29
It was well past noon, when Cooper walked next to Anita toward the kitchen in Wesley’s house, showered and dressed, a bottle of blood in his hand. He was fully healed, and he had no scars from the two bullet wounds. In fact, he’d never felt better in his life. Anita had accepted him for what he was, and had shown no fear of his vampire side. On the contrary, she’d been curious and explored him without hesitation. It wouldn’t take long until she would allow him to bite her, making their lovemaking even more perfect than it already was.
He’d answered many of the questions she’d had about vampires, explained a vampire’s capacity to heal a human with his saliva and his blood, and confessed that his baby cousin Jacob had indeed bitten her with his tiny fangs. He’d also explained that as a vampire hybrid he could be outside in the sun, whereas the sun would kill his pure-blooded vampire parents if they were to brave it. The relief he felt at being able to tell her the truth about himself and his family and friends, was freeing, and it had brought them closer, not just physically, but emotionally too.
“Smells like somebody’s making lunch,” Cooper said with a glance at Anita, before he pushed the door open, and they entered the kitchen.
Wesley was cooking, and Virginia was setting out plates. Both turned their heads.
“Hey, guys,” Cooper greeted them and motioned to Wesley at the stove. “Are you making enough for all of us?”
“Good morning,” Anita said, addressing Wes and Virginia.
“Morning,” both of them replied.
Wesley added, “Yeah, I made plenty. You guys hungry?”
“Famished. Virginia, let me help you with setting the table.” Cooper placed the bottle of blood on the counter.
Virginia looked up. “Here—” She stopped herself and sucked in a breath of air. Her gaze shot from the bottle of blood to him, and then to Anita.
Wes turned at the same time.
“It’s okay,” Cooper said quickly, pointing to the bottle. “Anita knows.”
“I found out last night,” Anita added.
Wes put a hand on his wife’s arm. “Sorry, Babe, totally forgot to mention this. Cooper got shot last night. By Anita.” He smirked.
“How do you know about that?” Cooper asked.
“Haven called me, of course. Everybody knows about it.”
“Everybody but me,” Virginia said.
Wes pressed a kiss to her cheek. “You were busy at the council, and when you got back, we had something better to do than talk…” He winked at Virginia.
Virginia rolled her eyes, then looked at Anita. “You shot Cooper? What did he do?”
While Anita filled Virginia in on what had happened the previous night, Cooper set the kitchen table for four people, and Wesley put finishing touches on the stew and the potatoes. Cooper opened the bottle of blood and gulped it down.
Wes pointed to the empty bottle. “You sure you wanna eat with us after this?”
“Trust me, I could eat a cow right now.” He looked over his shoulder to Anita, who was still talking to Virginia, before he looked back at Wesley and dropped his voice. “Some women can really take it out of a guy.”
His uncle chuckled. “Like you would have it any other way.”
Cooper smiled to himself, and his gaze drifted to Anita. No, he wouldn’t change anything about Anita and their relationship. She was absolutely perfect for him.
“You’ve got it bad,” Wes whispered.
“I know.”
“Let’s eat!” Wes announced and set the pot of stew in the middle of the table, while Cooper placed the bowl of roasted potatoes next to it.
Everybody helped themselves to the food and dug in. Cooper was happy to see that Anita didn’t just pick at her food, but ate with gusto. She, too, had burned a lot of calories the night before, and they’d both barely gotten any sleep. Holding her in his arms all night and into the morning, had put him in a constant state of arousal, one he could only relieve by making love to her again and again. It was a wonder that she wasn’t complaining that she was sore after he’d relentlessly thrust his cock into her. Instead, she’d welcomed him even when she was half asleep.
Wesley pulled him out of his reverie. “I heard you guys got a sketch of the suspect. So, a serial killer, huh?”