He could picture it now. Pulling the baker close and tucking his head into that sweet-smelling neck, right where the blood pounded so fiercely. Opening his mouth to breathe in the warmth of his skin.
The voice inside him agreed, bringing to Riley’s mind visions of the bits he’d missed. The curve of the baker’s throat, the pounding of his jumpy pulse when Riley had tackled him, a stray freckle under his left eye.
Riley hadn’t meant to jump on him the other night. He really hadn’t. He’d been walking in the woods, wanting to be close to town but not around any people yet, and he’d smelled something so delicious he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He’d lost control, leaping onto the stranger before he’d even known he was moving, only coming back to himself when he’d been met by a pair of frightened eyes, their color not quite green, not quite brown, but something dancing in between.
Riley had meant to run home, to tell his moms that very night about what had happened, but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d lurked outside the stranger’s home, listening while he tried to catch glimpses through the window. The baker had a friend he’d been telling about his day. He’d been sad about his bakery, the new one in town that didn’t have enough customers.
When the baker had finally gone to sleep, tucked away where Riley couldn’t see him, Riley had wandered the forest, draining small animals to fill him up. He’d crossed the highway and sat on the sandy beach, and then, while it was still dark, he’d headed back into town. Straight to the bakery.
Riley had thought he’d have a handle on things, now that he’d known what the baker smelled like. He’d thought he wouldn’t be caught by surprise this time, and he could have a conversation with him, maybe ask him if all bakers smelled like walking, talking cake.
But Riley had been just as overwhelmed the second time, unable to say a word, and now the baker probably thought he was a creep.
Riley’s moms exchanged a glance and then immediately began murmuring between themselves. “We’ll need blood,” Mama Sybil said. “Lots of it. We need to keep him full.”
“Is it wise?” Mama Daphne asked. “Perhaps if he remained?—”
“He won’t be able to resist. Not for long. Caution is better than avoidance.”
Riley’s stomach sank at their whispered plans. He’d been in better control for the last year, and he’d forgotten this feeling of panic, this sense of being some rabid creature in need of shackling. It was depressing to be back in it so quickly, after just one mistaken encounter.
But also…soft cheeks. Strong hands. Warm voice.
Riley wanted to see him again. Maybe even more than the monster inside him did. He wanted to see if he’d misjudged how good the baker smelled. Wanted to see if the human would speak so warmly to him again, even though Riley had disappeared without a word.
Maybe the discomfort would be worth it, for that. To see his baker again without worrying about draining him.
“What does it mean—” Riley started to ask, then stopped.
His moms turned to face him again. “What does what mean, darling?” Mama Daphne asked.
“What does it mean that I want to bite him but also want to…I don’t know…lick him?” Riley frowned, trying to parse through it even as he spoke the words. “Touch him, maybe. I think I want to wrapmy fingers around his throat and see if it feels just as delicate as it looks.”
“Well.” Mama Sybil cleared her throat, sharing a look with Mama Daphne. “That sounds like it might be attraction, darling.”
Oh. Right, that could be it. Riley wouldn’t really know. He’d never had so much as a kiss, and he’d never really wanted one. His moms had asked him a few times over the past year, if anyone in town had caught his eye, now that he was interacting with humans. But even though Riley could see on the surface if someone was good-looking or not, he hadn’t ever wanted to press them back against the door of their bakery and…Riley didn’t know exactly what.
But the baker’s lips had looked soft. And Riley sort of wanted to see if they tasted like cake.
So maybe hedidknow. Maybe, now that he thought about it, he had a really good idea of exactly what he’d like to do with the sweet-smelling human.
And then maybe it was okay if his moms fussed over him again. Riley’s entire life until now had been a study in hunger, a fight for control. This was only more of the same, but also…different. Better.
Because the prize at the end of this, if Riley could manage it, wasn’t just survival. The prize was a kind of hope, wasn’t it? For something more. For someonewho wasn’t a parent, or some older vampire friend of the family being nice to Riley because he was a lonely anomaly.
Riley could have something like what his moms shared, couldn’t he, if he could only be…good. Normal. Normal enough to hold a conversation, at least, because judging from that phone call, it seemed like the baker liked to talk. So Riley should try to manage a few words in a row, and maybe practice smiling at his pretty human instead of just growling.
Because now that Riley had seen him, smelled him, pressedhim against the dirt—he was almost certain he wanted to keep this mate he’d been given. The voice inside him agreed.
But Riley had to acknowledge—looking down at his mud-splattered jeans, his long fingers trembling from the need to chase something down and drain it of its blood—that his mate might not want him back.
4
SETH
It wasn’t until Friday that Seth was able to ask someone about his odd visitor.
Business had picked up over the week, the townspeople either warming up to Seth or craving carbs enough to override their hesitancy. But there’d been no one Seth felt comfortable with interrogating about one of their own.
