Page 60 of Vampire Runner
I arch a brow, then incline my head towards her dark phone screen. “I take it you haven’t gotten the response you’re waiting for?”
She blows out between her lips and then nods. “My baby brother is proving again just how unreliable he is.” She looks up and down the street, searching for something. Whatever it is, she doesn’t see it if the scrunch of her lips is anything. She looks back up at me. “Could you point me to the closest bus stop? I’d rather not walk home if I can avoid it.”
“Bus doesn’t run this late, especially if you’re headed across the bridge to Topside.” I hate the way her shoulders slump. After seeing her stand up to those shifters, it makes a weird feeling scratch my gut.
“I don’t live in Topside.” Another sigh before she visibly rallies and gives me a firm smile. “Well, then. I should be off. I’ve got a couple miles to walk. Thanks for the help.”
She grips the strap of her purse and steps around me, heading back towards the busier part of Blood Street. I watch her go, telling myself she’ll clearly be fine.
I hold back a groan and let my head fall back. Then a fat raindrop smacks me in the middle of the forehead. With resignation, I jog to catch up with her, a bit impressed at how far she’s already made it.
“Look, it’s about to be pissing buckets,” I tell her as I reach her side.
She doesn’t slow down, glancing quickly up at the sky before staring resolutely ahead. “I can handle a bit of rain.”
I don’t miss the goosebumps that cover her arms as a gust of wind winds between us. I pull my wallet out from the inside pocket of my jacket, pulling out both my ID and an official Nightshade business card. With my other hand, I catch her arm making sure to be gentle but insistent. She looks down at the cards when I hold them out to her.
“My name is Malachi,” I tell her. “My car is one block over. You’ve had a shitty night, no need to suffer more. Let me drive you home. Take a picture of my ID and card, and send it to a friend or someone, so you know I’m not going to try anything.”
She studies me, her sharp eyes a bright blue even in the dim lighting. It strikes me again at how damn cute this woman is, with her button nose and round cheeks. She looks way too innocent to be hanging out on Blood Street. I’ve half a mind to ask her what she’s doing here, but I’ve already involved myself in her business too much. I’m not trying to be her friend, I remind myself. Just trying to keep the Barrows safe for visitors like the Nightshades are supposed to.
In the end, I think I’m pretty sure it’s the sudden rain that gets her to agree. She whips out her phone with impressive speed and takes a picture of each card with the flash on. Then, to my surprise, she grabs the cards from my hand and shoves them in her bra.
“There, I sent it to three different people and my boss. And I’ll hold onto these until I’m at my place, safe.”
I can’t help but grin at her cleverness. I pull off my jacket and wrap it around her. “Here, use this so you aren’t soaked,” I say before gesturing to her to cross the street with me. She hurries along but grabs my hand when we reach the opposite side, making me stop.
She holds up my suit jacket above her head like an umbrella. “We can share it. No point in you getting wet either.”
I find myself taking her up on the offer, hunching down until I’m crowding her. I didn’t realize how short she was until now, with her barely coming up to my chest.
Once she’s satisfied both of us are protected by a jacket that probably costs way more than she realizes, she raises her voice to be heard over the worsening storm. “Okay, let’s go!”
Together, we hurry along the sidewalk along with everyone else trying to get inside somewhere and out of the storm. When we’re close to Noir, I nudge her towards an alley, gesturing with my chin towards a floodlight that lights up the middle of the alley. “I’m parked in there.”
She doesn’t say anything because the wind whips at the jacket, the rain spraying us. She shrieks before laughing, grinning up at me. I find myself smiling back, feeling ridiculous and light. I tug her closer to my side, telling myself it’s to keep her drier. We rush down the alley, trying to dodge the growing puddles and failing terribly. She’s not complaining, though. If I weren’t a vampire, I probably wouldn’t hear her soft giggle over the rain.
I press my thumb to the biometric lock and yank open the metal door the moment the light turns green. We rush inside and I pull the jacket carefully away from her, shaking off the water. In the light of the parking garage, her cheeks are rosy, strands of hair (lilac, it turns out , a part of me notes) cling to her face, and her lips are parted as she breathes with exertion.
I wonder what else I could do to make her look like this. My cock twitches to life, interested in a woman for the first time in months. I swallow hard and make myself think about anything else. And definitely don’t let myself notice how her dress is plastered to her, showing off her toned thighs and firm ass.
“Here, this is me,” I make myself say and grab the keys from the box beside the door. I use the fob to remote start it, wondering if I had the heater on last. I cross the short distance to the first space, where my hunter green custom Range Rover has purred to life. I open the passenger door for her. “Hop in.”
“Fancy,” she says, her eyes no longer as bright as the moment before. She gets in though, easily scooting in while avoiding brushing against me.
I jog around the front and get in, pressing the ignition before hitting the button for her seat’s warmer. “If it gets too hot, just press this.”
She’s stiff after she’s buckled herself in, her hands on her knees. As I pull out of the space, the garage door sensor recognizes me and opens.
“So, where to?” I ask, hoping my light tone will help break down whatever wall she’s suddenly shored up between us.
She hesitates, then gives me cross streets that are on the south side of the Barrows. There’s a bear shifter pack in that area, but they typically keep to themselves. Still, it’s far enough away I’m glad she’s not walking, especially in this storm.
I try to think of something to talk about to break the silence, but everything sounds too stupid. At least she’s seemed to relax into the warmth of the car, her fingers idly playing with the hem of her skirt. I swallow hard, reminding myself and my cock to look straight ahead. We’re just giving her a ride. I don’t even know her name.
So we pass the short drive in silence, only the sounds of the windshield wipers and rain battering the roof of the car between us. It’s harder to keep my thoughts clear the more her scent fills the space. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s something sweet and flowery. Maybe honeysuckle? Gardenia?
After I turn onto one of the cross streets she gave, she points me towards an old boarder house that’s seen better days. “That’s me,” she says, and I pull up to the curb, glad that at least there’s a bright porch light and a cheery spring wreath hung on the front door.