Vampire Food 08: He Smelled Like Peach Pie (24 page)

“You can tell what we have been eating?” asked Sawyer.

“Yes, and after six chicken dinners, I would really like a different flavor.”

A young man stepped forward who she had only seen in the caves. She didn’t know his name. “I was actually out fishing and ate some of my catch before returning. Would that help?”

“I don’t imagine it was tuna, right?”

He laughed. “No. It was trout.”

“I used to like trout.”

“I have always heard that you were an amazing woman to have a conversation with. I’m sorry that I never took the time to do so before.”

Em smiled. He was quite charming. “What’s your name?”

“Stephen.”

“It is nice to meet you, Stephen.”

Stephen smiled and leaned forward toward her. Em was very gentle with him and was very careful not to get caught up in the wonderful flavor of the trout he had eaten. When he stepped back, he gave her a polite nod. “It has been a pleasure.”

“Thank you.”

She turned to look at those gathered. “I want to thank all of you for your contribution to my recovery. If you don’t mind, I need to absorb your gifts before I consume any more. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

Sawyer stepped forward. “It is our way of saying that we are sorry for shunning you. It was very wrong.”

“I was aware of the odor emanating from my body for those who could smell it. I appreciate the apology though.”

“We will leave you to digest. I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you.”

Sawyer turned and walked away, the other men following him. Em turned to look at Rory. “Sorry I was so grumpy.”

“I think I can forgive you. This time.”

“Everyone’s a wiseass tonight.” Em felt someone staring at her and turned to see who it was.

Mia grinned. “Hi.”

“Hi, Mia.”

“If you are feeling better, I just saw something that really interested me.”

“Stephen?”

Mia nodded, her smile bubbly.

“He is rather cute. Just remember that he is human.”

“I know. I won’t eat him.”

Em had an idea what Mia wanted to do with Stephen. They had similar taste in men. “Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Mia frowned. “What exactly wouldn’t you do?”

Rory burst into laughter and a moment later, the other three joined him. Em pursed her lips, rolling her eyes. “Just go.”

Mia obviously didn’t understand what had been so funny. With a slightly miffed shrug, she crawled out of the tarp and headed toward the village.

“Okay, there isn’t much I wouldn’t do. It’s not that funny.”

Rory pulled her into his chest. “Yes, it is.”

Em chuckled. “Okay. I guess it is.” She lifted her arm. It still felt really stiff and was an effort to move, but it did move this time. She used it to stroke Shanagar’s hand. Russell sat down at the bottom of the bed. “Can you or Salt do me a favor and move the blankets. I want to see if the scars faded any.”

Salt lifted the blanket looking beneath it. He grinned broadly and flipped the blanket back. Her skin was perfect, all traces of the bites and gashes gone. Her skin even had a nice almost human glow to it. “That is amazing,” said Salt. “You are more beautiful than you were before.” He leaned and kissed her stomach, making her squirm. Her new skin was very sensitive.

Em shifted her leg, wincing in pain. She wasn’t completely healed yet. Salt sat back. “What was that?”

“My leg still hurts.”

“Don’t say that. I healed your leg. It should be perfect.”

“It is perfect, the muscles are just still a bit sore.”

Salt and Russell both reached for her leg and she giggled as their hands collided. Russell began at her toes, massaging upward as Salt did the same to her thigh. It was very arousing, but she was far too sore to really want sex. Maybe later in the night when she was feeling better. She really needed to talk to Rory and Shanagar alone to see if true peace had been made between them.

Russell and Salt had gone to search for a new place for them to live. Em was aware of the caves to the west, but they were too far away from the village. Em didn’t like the idea of such a distance between them and their friends and former neighbors. Ideally they would find a cave in the mountain range behind the village. If one was suitable, they could salvage the existing slab of sunglass and have a view of the valley. There were once caves there, but they had no idea if the earthquake had damaged them.

Shanagar and Rory had removed the sun cloth to reveal the beautiful sky above them. They were both now sitting at the bottom of the bed, opposite her so she could see them both. “So have you two discussed things?”

“What
things
are you referring to?” Rory asked in a teasing tone.

“You know damn well what I mean.” The reply was slightly brash and she really needed to tone down her mood. “I want to know about you and Shanagar. Last I knew, you wanted to kill each other.”

“I suppose we did,” remarked Shanagar with a grin. “We have found that we are more amiable toward each other. We were underestimating the other’s integrity and both of us have been proven wrong. Right, Rory?”

Rory flexed his eyebrows innocently. “That’s a good way to describe it. We have not really had a chance to discuss what happens next. I would also love to hear your opinion on this, Em. I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you either.”

“I know. I need to talk to Salt also.”

“I know what Salt wants and if it makes you happy, he will adjust.”

“Is that your opinion or have you actually discussed this with him?”

Rory grinned knowing full well what she meant. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them had made a decision for Salt without speaking to him first.

“Salt and I had a discussion about what if.
We
decided that maybe this could work, and that it might be a good idea to have Shanagar around considering we are going to be on our own.”

Sure, why not add another huge man to her already-overflowing court. “So did you discuss
how
this might work?”

Rory shrugged. “We were thinking some kind of trade-off. One option was to get a very large bed that will fit all five of us and we change positions around you each day. Another was for one of us to sleep on the sofa or a secondary bed in equal rotation. The consensus was that you could probably handle all four of us at once if the situation arose.” He turned to Shanagar. “Do you have an opinion on this?”

“I think either option would be amiable to me. I understand that I’m an outsider in this and I have to be completely willing to compromise if I want to stay. I do want to stay. I have found Em to be a very interesting and complicated woman. I see no reason that she can’t handle four men in her life. She obviously does fine with three. How much of an upper hand do you hold, Rory?”

“I don’t. I play on equal terms with the others. There may be occasions when Em asks me for advice, but that is only because I’m older. Now you will be older.”

“That’s very true, but I am also aware that my ways of thinking are somewhat antiquated. That puts me at a disadvantage.”

This was a very interesting tennis match of give and take. Em found it extremely enlightening compared to the anger and nasty words of two nights before. They actually seemed to be getting along. That was a good thing, but Em wasn’t positive that it would last. Rory and Shanagar were her bulls and a night might come when they butted heads a little too hard and all hell broke loose. She would have to keep an eye on them both to try to head off that kind of animosity. It sounded like a completely worrisome task, but she would keep the peace one way or another.

THE END

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Kat Barrett lives in her small Connecticut home with her husband of many years. She spends much of her time in artistic pursuits, writing or doing artwork.

Kat is involved with Basenji rescue, but loves all animals. She tries to help out whenever she can. Her dogs Taz and Ashle, although gone now, will always hold a place in her heart.

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