His sense of humor was dry and liked to poke its head out at the strangest of times. As if he didn’t get much chance to use it. And Fox wanted to give Winter’s sense of humor a workout.
Along with other parts of him.
All the parts of him.
Fox wanted to groan at his thoughts. The vampire was still debating whether to kill him, and Fox’s libido was trying to figure out how to get him into bed.
Of course, if Fox hadn’t been a potential threat to Winter’s family, there was no way the vampire would have noticed him otherwise.
Winter was the perfect dark, brooding Hollywood vampire. He growled and glared and grumbled. He could stand in a room and just ooze sex appeal.
And on the other hand, there was Fox. Thin, pale, redheaded men did not draw the attention of sexy men who could have anyone they wanted. Fox knew this from way too much personal experience and many brutal rejections. He was no one’s dream of the perfect mate.
But he wouldn’t turn aside some mind-blowing sex if Winter wanted to find a little release.
Hell, why not flirt with him? They could have a little fun while he was there, and it would make his stay with Winter that much more enjoyable.
“Let’s go see what Bel and his boys dropped off for you,” Winter said, pulling Fox from his incredibly random thoughts.
Grabbing his duffel from the back of the SUV, Winter led the way up a set of wide stairs to the second floor. He punched in a code and placed his hand over a reader to unlock whatever security measures he had in place before pushing open the heavy metal door.
“Wow,” Fox breathed as they stepped into the large open space. It looked as if Winter had taken an old warehouse or an office building and renovated it into this massive loft. The beautiful hardwood floors shone under a scattering of colorful rugs. The exposed brick walls added more warmth and character. The living room and kitchen area were open to high twelve-foot ceilings.
The living room had an L-shaped couch in front of a huge entertainment system, complete with three gaming systems and a stack of movies. It was the perfect place to stretch out and chill for several hours.
But the most jaw-dropping part was that one entire wall was covered in guitars. Both electric and acoustic guitars hung from special hooks drilled into the exposed brick, creating the most stunning splash of color in the entire loft. Of course. It only made sense. It wasn’t enough that Winter was a dark, sexy vampire, but he also played the guitar. If Winter didn’t do something horrible soon, Fox was going to be one giant walking hard-on for the next several days. It really wasn’t fair.
He followed Winter across the living room to the kitchen. The vampire loudly dropped his bag by the breakfast bar and walked into the kitchen filled with gleaming stainless-steel appliances and white marble counters. The place was so neat and clean, he was sure it was never used.
Only reusable bags stacked on the center island marred the perfection. Winter picked up a note lying on one of the bags, and Fox couldn’t help but read the message around him.
24 hours
The clock is ticking.
~Bel
“Your brother is persistent,” Fox observed.
Winter grunted and crumpled up the piece of paper in one hand. “I think he’s still feeling guilty. He didn’t exactly tell the family about his wolves right away, and I don’t think he wants to get caught keeping any more secrets.” Winter stopped and smirked over his shoulder at Fox. “Of course, I could wait an hour or so and then call them. Tell them I have the witch at my place.”
Fox didn’t get why Winter was so amused by that thought until he followed his gaze to the windows. The sky was still dark, but the sun would be rising soon. And Winter’s brothers would be trapped in their homes, unable to do anything with Winter’s information until the sun set again.
“You’re fucking evil.” Fox chuckled.
“I have been told that several times in the past.” Winter shoved the balled-up note into his pocket and turned his attention to the bags. Poking around inside, he handed off two. “Looks like these are clothes.” He found a third and gave it to Fox as well. “This one appears to be toiletries and other odds and ends.”
For a moment, he couldn’t think as he looked in the bags a little to find several pairs of jeans, a couple of pairs of comfortable sweat pants, lots of T-shirts, and a few sweaters. Springtime in Connecticut likely meant some unpredictable weather. The other bag had packages of socks, T-shirts, and underwear along with shampoo, conditioner, razors, toothbrush, and more.
It had been so long since anyone had bought him anything. And these were strangers. No, these were people he was supposedly a mortal threat to, and they’d gotten him all this stuff so he’d be comfortable in Winter’s home.