The Girl Who Bites Read Free Page A

she’d been an equal with them in many ways, feeding from them as they fed from her, both in blood and in pleasure. She’d used her strength and speed with them, and the result had always been incredible.
    Here, she’d learned to be what was expected of a mortal woman; a little less controlling, not so dominant. No demonstrations of vampiric strength or speed. It made her smile to wonder what Riley…or Luke…would do if she suddenly came out as a vampire during sex, took them for the ride of their lives. She’d probably leave them a wrung-out wreck if she went all out with them.
    Shaking her head, she went back to the bar. If she didn’t exert some kind of control over herself, the men in the town would all be dead by now, and not from her having drunk their blood. They would all have died in her bed, no doubt with a huge smile on their face, completely unable to survive the totally unreserved vampire Amy could be.
    Pete was talking with the few customers clustered at the other end of the bar. Riley came back, finished his drink and ducked his head shyly at her as he headed out into the dark.
    Amy stood by the window, watching him walk down the dark street, out of the circle of light cast by the only streetlight in town. Other than Riley, the street was quiet, like always.
    She was just turning when she saw movement across the street, a darker shadow among shadows. Frowning, she tried to make out what it was, but even with her excellent night vision, she couldn’t see anything.
    Shrugging she turned back to the bar. She missed Luke, wondered if he was home, sleeping with his wife, if they’d had sex. It didn’t do her any good to think like this, she reminded herself. It just made her sad.
    The next couple days dragged without the prospect of seeing Luke. Amy was distant with Pete taking one guy to the backroom for sex and a bite. He was a commercial businessman, someone passing through town. That alone made him a novelty; no one came through Harker Hill accidentally. Turned out he’d been lost, gotten off on the wrong exit from the Interstate. But after his session in the backroom with Amy, she thought he was a little less upset about his unexpected detour.
    But after he left, she could barely remember anything about him, much less the sex. She’d drunk heavily from him though. She thought it was akin to a mortal drowning their sorrows in booze; she was drowning her longing for Luke in someone else’s blood.
    It was almost closing time when she saw the shadow figure again. She’d taken the trash out the back door, pausing to look up at the stars. Movement at the corner of her vision caught her attention and she turned, just catching sight of what looked like the figure of a man ducking into the shadows of the building next door.
    She thought for a moment it was Riley, lurking outside for some reason. Odd behavior from him would be, well, odd, but no unexpected.
    “Riley? That you? Come on out if it is…” She heard her voice echoing in the darkness.
    “Riley’s sitting in his usual spot.” Pete was behind her, standing in the light from the open doorway.
    “Oh…yeah.”
    “Something wrong, Boss? You seeing ghosts or something?” He barked out a laugh.
    “Yeah…maybe. Thought I saw something behind Barnard’s store.”
    “Probably a coyote or dog…”
    “Yeah…sure. Dog.” Amy didn’t think many dogs walked on two legs and were over six feet tall, but she let it pass.
    “Well, enough fun for tonight. You want to head home, Pete, you can. There’s not enough here for the two of us to do. Riley’s probably on his way out the door any minute.”
    Pete nodded, turning back into the bar. She walked slowly out into the desert, which started pretty much at the back door of the bar.
    “Come out, come out, whoever you are,” she whispered into the darkness. “Show yourself.”
    ***
    The next night Amy was crouched behind the bar, fiddling with the temperamental cooler when she heard the door open.