Stu followed close on his heels. “Hey, I'm paying. My treat for hitting you with my football.” He came up from behind and stood a breath away, so close his whisper tickled Aric's ear. “You're a pain in the ass, but I'll buy.”
Aric ignored his offer and paid the cashier, then turned to face him. “Stop pestering me.” Even as he said it, desire spread across his stomach and left him with an uncomfortable tightness in his jeans. The guy was too damn handsome. The whole package somehow made him weak and wanting and incredibly horny. It had to be his bloodlust kicking in. It couldn't be that he really wanted anything to do with Stu Hamilton. His head and his dick were at war with each other. He turned to leave, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him.
Stu held him in place. “You beat me to the register, but next time it's on me.”
Not likely. No way would there be a next time.
Aric shoved Stu's hand away. “I said stop pestering me.” He pushed open the glass door and stormed out to the parking lot, into a gush of warm, suffocating Arizona air.
Stu sidled next to him. “Do you live far from here?”
Aric pressed his hands to his head. “You're not going to leave me alone, are you?”
Stu grinned. “Nope, I'm not. So I'll walk you home.”
Not only was he unsure if he wanted Stu to know where he lived, he was unsure he wouldn't try to bite Stu's neck and then jump his bones. He'd already spent too much time with him. “All I want is to go home and sleep.”
“It's Friday.” Stu looked at his wristwatch. “Well, Saturday, and you need to chill out, relax. You have the weekend to catch up on your beauty sleep.”
What's with this guy?
Like a stray puppy, Stu glommed onto him. Yet he longed for a warm body in his bed. Just one night of giving in and letting go. A connection would remind him that he was still human. He wavered. “Don't you ever let up?”
“Not when I'm right.”
Aric sighed and turned away. Though his attraction to Stu was growing by the second, he didn't want a friendship with a football jock. They had nothing in common that he could see, and even if they did, nothing would come of it. “Just leave me alone.”
He'd gone too long without blood—and without sex. Stu was too open, too friendly, and had no idea how dangerous it'd be to strike up a friendship with him.
Aric could suck Stu dry.
Aric and Stu hadn't made it out of the parking lot before Stu made his decision. Aric needed his help. Help of what kind, he wasn't sure, but there was something in the way he held his shoulders rigid, his facial expression emotionless. The scent of his fear couldn't be disguised. Stu's finely honed sense of smell had picked it up. His intuition never failed him when he played football. He'd easily sprint across the field—leap above the cornerback if necessary—for the perfect catch, the ball sailing into his reliable hands.
His father had taught him to trust his instincts. For now, he would ignore his promise to his mother. It wasn't as if he were going to take an oath and walk alongside his brother. He suspected Aric had been followed by one of the undead. He'd sensed it. He would find out the truth, and if it was so, he would call on Corbin and step aside.
Stu was aware of the irritation behind those enigmatic hazel eyes. They glowed eerily under the streetlight, reminding him of a night owl, able to see beyond human sight. He shook off the image. Aric looked nothing like an owl. Not with that slender body and pretty face. He supposed Aric would take offense to the word “pretty,” but everything about him seemed almost delicate.
“Look. I'd rather go it alone,” Aric growled, his mouth set rigid and his jaw tense.
Delicate except for his negative attitude.
Stu bit back a laugh, keeping his voice casual. “You don't want me to find out where you live?”
“Why won't you leave me
alone
?”
“Since my football hit you, I'm responsible for you.” He knew
that
would get a rise out of Aric—as Aric had gotten a rise out of him. Stu had been more than surprised when he realized he'd gotten a hard-on after he'd grabbed Aric out of the way of the cyclist. It was holding that wiry, slim body in his arms that'd caused it. Crazy that a guy would affect him like that, but throughout the evening he'd become aware of a growing interest in this nerd.
Sure enough, Aric bit the hook. “That's asinine. Don't worry; I'm not going to sue you for damages.”
“Then shut up and let me walk you home.”
“You're impossible!”
“It's what makes me a great player.”
“Yeah, I'll bet you're a player.” Aric squinted and looked past Stu's shoulder, his body poised for flight.
Stu placed his hand on Aric's forearm. “I meant a football player.”
“I couldn't care less what you meant.”
And that was a lie. Aric did care, or maybe Stu was only hoping he did. Which puzzled him. He never thought of himself as gay—not like his brother—but he never felt overly attracted to girls. Or guys, for that matter. Well, maybe one or two, but he always kept a tight rein on his sexuality. He'd always been driven to be the best in football, and it left him no time for relationships. Or that's what he'd been telling himself all these years.
For appearance's sake, he dated girls—easygoing girls with no baggage and no interest in a serious relationship. Aric appeared weighted down with a hundred-pound pack of trouble. But why did that matter, anyway? Unless…
Oh fuck
! Was he actually attracted to Aric? As in
relationship
attracted? No! It had to be his duty to his father's legacy that made him so curious about this nerd.
Stu leaned in, taking in Aric's spicy cologne, and his heart did a funny dance in his chest. His urge overtook his common sense; without a thought to how Aric would react, he tucked a loose strand of Aric's hair behind his ear, letting his fingers linger at the nape. Two pinprick scars marred the otherwise-unblemished neck.
Aric snapped his head to the side and stepped away. “Don't touch me.”
“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.” Those two scars were enough for Stu to be certain.
“Then leave me alone.”
“You need a friend.” He meant protector, but he kept that to himself. Aric was too skittish for Stu to confront him about vampires or explain how he knew what the marks signified.
Aric's eyes darkened. “You don't qualify.”
“You don't have a choice.” And for that matter, neither did Stu.
It was remarkable how his life was changing in just one day. A heavy weight fell from his heart. The inner calling of his ancestors was luring him into breaking the promise he'd made to his mother—to never follow his father's path.
The shadow following Aric was most likely one of the unworldly creatures roaming the earth in obscurity. People didn't believe in such myths, but these creatures were real and alive and preyed on human blood.
Aric backed away. “Don't mess with me.”
“I can't let you fight this alone.”
“How do you know—”
A rash of goose bumps raced down Stu's arms. He dropped his satchel and then shoved Aric between two parked cars. Aric's backpack flew beneath the trunk as Stu pushed him onto his knees and shielded him with his body. Aric shook against him, if not from fear, then from anger at being pushed down and trapped beneath him.
Aric jerked wildly. “Get off me, you id—”
A shrill hoot cut off his words. Stu looked up at the night sky, and a spasm of dread pierced his heart. An impossibly huge bird fluttered dark wings as it swooped above his head. The silhouette of its enormous wings and curved talons was terrifying. He'd seen that image before in a textbook he'd studied when he was child.
“Hold still,” he ordered. “That strix is after you.” His father had trained him on the varieties of the undead. Recognizing it as a vampire-strix flying above them, and knowing he had no means to kill it, made him feel powerless.
The strix flew overhead, circling and shrieking its baritone call.
Twit twoo. Twit twoo. Twit twoo.
As it swooped lower, closing in on them, chills swept through Stu. He concentrated on camouflaging them, and their clothing shimmered into the color of the pavement. He could hold the illusion for only a few minutes, but that was enough time for him to summon his totem before the bird caught their scent.
The creature shrieked as it paused in midair. Flapping wings sent a breeze through Stu's hair, and he looked up as its sharp gaze surveyed the parking lot. He closed his eyes and brought forth his spirit animal. When he opened them again, the majestic lynx he visualized appeared before him in physical form. The tuft-eared cat leaped lightning quick into the night sky. The strix squawked and swerved as the lynx lunged toward it.
The strix clawed the lynx's cheek with a sharp talon.
Stu cried out; the deep cut stung.
Aric twisted beneath him. “What's going on? What's that noise? I can't see a thing with you on top of me.”
“Stay put.”
The battle between bird and cat played out, each taking vicious swipes at the other. Wind ruffled Stu's hair, and his body shook from exhaustion. Sweat broke out across his forehead. It had been too long since he'd invoked his totem. He couldn't hold on to the image for long. His breathing became labored, every breath fire in his lungs.
The lynx's final leap shimmered into sparkling dust. But it had been enough. The strix cried out, streaked across the sky, and disappeared.
His presence had saved Aric. For now.
Stu wiped his hand down his face. His cheek throbbed, but the cuts were already healing. Taking in deep breaths, he allowed his muscles to relax. He kept his arms securely around Aric's waist and willed his mind into a quiet state. Once he stopped trembling, he became aware that he was still holding Aric. The awkwardness was lessened by how much he liked this position. Holding the slender body against his—the warmth it generated, Aric's scent—Stu was swaying dangerously toward wanting him.
Reminding himself that Aric was a man did nothing to dampen the newly inflamed attraction. Something about this guy made him want more. More touch, more skin, more taste. It went beyond the need to protect Aric and into another realm he wasn't sure he understood. It was as if his body separated from his mind. Each warred against the other, but his physical self was winning the battle.
“Let go of me.” Aric arched his back and raised himself by his hands, pushing Stu off.
Stu scrambled to his feet and walked away. He needed to cool down and give Aric some breathing room. He looked up at the inky blackness of the sky. Nothing stirred except a few faintly twinkling stars and the blinking lights of landing jets. The strix must have left for his lair. Stu ignored the chills creeping his up spine. A vampire slayer lived for these moments.
He walked over to Aric, who sat leaning back against the truck's passenger door, arms curled around his bent legs. His stubborn chin lifted, and he glared at Stu. Strands of hair stuck out from his braid. Mussed up and vulnerable, he looked as fragile as spun glass.