“You’re…that…amazing,” Winter said brokenly in his ear.
Fox tried to laugh, but no sound came out around his own pants. “Yeah. Definitely doing that again.”
Winter snorted while his arms tightened around Fox’s chest. “Whenever you want me, I’m yours.”
Fox smiled and closed his eyes, getting lost in that warmth. He couldn’t imagine a time when he wouldn’t want Winter. He could definitely enjoy this arrangement.
Chapter 15
Winter couldn’t sit around his loft any longer, waiting for someone somewhere to provide the information he needed. Three nights had passed since his family had descended on his place. They were still waiting for Rafe or Aiden to hear from Zelda. They were also waiting for Rafe’s secret contact to cough up some information on either Damon or the prophecy.
Normally, Winter would be out, interrogating ghosts and lurking around other vampires while invisible to the living world, but he was hesitant to leave Fox at his loft alone. It wasn’t that he believed Fox would do something to betray him or his family while he was away. It was more that he didn’t understand what Fox’s role was in all this insanity. He didn’t want to be away from him in case it came to protecting his family or Fox from Damon.
But at least there was one thing they could do while they were stuck waiting.
Well, more than one thing. They were already having sex, and it wasn’t really accomplishing much—other than keeping a smile on Winter’s lips. In the past week, he’d laughed more with Fox than he had in his entire two hundred years. Winter had no desire to let that go, but it was important to understand what he was coming to think of as the Fox Effect.
Why did this witch block out the voices and the visions of the ghosts that had followed him for years? There had to be a reason for it. And even if he couldn’t uncover the reason, he could at least figure out the limitations.
And that meant a little scientific testing. He almost wished Bel were there to help. The vampire had a mind for science and could go about things in a more organized fashion than Winter could, but he refused to tell Bel more about his secrets. At least, not while they were in the middle of dealing with Damon.
Turning off the SUV’s engine, Winter glanced over to find Fox frowning out the front window at the park he’d selected for its typical cluster of ghosts. His hand was on his seat belt, but he wasn’t removing it.
“Are you sure it’s safe? No vampires around?” Fox asked softly.
“None that I can sense at the moment,” Winter said, though he didn’t volunteer that his ability to sense other vampires was a tad less developed when compared to his brothers.
After being around his brothers for years, it was quite clear they were very good about sensing when other vampires were in the area. Winter could feel when his brothers were near, but when it came to other bloodsuckers, they had to be within a few yards of him. Not very helpful. He’d always wondered if the ghosts interfered with that sense.
Reaching across, Winter placed his hand on Fox’s tense shoulder and squeezed, drawing the man’s wary gaze to him. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. This won’t take long, and then we’ll go back to my place.”
Fox drew in a deep breath and nodded a couple of times, though the stiffness didn’t leave his shoulders. Winter couldn’t blame him for his nervousness. His every step for over a week now had been hounded by vampires. He couldn’t possibly feel safe when the sun was down.
They both unfastened their seat belts and climbed out of the SUV. Winter grabbed the sling bag he typically carried on his covert missions from the back seat as well as a long length of rope. Fox groaned at the sight of it.
“When this is all over, I swear I’m going to be in therapy for months to get over my twitch whenever I see fucking rope,” he grumbled.
“No one is getting tied up this time, I swear,” Winter said.
Fox nodded, seeming to breathe a little easier. “It’s a sad day when I can’t even make a kinky rope joke.”
“I have faith that you have plenty of other kinky jokes stored up.”
“Oh, ha. Aren’t you just a witty bastard? What’s the plan so we can get somewhere safe again?”
Winter led the way to one of the winding sidewalks that were part of the walking trails through the parks. Massive trees dotted the park while lamps rose up at regular intervals to beat back the darkness. There were cute metal benches here and there, but the park was empty except for them.
“I want to measure the distance of the Fox Effect as well as its ability to block out the voices. I also want to know if it changes when you use magic,” Winter explained.