Page 9 of Vampire Visions

I shrugged a single shoulder as I looked down at myself. I’d honestly forgotten that I shredded my clothes when I shifted earlier. “I’m a shifter, Barbie. Being naked is as good as having fur.”

“Are you going to be running around naked often?” She smiled up at me as she rubbed a soapy loofah across her body. “Is that something I have to look forward to?”

I chuckled while placing her soap bottle back on the shelf and took the loofah from her to wash her back off. “Maybe. Sometimes clothes just feel restricting, but I can put them back on if it’s bothering you.” I rolled my eyes at her.

Shaking her head, she let her eyes trail over my body again. “No. No. It’s not bothering me. Distracting, but not at all offending.” She laughed to herself when I huffed at her response.

I took the shampoo, squirting some in my hand, and massaged it across her scalp. All the dried blood turned the bubbles pink, but soon enough, more of her silvery blue shone through. She leaned her head back as I moved the showerhead around her to wash all the suds out of her hair. After the conditioner was all rinsed out, she gave me a content smile. “You didn’t have to do all that, but thank you.”

I didn’t reply right away. I didn’t know how to. I stepped out of the shower to grab two towels, thinking about how caring for others was simply what I always did. I could tell she wasn’t used to having someone take care of her on such an intimate level. Every woman I’d ever dated would have eaten that shit up. She didn’t expect it, just appreciated it and then thanked me. I didn’t know what to say to that, but “You’re welcome” didn’t feel like enough and “anytime” sounded kinda creepy. So I decided not to say anything as I draped a towel around her shoulders, stealing one more look at her less noticeable injuries.

The gunshot wounds in her body were healing quickly since the bullets only hit the muscle, but her head was going to take longer. The hole in her right thigh was almost completely closed up. Her left shoulder still had a quarter inch or less to heal until it was gone. Her forehead looked unreal, though. Bone was slower to knit itself back together than muscle and skin. It’d take another couple hours to get back to normal, but by nightfall it’d look like she was never shot at all.

Her whole attitude about this shit was blowing my mind. She wasn’t really complaining. She didn’t seem to be mad. She hadn’t even asked if we found the shooter. I couldn’t tell if her calm demeanor was a side effect of being shot in the head or if she was nonplussed. Knowing what little I knew about her, I’d take a gamble and say she was planning to save that anger to direct at her shooter, or the bitch that hired him. She was mostly unfazed by the injuries themselves. They were just a mild inconvenience, like she’d been through this enough times to not care anymore.

This whole interaction with Sloane was what I’d needed to figure my shit out. She wasn’t like the other females that I’d dated. She wouldn’t intentionally hurt me, take advantage of my kindness, or leave me wondering if I was good enough. This was my mate, and it was high time that I started acting like it.

Sloane

Tuesday Late Morning

“Really?” I huffed. “I can walk, Briggs.” If I was being honest with myself, I was amused by his behavior and loving his attention. The problem was I wanted more of this, but I knew he wasn’t ready to give me any more than he was right now. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t push him just a little. If he pushed back? That would be a good thing. That was what I wanted.

“Or, I can carry you.” He made it sound like a suggestion. It wasn’t. “You were just shot a couple hours ago, and I had to fight a hellhound to get in your room. The least you can do is let me carry you down the gazillion stairs in this house to get to the others,” he informed me with an eye roll.

“I really wish you’d carry me to the bed instead,” I mumbled under my breath. He grinned while I pouted. I sat in his grasp with my arms crossed over my chest, side-eyeing him. He was trying not to laugh at me. “Keep playing hard to get, Briggs. Just know, when we fuck, you’ll end up falling in love with me. Just. Like. That.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis.

“Dude, she’s not even playing,” Novak called out as he flashed passed us on the stairs. I wondered where he was going. Briefly.

Briggs tightened his hold on me, drawing my attention back to him. He leaned in close, his lips brushing the shell of my ear as he whispered pure sin to me. “Keep talking your shit, Barbie. When I have my head buried between your thighs, you won’t be running your mouth anymore. You’ll be screaming my name until you lose your voice. Then, I’ll fuck you hard enough to make you wobble down these stairs. You’ll feel me for days. I don’t think you’re ready for the addiction that comes with this dick.” I threw my head back and groaned, and he fucking winked at me.

Oh, he was pushing back hard.

“Take me upstairs,” I playfully demanded, but I meant it. Why were we still going down? We should be going up. We were already naked.

“Nope.” He popped the p and kept descending the stairs with a broad smile on his face.

“Fucking tease,” I muttered. He held me just high enough that I couldn’t tell if his dick was soft and swinging freely as he took his steps one at a time, or if it stood straight up. I was thinking about it, though.

“Yep,” he agreed, taking his time to get to where we were going.

When we made it to the door that led to the outside pool area, I wiggled in Briggs’ grasp. “Put me down. I want to walk out on my own two feet.” He gently set me down and helped steady me. I rolled my shoulders back, feeling the slightest tug on my left side. “You want some clothes?” I asked Briggs. Snapping my fingers, I made tight black shorts and a strappy, red sports bra appear on my body.

“Where do the clothes come from when you do that?” Briggs eyed my… chest as he spoke.

“My closet. You know, where I keep my clothes.” I smirked when his eyes bounced to my face.

“And if you dress me like that, am I gonna be in your clothes or mine?” he questioned, skepticism written all over the set of his eyes.

I grinned at him. “I tried to get you in my pants a few minutes ago, before I was actually wearing any, and you told me no.”

“Not what I meant, but sure. Do your little snappy thing and get me some boxers or something.” He shook his head at me before correcting his choice of words. “No, not something. I’m not leaving that up to your imagination. Boxers are just fine. Please and thank you.” I bit my lips together and snapped again, giving him what he asked for.

Novak walked in a moment later from wherever he’d gone when he passed us on the stairs. “Nice to see you in some clothes again, Briggs.” His smartass remark made me giggle a bit before Briggs narrowed his eyes at me.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining about me when she was naked too.” Briggs huffed at his own statement. “Never mind.”

“We all like looking at her when she’s naked, Briggs. There’s really no competition there.”