Tressa chuckled softly. “No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, yeah it goes on for miles, but that’s just the privacy buffer for the outside world. Though, we could put in a trail if you want…”
Ethan blinked. Tressa was talking like he was going to be around for a while, but he’d just assumed once the vamp was dead, he would be on his way. Hopefully with some clippings of the Middlemist Red Camellia, but on his way nonetheless. He needed to get another job and continue his research. Or look into opening up a new lab. He couldn’t play vampire hunter forever.
Fuck.
He’d been so fixated on revenge, he hadn’t thought about the details of after. He couldn’t ask Tressa to leave this life behind and return with him to San Jose. Hell, would he even still be working in San Jose? If he stuck with VieTek, they would have to send him to a different lab, one that hadn’t been reduced to rubble. Her life was here, and his was… not.
Something about that thought made it feel like the protein bar he had for breakfast was attempting a coup in his stomach.
“Ethan?”
Returning his attention to Tressa, he realized he missed whatever she’d just said.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
“I said I know the perfect place to take you running. I’ve been there many times myself, and I think you’ll enjoy it. What do you say? Want to jailbreak this compound?”
Ethan frowned for a second, then relaxed. There was no reason he couldn’t leave. If Baylin found the rogue while he was out with Tressa,that was what cell phones were for.
“Sure,” he said with a grin. “I’m in.”
Maybe it was time for him to stop and smell the roses. If he was being honest, he could use a little fresh air and a break from the monotony of work out, eat, repeat. Besides, he was technically still training if they went out for a run. It wasn’t like they were going on a date or anything.
Chapter twenty-three
Tressa
Yes, Tressa cheered internally. She was finally getting Ethan out on a date.
Okay, so they were only going for a run, but if she had her way, they wouldn’t be stopping there. Hitting the trail was just the perfect start to her plan. She had built an entire day for them together, all designed to put him in the best mood possible before she broke the news about her V-card.
Giving him an “I’ll be right back,” she blurred down the hall to her room and threw on a pink sports bra and black spandex shorts. Was it shameless? Maybe. But she didn’t need shame. She needed to show her mate what he was missing out on by trying to be honorable. And if a little light seduction put him in the mood to ignore the teensie weensie lies she’d told him, all the better.
“That was fast,” Ethan remarked when she ran back into the gym a few minutes later. “You know you can…”
His words died with a choking sound when he turned around, and his eyes went damn near cartoon levels of wide.
She suppressed the massive grin that tugged at the corners of herlips, aiming instead for a casual saunter over to the bench where he was sitting. “What was that, Ethan?” she asked as she crouched down right in front of him to secure the laces on her shoes that were more than tight enough already. Holding the position that left her head inches from his groin, she glanced up at him through her eyelashes. “You were saying I can do something?”
She couldn’t resist. She licked her lips and blinked innocently before sparing a brief glance at his crotch.
“Um, you can, uh…” he sputtered.
She grinned when the bulge in his pants grew before her very eyes. “Finish that thought, Ethan,” she purred. “Tell me what I can do.”
Okay, at this point she was just tormenting him, but that didn’t mean she was going to stop. Unless she started making him uncomfortable. She would never cross that line with anyone, let alone her own mate. But until he said or indicated otherwise, she couldn’t help but play with him just a bit. Watching his jaw clench as he stared down at her with a look that could only be described as “molten” was simply too much fun.
It was at least another sixty seconds before she saw the switch in his brain flick back on, and he scooted off the side of the bench to stand up, not so subtly adjusting himself in the process.
“Uh, sorry. I was just noticing your running outfit. Looks like quality fabric.”
That was what he was going with?
Poor boy,Tressa thought. She probably should stop messing with him. It really wasn’t fair given he didn’t know the truth about her. She had no plans to go all the way with him until after he knew what she was, so she was basically just being a tease. Yeah, she should definitely stop messing with him.
Later.
She would stop messing with him later. Just because she wasn’t going to go all the way with him didn’t mean she couldn’t gosomeof the way. There were a lot of very fun rest stops on the road to Pleasure Town.
