“Oooh, Mr. Fraser,” Philip droned from above us.
I opened one eye to peer up at him. He grinned and winked at me making me smile.
“What is it?” Liam asked, his chest rumbling under my head.
“Ms. Ulrich is here to see you. I’ve settled her in your office.”
Liam and I stared up at Philip waiting for him to turn back to the house. Instead, he smiled down at us as he waited. I shrugged and pushed myself up to stand.
“Phil, you’re a bit of a perv, ya know that?” I grinned and tweaked his nose before going to the spot where I’d left my clothes.
“I do know it. What’s your point?” Philip asked as he followed me.
Liam laughed as he joined me in getting dressed. “Philip, please tell Ms. Ulrich I’ll be right there.”
“Who is Ms. Ulrich?” I asked as I opened my laptop again.
He sighed. There was a lot of weight in that one breath, and I turned to him. “She’s the head physician for the hospital in Oregon.”
“Oh. Doug,” I said. For her to come in person the news had to be big. So, he either died, or they’d cured him.
“Yes. I’ll let you know what she tells me.”
Philip came back outside and sat in the chair next to me. I tried to ignore him as I typed out the next scene in my book. He waited patiently until I couldn’t take it anymore and turned on him.
“What? What do you want?”
He smiled and lazily turned to look at me. “Am I not allowed to enjoy the outdoors?”
“Doesn’t the sun bother you?” I asked, remembering what Liam had told me.
“I am a tribreed. The sun does not weaken me as it does a true vampire.”
“Interesting.” I studied him for a while, wondering what he was like before the attack. I was betting he wasn’t too different. “How do you feel about being a tribreed?”
His head tilted a little and he steepled his fingers as he thought. “No one has ever asked me that. Not even Liam.”
It was the first time I’d heard him say Liam. It sounded weird. “Well, I’m asking.”
He nodded. “At first, I hated myself. I hated the thought of drinking human blood. Mostly, I hated that I’d killed people for no reason other than to keep the monster inside me happy.”
He paused. I stayed quiet to let him take his time. I had a feeling it was the first time he’d ever really opened up to anyone about anything. “Liam helped me figure out how to feed without killing them. In the beginning, I’d scared the shit out of them because I hadn’t realized I could alter their memories. Once I mastered that, it was better.”
“Other than needing human blood, did turning have any other effects?”
“Nothing too different from being a shifter. I’m a lot faster, a little stronger, and heal a little quicker. I think it has a more dramatic effect on humans who do not have these strengths to begin with. The only unique trait is the glamor. That part, I enjoy.”
“What’s glamor?”
He locked eyes with me. At first nothing happened, and I thought he was just avoiding the question. Then his eyes dilated, and his features changed so subtly I wasn’t sure it was happening. But I was drawn to him. I couldn’t stop myself from climbing into his lap and kissing him.
His hands moved up my sides and a low growl came from me as they grazed my breasts. “That is the glamor,” he whispered against my lips.
I pulled back, and he was regular old Philip again. “What the hell, dude?” I jumped off his lap and knocked into the table.
“You asked. It was easier to show you than try to explain.”
“Sure, it was. So, you use your magic tricks to get a woman to screw you?” I glared at him. “That seems unfair. Akin to rape, even.”