Chapter Nine
Romy opened the window and held one hand out in the cool night air as they drove away from the surreal scream park.
The car’s speakers pushed out extremely mellow music from some station called Drone Zone.
Tanner had punched in her address to the GPS so she didn’t even have to give directions.
He kept one hand on the wheel, and the other on her left thigh, his fingers drawing slow circles on her skin.
It was the perfect combination of soothing and arousing, and she didn’t want it to stop.
Except that she did have to be responsible for a second. She reached for her phone.
“Ordering pizza?” he asked.
“You sent her my picture and license plate?”
“Of course.”
“Good OpSec.” Tanner was totally unbothered, which she decided was a green flag.
“Oh, she said you’re hot,” Romy reported.
“Tell her I’m blushing.”
“Weren’t you going to make a phone call to someone before?”
“Already done. I did it while your friend Diamond was going full Girl Scout. Some of my family are on their way. Whatever was operating at Hellgate Hollow is going to be very sorry they met a Salem. Though I imagine they’re already sorry they met that pack.”
“If by sorry you mean dead,” she muttered. “I am not telling my sister I almost got vamped tonight.”
“Yeah, that’s always complicated to do over text.”
She had never been so happy to see the Atlanta skyline. Tanner skirted the city and the worst of the constant traffic to reach her neighborhood on the east side. Here it was fairly quiet, other than small groups of costumed revelers going to or coming from a party or a bar.
“You can pull up there,” she said when they reached her building. Several jack-o’-lanterns had been set out by residents earlier that night for the trick or treaters. Now they were all smashed across the sidewalk. The smell of burnt pumpkin and smoke lingered in the air.
He parked in the first free spot, then turned the car off and looked at her. “I can call you, right? That wasn’t just an FU to your boyfriend?”
“Ex-boyfriend.”
“Right.”
“You can definitely call me. Actually, do you, um, have to go home?”
“You asking me up?”
“Well, I know it seems maybe a little fast. Then again, we did just survive a vampire attack together. Speaking of which, I have a lot of questions about why you weren’t freaking out about that. And how you talked down a couple of werewolves with a code name or whatever.”
“Um, yeah. That would be a third date conversation, minimum,” he warned.
Romy said, “It’s only a couple hours until breakfast, if you want to make that our first date. Then lunch, then dinner, then you can tell me everything.”
“Do you have a couch?” he asked.
“I do. You won’t be sleeping on it.”
“You sure? Don’t get me wrong. I want to get you in a bedroom as soon as I can. But I want that to be the right time, and maybe you want one monster-free day first.”
He really is a gentleman, she thought. Aloud, she said, “Maybe I want you, right now.”
“Works for me.” He got out and opened her door, because of course he did. And then the door to her building. But she got the door to her apartment herself, and pulled him in with her.
“Mmmmm, don’t do that in general,” he warned.
“Do what?”
“Yank random guys across your threshold. Let them walk in under their own power.”
“Is this a fragile masculinity thing?”
He shook his head. “It’s a humans-can-do-it-but-vampires-can’t thing.”
“Ohhh.” She blinked. “Are you a vampire?”
“A little late to ask, Romy. And no.”
“How can I be sure?”
He smiled. “I’m warm and breathing and have a heartbeat.”
And a mouth that she couldn’t stop staring at. Romy was warming up fast herself. She unzipped the hoodie and flung it toward the coat rack. She missed. “I never paid for the hoodie.”
“Is that what you want to talk about right now?”
“No.” She raised her face, and he took the invitation.
It was an open-mouthed, brain-melting kiss that had her practically ready to climb him by the time he gave her a second to recover.
“Still good?” he asked.
“The kiss was good,” Romy said, sighing as she wound her arms around his neck. “But I am a complete wreck. I am covered in mud and dead leaves. The dress is a total loss.”
“Better take it off, then.” He smiled. “May I?”
At her nod, he reached around to unzip the back of the dress. He peeled the fabric away from her back and waist, then tugged the whole thing down, dropping to his knees as he pushed the dress to the floor. She had only a pair of very skimpy undies on now.
Still looking up at her, he hooked his fingers on the sides of her panties, wordlessly asking permission to take them off too. She nodded again, and soon she was stepping out of them.
He looked her up and down, his smile slow and absolutely wicked. “You look fucking delicious.”
“That’s what the vampire said.”
“I’ll be a lot nicer when I eat you,” he promised.
He stood up again and pulled his T-shirt over his head, revealing skin, a collection of tattoos, and muscle she could look at for days.
He worked the buttons on his jeans, but she put her hands over his and took over the job.
She could see how hard he was already, and she was very curious.
“Acceptable?”
Perfect fucking ten, she thought. “You pass the eye test. I’ll give you more feedback later.”
“Damn right you will, at high volume.” He ran his fingers down her arm, which was more dried mud than skin at this point. “How would you feel about a shower before I take you to bed?”
“Hell yes. Follow me.”
Her bathroom shower was barely big enough for two, but Romy was willing to risk it.
He positioned her so she would get most of the water.
They both stood under the hot spray for a few long moments, watching the water turn rusty with mud as it swirled away into the drain.
Then he grabbed her body wash and proceeded to give her the most thorough soaping-up she’d ever had.
His hands went everywhere, and she was a very clean girl when he was done.
“That better?” he asked, standing behind her as he kissed her neck.
“Amazing. Can I return the favor? I’m sorry I only have vanilla-scented stuff.”
“I like it.”
He let her paw at him with sudsy hands, and he didn’t have a speck of dirt on him by the end. She pressed herself against him, playing with the way the water made skin slippery.
“What’s next?” she asked, circling his erection with one hand.
He worked his fingers into her sopping-wet hair and angled her face to his. “I’m going to chase you into your bed and lick off all the water still on you. Then I’m going to spread your legs and eat as much of your pussy as I want, until you can’t do anything but scream my name.”
“Okay, bossypants,” she breathed. “Then what?”
“If you can still sit up, I’ll let you ride my cock. And if you can’t but you still want to get fucked, I’ll take you from behind. Does that all sound acceptable, angel?”
“The condoms are in my top drawer,” she said.
“Mm, I’m taking that as a yes.” He kissed her, slow but hard. “Show me the way.”
She did.
In the morning, Romy woke up to see Tanner lying on one side, the sunlight from her bedroom window hitting him and turning his skin to gold. He’d propped himself up on one elbow and was tracing patterns on her body with the fingers of his free hand.
She regarded him for a long time before she said, “I had a nice night once I got back home.”
He smiled. “Yeah. Sex can be pretty hot right after life-threatening danger.”
“So we’ll have to keep encountering fictional monsters that are actually not fictional?”
“No. I can promise you mind-blowing sex even on weeknights with no monsters.”
“You’re cocky.”
“You’re welcome.”
Romy laughed. “Okay, but seriously. What the hell happened last night, and why do you know about these assholes and how to fight them?”
“Angel, we haven’t even had our first proper date.
So for now, just know that a lot of the things that scared you as a kid are very real, but there are ways to defeat them.
As for how I know about it, it’s sort of a family business to fight evil.
I’m a Salem, and that’s what we do. Now, for the important stuff. What do you have for breakfast?”
“Um, eggs or frozen waffles. And coffee.”
“I’ll get things started.” Tanner kissed her and then rolled out of bed, looking just as good as he had last night.
As soon as she heard him rattling around in her tiny kitchen, Romy got up and hurried to the bathroom to check the damage.
The mirror showed wild hair, glowy skin, and just a few scratches on her legs from all the running around in the woods.
She looked… good. Like, fresh-from-wild-sex-and-deep-sleep good.
Romy brushed her teeth, ran her fingers through her hair, and grinned at herself.
She pulled on her oversize Yosemite National Park shirt and walked out into the main space of her apartment. The white ghost lights (her sole Halloween decoration) were still blinking. She unplugged them and then reached up to take the string down.
“You one of those people who put the tree up November first?” Tanner asked from the kitchen.
“Nah, not till after Thanksgiving. But I’m done with spooky season for a while.”
He nodded. “Come eat, angel.”
Tanner was making scrambled eggs with cheese and the chives growing on her windowsill. He also toasted the waffles, and brewed coffee. Maybe she should keep him around.
He handed her a mug with Rollins School of Public Health emblazoned in gold type on the side. “Here you go.”
“Yay! Oh, crap, I’m out of creamer,” she groused, looking in the fridge.
“Ice cream,” Tanner advised from his post at the stove.
She tried that, and it worked very well. “Mmmm. Vanilla for the win. Again.”
After breakfast, he did the dishes.
“Are you trying to impress me?” she asked, sipping more ice creamy coffee.
“I like a clean sink. And I’m trying to impress you.”
“Well, it’s working.” She glanced at her phone. “Wow, I’ve got, like, a million texts.”
“Anything important?”
“Hmmm.” She scrolled through. “Diamond wants proof of life, and proof of a good time. Same for Piper. Oh, Brad wants to talk things over,” she said.
“Yeah?” Tanner was obviously trying not to look like an angry pit bull, but he still did, and she thought it was awfully cute.
“Yeah. Hold on a sec while I delete him from my contacts and block him.”
“You really know what I like to hear,” he said.
“It’s also self-care,” she pointed out. “I think today is a good day to institute a new rule. No tolerance for assholes. That goes for vampires and shitty ex-boyfriends.”
“Good rule.” He poured more coffee and sank onto the couch next to her. He drank his coffee black, which seemed very on brand for him.
“Did you get any urgent texts?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Everything’s five by five. My buddies did not ask for proof of life.”
“They probably assumed you could hold your own against me.”
“If they did, they’re wrong. I didn’t have a chance in hell.” He put his mug on the table and then took hers and put it down too.
Romy was ready for his kiss, which tasted like coffee and maple syrup and possibility.
About twenty minutes later, their coffee had cooled. Neither of them cared. Romy lay with her head on his chest, hoping she hadn’t woken up her neighbors. Tanner was playing with her hair.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“I know I should say fucking you, but honestly I’m thinking about anticoagulants.”
“Hot. Tell me more.”
He grinned. “I was thinking that if I could figure out more about how my meds work, maybe my family can use that info to fight lurkers.”
“I’m scared to ask how many such fights they get into. How are you going to do that… the medication research thing? Does your family have a mad scientist lab?”
“Hmm, maybe. But I thought I might go to pharmacy school, or whatever they call it.”
“I approve. I bet you can get financial aid as a veteran too.”
“Wow, you’re like my own personal guidance counselor.”
“I’ll give you some guidance, if you know what I mean.” Romy tried to wink, but then spoiled it by giggling at her own terrible joke. She was dressed in nothing but a T-shirt, drinking cold coffee, but she was having the best morning in a long, long time.
He gave her a lingering kiss. “Romy, what are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing, why?”
“Want to stay in with me? No monsters allowed.”
“Yes,” she said. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Nothing,” said Tanner. “Why?”
“Just checking. We’ll take it day by day, but I think I’ll be asking you that again.”
“I can’t wait, angel.”
The End
Want to know more about the Salem family? Find my steamy paranormal romance series The Brothers Salem here: