Summit at Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 3) Read Free

his ruined shirt.
    “Why don’t you go ahead and take a warm shower?” she suggested as she undid her ponytail, allowing her long, red hair to cascade across her shoulders. “I’ll join you momentarily.”
    He nodded, stifled a yawn, and made his way into the cabin’s sole bathroom. She smirked at him as he departed, finding his innocent sleepiness endearing, and then added some cut firewood to the fireplace. The wood soon crackled anew as she heard the shower running in the bathroom.
    Fire in the hearth, and soon, fire elsewhere
, she thought as she slipped from her clothes and moved towards the bathroom to join him.
    *    *    *    *
     
    Caleb had quickly fallen into a deep sleep after the lovemaking that followed their shower. Even in his exhaustion, the striking, red-headed vampire knew exactly which erotic buttons to push to elicit the amorous response she had needed from her young mate. He had performed well for her, due in no small part to the increased stamina his body had acquired from a regular regimen of exercise.
    While lying in bed next to him, Katrina stretched for a moment before relaxing against him. She rolled onto her side and held his body close to hers, breathing in his body’s scent and listening to the strong thrumming of his heartbeat. The bedroom was so quiet that she easily heard the sound of his blood rushing through his arteries. His regular breathing was like a soothing mantra to her, and she reveled in knowing that the human male in her arms was hers…all hers.
    I adore him
.
He’s my everything.
    After a time, she grew somewhat restless. Knowing that sunrise would come all too soon, she wanted to appreciate the night and the great outdoors before having to sequester herself inside during the impending day.
    Stupid sunlight
, she fumed.
I used to love the sun. Now it just impedes me.
    Minutes passed before she slipped from underneath the covers, being careful not to awaken Caleb. He shifted slightly, but remained asleep as she slipped into a pair of jeans, dark t-shirt, and sneakers. Then she slipped from the bedroom to the cabin’s front door. Moments later, she stood outside near their rented SUV, appreciating the night air. She closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and categorized the host of scents and sounds around her.
    She quickly identified a pair of bats flying around a nearby tree.
I can smell a raccoon not far away, too.
    The breeze blew through the trees as she registered other scents.
Hmm, tree blossoms, freshly sprouted grasses, and moisture from overnight dew. The odor of burnt wood from the cabin’s fireplace. Sounds of water lapping against the shore in the nearby lake. So many sounds and scents that I never noticed as a human.
    Everything was so natural and peaceful, and it filled her with happiness to be there. She wandered through the forest, but stayed relatively close to the cabin in case Caleb needed her.
    Paige complains that I worry too much
.
Perhaps I’m just paranoid.
    Then she replayed a brief series of memories, quite dramatic and potentially fatal events that she and Caleb had shared since last fall. A number of times, such dramas had occurred under seemingly innocent circumstances.
    He seems to have a penchant for attracting danger
.
    “Paranoid nothing. I’ll stay close to the cabin,” she resolved out loud.
    The remaining hours passed all too quickly, and she eventually felt a telltale change in the atmosphere. When the eastern sky began to lighten with the hint of an impending Saturday sunrise, she paused to consider the beauty of the new day. Of everything entailed in being human, she missed sunrises the most. She used to revel in the feeling that a sunrise heralded the promise of a new day and the opportunity for a fresh start to life. But since her turning, the morning sun brought a new meaning: her potential death from its ultraviolet radiation.
    Sensing the impending rays preparing to break across the treetops, she returned to the