Chapter Six

Bridgett: Wednesday, 12:45 a.m.

“Yagonnahurme?” Garrett had left me alone with a strange vampire, although he didn’t seem all that scary.

“No. I’m going to do what Garrett asked me to do.”

“Gonnahuryou?” I asked, frowning. I couldn’t speak well because of the swelling, but that didn’t stop me from looking William over. He had nice eyes and really cool red hair. The way he’d answered made me think he was smart, too. I never liked those jock-types who thought they were all that. The pack had been full of those guys and they were trouble. Give me a guy with a nice smile and a sharp brain and I was good to go.

William was slim with long arms and nice hands and was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt with the top two buttons unbuttoned. I caught a glimpse of his pale chest. He saw me looking him over and I felt my face heat up in my usual blush.

Here I sat, my hair sticking up all over the place, some of it matted with blood, my face swollen, my nose broken, and my lip bleeding. Sinc had wrapped bandages around my chest to ease the pain of the broken rib, but there was blood covering my sweatpants and shirt, along with plenty of dirt. Oh yeah, I was looking really attractive right about now. He probably wanted me to drink his blood about as much as he’d want a smelly werewolf drinking from him. I sighed and looked at my hands, which were twisted together in my lap. They were bloody and dirty too.

“No. It feels like a couple of needle pricks.” I didn’t look up at him. “Don’t be nervous. You’re a shifter, so you’ve hunted, right? You’ve had fresh blood?” I nodded. “What kind of a shifter are you?”

“A cheeah.” I rolled my eyes. He must think I was a total dweeb. My mind flashed to Kennet and what he’d done because of me. Not only a dweeb, but also an idiot. Why, why, why had I left Maya’s house?

“So you’re like Garrett and Jackie? That’s really cool.” I glanced up through my lashes and tried to smile, his friendly comment helping to ease my complete and utter embarrassment and total humiliation. “Please give me your wrist, Bridgett.” I stretched out my hand and watched as William gently brushed off the dirt and lifted my wrist to his nose. He took a sniff and his fangs popped right out. Okay, so that was way cool and kinda creepy. William smiled and my belly did a little flip. Really? Now? What the heck was wrong with me? Thank god he couldn’t tell.

He released my hand and bit into his own wrist, then held it to my mouth.

I latched on without too much trouble, despite my swollen lip. After only a few seconds a soothing heat washed over my body, taking away most of my pain and sending tingling energy coursing through my cells to heal my cuts, swollen bruises and torn muscles. Amazingly, my nose began to knit itself back together, along with my horribly painful broken rib.

And yeah, he tasted really good.

William’s gaze was on my mouth as I drank from him. He was breathing deeply, which was weird ’cause I’d heard vamps didn’t really have to breath. Maybe he liked the smell of my blood, which was splattered all over my clothes. His eyes were dotted in silver and his fangs hadn’t receded, which, I was pretty sure, meant he was enjoying the experience. I wondered if it really mattered who drank from him. I mean, any female would probably affect him the same way. When he fed a female they must feed from him too, at least, that’s what I’d heard they did. I’d never spent any time with vampires.

“You have beautiful eyes, Bridgett—like Jackie’s.” When he mentioned her name, I wrinkled my brow, feeling guilty again. He must have picked up on it.

“Garrett will get her back, don’t worry. He’s a powerful vampire—much stronger than me.” I was shocked when he reached over and inserted his finger in the corner of my mouth to break the suction. Throughout most of the experience he hadn’t broken eye contact, which made me wonder if he was trying out his glamouring skills. A relaxing warmth was oozing through my body and I decided that when it came to healing, vamp blood was definitely the shit. I sat transfixed as he put his finger in his mouth, then carefully wiped his saliva on two spots just above my lip and over the wound on my nose. “That’s so you don’t scar.” His touch made my whole body shiver. It felt so good, I leaned a teeny bit closer.

A deep line formed between his brows. “This is so strange. Sasha and Heinrich make fun of me all the time because I’m sort of shy around women. But I feel comfortable with you. I wonder if it’s the cheetah thing.” His fangs had finally disappeared, along with the silver in his blue eyes.

I could speak normally again. “I’m not a healer like Jackie. Maya says I’m more of a brainiac and maybe a fighter if I get some training.” I was trying to act as if what he’d said about feeling comfortable with me was no biggie, but my heart was jackhammering in my chest and I was pretty sure his vampire senses could pick it up.

He laid a hand on his chest. “Not much of a warrior here. I’m all brainiac, at least, before I was turned.”

“You’re super strong and fast now that you’re a vampire, right?”

“I haven’t really been strong enough to fight. I guess now that I’m with Garrett’s nest and part of the team, I might be able to train a little.” My freakin’ stomach picked that very minute to growl loudly, so I looked down, hoping he didn’t think I was too lame. “Garrett said you need to eat. I’ll take you down to the kitchen.”

“I think I should take a shower. I must look awful.”

“You look like a warrior returning after a battle, Bridgett.” I loved the way my name sounded when he said it. He stood up and offered me his hand, which was pale and perfect. I stared at it like an idiot. He smiled and reached for mine and pulled me very gently off the couch, as if he were doing what he could to keep my still-mending ribs from hurting me. The vampire blood had helped a lot with the major injuries, but I’d be sore for quite a while.

We walked down the stairs to the kitchen together. His skin was soft and cool and the hand he’d wrapped around mine fit perfectly. I sighed and wished that the trip down to the kitchen would last a little bit longer.