Bite Me (London Undead) (6 page)

Her try at a funny fell flat. Somehow, she couldn’t even fake a small smile.

“You shouldn’t be by yourself.” Seth frowned.

As handsome as the man was, she liked him better when he smiled. Though it appeared he didn’t smile often. His face seemed to find its way to a frown too easily. Surprise sparked in his eyes when a smile found its way across his lips. “I’m not alone, per say.”

He snarled then. Startled, she added quickly, “There’s another squatter family or two up there in different apartments. One family has a pair of little kids. They don’t come down here, but they make do up there and don’t bring any harm to anyone.”

As quickly as the fierce anger flared up, it faded away. She watched his eyes turn back from gold to brilliant blue, fascinated.

“What are you looking at?” He still sounded angry.

“What had you so riled up?” She tossed a question right back in return.

She hadn’t expected him to step closer, so close she had to sit up straight and tilt her head back to maintain eye contact.

He stared at her for a long moment, then touched her hair. He took a single lock in one hand and held it up to his nose, taking a deep breath before letting it go. Her heart kicked into high gear.

Then he used the same hand to trace the line of her jaw. “I didn’t like the idea of anyone, especially a single male, living near where you slept.”

She parted her lips but wasn’t sure how to answer that.

Seth solved the issue for her by crossing the little remaining distance between them and closing his mouth over hers.

* * *

She tasted sweet with a hint of spice—her lips incredibly soft under his.

Encouraged when Maisie didn’t pull away, Seth raised his hand to cup the back of her head and deepened the kiss. He explored her mouth in gentle sweeps, happy when she returned with timid explorations of her own. Letting her up for air, he nipped at her lower lip then sucked at the fullest part. Teasing, he continued that way until she made a noise of frustration and caught his upper lip between her own teeth in a gentle bite.

He tightened his fingers around a handful of her hair and turned her head slightly for a better angle, ducking low to nuzzle her neck. She didn’t struggle but her pulse fluttered at the delicate curve of her neck and her arousal scented the air. He kissed her pulse point and then her jaw before brushing his lips over hers. When she parted her lips for him, he took the invitation without hesitation and took her mouth in a deep kiss.

Her hands tugged at either side of his waist and he allowed her to pull him closer, snug between her legs. Releasing her hair, he let his own hands roam over her shoulders, over the curve of her back and down to her behind. Gripping her butt in both hands, he ground into her as he kissed her even harder, and was rewarded by an answering moan from her.

When he finally ended the kiss, they were both gasping and his arousal strained against the zipper of his jeans. She started pressing kisses across his chest, soft points of warmth drifting down his sternum until he had to step back to give her enough room to continue down to his abdomen. When her tongue flicked across the very tip of his dick, peaking at his waistband, he groaned. Helping her as her slender fingers struggled with the button, he undid his pants and the rock hard length of him stood free.

She giggled, looking up through cinnamon-colored eyelashes at him. “You go commando?”

A question at a time like this? And he was supposed to answer with words?

“Easier when I need to do a complete shift to wolf.” His voice came out husky. She didn’t seem to mind.

No. Her attention centered on his very hard, very obvious arousal. As she nuzzled him, he gathered her hair in one hand, trying with every ounce of will he had not to fist her hair and shove her head into his groin.

He wouldn’t rush her.

But damn he wanted her mouth on his cock.

And then moist heat closed around him and he couldn’t help but tighten his hold. If she was reading his mind, she couldn’t have known better what he wanted and how. She took him into her mouth and worked her tongue, keeping her teeth clear of his sensitive flesh. Her fingertips drifted over the line of his hip, tracing the V down to his balls. She sucked gently on his cock as she tickled the skin on the underside of his scrotum. Everything inside him tightened in response.

She was hungry, his Maisie. Now he needed to slow things down so he could please her in return. Her clever mouth coaxed another groan out of him as his balls tightened.

It’d been a long time since he’d last been with a woman.

“Easy, there.” He tried to keep his tone gentle, but his voice came out low and rough.

She looked up, cheeks flushed and lips moist.

“You’ll have me too fast.” He bent low to kiss her again. “I’m about sharing, luv.”

“Sharing?” Her breath came in little huffs.

What kind of men had she been with in the past?

No. He didn’t want to think of that.

Still, the thought washed through his desire and cleared his head. Looking around at the cold room, the steel treatment counters and sterilization equipment, he stilled her hands by pressing them against his waist.

“This is not the place to keep going where we were headed.” She deserved better.

“Wha—”

He took her mouth again and then put every ounce of persuasion he had behind his next words. “When I have you for the first time, Maisie, I want you comfortable in my bed, because I promise you won’t have any energy afterward for anything but a long nap.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know whether to be miffed or pleased.”

Seth didn’t blame her. He’d be paying for his virtue later as well. “Hopefully you’ll choose the latter.” He paused, then gave her a grin. “I can promise I’ll more than make it up to you.”

She bit her lip, gaze falling to his groin as he tucked himself back into his pants.

Damn, he got harder under the weight of her stare.

Finally, she ran a shaking hand through her wavy hair. “Well, bollocks. Start the night killing zombies, tote me around the London streets, take me to dinner and wind me up. You do know how to show a girl one hell of a first date.”

He laughed.

Chapter Five

“I want a blood sample.”

Seth narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Whatever it is you’re on, I figure it’d be useful to help the newer wolves with their rage control.” Danny paused. “Or I could sell it as a recreation drug. I’d make a fortune.”

Seth tossed a towel at the pack medic and stood up from the weight bench where he’d been pressing more weight than any three human body builders could have handled. “Get on, then.”

“Seriously, man, I left you out on a solo patrol cause you had to burn off some temper, and you come back all sunshine and posies.” Danny handed Seth a water bottle. “One of the pups freaked out, thought he might have seen an actual smile on your face. Maybe.”

“I smile.”

“Only fresh from killing zombies, covered in gore and high on adrenaline. You’ve got a reputation for being a bit mad, you know. Seeing you smile like a normal man, in the middle of the day? Nah. That’s enough to creep me out too.”

Seth growled. Danny had known him for years, well enough to know there’d been a time when he’d smiled like a normal.

Danny held up his hands. “All right, fair enough. But I am curious. What happened last night to trigger such a big change? I won’t say how long it’s been, but it’s good to see.”

True enough.

Mollified, Seth turned his attention to removing the heavy weight plates from the bar and returning them to the rack. “There might have been some zombie killing involved.”

“Not the main reason, I gather.” Danny was a smart man and didn’t push the joke further.

“I might have found a lady.”

“Did you save her from the zombies?”

Wouldn’t that have been classic?

If she’d have been an ordinary damsel in distress, he’d not have stuck around after saving her. Nah. And if he’d have called Maisie a damsel in anything, she’d have stabbed him with one of her crutches. Or used it to crack him over the head.

Seth chuckled. “Well, now, she was in the process of saving someone else from zombies, but I decided to step in when those idjits’ screaming attracted more.”

“Sounds like an interesting woman.” There was a cautious note in Danny’s voice.

Rightly so. Seth hadn’t mentioned details and the last time a lady had entered his life, her betrayal had almost been the death of him. It’d be ironic the way he and Danny’d been talking about Sarah only a short time before Seth came upon Maisie, but a day rarely went by when Seth wasn’t reminded of Sarah. He made it a point to remind himself about her, so he’d not allow anyone close to make the mistake of relying on magic again.

Maisie relied only on herself...and her guns. Clean, practical.

“She’s a plucky girl, not like any I’ve met before.”

He’d said it as much to reassure Danny that Maisie wouldn’t be a repeat in history as to give him a hint of her character.

Danny never let caution stop his curiosity. The medic might be spending too much time with the leopard pride. The big cat shape-shifters had moved into London proper in the last year, after hiding out in the countryside for a couple decades scaring the bejeezus out of farmers around Devon and Cornwall. While the werewolves were glad to have their help in controlling the growing zombie infestation, only Danny and the leopard pride healer could visit either group without triggering territorial aggression so far.

“And how’s she different?”

“She shot me.” Seth grinned at the memory.

“She what?” The anger in Danny’s voice turned the last word into a growl.

Seth raised a hand to forestall Danny’s temper.

“The zombies last night, a few of them had a completely different behavioral pattern.” Seth’s mood sobered. “Fierce simultaneous attacks. Two came at me, one from either side while another jumped on my back. She shot through my shoulder. Blew it to the ground then administered a kill shot to its head. Girl knows how to handle a gun and she knows how to put a zombie down permanently.”

A moment of silence fell in the gym. Then Danny seemed to gather his wits. “Seems she’s a practical sort.”

“That she is.”

The pride he experienced in saying so tangled with another emotion. One he’d never thought to feel again.

Next time he took her out for a solid meal, he’d get the story out of her as to how she learned to shoot and how she’d gotten a hold of firearms with so little money at hand.

He figured he knew, but he wanted to hear it from her. Then he could set about arguing with her not to do it anymore. Setting his will against hers ought to perk up both their days.

Danny apparently hadn’t left yet. “So I’m assuming she’s still alive after putting a hole in you. Didn’t hear you fussing around in my supplies. You go to the emergency room?”

Seth didn’t miss the disgruntlement under Danny’s words. As much of a clown as he was, the medic was fiercely protective of his pack brothers. “Nah. You know I hate hospitals. Girl works in a clinic. Patched me up as an apology for shooting me in the first place.”

“A clinic? Not many around the area, not with the hospital so close by.”

“True enough and you know it. Girl works at an animal clinic.”

Danny snickered.

He might take a minute to pound his friend into the floor after all.

The medic turned his head to bare his neck and held up his hands. “Now, Seth, you can see the humor in it with your newfound good mood, can’t you?”

“Not so much as to let you go on about it.”

Keeping his gaze on the floor, Danny backed up a step or two. “I’ll leave it alone then, for the time being.”

Seth growled.

“Aw, you can’t expect me not to tuck this away for a rainy day, can you? It’s a choice bit of fun to poke you with when you get ahead of yourself.”

Folding his arms across his chest, Seth scowled. “I give you a lot of slack, Danny. But one of these days, it’s going to run out.”

“Point taken. And I suppose it does rain bloody often in London.” Danny scratched his head. “This clinic was out near last night’s patrol route though, yeah?”

Seth nodded.

“If you’re going to be visiting her more often anyway, and I’m guessing you are, it wouldn’t hurt to see if the clinic could become a field triage location for the pack. We’re going to be needing a few locations for those.”

“I don’t know about a few...” It wasn’t a bad idea. But he hadn’t kept his pack safe in the middle of a major city by trusting every bloke out there. Werewolves were best taken care of by their own.

“Start with this one, then,” Danny urged. “Humans who work with animals on a daily basis do better at working with shape-shifters. They’re more likely to understand the body language. Werewolves and were-cats are touchy enough to deal with hale and whole. Any of our wounded will need medical attention from people who aren’t going to be stupid and incite our prey drives.”

A point, there. Another reason Seth hated normal emergency rooms was the stink of fear from the nurses and doctors. Whether they were afraid he’d hurt them, attack them, or they thought they’d “catch” the werewolf disease by wiping away his blood, they all tiptoed around, ready to bolt if he moved a muscle. It took all of his considerable will not to run them down when they behaved so much like skittish deer. Either he or Danny always had to be present if any pack member with less control had to be cared for in a human hospital.

“I’ll think on it some. There’s two of them working at the clinic and they’d both work well with werewolves.” Even Brian had responded amazingly well considering the circumstances. “But I want to get a better feel for their current routine before we send it arse over elbow. You and the rest of the pack wait for me to make the introductions. Understood? For now, we keep the clinic under our protection.”

His claim on Maisie needed to be clear. Once she accepted his suit, then he’d worry about the rest.

“You gonna let me take a look at the hole she put in you?” Danny nodded with a pointed look at Seth’s chest. “It’ll have healed by now, but I’d like to be sure it healed clean.”

Seth sat on the weight bench with his back to Danny. The position gave Danny access to the healed wound and represented a show of trust Seth would only give to
this
pack brother. It was about as close to a peace offering as Seth would give for his temper regarding Maisie.

“Healed clean. I don’t smell any infection or leftover lead.” Danny gave his assessment with a hint of grudging respect. “She did a good job of it.”

“Aye, she did.”

Danny moved back into Seth’s field of vision, a grin on his face. “You going to let her put more holes in you or just get yourself randomly injured here so you can go get her to patch you up?”

Seth bared his teeth.

“Well, you’ve made it clear you’re going to go see her again. What excuse are you going to have ready?”

“I don’t need an excuse.” Seth paused, then shook his head. Did he? “One night, Danny, one night and I can’t get her out of my head. Every part of me wants to head back over to her place, catch her up and bring her back here. I want her in my den, where I can keep her safe, mark her with my scent.”

“Whoa there.” The medic’s brows were raised in surprise. “Never thought to see you bitten this way.”

Neither had he. The wolf in him could identify a mate—the mate for him—far sooner than the man in him. He’d thought the woman for him had died years ago, yet the last twenty-four hours had set him on his arse.

“While I’d dearly enjoy pressing you for more details on this very special lady friend, we’ve got an interesting report in from one of the patrols.” Jerking his head in the direction of the door, Danny gave him an apologetic grimace. “Pretty certain you’ll be interested in light of the observation you just made.”

“Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

“Not used to you all warm and fuzzy, wanted to be sure to get a feel for what was on your mind before setting this issue in your lap.”

Seth considered the situation. These new developments with the zombies might require in-depth investigation. Normally he let his seconds handle reports, but if Danny had brought this one to his attention...

He began pulling the weights off the bar and placed them back on the racks. “Let me finish setting these to rights and I’ll meet you in the ‘wreck’ room.”

Danny nodded and gave him a moment of peace. The “wreck” room was actually more of a sort of telly and entertainment room at pack headquarters. Informal. Most of the junior pack members spent time relaxing, watching shows on the vid or playing cards. The bonds of the pack were built as much on quality social time as in combat.

If the report had come during the day, it was probably from one of the junior pack members and the pup would give a clearer report in a setting more familiar and less of a strain for him.

Finished setting the plates back on their rack, Seth used his towel to give the bench a quick wipe down. Then he headed out of the gym and down the hall.

As he’d thought, the patrol waiting was composed of three young Weres. One had been with them for more than a decade, the other two were more junior, having only made the change in the past five years. The younger pups fidgeted despite the casual environment.

Seth nodded to each of them, then Danny, who waited off to one side. He chose a big armchair and sat, keeping his body language relaxed. The others sat as well, staying even with the level of his head in a gesture of respect.

“Something unusual in today’s report?” Calm voice, soothing.

The two pups kept their eyes glued to the floor but their shoulders relaxed. The older werewolf kept his eyes on Seth’s shoulder, still not making eye contact but not staring at Seth’s throat the way some of the others did, hungry to advance in the pack hierarchy. He did the talking.

“We were out on a standard patrol route, sir. And the normals were all stirred up about an apartment complex. Lots of bodies—in pieces, all rotted or tainted.” Sentence structure broke down as he reacted to the memory associated with the report. Werewolves remembered everything in a cascade of sights, scents, sounds, touch and taste. Humans might experience some particularly strong memories that way, but not always. The wolf might be older than his two pack mates, but he still had a long way to go before he had the control the senior wolves had.

“Go on.” Seth didn’t need to prompt for details. The wolf would have trouble not giving every detail. The trick was only sharing the key points.

“The dead, all normals. Zombie stink everywhere. Trails all around the building, like they came from every direction. The humans in the building had no escape route.”

Danny gave Seth a worried look.

Zombies usually hunted in the open, preying on the stray humans wandering out in the night. One might find its way into a building, but only if the doors were wide open or if it were directly following live meat.

“Any survivors?” Not his favorite question. The way the situation sounded, they might have to go put survivors out of their misery. The hospital wouldn’t do what needed to be done—not until it was too late. By then more innocent people would be infected.

And wouldn’t that be fodder for the news-hounds?

The reporting wolf shook his head. The action seemed to clear his head some. “There were ambulances, sir, but no survivors loaded up or taken back to the hospice. Mostly police on the scene, investigating, and standard gawkers.”

Seth cocked his head. Something off, there. “Rubber necking, but no one upset? Crying?”

A pause. One of the very junior pups answered. “No, sir. No crying. All the humans smelled of fear, but no one grieving. None of the gathered crowd were friends or family.”

Smart pup.

Friends and family would have been summoned to the scene if the news hit the telly. Still, even if it hadn’t aired yet, someone in the crowd should have known the residents, suffered for the loss.

“Have the three of you gotten sleep? Fed?”

“Fed before the patrol, sir,” the original reporting wolf assured him.

Good. It was standard procedure to send out well-fed patrols, but never hurt to confirm. Wouldn’t do for a younger wolf to lose control and start feeding on a dead body. None of them would be tempted by one of the rotting zombies, but a fresh human kill before it made the transition? It could happen and the humans would turn on the shape-shifters in a fear-driven monster hunt. Too easy to lump all the supernatural under the “things that need to be destroyed” category.