Simon was already pulling on a helmet. "What's the problem?"
"I've never been on one of those. I'll fall off. I'll die."
Simon turned to look at him, and even with the helmet on, Charlie could feel the weight of his stare. "You're a vampire. You're already dead. You just forgot to die."
Wow. Rude. "I can still get hurt!"
"You have accelerated healing."
"Not if my head comes off!"
"Your head's not going to come off." Simon swung a leg over the bike. "Unless you keep wasting my time. Then I might remove it myself."
Charlie winced. "Don't you have a spare helmet?"
"No."
"That's illegal!"
Simon started the engine. The growl made Charlie's bones vibrate. "So is being an undead creature of the night. Get on."
Charlie looked back at the store, then at Simon waiting on the bike, leather jacket and dark helmet making him look like something out of Charlie's extremely inappropriate dreams.
No. Not dreams. Nightmares. Definitely nightmares.
"If I die?—"
"You're already dead. We covered this."
Charlie approached the bike like it might bite him. Which, given his recent luck with things that bite, wasn't unreasonable.
"How do I?—?"
"Left foot on the peg. Swing your right leg over. Don't touch the exhaust."
Charlie managed it on the second try, nearly kicking Simon in the process.
"Sorry, I?—"
"Arms around my waist."
"What?"
Simon reached back, grabbed Charlie's wrists, and pulled his arms around his middle. "Unless you want to test that accelerated healing when you hit the asphalt at sixty."
For a moment, Charlie's brain stopped working, and then he became aware of several things at once. Like that Simon was warm. Incredibly warm. The hunter smelled like leather and something sharp and clean, like winter air. With his arms around Simon's waist, Charlie was essentially hugging the man who hunted vampires for a living.
And his body did not hate this as much as it should.
"Hold on tight," Simon said. "Not that tight. Christ, ease up. You trying to crack my ribs?"
"Sorry!" Charlie loosened his grip slightly.
The bike lurched forward and Charlie immediately tightened his arms again, pressing his face against Simon's shoulder blade.
"I said ease up!"
"I can't! You're going too fast!"
