Vampire Queers (And Vampire Makes Three #3)

1. Bloody Nightmares

When I woke up, it felt like everything had been a sweet dream. Well, kind of like a combination of a sweet dream with some almost-nightmarish things about it, right? I mean, Rigg died, technically, and I only just found out. Plus, it doesn’t seem like all vampires are as nice as the ones I’m sharing a bed with.

Opening my eyes was a bit of a surprise. Not only was it not yet morning, but the chest I was lying on wasn’t the furry one I was used to. I examined the muscle structure, the skin tone, and—yes—even the nipples before I could come back to reality and remember. This isn’t a dream. It’s reality. And this is Alek.

Someone was squeezing me from behind. As I adjusted my head and pulled myself closer to Alek, I felt the familiar tickle of Rigg’s chest hair on my back. When I finally looked up, another surprise: Alek was peacefully looking back at me. I had to rub my eyes, but from what I could tell, he was smiling even before he acknowledged my look. I felt his hands give my arm a gentle squeeze, almost as though it was a non-verbal acknowledgement that I was up.

“You’re quite the active dreamer,” he said softly, pressing his lips into my forehead just in time for me to blush.

There was a lot I could say about my dreams when it came to Alek, but I didn’t have the mental bandwidth just yet to quip back at him. “What time is it?” was all I could ask.

“Still very early,” whispered Alek. “You should rest more, little one.”

I knew vampires were at least somewhat cool to the touch, but it surprised me how warm I felt in between the two currently cuddling me. I’m not any kind of scientist, but I assumed it had something to do with my warmth being trapped between them. I nestled my head back into Alek’s pecs, wrapping my arms around his chest as he gave a satisfactory sigh.

Do vampires even need to sleep? I wondered to myself as my mind drifted off. What will I do while they have to stay trapped inside the cabin during the day? Stay in and cuddle like this? A smile on my face, I entered the dream world before I could ruminate any further.

I’ve never been able to tell my dreams apart from reality while I’m having them—at least not with full certainty—but this bizarre outing was about to become an exception.

I was alone in the bed now, the sound of birds chirping coming from behind the closed blackout curtains of our bedroom. I rolled over and hugged the covers close to me, my arms stretched out across two wrinkly, body-sized indents in the fitted sheet. I couldn’t help but be surprised that neither Alek nor Rigg had given me a gentle good morning nudge. Was something going on? I wondered to myself before closing my eyes again. Doesn’t matter. I need fifteen more minutes.

That fighting urge to remain in bed that I usually had in the morning wasn’t there, however.

Despite the sturdy walls and sizable structure of the cabin, the clinking and clanking from the kitchen that one might hear during the preparation of morning breakfast caught my attention. Even more suspicious, I thought to myself as I remembered who my weekend roommates were and just exactly what their diets comprised. But deep down, I knew my sweetheart of a boyfriend loved to surprise me with breakfast while on vacation.

I finally pulled the sheets off and rolled out of bed, coming face-to-face with myself in the large, full-length mirror on the wall before me. Besides my messy hair, I noticed a red mark on my neck, kind of like a temporary pressure mark you might get from laying in the same position for too long. I carefully examined it with my fingers, rubbing the area to see if it was tender. It wasn’t, but to my surprise, some of the red came off on my fingers. Below that, my skin was its normal fair tone.

“What the?” I asked aloud, my mind suddenly racing as I stared back at myself.

I found myself in the bathroom, hunched over the sink as I splashed water on my neck. I dug around in the closet to retrieve any towel that wasn’t white and patted myself down. No bite marks, though, I thought to myself as I ran my fingers up and down my neck again, this time examining myself in the mirror above the bathroom vanity.

“Elijah?” Rigg’s familiar voice called from downstairs. “Would you like some breakfast?”

Because of where my mind was, Rigg’s ask was almost jarring. Hopefully, it’s eggs and toast, I thought to myself as I turned off the bathroom light and stepped into the hallway. But something still felt off.

“Yes! Coming!” I said half-heartedly, still rubbing my neck as though I had some kind of phantom pain.

Downstairs, the warm faces of Rigg and Alek eased my stress. In fact, I forgot to even mention to them what had happened.

“Breakfast in your undies, huh?” Rigg asked, a seductive smile crossing his lips as he pulled me into a hug and squeezed my butt. “I like it.”

“Good morning, Eli,” said Alek, pressing a kiss into my forehead while I was still in Rigg’s embrace. “I hope you don’t mind, but we took it upon ourselves to prepare you a little something.”

“Mm,” I replied with a warm smile. “Thank you both. That’s very sweet, but…” I hesitated to finish my sentence.

“But what?” Rigg asked, holding me tight in his embrace as he squeezed my rear again. “You mean this butt?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as he showered me in kisses, grabbing my thighs and pulling me up onto him so that he could carry me to the dining table.

“Something on your mind?” Alek asked, already seated as Rigg playfully hoisted me into the chair across from his master.

“Well, yes. A lot of things, actually,” I began.

“Who doesn’t love a little dinner table discussion?” asked Rigg, reappearing quickly with a large serving bowl and spoon.

“You see, I?—”

“Let me just get you your dish,” Rigg innocently interrupted, preparing a bowl for me before handing it over.

This whole time, I had been confused as to why my nose didn’t pick up on the normal smells of breakfast. In fact, there was no distinguishable scent to this prepared meal. Maybe, just maybe, I thought to myself, a slightly metallic one.

“This is one of my favorites,” added Alek, rubbing his hands together in a satirical manner as my breakfast was placed before me.

“When I woke up this morning,” I began without looking down, “I had this red stain on my neck?—”

That’s when I realized Rigg had served me a bowl full of crimson red blood.

“Breakfast is served, baby,” Rigg said, smiling with his vampire incisors.

“Mm,” came Alek. “Like I said, my favorite blood type.”

I looked from the bowl to each of their jovial faces and almost thought I would pass out.

“Elijah. Baby. You okay!?”

Still in the throes of that falling-into-darkness feeling I sometimes get when waking from a dream, I heard Rigg calling out my name and frantically flailed my limbs.

“Eli!” I heard Alek’s voice call out.

“No more blood!” I shouted as I opened my eyes.

This time, I woke up to both Alek and Rigg’s eyes on me. Looks of confusion and concern painted their faces.

“Bad dream, little human?” Alek asked.

It was then that I realized I had been sleeping on Alek’s chest. “Whoa,” I reached for my neck and discovered that my skin was clammy and moist from sweat. I checked my hands and there were no blood stains to speak of.

“Baby?” Rigg was right behind me. He released his hands from around my waist and put them carefully on my shoulders, a tone of concern in his voice. “Y-you’re bleeding.”

Is this a dream, too?

“Huh?” I asked in confusion, looking around.

“Ah,” Alek acknowledged. “Yes.” Before I looked down, I could see the prominent purple veins pulsating in his face.

The smooth ivory of Alek’s chest was tainted with a small line of blood trickling from the very spot I had laid my head. I reached for my face and realized then that I had a nosebleed.

“I-I’m so sorry,” I said in a bit of panic, pulling the sheets off and sliding down between them to the foot of the bed. I pivoted over the baseboard and onto the ottoman before making my way into the bathroom, all the while plugging my nose.

“Bad dream?” An underwear-clad Alek joined me in the bathroom as I washed away the blood trail on my face.

“I’m not sure, I guess,” I replied, wiping my face with a towel.

With dried blood still on his chest, Alek turned on the shower and pulled his briefs down. “I don’t want you to be afraid when something like that happens, Eli,” he said, putting his hands on my shoulders as he spoke. “I can control myself around blood. Around you.”

“Rigg, too?”

Alek made eye contact with me through the mirror, pressing a kiss on my neck. “With enough discipline, yes—Rigg, too.”

I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me. “Why don’t you join me in the shower? Rigg is enjoying what is, let’s say, a much-needed cool one by himself in the second bathroom.”

Alek’s hands tickled my hips before sliding into the front of my underwear and exploring. “T-that sounds nice,” I finally replied.

And it was.

But even as the steam filled the room, as the warm water cascaded along our naked bodies, and as Alek’s gentle hands washed my back, I was still trying to decipher the meaning of my dream. What was I going to say to them, that I’m scared to become a vampire?

“Are you nervous to be alone with me?” Alek asked. The question felt as though it came out of nowhere, and it hit me like a brick.

I realized then that my body language was very telling. That Alek’s heightened senses and awareness were likely onto me.

I turned to face him in the shower, the water now beating down on my back. He looked thoughtful, caring, concerned even. His long blonde hair was wet and messy, matted to his muscular shoulders. His sculpted body shined with moisture.

“No. It’s nothing like that, Alek,” I hesitated before continuing. “I-I love this.”

With great care, Alek took my chin into the palm of his hand, gently running the digits of his other hand down my face before touching my lips. “I love this, too,” he said softly.

I felt a tickle down my spine—something I could only describe as the physical feeling of butterflies in my stomach—and pressed my hands against his chest to keep my balance.

“I want you to always feel safe with Rigg and I.”

“I do.”

“Do you?” I was quick to nod, but I could tell Alek was aware of something. “What did you dream about?”

“Just something a little too real, I guess. I feel like I should tell both you and Rigg about it, to be honest.”

Alek nodded, pressing a kiss into my forehead. I couldn’t help but be greedy in the moment, moving my hands to the back of his head and pushing him down to meet my lips. He tilted his head, passionately locking lips with me as the water continued to beat down upon our naked bodies. I felt him push his tongue inside of my mouth, the intensity of his lust picking up as he did so. Before I knew it, he had hoisted me up against the wall as we made out.

I love this, too, I thought to myself.

“Your boyfriend has something to tell us, I believe,” Alek announced as we joined Rigg in the kitchen. This time, the smell of eggs cooking permeated through the room. Thank god, I thought to myself.

“And just in time for breakfast,” said Rigg.

“Indeed,” replied Alek.

I swallowed hard, my mind racing as Rigg thoughtfully prepared my plate. “You know, I’ve been thinking—and I’m probably one of the few vampires who still remembers how to make human food. Maybe a new business idea?” he said as he handed me my plate. “And just like that, the vampire chef announces that breakfast is served.”

“Thank you, handsome,” I said appreciatively, pressing a kiss on Rigg’s cheek before following Alek to the dining table.

Rigg joined us a minute later. “So, does this have anything to do with being spooked out by Edmund yesterday?”

Up until that moment, I hadn’t even thought of Edmund today—and he wasn’t part of my nightmare, either. “N-no, it’s not that,” I said. “It’s just that last night—well, I had a dream that maybe I was bitten, turned into a vampire, and it played out somewhat similar to this morning. The only difference is, in my dream you served me blood instead of eggs.”

Rigg and Alek looked from me to one another.

“Anything to say, Alek?” asked Rigg.

“Don’t look at me,” Alek was quick to reply. “That’s the last thing I’m dreaming about.”

“It wasn’t a sex dream,” I was quick to add. “It seemed pretty real, actually.”

“Are you a psychic, Eli?” Alek asked.

“Not that I know of,” I said with a smile as I poked at my eggs. “I guess there’s just been a lot on my mind is all.”

As I ate my breakfast, I could tell that Rigg and Alek were silently digesting what my dream might have meant, and if it was rooted in some kind of fear I had about vampires. About them.

“Any word from your brother?” I finally asked, breaking the silence. If that seemed like a completely random ask, only meant to distract from the current subject matter, it’s because it was.

“Edmund?” Alek was dumbfounded. He was clearly thinking about other things. “I expect nothing from him, and I hope I don’t hear from him for a long time.”

“It makes sense to have some anxieties and fears about vampirism, especially after yesterday’s surprise encounter,” Rigg said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, and finding out you died, I guess,” I added.

“Touche,” replied Rigg as I started eating my breakfast.

“Well,” began Alek, “a dream is but a dream, is it not? Yes, there is some evidence from my history that I can indeed interact with those I have a close connection with through their dreams. However, did you feel as though Rigg or I put you in danger in your dream last night?”

“Not at all,” I said.

“And we’ve all—well, at least as humans, anyway—had dreams that are just a manifestation of current events, actions, anxieties, fears, or whatever, right?” asked Rigg.

“Yes,” both Alek and I answered simultaneously.

“Is there anything else you’re thinking, babe?” Rigg placed his hand on mine.

Do I want to become a vampire, too? Do I want to stay human and grow old and leave Rigg—and Alek—behind? Oh, and does blood taste good or bad?

“Nothing relevant,” I finally replied after some thought. “Just after having a couple of dreams come true lately—namely, getting double-teamed by two hot vampires, and having sex while flying—I thought I’d bring my most recent dream to the table for discussion.”

“I know that Rigg—and myself, for that matter—would never let anything bad happen to you, Eli,” said Alek. I was surprised to feel his hand gently graze my cheek before carefully cupping my chin. But I was also elated to feel his tender touch. “Remember, I didn’t make Rigg a vampire by choice. While I’m very glad he’s still with us, it’s a tough path to walk in this world.”

“One I’m not sure I would want you to have,” Rigg interjected, a furrowed brow painted across his face.

“Well, I—” Both vampires flinched, their bodies tensing as though reacting to a faraway noise, which made me lose my train of thought as I spoke.

“This conversation is an important one to continue, but you’ll have to pardon my interruption,” Alek dropped his hand away from my face. “Did you hear something, Rigg?”

Rigg nodded. The two got up and walked to the front door, some thirty feet away.

“What? A car driving by?” I asked as I followed behind, placing my hands on either of their shoulders so I could boost myself up to see through the half-window at the top of the door.

“Well, there is one driving away,” replied Rigg. “Wonder who?”

“While all the glass windows in this cabin are UV-proof and vampire-safe, I don’t think we’ll be able to go outside and check things out right now,” said Alek. “Eli, would…”

I opened the door before Alek could finish the sentence, giving them just enough time to move out of the way before the warmth of the sun trickled in. “Let a real man check this out,” I teased as I stepped out onto the front porch.

“Be careful,” called Rigg.

I had to walk down the steps leading up to the house and turn around before I realized what it was, but—sure enough—someone had left their mark on the cabin.

“What is it?” asked Alek from inside.

What I saw instantly made my stomach uneasy—a message written in crimson red graffiti: VAMPIRE QUEERS. The spray-painted words ran from the start of the porch to where the porch overhang began, sprawling across the entire front of the cabin with the Q wrapped around the front door.

It felt like a hate crime mixed with a threatening message, but also like a gang tag. Maybe even the name of some hip, alternative emo rock band that might play at the Vans Warped Tour.

“Um, maybe it’s a friendly neighborhood greeting?” I asked, but the sarcastic tone in my voice was barely there. “It’s a message. A message from someone who knows about you two—who knows about us.”

Back inside, I sat with the vampires in the living room. Both of them seemed perplexed and upset. I noticed they had barely touched their mugs of blood.

“Vampire queers, huh?” Alek shook his head before cradling it in his hands and pondering. “Nothing I haven’t been called before, I suppose.”

“Same,” I added, “except, you know, for the vampire part.”

“I’ll bet you a million bucks it’s those close-minded old fucks from town looking to start more trouble,” Rigg fumed. I could tell he was seething with anger. “Why didn’t they show themselves or knock if they had something to tell us?”

“Maybe they thought you guys are asleep in the daytime?”

“Yeah?” Rigg spoke through clenched teeth. “They’re lucky they didn’t show their faces here at night. They’d be dead before they could get out of their car.”

“Seems they have a basic understanding of how vampires work, then,” Alek interjected. “Not a good thing, nor a bad thing. Just an observation.”

“Well, what about our newfound friend?” I asked Alek. “You know, your brother?”

“In the daytime?” Alek asked.

“Are there any vampires that can walk in the daylight?” I replied to his question with another.

“It’s but a myth,” Alek said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Could Edmund be compelling the townspeople, like I asked him about?” I spouted off another question.

Alek bit his lip, deep in thought.

“It’s got to be a possibility, right, Alek?” Rigg asked. “And maybe it’s why we had trouble compelling them when they started a fight with us. A human can’t be compelled by two vampires at once, right?”

I could see Alek was trying to be careful with his words based on the look he gave us. “I suppose so,” he finally said. “It’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility.”

“All right then,” I replied. “Well, whenever I’m at a loss to figure something out, I try to always focus on the facts. And right now, Google is telling me that a pressure washer, white vinegar, and a rag should be able to get the cabin back to the way it was in no time. Do we have all that?”

Alek nodded. “There’s a shed out back that would have the pressure washer. The white vinegar is, I believe, under the sink with some other cleaning products and dish rags.”

“Great,” I said as I stood up, ready to get to work.

“N-no,” Alek grabbed my leg. “Leave it for now. It’ll take me mere minutes for us to get rid of come nightfall.”

“You’re no fun,” I squeezed his hand and took a seat between the two of them on the couch.

“Well, tonight was the night we planned to head home, wasn’t it?” Rigg asked. “I’m happy to stay longer, but it just depends on our workload.”

Alek nodded, pulling out his smartphone and typing away at the screen. “I will make sure that we’re covered to stay as long as we need. I’m messaging the weekend staff and our office manager now.”

“Ah, the life of a vampire mortician,” I joked. But I guess I could work remotely, too, if I wanted, I thought to myself.

“Will you be okay with your deadlines and writing, babe?” Rigg asked. “Part of me wants to take you home now to keep you safe. The other part of me wants to stay and slowly rip the limbs off of whoever did this until they scream for mercy, and then come back to the cabin, tie you up, and put you in Alek’s sex swing.”

“Whoa, big spread there,” I replied with wide eyes.

“Look,” began Rigg, “someone out there knows, okay? The odds are?—”

“That they have some kind of supernatural element to them, too,” Alek finished the sentence. “Which means, most likely?—”

“Danger.” Rigg was the one to finish the sentence this time.

Alek nodded.

The two looked from each other to me.

“So, I guess kind of related, but can a vampire wear a really thick jacket and still go out in the sun? Or cover themselves with a tarp or something?”

“Um, yes, I suppose,” Alek replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, maybe the smart thing to do is to try to appear normal, which would mean I should go outside, get the pressure washer, fill it up, and start the job.”

I could see on both Alek and Rigg’s faces that my suggestion made sense to them.

“And where’s the vampire in a tarp thing come in?” asked Rigg.

“Um, well, see, I know you guys are all alpha about protecting me, so I figured a little tarpy-tarp would make you feel more comfortable with me going outside in the daylight, where you can’t easily go. So, you know, you could dash out at the last minute to save me if something weird is up.” Tarpy-tarp? I crack myself up.

Although surprised at first, I could soon tell I was actually going to win this one when Alek and Rigg both let out a long sigh.

“Well, the forecast says we’re due for some rain in a couple hours, so we can always take over then,” said Rigg. “Right, Alek?”

“Right,” Alek mumbled.

“Great, it’s settled,” I got up again. “I’ll go check out this creepy shed you mentioned.”

“One moment, cutie,” Alek grabbed the back of my pants, holding it like a mother cat would the neck of her young. “It’s just that I’ve been thinking a little bit about what you said about my brother.”

I knew it! “Yes, and?” I asked.

“Compulsion is a specialty of his,” began Alek. “He once compelled every train employee in the city we lived in to refuse to allow me on, and it was all because he knew I wanted to get away from him. But he wouldn’t allow it.”

“Talk about controlling,” I said with a half-hearted smile.

“So, what’s that mean? You think he’s behind this, too?”

“I don’t have evidence to suggest so,” replied Alek. “Not yet, anyway. When did you say it’s going to start raining?”

“Well, from the looks of it, sooner rather than later,” Rigg said as he peered out of the living room windows. “But according to my phone, it should be nice and stormy right around noon.”

“You and I might have some investigating to do, handsome,” Alek said with a wink in my boyfriend’s direction.

“Oh, sure,” I butted in, my voice full of sarcasm. “First, you don’t want me to clean up the graffiti. Now, I’m the only one doing it.”

“Ah, you little demon,” Alek—still seated on the couch—pulled me back and into his arms, falling backwards and taking me with him as he tickled my sides. “I’ve been lucky enough to understand your boyfriend’s sense of humor and use of sarcasm. Yours comes across quite dry, which makes a non-socialized vampire quite nervous.”

I couldn’t help but giggle uncontrollably, his hands finding their way up my shirt, his fingers tickling my nipples, then the front of my stomach, and finally my extremely ticklish sides.

That’s when Rigg piled on top of us both.

“All work and no play today, huh?” Rigg asked as he pressed his body into mine, his question more so addressed to Alek than me.

“Oh, the play will come later,” Alek said confidently, his lips meeting Rigg’s. “I have yet to take you down to my kinky vampire lair in the basement.”

“Kinky vampire lair? I think I’ve read that one,” I said, my mind wandering to a recent new addition to my bookshelf.

“Sounds hot,” Rigg said, his hands now moving to the same spots Alek had tickled before. “Maybe I’ll let you tie me up.”

“Oh, if not that, then the sex swing for sure,” Alek replied nonchalantly.

Wait a second. “Sex swing, huh?” I asked of Alek, trying to turn my head to get a better read on his facial expression.

“Insert devil face emoji,” Alek said with a laugh. After a pause, he asked, “Did I use that phrase correctly?”

Rigg and I looked at each other, and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing: Aw, so cute.

“Yes,” I answered. “Yes, you did.”

“Good. Now, you boys get off of me before I drag you to the basement this very instant.”

The shed lock was easy enough to remove, but the real hurdle was awaiting me inside. “Cobwebs, yuck!”

Using my phone flashlight, I pushed past a thin wall of sticky webs and stepped inside. The space was surprisingly full of yard supplies and other things I suspected only humans to use.

“A vampire on a riding lawn mower? Huh, who’d have thunk?” I joked to myself.

From rakes to old wind chimes to weed wackers, dozens of items hung on the walls with hooks and nails. They appeared almost frozen in time.

I walked right into the pressure washer, tripping over one of its wheels in a bad balancing act that sent me toppling to the floor. Of course, not without my arms stretched wide, taking down anything I could with me as I went.

An industrial-sized broom landed next to me on one side, its large metal handle mere inches from my face. As I let out a sigh of relief, the whistling sound of something heavy and metal falling next to me rang out.

“Oh, fuck!” I screamed, turning to see what had again just missed me.

Well, well, well, look what we have here.

Mere inches from my left ear landed the largest machete I had ever seen, the tip pushing straight into the wooden floor and sticking. Upon closer inspection, it almost appeared to resemble something like a sword. At first, I resigned myself to thinking it was just another yard care item and got to my feet.

Upon a second look with my flashlight, I realized the machete had strange markings and symbols at its base, a very golden handle shining back up at me. Is this my Sword in the Stone moment? I pondered. With a shrug, I reached forward and pulled it out from the floorboard.

“This looks fun.”

The sky looked angry as I finished filling the washer with water from a spigot on the side of the cabin. You know, dark skies mean that Alek and Rigg won’t be the only ones who can come outside during the day, I thought as I ran through a series of different scenarios. Looking around nervously, as though someone might hear my own thoughts, I quickly turned off the water and wheeled the washer to the porch.

I mean, Edmund was kind of hot in an evil, grungy sort of way. His looks weren’t comparable to Alek’s—and he definitely doesn’t look like he could be related to him—but overall… Maybe I just have a type, and that type is undead.

“Everything all right out there?”

Donning a trench coat and sunglasses, Rigg was peering out at me from a slightly ajar front door.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, holding up the wand to the washer as though I was about to start. “Just don’t come out here. I don’t want anyone seeing you looking like The Blues Brothers.”

Not surprisingly, I could see Rigg roll his eyes from behind his shades before closing the door.

After drenching myself in water in a very wet game of trial and error, I managed to get a good chunk of the crimson graffiti off of the wood logs on the front of Alek’s cabin. I turned off the sprayer so that I could call for the vampires.

“Hey, guys!” I shouted. “Don’t mind me, but I’m almost finished out here. I’ll leave the bill in the mailbox. No need to come outside.”

When the door didn’t open right away, I figured I might as well keep going. The door in particular was the hardest part to clean, as it required the most sensitive setting to avoid damaging its half-moon window, so I decided to work on that.

“What the…”

I only realized what was happening when I heard Alek’s confused yelp. He was soaked before I could turn off the machine.

“Oops! Sorry. Just got distracted with the whole being unbelievably masculine thing, I guess,” I said as I posed with the spray gun.

“Very masculine indeed,” Alek said, a slightly perturbed look on his face. On the plus side, his drenched shirt gave me quite the visual.

“Is this a wet t-shirt contest or what?” Rigg asked, popping his head out from behind the door frame.

“And it hasn’t even started raining yet,” Alek said somberly.

“Well, the cloud coverage looks pretty good, at least,” I said between my teeth, pained laughter accompanying my words. “Is it time for my sexy vampires to go hunting?”

Rigg looked to Alek and back at me before taking his shirt off. “I think so.”

Cracking a smile, Alek shrugged and pulled his shirt off as well. “Why don’t you come inside, little one? Leave the rest of this to your, uh, what did you call us again? Oh, yes, your sexy vampires.”

He didn’t have to ask me twice.

“Sure thing!” I said cheerfully before dropping the spray gun and running inside.