Chapter 8
Eight
The food arrived not too long after Winter stepped out of the shower, looking squeaky clean and lickable. Hell, he looked lickable when he was dirty and tired. The vampire was always lickable, and it wasn’t just because Fox was hungry again.
But beyond his sexiness, he looked rejuvenated and alert.
More of the vampire’s synapses were firing now, which would definitely make it harder to escape.
But that was okay, since he’d come to the conclusion that running wasn’t going to solve shit.
That didn’t mean Fox was at all comfortable around Winter, but he was hoping they could come to at least a small truce.
If not, he could still run later. He hoped.
The vampire stepped into the room, wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt, which only accentuated his broad shoulders and added to his bad-boy rock-star look. His long hair was still wet and pulled into a ponytail.
While Winter showered, Fox had made the bed and tidied up the room, not that there was much to clean.
He wasn’t a neat freak, but the cleaning gave him something to do so the claustrophobia didn’t kick in.
After being locked in a room for several days with a bunch of angry vamps, he wasn’t feeling much better about being locked in a room with a sexy but cranky vampire.
A hot blush stole across his cheeks when the room service arrived. He knew he’d ordered quite a bit, but he’d been hungry and everything on the menu looked good. To his credit, Winter didn’t say a word or even blink at the amount of food.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a table to set everything on that gave him easy access, so Fox spread everything out across the bed and sat up by his pillow. He pulled close the burger and fries, and his stomach growled, pleased it was finally getting something with a little weight and substance.
When Winter returned from signing the check and locking the door behind the hotel staff member, he paused and smirked at Fox.
“What?” Fox demanded around the most delicious mouthful of burger. Cooked to perfection with crisp lettuce, lots of pickles, extra cheese, and condiments. No fucking tomatoes. Tomatoes could rot in hell.
“You look like a prince surrounded by the offerings of his people,” Winter muttered.
Fox rolled his eyes and took another bite.
Okay, he probably shouldn’t have ordered the burger, fries, small pepperoni pizza, club sandwich, and slice of chocolate cake, but he thought he could wrap the club in napkins and keep it for later.
With the way things were going, he wasn’t sure when he was going to get his next meal, and it might be nice if he had something should he find himself suddenly on the run.
“Please eat something so I don’t look like a total pig,” Fox pleaded when his mouth was empty again.
Winter pulled over the chair from the small desk and placed it at the foot of the bed.
He leaned in close, looking over everything before finally snagging a fry off the plate directly in front of Fox.
He growled at the vampire, but he did it with a little lift of one corner of his mouth so he’d know it was a joke.
“I don’t get how a vampire can just stop eating food. It’s soooo good, and you would have already spent years doing it. Habit, ya know?”
Winter gave a little shrug as his eyes skimmed over the array of food.
He settled on the smallest slice of pizza.
“It’s easiest when you’re a fledgling, first reborn as a vampire.
Each night you wake up, and the craving for blood is pretty intense.
Your priority is hunting and getting that blood.
After you feed, everything feels pretty fantastic. ”
“Like a full belly?”
“Mmm…more like a small buzz from alcohol. The world feels like a better place and you’re relaxed. Happy.”
Fox sniffed. “You’d think vampires would feed every night, then.”
“Unfortunately, that feeling fades after the first few months.”
“Ahh…bummer. Vamps might be a little less cranky if you could get happy from feeding.”
Winter smirked at him around a mouthful of pizza. “Are you saying that I’m too cranky for you?”
“Oh no, Big Sexy.” Winter sat up suddenly, almost choking on the nickname Fox had skillfully dropped on him. “You’re not cranky,” he continued around Winter’s muted coughing noises. “You just needed some sleep. You seem much cuddlier and more manageable now.”
“I’m not cuddly nor will you be managing me.”
Fox muttered, “Someone needs to manage you,” and returned to his burger.
Winter sighed and got up to grab a water bottle from the mini fridge. “Since we don’t get anything out of eating, it’s an easy habit to break. Even now, if I eat too much, I’m more likely to feel lethargic and bloated.”
“Still a shame. I might not look like it, but I fucking love to eat. Love trying new things.”
Winter grinned at him, and there was a wicked light in his blue eyes that managed to make Fox forget all about food. “Then I guess I’ll just have to try a bite of whatever you’re eating while we’re together.”
Oh fuck. It shouldn’t have been possible for him to get hard so fast, and for a vampire who would sooner kill him than deal with him another day longer. But damn. Big Sexy was just too enticing for his own good. Winter could have a fucking bite of whatever the hell he wanted.
The vampire took a drink from his water bottle, and Fox dropped his gaze to his nearly empty plate. It was safer than watching Winter, and it gave him a chance to calm down.
“When they grabbed you or while you were being held, did anyone say anything to you about a prophecy?” Winter asked.
And there was the fastest way to kill his hard-on—remind Fox of why he was with Winter in the first place.
Definitely not because he thought Fox was hot and they should spend some time learning each other’s bodies very intimately.
No, it all came back to this stupid prophecy that was more than likely a practical joke some witch was playing to make his life hell.
“I’m sorry, but not really,” Fox admitted. He pushed his plate away from him a little bit. Any hunger pangs he might have been feeling were now gone completely.
“I didn’t mean to ruin your meal.”
Fox quickly shook his head. “No, you didn’t.
I’m full and I was hoping I might be able to save some of this stuff.
Vampires…I never quite know when I’m going to eat again.
” He waved a dismissive hand through the air.
His mood deflated as the nearly suffocating weight of his situation settled back onto his chest. This wasn’t a time for laughing and flirting.
His teasing comments before might have been used to disarm and distract Winter, but they both needed to be focused now.
His life was clearly on the line, and it was beginning to look like the lives of others were as well.
Not that he wanted to be responsible for other people. He was lucky to keep his own head above water most days. No one wanted a powerless witch watching over their well-being.
Winter flashed him a rare smile, and Fox’s heart tripped in his chest at the sight of it.
No smirk. No mocking in his expression at all.
Just surprising gentleness. “We can try to save some, but even if we can’t, you’re not going hungry again while you’re with me.
We’ll manage a better schedule with the food. I promise.”
“Thanks,” Fox murmured. He shoved one hand through his drying hair and felt a little more at ease. “Don’t mean to be high-maintenance—”
“It’s not high-maintenance to want food on a regular basis.”
“Thanks,” he repeated. He needed to get them on track before his heart got any squishier over Winter’s smile and thoughtful words.
“But back to what you were saying. Several days ago, I was getting off work. I had been on the late shift, and the area was pretty dead at that hour. As I got to my car, three guys stopped me and asked if I was the witch called Fox. Took me another second to realize they were vampires. I mean, it’s not like most humans know about witches and vamps and such. ”
Winter scratched his chin, his brow furrowed. “True, but how did you know so quickly they were vampires?”
“The cold.”
“Excuse me?”
Fox smiled. “The air around vamps feels colder. Like you’ve got a personal AC unit blowing cold air around you.”
Winter looked at his hand for a second and then reached out and grabbed Fox’s hand. “I feel cold to you.”
Fox immediately shook his head, trying desperately to ignore the wonderful feel of Winter’s hand.
Since his mother’s death several years ago, there had been too few instances in his life where he’d felt even the most basic of touches from another human being.
And he wasn’t even thinking of hugs or sexual touches.
Sometimes it was just a light brush of fingers, a handshake, or a pat on the shoulder.
But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
“Not your skin. The air around you. Your skin, your touch, is definitely not cold.”
Winter grunted and released him, reclining in his chair again. “I’ve never heard that.”
“Yeah, it’s a pretty good early detection system except for during the winter. Shifters have hot air around them.”
“And what about witches?”
Fox got off the bed and placed his nearly empty plate of food and the pizza plate on the room-service trolley.
“Witches are harder. It depends on how powerful they are. Someone like me, I’d never be able to tell.
But a powerful witch smells like burnt sage or some other burning herb.
There can also be like an electric tingle in the air around them. ”
“So, three vamps approached you, obviously looking for you,” Winter prodded, putting them back to his story.