"Time's wasting, Kinley. The more of a scene your friend creates, the more people I will have to deal with." I take the bathrobe I tossed at Kinley from her as it appears she is incapable of moving at the moment. I open the robe, positioning it so all Kinley has to do is slip into the softness that awaits her.

This has to be the first time I have helped a human dress. Then again, last night was the first night I undressed one too. This human is taking a lot of my firsts, as I've never slept in the same bed as a human either.

Okay, that is a lie. I have slept next to a human. It was in the 1600s. I overdid it on the feeding and woke up next to five bodies strung about the room. It got worse from there. When I tookthe staff into account, there were eleven dead humans. I ended up burning the house down to cover up the massacre.

A vampire can get high if we drink enough blood. I wager if I drank enough of Kinley's blood, I could achieve the same high without having to kill so many.

"Open up! I know you are in there. You can try to hide from the world, but you can't hide from me." Her friend, Maya, bangs on the front door making Kinley flinch.

"Promise me you won't hurt her." Kinley reluctantly slips into the robe I'm holding open for her.

"That is really up to you now, isn't it?" I grin wide enough for her to see all of my sharpened teeth.

No shivers of excitement decorate Kinley's skin. Instead, acute dread weakens her already wobbly frame. I guess this smile only works if you don't know what it is these teeth do.

"You stay here, and I'll go see why she is here." Distress makes the octaves in Kinley's voice rise.

"Sure. I'll stay right here." This time I flash a bedazzling smile that generally makes human females all flustered by my attractiveness.

It doesn't fool this human. Instead, it makes Kinley more uncomfortable. She doesn't like how effortlessly I can flip that switch from monster to seemingly human. The ease in which I agreed to "stay right here" also sets Kinley more on edge. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't matter if she believes me. If she doesn't do something to stop her friend's loud squawking, her chances are 100 percent that I will and it will result in an outcome she doesn't want.

Kinley opens the bedroom door, the knob rattling. She closes the door swiftly and rests her forehead against it as if the thought of what I might do to her friend is too heavy for her head to carry.

"Thank you, Tristan, for saving me." She pushes the words past her clenched teeth like I have just made her sign her soul away.

Maybe I have.

"It's a little late to try and win me over." I open the door, forcing Kinley to find the strength to hold herself up. "Now go before bad things start to happen."

The cinnamon-blooded human makes her way to the front door. It's surprising her legs are capable of taking her anywhere considering my last statement caused her whole body to go faint and all the color to drain from her face.

Venom gathers in my mouth in response to Kinley's quickening heartbeat as she approaches the door. I swallow it back, trying to force the warmth that is beginning to surface down before it can mar my skin with black veins of desire.

I listen intently to the sounds of Kinley's bare feet against the tile, the click of metal as she turns the deadbolt, and the subtle creak of hinges that would be undetectable to humans as she opens the front door.

"Maya?"

"About time, girl. These bags are heavy!" I can tell by the pattern of the way the two suitcases roll differently that one of Maya's arms must be weighed down with the addition of a hand-held bag.

"What are you...what are you doing here?" Kinley fumbles a bit, having to clear out the scratchy dryness her uncertainty of what I will do is causing.

"I'm here because of you. I'm worried about you. You've been extra spacey on the phone lately, and it looks like I was right to be worried. You look terrible. It's almost eleven. Were you still in bed?"

"Yes, but I was up. I...I haven't been sleeping well."

"Nightmares?" Maya asks, the rolling of her bags ceasing.

"Yeah. I guess that's why I've been so spacey lately. You didn't need to come. I told you I was fine. Don't you have finals this week?"

"I ditched them. I only had two and was able to convince one of my professors to let me take it early. The other wouldn't budge. But, whatever, I'll take the C because you are more important than some common core class that does nothing but rack up tuition cost."

Based on dialect and word choice, Kinley's friend has to be around the same age. How sweet of her to come see my dearest Kinley because she can tell she is suffering. I'd be more than happy to arrange it where the two of them can suffer together.

Actually, that is exactly what I am going to do. I wouldn't want Kinley to feel so alone in her misery, now would I?

I can use Maya to give Kinley a reason to behave. If Kinley is willing to sacrifice her life for a stranger, there is no telling what I can get her to do if her friend's life is on the line.

Kicking off my shoes, I take off my ruined shirt. I can't be introducing myself with a shirt steeped in blood and a hole in it.

"Wow. Look at that view!" Maya screeches as I hear the sliding glass door in the living room opening.

I use the time they are outside and unable to hear over the sounds of crashing waves and sea birds to enact a better alternative to what I was initially planning. This new plan is sure to leave Kinley struggling to form words.

"I can't believe you get to live here! I'm jealous. You're so lucky to get to wake up to this view. Not only that but you don't have to deal with snowstorms. It's like you get to live in summer all year long." I hear Maya gush as I wrap a towel around my waist. I don't bother to dry off the water droplets from my three-second shower.

If there is one way to win over a best friend, it's to ensure automatic approval. Me being clad in nothing but a low hanging towel around my waist will ensure I check off the easiest first impression box there is in a human's world—eye candy. Human females love sculpted bulging muscles.

If you have a nice enough body you can even be a jerk. I've witnessed that time and time again.

"I'd rather be dealing with snowstorms than be living here," Kinley meekly answers as she looks out at the ocean lapping at the shore.

"Oh, jeez. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that. I know you only moved here because of—" Maya stops talking, her gaze raking over every uncovered inch of me that is on display for her viewing.

I put my finger to my lips, silently telling Maya to stay quiet. She obeys nicely without me needing to compel her.

I stride up behind Kinley who is leaning on the railing still looking out at the water. Maya had turned to face Kinley, but now all her eyes can stay locked on is me.

"Because the whole town thinks I'm crazy and that the neighbor and I had some torrid affair? Or how about how the rest of everybody thinks I did something to lead him on and when I rejected him, he snapped. I would gladly wait out every blizzard if it would bring my parents back." Kinley fills in the blank to Maya's unfinished sentence.

"I left the shower running. I thought you might like to join me, but I see you have company." I circle my arms around Kinley's waist, letting the water from my hair drip onto her as I nuzzle my face into the nape of her neck and pull her tight against me.

She stiffens at the feel of my cold skin and my sudden appearance. I was supposed to stay in the bedroom after all.

The rhythmic vibrations of Kinley's wildly pounding heart thump against my chest, serenading the beast in me with temptation. How he and I both yearn to taste the life force rushing like whitewater rapids through her veins again.

If Kinley's friend wasn't here, I'm pretty sure I would take a bite. That isn't something that would be advisable. Her body is still recouping from her blood loss yesterday.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend?" I ask, letting my lips skim the outer edge of Kinley's ear.

"Maya...this is...this is..." Between Kinley's growing tremors and the way I keep my face buried in her neck as I breathe her in, my name becomes lost.

I shouldn't be taking in her scent, yet it's difficult to override instinct. For close to 900 years, I've savored my prey as I locked them against me the same way I have Kinley now.

Taking advantage of the role I'm playing of doting lover, I place a teasing kiss on the spot right behind her ear. "Tristan." I lift my face from Kinley and flash Maya a sultry, warm smile. "Tristan Darkos. I'm Kinley's...new friend." I release Kinley and extend my hand to Maya.

She is shorter than Kinley and sports a mixed fusion of distinct Asian features such as the long dark hair, dark eyes, and that flawless porcelain skin that is highly sought after in many Asian countries.

I note how Maya's gaze moves from the hand I am extending to her to the one that is clenching the towel that is around my waist. I'm tempted to let the towel slip down a little too far, but I don't get that chance as Kinley wedges herself between us.

"Didn't you say you left the shower running? I have to pay if the water bill goes over eighty dollars." Kinley ushers me back inside toward the bedroom.

I hear her friend Maya say, wow, and then laugh before muttering, that's one hell of a guy to choose to give your v-card away to Kins.

Kinley doesn't stop "pushing" me once we make it into the bedroom. She keeps ushering me all the way into the bathroom filled with steam and condensation from the shower I left running.

"You were supposed to stay in the bedroom." She turns around sharply after shutting the bathroom door.

"I wanted to introduce myself."

"You said it was up to me on whether or not you hurt Maya. I did what you asked. If you meant that, you wouldn't have come out of the room. You came out to threaten me, and now I have to explain you." Kinley runs her hands through her hair as she grabs on to her head as if she feels like it is about to explode.

"You don't have to explain me. I took care of that."

A bursting scoff filled to the brim with distress filters from Kinley's lips. "Took care of it? You inferred we are together. Not even that but also sleeping together! Now I have to pretend I'm hooking up with the same breed of demon that killed my parents just so you won't rip my friend's heart out."

"I thought it would make it easier." I let the towel around my waist drop.

Kinley spins around so fast it is almost as if she thinks the sight of a demon's body completely unclothed has the ability to permanently scar her eyes.

"Easier for what? For you to taunt me with whether you will kill Maya in front of me or not?" Kinley's hands ball into fists at her side.

Even though she's angry, I can smell fear oozing from her pores.

I bite the inside of my cheek, drawing blood. This human has no idea what the mixture of her fear and cinnamon blood does to me.

The hairs on Kinley's arms stand on end when I come up behind her. My naked form seems to make her more uncomfortable than my fangs. Why else would she give her back to a devil?

"Easier when I tell her you've accepted my offer to move in with me." With one tug, the knotted belt cinching her robe closed comes undone.

Kinley twirls right out of the bathrobe I begin slipping down her shoulders.

"What?" She breathes out on a breath that squeaks like a dog toy.

I wonder if she knows the reason dogs favor that sound is because it mimics the terror-filled screams of their prey.

"I can't have you walking around knowing my kind exist. And, since I can't compel you to forget and I can't kill you until I figure out why that is and how you survived being infected with vampire venom, this is the only solution."

Grabbing Kinley's chin roughly, I yank her to me. "Now, be a good little human and get in the shower as you have dried blood stuck in your hair. There is no need to rush. I plan on using this time to get to know Maya better. I'm sure she can tell me a lot of things about you."

Kinley becomes paralyzed, her mouth quivering as I skim my lips along hers.

Being close to this human comes at a price.

For me, it's the insatiable hunger.

For Kinley, the price remains to be unseen.

I take the delicate flesh of her bottom lip with my teeth and bite down, freeing a small amount of her blood. A groan of ecstasy fills the tiled space we are sharing as I bathe my taste buds with warm burgundy. When I release my hold of her lip, I make sure to heal it with a lazy, slow drag of my tongue over the wound.

"Don't worry. I'll mend some of the stain I tarnished on your virginal image. I wouldn't want Maya to think I'm taking advantage of your fragile state of mind. Only a monster would do that."