Page 77 of Ryder’s Storm

Ryder smiled at her. “I like it when you smile.”

She evaded his gaze, not wanting to be distracted by his smile and what it did to her. She had to keep a cool head. Suddenly, she remembered something.

“If you and most of Scanguards are vampires, how come you can be out during daylight? I mean the lore says that the sun burns vampires.”

“It does. That’s why my mother’s skin burned when you opened the window in the kitchen and she walked in. Our windows are covered with a special coating that filters out the sun’s UV-rays so we don’t have to draw the curtains during daylight hours.”

“Yeah, that would explain your mother’s injury, but I’ve seen you outside during daylight, and you didn’t burn.”

“Because I’m a hybrid. The other part of me, satyr in my case, and human in Grayson’s and Benjamin’s case, protects us from the rays of the sun. But we’re still vulnerable.”

“Let me guess? Stakes and garlic!” She’d watched plenty of vampire movies.

“Wooden stakes, yes. But garlic is just a myth. Silver will hurt vampires and hybrids alike. Otherwise we’re pretty indestructible.”

She knew what that meant. “You’re immortal?”

“Yes.”

She had to ask the next question. “How old are you really?”

“I’m thirty, though my body stopped aging at twenty-one.”

Scarlet looked at his handsome face. He would always look like this. Young, handsome, irresistible. But a vampire, a creature who craved human blood. She recalled how she’d watched Lizzy offer herself to the crazed vampire she claimed she loved. Lizzy hadn’t screamed, hadn’t seemed to be in pain. It made her wonder what it would be like to be bitten.

“When you bite somebody… I mean… when you drink a human’s blood… like, uhm, like that vampire who bit Lizzy…” She felt hot all of a sudden, unable to finish her sentence, not knowing how to ask what she wanted to know.

“Are you asking whether it hurts?” Ryder said softly, a kind smile on his face.

“Does it?”

“A vampire’s bite is pleasurable. It’s not just a feeding, it’s a connection, a bond that—”

“Would you two just get a room?”

At the male voice behind her, Scarlet jumped up and whirled around. A man stood between the fireplace and two oversized wing chairs.

“Wesley, what the fuck!” Ryder cursed. “Were you listening this entire time?”

He walked toward them, a dark-haired man in his thirties with an easy smile that indicated that he was a charmer. “Sorry about that, but I was just relaxing by the fire. And by the time I realized your conversation was rather private, it was too late to leave. I mean, how would you have liked it if I’d piped up when your two cocks came up?”

Scarlet felt herself blush to the roots of her hair.

“Wesley, would you please get outta here?” Ryder said, letting out an exasperated breath.

“Actually, why don’t you two find yourselves a private office and continue your chat there, while I relax in front of the fireplace, hmm? I hear that Blake is out for the rest of the night. Use his office.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Ryder said.

“And,” Wesley said and winked, “you’re right about Grayson. He’d be unbearable with two cocks.” He chuckled to himself.

36

To Ryder’s surprise, Scarlet didn’t protest when he took her up to Blake’s office on the executive floor to continue their talk. He also knew why Wesley had suggested it. Blake’s office sported a Murphy bed and a full bathroom, because as chief of hybrid security Blake had often worked days and nights without going home to sleep, when the brood of a dozen young hybrids from infants to teenagers had demanded his full attention. Now that most of the hybrids were adults, his schedule had somewhat lightened up. But the Murphy bed and the bathroom were still there.

When Ryder ushered Scarlet into Blake’s office, and closed the door, he looked at her. “Is it okay if I lock the door so we won’t get disturbed by people like Wesley?”

“Okay. So, Wesley, he’s a vampire too?”