Those gentle feelings? They turned into a raging hard-on that made it difficult for him to keep up with her.
And then, almost as if she were teasing, she called over, “What’s wrong, champ? Can’t keep up?” and Adam’s jaw nearly dropped.
Was this the same woman he had to rescue from the Nightwalker attacking her?
His throbbing cock assured him that: Yes. Yes, it was.
“It is for now,” she said, answering his question. “It’s a rental, though, since I’m not sure how long I’ll be staying in Grayson. Just moved in the other day, actually.”
As she looked around the neatly decorated room with him, he could hear her snapping her bubblegum between her back molars.
During their walk across town, he watched as she cheerily popped a piece of gum in her mouth. Then, as if it didn’t bother her one way or another that he was a Nightwalker, she offered him a piece of his own. Tabitha shrugged when he stammered out a quick, No, thanks, before amusing herself by blowing bubbles.
She really went to town on the chewing gum. It shouldn’t have been as attractive as it was. He often thought the habit was like a cow chewing cud. He had a fellow beat cop who used to chomp away on the stuff and it drove him nuts.
But with her? He liked it. Especially when she blew a teensy-tiny bubble, only to pop it with the edge of her blunt human teeth.
Normally, he would cringe at the reminder that his teeth didn’t look like that anymore. Every time she flashed hers, though, whether a coy smile his way or when she popped her gum, all Adam could think about was how it would feel to have those teeth nibbling on him.
Then, more times than he could count as he walked her home, he inevitably started to fantasize about what it would be like to get his teeth in her.
And that wasn’t the only part of his wayward, out of control anatomy that eagerly wanted to get inside of this woman.
He’d been a Nightwalker for almost six months now. In all that time, his attraction to anything female had been in the toilet. Not only that, but as much as he struggled with the thirst, he never honestly thought about tapping a donor straight from the vein. Maybe because a part of him could pretend he wasn’t truly a turned vampire until he acted like a parasite and sucked on a donor.
Or maybe because he had never found someone who tempted him as much as Tabitha did.
He glanced over at her. It was the same woman he rescued more than two months ago; he was sure about that. Then why did she keep saying that she was new to town? He had definitely seen her in Grayson before, back at the end of March.
Was she just visiting?
And, more importantly, why was she acting like she had never seen him before, either?
“Hey, um… whatcha thinking about there, champ?”
That nickname.
He couldn’t fucking explain why it got to him. Like it was a taunt or a dare. Her pretty brown eyes seemed to light up every time she tossed it at him which, so far, was three.
And, Jesus, he was keeping count.
He didn’t know what came over him. Deep down, he was sure she didn’t mean for it to happen. But he was hot and he was thirsty and he’d reached the last of his control.
So when Tabitha tilted her head just so, his silver gaze zeroed in on the column of her throat.
Adam crossed the room in an instant. One second he was standing next to the couch. The next? He’d flown in front of Tabitha, gripping her arms carefully as he lifted her up to her tippy-toes.
Her head was still tilted. Her throat bared.
There was no time for her to react before Adam did it.
He bit her.
Tabby had been bitten before. Too many times to count, actually. As a slayer, it was an occupational hazard.
The thing was, any vamp who got their fangs in her throat was, you know, actively trying to end her before she had the chance to end them. They weren’t too concerned with making it feel good for her unless they were murderous and sadistic.
But this guy?