Vampire Vacation by C. J. Ellisson Page B

He comes back to himself and meets my eyes with a fond smile. He loves baiting Jon, the jerk.
    “What are you talking about, Viv?” Jon looks like he’s almost back to his normal laid-back self. His hazel eyes leak back from the lighter golden brown of his wolf form. Rafe loses interest in poking at him and sits down at the kitchen table. I fill Jonathan in on everything we know so far, including the location of the body in the shed, finishing up with the question he never did answer.
    “Why are you here early? That’s not like you.”
    Jonathan doesn’t avoid the main building—he’s just busier outside of it. In addition to being head groundskeeper, he cares for a huge pack of thirty Alaskan Malamute-wolf crossbreeds, which he employs to patrol the property. Jon does come over when we ask him to, but it isn’t a habit of his to hang out and mingle at the bar. He’s a bit of a loner and it’s fine by me. Once I started feeding from him seven years ago, Rafe hasn’t been overly friendly toward him. Jonathan made his intentions clear: he wants to be my bonded mate, which will never happen.
    The simple fact remains that Were blood carries more potency than a human’s. I need more blood than can safely be taken from Rafe in order to stay up around the clock during the long darkness, which is not normal vampire behavior. He’s never minded in the past when I had to feed from some of the employees out of necessity, but when Jonathan entered the picture, it became a whole new game.
    Jon’s blood makes me temporarily stronger. Let’s face a cold hard fact: with so many powerful vamps on site, it wouldn’t pay to be weak. Nor does it help matters that this wolf is arrogant and makes a play for me whenever he thinks he can get away with it.
    On principal, Rafe understands. He’s secure in our relationship and trusts me, but he doesn’t like Jon. The cold reality exists that through these feedings, Jon became my servant. He wants to please, protect and provide for me. All the things a servant should want after a dual exchange of blood takes place. This relationship, with all its complications, leads Rafe to tweak Jon at every turn. He wants to put the Were firmly in his place and suffers no qualms about being cruel to do it.
    Other monogamous, mated couples who need servants may not choose a Were for the job, with good reason. Weres are desirable as hell by nature; it’s a pheromone they put off. Jon’s blood smells like dark chocolate to me, which makes feeding from him akin to drinking down hot cocoa spiked with adrenaline. The mate bond allows Rafe to experience first hand the delectable taste of Jon’s blood. That’s a hard lump for any man to swallow—they too desire the man their wife feeds from on a regular basis.
    Jon answers my question about why he arrived early. “There’s an unknown vampire on the property.”
    “What? I don’t understand,” I say, recoiling in shock. “Do you think you may have confused the scent with someone here on vacation?”
    “No,” Jon snorts. “I don’t make simple mistakes. Besides, I double-checked outside all the cabins and all the entrances to the hotel. The trace isn’t from a guest nor is it someone who’s ever stayed here before.”
    “Hmm,” Rafe comments, “which means it could have something to do with John Pierre’s dead body in room six.”
    That’s my Rafe: he loves to tease me , but he’s not some sharp-tongued, witty detective either. I don’t release my snide observation of his less-than-stellar addition, having learned enough over the years to keep such thoughts in.
    “Is it possible, Viv,” he continues, “that you missed the scent of another vamp?”
    Okay, now he has a valid point, dammit.
    I think back to the moment. The smell of the blood overwhelmed everything. So yes, I could have missed another vamp scent. And to be honest, I did not think to walk around the room like a bloodhound. While it would have been awkward in my dress, it