She grimaced. “I hope we’re not expected to drink from that.”
Jon tossed his duffel onto one of the bunks, claiming a bottom bed. “We brought purifiers, but Nathan brings in drinking water. He said there’s twenty gallons in the closet.” He gestured to the bathroom. “It’s a camp toilet, so you gotta take the bucket out and bury it in the woods every day. If you want to shower, there’s one out back that draws from the stream.”
Ugh. There were very few things Scotty and Aleka agreed on, but one of them was their dislike of camping. They were both big fans of warm beds, hot showers, and flushing toilets. She definitely didn’t judge Mace for his hotels-over-tents stance.
Skoll glanced at his comms. “We should get some rest. Sunset is in a few hours. Who wants to take the futon?”
“I will,” Scotty tossed her pack onto the floor next to it. “I’m the shortest. You guys would have to sleep folded up like tacos.”
Jon bent to untie his boots. And wow, he had a nice ass. “I could go for a taco right about now.”
Everyone murmured agreement as they staked out their beds, Mace taking the remaining bottom bunk, and Blade grabbing the one above him.
Scotty wandered over to study the blood, but now she just really wanted Mexican food. “Looks fresh. Animal or human?”
A growl and whoosh of air startled her so badly that she summoned a sword, spun around, and prepared to fight.
Butholy shit, she wasn’t prepared to fightthat.
A massive bear, its paws twice the size of her head, stood on all fours where Jon had just been standing. Deep brown with a silver saddle stretching between its heavy shoulders, it grunted and put its nose to the floor, inhaling in deep, loud chuffs.
She’d seen bear shifters before, but not one like this. Usually, their size matched their wild-animal counterparts. This bear filled the cabin and couldn’t have stood on its hind legs without punching through the roof. Even Blade and Mace were taken aback.
A moment later, the bear morphed back into Jon.
“It’s human,” he said, shaking off the transformation, his mid-length, dark hair swinging wildly.
“I could have told you that without the drama,” Mace muttered from where he’d plastered himself against the log wall to avoid being squashed.
Jon snorted. “How?”
“Vampire,” Mace said flatly. “Dumbass.”
Jon might have forgotten, but Scotty hadn’t. Her neck prickled, throbbing where Mace had buried his sharp fangs. Her fingers skimmed across the bite, but it was long gone, leaving only a hypersensitive tingle and some dried blood as evidence of the most sensual thing that had ever happened to her.
Now, when she glanced over at Mace, her breasts felt heavy, and an unbearable tension began to build between her thighs.
She caught Blade staring at her, his hooded gaze disturbingly blank, yet it pinned her in place like a big ol’ spike of guilt. She jerked her hand away from Mace’s bite like she’d been caught with her fingers on the lock to her father’s armory.
Which had happened more than once as a child. The difference was, she’d been able to charm her dad into forgiving and forgetting. Something told her that what’d happened between her and Mace, no matter how innocent, would never be forgotten. At least, not by her. She’d replay today over and over, seeking to recreate the remarkable sensations and feelings Mace had sparked inside her.
Innocent, my ass.
Yeah, nothing about what had happened felt innocent. Was that what it was supposed to be like when a female was with a male? And why now? Why withMace, of all people? One of only a handful of males on the planet who were off-limits.
Was Lilith’s succubus DNA finally rearing its evil head?
Shaken and desperate for an escape from her thoughts, she glanced around the room for something—anything—that would give her a reason to change the subject. But she couldn’t avoid the way Blade regarded her from behind an impenetrable wall that hadn’t been there before. Mace watched her as well, his gaze locked on her throat, the banked heat in his eyes making her sweat.
He’d been affected too. She shouldn’t have liked that fact, but she did.
Jon and Skoll—proving they had great instincts—read the room, their speculative, questioning gazes sliding between Mace, Blade, and Scotty.
People were always trying to suss out their unique relationship. They wanted to know if sex was involved. If they squabbled. If there was ever friction between them. Jealousy. Competition.
The answer to all their questions had always beennever. Well, competition, yes, but it was friendly, complete with ribbing and pranks.
But this was new. Disturbing. Not friendly at all.
