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“You still game to feed me?”
A shiver of desire feathered over her skin as the words left her lips. Though she hadn’t intended on the double meaning, her fangs lengthened without her conscious volition.
Riaz’s ebony eyebrows shot upward. “Feed you?”
Backpedaling, she adopted a nonchalant posture, adding in a casual shrug to counter the thoughts that’d suddenly forced their way into her mind. “I think I could go on an ice cream run.”
Riaz threw the punching bag behind him like it weighed nothing, all attempts at organization forgotten.
“I scream, we scream, even vampires scream for ice cream!”
His arm coiled around Cortana’s waist, gently tugging her toward his side. She shimmied against him, unceremoniously shoving him away and adding a scoff to punctuate her statement.
“I’m not yours, wolf. Don’t pretend like I am.”
Riaz, not to be undermined, bumped his shoulder against hers. “Did Ava sic you on me?”
A noise of exasperation left her. “What, I can’t follow the brooding werewolf all by myself?”
Though he chuckled, Cortana had no doubt that he knew the truth. At first, she had been surprised the werewolf had inspired such loyalty among his people. Seeing the way he interacted and supported them, the attention he’d given the birthday boy, and how cautious he was about his pack’s safety, she had no doubt he was the best alpha they could have asked for.
Five minutes later—and after she’d stowed her daggers back in her room—they were blazing a trail toward the downtown. Summer light still painted the sky red, the sunset beaming from behind the mountains.
Though Cortana had lived for four centuries, the sun still affected her and until it completely set below the horizon, a weariness would whisper through her veins.
She clutched to Riaz’s frame, inhaling his musky cedar scent. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“Of course, it’s part of my powers,” he bragged, the helmet on her head relaying his voice as clearly as if he was whispering in her ear. “Werewolves have a special radar for the closest sources of peanut butter and ice cream, like sharks can smell blood in the water. Or vampires, I guess.”
“Sharks can’t sense vampires in the water at all, actually,” she quipped, then let his chuckle lull her into resting her head against his broad back.
The second she did, his body stiffened, his steady breathing halting in his lungs. While on the motorcycle, it was inevitable that she’d be wrapped around him—but there was something different about laying her cheek against him. This was her choice, a tender gesture she initiated.
He coughed, and Cortana knew it was meant to mask his reaction. Their heartbeats mirrored each other, hammering and arhythmical, she had no doubt the intimacy of their connection affected him too.
There was something about this man that she couldn’t help but respond to. Every time she saw his grin, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Whenever he drew near, her skin tingled in anticipation. And when they accidentally—or purposefully—touched, electricity shot over her skin like she’d stepped on a live wire.
The slowing of the motorcycle announced their arrival.
She surveyed their surroundings and was quietly pleased he’d taken her to a mom-and-pop shop off the main drag. A few customers still sat at tables within, but the majority were empty and conspicuously clean.
“I thought you said you didn’t eat food?”
Taking off her helmet, she tamed several flyaways back into her braid. “I don’t. I’m here for you—and potentially to earn a few brownie points with the kids back in the den when I bring them back something sweet.”
Clutching his heart dramatically, Riaz offered her a sad smile. “Poor, poor vampire, starved and malnourished. Let the handsome wolf help you.”
When he gave her his elbow, she couldn’t resist, and they entered the shop side by side. The shopkeeper, a white-haired lady with coke-bottle glasses and a flower in her bun, gave a joyous greeting.
“Riaz!”
Grabbing him in a hug with gnarled fingers, the old woman mumbled something in his ear before kissing his cheek affectionately. She caught Cortana’s gaze only moments later.
“And who do we have here?”
“She’s a friend, Gwennie.” The wolf’s voice was softer than she had ever heard it, tender in a way that noted his affection. “Her name is Cortana.”
Gwennie batted away her extended hand, drawing her into a warm embrace instead. “Sweetheart, let’s not waste time with niceties. Any friend of Riaz is a friend of mine.”
