask why, but when I swiveled my head ever so slowly at Sam, I lost all thought. I couldn’t believe the arrogant vampire was sitting next to me and, to repeat, in a vampire hunter’s house. My aunt didn’t even seem frightened, which was messing with my brain as well. Granted, she wasn’t afraid of vampires, but she sure as hell had to be scared of what could happen if her husband came home.
Sam returned to his seat, which was to my left, while my aunt was to my right.
“What are you doing here?” My face was scrunched every which way. “And you two seem like best friends.” I wagged a shaky finger between them.
Sam smiled from ear to ear, and butterflies took flight inside my stomach. “I told you on the phone yesterday. Your aunt and I hit it off.”
If I recalled when I walked in on her talking with Sam the first time, she’d been biting off his head.
I clasped my hands in my lap, digging my nails into my skin to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. “Aunt Tab, I’m confused. You tell me vampires are no good for me, but you called Sam and invited him here. Explain.”
She beamed at Sam before she regarded me. “You need help, Layla. Sam has been kind enough to explain what happened to you while you were on the naval base. I’m glad I called him. They have a doctor on staff who specializes in blood cravings.”
Horror had me baring my teeth at Sam. “You did what?”
Sam smirked, and those damn sexy dimples emerged. “She needed to know that you accidentally tasted one of our bottles of blood and it made you sick. I explained to Tabitha that some brands are sweeter than others. My sister likes the orange crème variety.”
I wrinkled my nose, deciding whether to laugh or not. Sam lied for me, and that said a lot about his character.
“Sam says that the blood is so addictive that some humans crave it all the time. You must’ve drunk a lot of it, though,” she said.
Sam lifted his coffee cup to his lips and kept those luscious green eyes on me. “She drank enough.”
The shock of him being there was stifling my ability to think, even more with his made-up story about vampire blood. I was convinced he’d compelled her. But I wasn’t complaining.
“Sam thinks you might have vampire DNA,” Aunt Tab said matter-of-factly.
Okay. I stabbed a thumb at my aunt while I glanced at Sam. “Did you compel her?”
