Page 75 of Cooper’s Passion

Anita listened carefully. “Okay, that makes more sense.” But she still hadn’t asked what she really wanted to know. It was time to stop beating around the bush. “What’s it like, the bite? Does it hurt? How often does he have to… feed from you?”

Scarlet looked into the distance, a contented smile around her lips. Her chest rose, and her cheeks looked flushed all of a sudden. “It’s out of this world. The connection the bite creates, it’s as if you’re not just physically connected, but also on an emotional and spiritual level. It’s addictive. It’s a high I’ve never experienced before I met Ryder. And to make love while he drinks from me… it’s a pleasure only few people will ever experience.”

Anita noticed the sparkle in Scarlet’s eyes, and she looked almost as if she was glowing. The sight increased her longing for Cooper. They could have what Scarlet and Ryder had, the same kind of connection.

“And when I hear his voice in my head, it feels like he’s touching my heart.” Scarlet rose and walked to the clothes rack. “We should find you something to wear.”

Anita shot up from her seat. “His voice? What do you mean?”

“Every blood-bonded couple has a telepathic connection, a way to communicate without speaking.”

“That’s how they did it.”

“What?” She pulled a pencil skirt with a matching jacket from the rail and looked at it.

“Cooper’s parents. After I shot Cooper, and his mother brought him home to take out the bullets, his father arrived, and he already knew that I had shot Cooper. But nobody had called or texted him.”

Scarlet nodded. “Yvette probably told him via their bond what had happened.” Then she grinned. “So how are things with Yvette? I heard she was livid about you shooting him.”

“Does everybody know about what I did?”

“Yep, gossip like that spreads faster than a wine stain on a white carpet.” She held the navy-blue suit up next to Anita and tilted her head. “I think that color works on you. Makes you look very authoritative.”

“Who am I supposed to dress up as?”

“Cooper said to make you look like a businesswoman, maybe in finance.” She motioned to purses and high heels, scarves, and jewelry. “We’ll need to accessorize.” Then she reached for another suit in a different color. “Try the grey one too. Should be your size.”

Anita took both hangers, and Scarlet pointed to a screen. “You can change behind there.”

While she slipped behind the privacy screen, and got undressed, she asked, “How long did you date Ryder before you guys blood-bonded? That’s what it’s called, right?”

“About a week.”

Anita nearly choked on her own saliva. “A week?”

“I know, it seems short,” Scarlet admitted. “But when a vampire falls in love, it happens practically overnight. And it’s hard to resist that kind of intense connection. Besides, he saved my life, and that of my father. Ryder would have died for me. But even before that, I think I knew instinctively that he was the one for me.”

Did that mean what Cooper felt for her was as intense as Scarlet described Ryder’s love for her? And did it mean that what she was starting to feel for him wasn’t as crazy as she thought? Wasn’t reckless at all, but natural?

“Were you never afraid of what he’s capable of? That he could hurt you?”

Scarlet sighed. “Ryder was defending me against another vampire, when he transformed, and I realized what he was. I was scared at first, but Ryder gave me a choice. He said he’d let me go if I didn’t want anything to do with him now that I knew. All he wanted was the chance to explain. And he did. And the more he told me who he was, the more I realized that vampires aren’t so different from humans. They are capable of love, of friendship, of loyalty. And I was already so in love with him that it really didn’t matter in the end what he was. Do you understand that?”

Anita felt tears sting her eyes. “Yes…” She understood it, because she felt the same for Cooper. And tonight, after this was over, after they’d caught the killer, she would tell him that she loved him no matter who or what he was.

“I thought you might,” Scarlet said softly. “Now let me see you in the suit.”

Anita sniffled and walked out from behind the screen. “Thank you for talking to me so openly.”

“Any time.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Scarlet said.

A young man with dark hair entered, a small box in his hand. “Hey, I’m here with the wire.”

“Hey, Nicholas,” Scarlet greeted him. “Give me the bug, and I’ll put it on Anita.”