Page 11 of Rafe

They reached for the door handle at the same time, her hand covering his. He turned to her and their eyes locked.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No worries. Here, I’ve got it.” Her hand moved off his as he clicked open the door. His beast begged him to kiss her, but he remained steadfast. He couldn’t lose control.

“Hey, I didn’t get your name.” She smiled at him, her forearm resting on the doorjamb, blocking his way.

“Rafe,” he answered.

“I’m Skylar.” She smiled at him.

“Don’t forget to lock your door.” Don’t touch her. Keep going, Rafe. Walk away. No matter what he told himself, his beast wanted her.

“See ya around, Rafe.” She backed away from the door, allowing him to pass.

“You can bet on it.” Rafe kept his gaze locked on hers until the sliver of her face was hidden behind the door, and he heard the lock click. Rafe breathed a sigh of relief. What the fuck is going on?

He headed back toward Greyson’s home. Out of the corner of his eye, a light flickered in the gutter. As he reached downward, he spied a cell phone and smiled. Fate never failed to disappoint.

He tapped on the screen, and a picture of Skylar emerged. Dressed in a red wig with a mask, she leaned against a red brick masonry wall in the French Quarter next to an embellished purple pumpkin. From the copious amounts of beads around her neck, he guessed it may have been taken at Halloween. She gave witchy vibes, but she was all human. All woman.

He tapped on the screen again. “Skylar, darlin’. Who leaves their phone unlocked?”

His fingers began to type his phone number into her phone before he rethought his decision and deleted it. He told himself she might need protecting, when in reality she needed protection from him. Vampire.

As he strode up to her door and held his closed fist poised to knock, he hesitated. No, Rafe. You can’t have her. Not tonight. Not ever. There’s no way he’d let one human break his control. He’d tamed his thirst. His wolf would win.

His knuckles rapped on the wood and he immediately shifted. The great brown wolf padded into the shadows. He watched as she opened the door and picked up her phone. She tapped the screen, a broad smile emerging across her face.

The wolf padded out of the darkness into the streetlight and ran toward Greyson’s home. He stole one last glance back at her, and as she closed the door, she locked eyes with him. Energized by the connection, he whipped his head forward and took off running, disappearing into the night.

“Where’s the blood?” Rafe called up to Greyson.

“Jesus.” The vampire shielded his eyes with his hand and pointed to the refrigerator. “Put some fucking clothes on.”

“You’ve got to loosen up, dude.” Rafe swung open the door and retrieved a carafe.

The temptation to lose control with a human never sat right with him. Determined to win the battle against the vampire, he’d attempted weaning himself from live donors. Still the act of feeding, latching onto a human, the craving for warm blood still continued to haunt him.

“What’s with the human?” Greyson, dressed in a pair of grey flannel pajama pants and a white t-shirt, picked up the remote control and the TV screen flashed to life.

“I don’t know. She’s interesting.” Rafe shrugged and drank directly from the carafe. “This tastes like shit.”

“By the way you’re slurping down that blood, I take it you didn’t feed from her. What’s your problem?”

Rafe ignored him and gulped down the liquid. No pleasure, just sustenance.

“This thing you’re doing by not drinking from humans isn’t sustainable. I mean, sure, physically you’d be fine, but mentally? You’re missing the point of being vampire. It’s enjoyable.” He waved a hand at Rafe. “Honestly this is ridiculous.”

“You’ll never understand. I’m a wolf. It’s what I am.”

“You’re vampire too, bud. I thought you’d settled all this nonsense.”

“The blood sustains me. But that’s it. I don’t want this false rush from the blood when I feed. It’s not right for me. The thirst is too much. But now I’m controlling it. My way.”

“You’re playin’ is what you’re doin’.”

“I might have a way out of this. Ilsbeth said—” Rafe thought better and shook his head.