Page 21 of Fangs & Fur

Sucking in a breath to steady myself, I toss up whether telling him is a good idea. The last thing I want is to put anything more onto his plate when he’s already processing the fact I’m a vampire, let alone that he’s destined to mate with a supernatural.

I relent at the idea of making an excuse because he deserves the truth. “I don’t know where to begin.”

“How about letting me not burn my spaghetti sauce,” Noah chuckles.

My gaze turns to the stove, and I grimace at the mess he’s made of the kitchen. Yet with all the dirty utensils and bowls and cutting boards, his spaghetti sauce looks far too watery and bland to be enjoyable.

“Would you like a hand with dinner?” I ask, eyeing the wooden spoon on the floor behind Noah.

He giggles, nodding, “Please.”

I give him a tight squeeze, saving the memory of his body in my arms, and turn to the drawer to find a new spoon.

While I find some fresh ingredients to add to the sauce to thicken it up, I use the distraction of cooking as a way to process my thoughts. Noah takes a seat at the bench and looks at me expectantly.

“I found a dead body,” I say, carefully watching his expression.

His lip quirks. “As you do.”

I shake my head, unable to feel the faint stress at the edge of my lips as they try to form a smile. Being around Noah makes it impossible for me not to smile. He’s like sunshine encapsulated in a human body.

“It was far from town, in the forest. But…” I pause, mixing in a few chopped vegetables and adding some salt, stirring the sauce over medium heat to burn off some of the water.

“But?” Noah presses, clearly very invested in what I have to say without a hint of disgust for the fact I'm mentioning a dead body right before a meal.

“But, it… she didn't die from natural causes. Something killed her.” I strain the water from the boiling pasta and add it to the sauce, mixing them together.

“Oh,” Noah is quiet as I pull two bowls from the cupboard and dish up. “What was it?”

I shrug, adding forks and sliding a bowl to Noah, who quickly shovels it into his mouth. I make a mental note to keep an eye on how often he’s eating, as it seems he hasn’t eaten all day.

“I don’t know. That’s what worries me.” I sigh, unable to even consider eating. My mouth is so dry it hurts to swallow, and my hands are clammy. With my hackles raised, I doubt I'll be getting much rest tonight. Not that I need a full 8 hours like Noah does, but a few hours go a long way.

“Do you think you’ll find out what it is?” Noah pauses with the fork halfway to his mouth. “Or who?”

I grimace at the idea of ever going near the cave again, but I know I won't be able to rest until whatever killed the girl has been found and contained. “I don’t know. I've never come across anything like it. The stench…” I feel the blood I drank less than an hour ago rises up my throat. I swallow it down. “It’s something so foul I'm sure it isn’t from this world.”

Noah finishes his bite and nods. “Could it be from hell?”

His question makes me pause for a beat. I’ve been so wrapped up with the discovery and surviving the fumes of the cave that I haven’t even considered it. Noah is a genius. Nyx has come back from her travels in the underworld smelling of sulfur and acid too many times to count. I’ve even had to hose her off once when she came back smelling particularly feral.

“You might very well be onto something.” I give him a wink and pull out my phone, firing a text to Malcolm. He’ll have contacts who specialize in hell-bound beings, so I may as well help point him in the right direction.

Still, my mind flashes back to the cave. The silent scream on the girl's face. She would have been similar in age to Noah — that idea has a growl forming in my chest and my fangs aching to descend.

Noah’s head jerks up as my chest vibrates, and his cheeks turn a subtle pink. But the air surrounding him whirls and thickens with lust. Its spicy kiss covers my skin, along with everything else in the kitchen, and I find myself leaning over the counter to get closer.

He’s intoxicating. A human with so much power over me, and I'd be more than willing to give him anything he desires. And some.

Chapter Seven

Noah

I can’t say I'm completely irritated at the situation. With new fascinating writing ideas now flooding my mind, my fingers dart across my keyboard as I begin to thicken out my plot. It helps that the entire town I live in is run by supernatural beings. Especially the fact that I now share a house with a vampire, to be exact.

Yet the specific vampire in question has been home less and less over the past few days, and it’s beginning to bother me.

I enjoy Xander’s presence. His deep voice has my mind slowing to the point I can think clearly, and his leathery smell has my chest loosening from its usually tight stature. Even the house feels marginally lighter with him in it.