“There are worse sins.” He smiled again, a sudden bright flash of warmth.
“So…then what happened?” she asked.
“I lay on the stone floor, dying, the lifeblood dripping from me, and I saw a woman, a female Viking warrior. Long, braided blonde hair, black war paint beneath her red eyes, the most beautiful female I’d ever seen, perfect in every way.”
“Red eyes?”
“Yes, as red as blood. Not like mine.” He paused. “And she asked me a question.”
“What did she ask you?”
“Did I want to meet my god, or continue to exist here on Earth? I told her I wanted to live. That is what God would have wanted me to say. So I could continue to serve Him. So, she bit me.”
“Bit you?”
“Yes, just here, with fangs.” He tapped the clear white skin of his neck. There was no scar. “And she drank and drank until I had no blood left to bleed. She gorged until I was drained dry. The pain was intense, as if every bone was breaking, every organ solidifying, every nerve frying. But then…”
“Then what?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s a long time, Corey, since I have talked to anyone about this, it’s…well, private, personal, something I’m glad to put behind me.”
“So why are you telling me?”
“Because you need to know, you need to know so you can understand me, us, and we can get on with the job of catching this shifter killer.”
“It’s helping,” she said. “You telling me.”
“Good.” He nodded. “When I opened my eyes and stood, she was gone. So were the other Vikings. Night had fallen. My monastery had been decimated, looted, murder lay everywhere in the form of my massacred brothers. But I was walking, breathing, seeing, touching, and I was a better version of myself, physically at least. Tall, strong, fit, healthy, and I’ve been that way ever since.”
“That’s a long time.”
“It’s a long time to not truly be alive.”
“What do you mean?”
“To be alive means to eat, sleep, drink.” He pointed at his untouched coffee. “I don’t do any of those things. Being alive means to have new experiences, to procreate, age… that’s not for me. I might appear thirty-six but I’m really not. I’ve seen the world a hundred times over, even the most remote spots. I’ve mastered every new technology as it’s come around. I have more degrees, masters’, and PhDs than I can count, achieved every ambition and experience.”
“Show off.”
“I’m just saying it how it is.” He didn’t look particularly happy about his achievements.
She took a sip of her drink again—it was delicious—then leaned forward. “So tell me, Cooper, if you can’t enjoy a coffee, or a fabulous meal, or the delight at seeing a wonder of nature, getting a qualification, what do you get pleasure from in this sleepless, ageless life of yours?”
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.” She swallowed. Did she? There was that glint in his eye again, the one that made her heart do a funny flip.
“Sex,” he said, his voice low. “I get a lot of pleasure from sex.” He rested his cold hand over hers. “Though I’ll confess it’s been a long time since I have done it, and a long time, when I say it, is a really long time.”
Chapter Three
Corey swallowed, her throat tight. “Sex. Ah, okay.”
“What does ‘ah, okay’ mean?” He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip and tipped his head, his gaze still latched on to her face.
“I mean exactly that, it’s something you can do.”
“Oh yes, I can do it, and for the record, I’ve become pretty damn skilled over the centuries. More than made up for years of celibacy.” He huffed. “The female body is a fascinating subject, no two quite the same, no response to an erotic stimulus identical, and certainly no orgasmic gasp alike. They are all special, all unique and quite sacred.”
She squirmed, unable to help the fidget as she thought of his tall, strong body naked and grinding into her and creating a wild climactic gasp.
What the hell? He’s a vampire.
“We should get going.” She drained her coffee and stood. “Don’t forget we have a killer to catch.”
“Of course not.”
He seemed amused by her sudden need to leave, and that irritated her. “I’m going home, it’s been a long day. I was just about to knock off when I got the call about the body in the park.”
“You can get to work on the case again tomorrow. We’ll fill you in on what we’ve found out overnight.”
“Overnight?”
“Don’t sleep, remember? Means we have plenty of time for investigating.”
His words made Corey feel as if she’d be missing out, another thing that irked her.
“Thanks for the chat, Sergeant.” She emphasised the last word, so he’d remember who was in charge.
“Ma’am.” He stood but made no move to follow her.
She left the coffee shop and headed west into the evening sunshine. Her small house was only a twenty-minute walk, and the exercise would do her good, clear her head. She liked to walk, it was her mindful time.
‘Sex. I’ve become pretty damn skilled over the centuries. Fascinating subject. Erotic stimulus.’ His words came back to her as she walked, and rather than thinking of her two murder victims, all she could think of was Cooper Hunt and his striking face, the way his shirt hugged his chest, and what it would be like to have him fuck her.
Then as soon as she pushed him from her mind, it was Elijah with his sexy drawl in her thoughts, and then Ben with his golden hair and boyish smile, and when she got rid of him it was Flynn, quiet and brooding.
How the heck had she ended up with a team of four vampires to help her with this gruesome case? Her real team, Nick, Carol, Patrick, and Nancy would jump out in a moment, full of glee and cackles for having pulled the prank of the century.
Century.
Her vampire team was centuries old. They didn’t look it. Strong, youthful, perfect…virile. She was the youngest by more years than she could guess. No wonder they had an air of wisdom and experience about them and were more confident than any young sergeant she’d ever met.
She let herself through the gate of her terraced house and tugged her keys from her jacket pocket. She let herself in. “Dolly.”
By the time she reached the kitchen, her ragdoll cat was snaking around her ankles.
“Hey, baby.” Corey picked her up and nuzzled her pale golden fur. “Have you had a nice day?”
Dolly replied with a series of high-pitched meows.
“Aww, that’s good, I’m glad one of us has.” Corey placed her down, put some fresh cat food out, then reached for a wine glass. “Mine has been bat-shit crazy.”
She’d do as planned, get that bath run and soak away her strange day. Maybe she’d even get her waterproof vibrator and take the edge off the frustration talking about sex with Cooper had created.
It had been months since she’d had any relief, and even then it had only been a one-night stand. Admittedly he’d been hot, and damn good in the sack, but she didn’t want the hassle of a man at home. Just her and Dolly, that suited Corey fine, so she’d given him a wrong mobile number and sent him on his way.