Paranormal Friends with Benefits Page 4

  Jonathon scowled at her and opened his mouth as she continued quickly.

  “Of course, I was also thinking about you.” She let her hand rest on the dragon’s bicep. He was impressively muscled. “I didn’t want to bruise up that pretty face of yours.”

  Mike chuckled, the sound deep and throaty.

  “We should get going,” Jonathon said, loud enough that Ronnie looked up from playing with her food. “We have a long drive ahead of us. Maggie—"

  He reached for her arm, and she pulled away from his grip, glaring at him. “The kids have been cooped up for too long. Why don’t you take them to a park for an hour before we hit the road again? It’ll give me some time to rest, and we were supposed to do laundry yesterday. So you can find a laundromat, too.”

  Jonathon stared at her with an expression that was all too familiar. The expression that said he was unhappy with her. The one that meant he was about to argue with her. The one that said he could go off with whatever random woman he met, but if she was going to do the same, he’d voice his displeasure with her choice.

  The hypocrisy of it was what made her bristle, made even worse from the previous night. She looked him dead in the eye. “I have to drink from the vein. We both know that. And I’m sure there is someone in this bar who would be happier to share their blood with me than you.”

  “Wait, you drink from him?” Mike looked startled.

  Maggie turned to him. “When I need it. Don’t have anybody else I can drink from. And he hates it. So, he should be glad if I’m looking for another source.”

  Her cheeks burned as she felt the kids’ curious gazes on her, but they were too young and didn’t know enough to understand the complexities of what they were talking about. Maggie was sure that Jonathon hadn’t even shared the basics of what reproduction entailed with them. Summer was only six, but she was also in school. Maggie had learned about sex when she heard the older kids talking about it. She’d been seven at the time and was sure she’d have been much better off if she had been told at least some of it by her mother.

  She understood Jonathon’s reluctance. Summer was too young to know everything, of course. Maggie still believed if they approached the matter in a calm, professional way, explaining a bit at a time so the kids wouldn’t get confused by what they were bound to hear about from other kids, it would allow the kids to make better decisions and not get pressured into doing things that they shouldn’t. Or worse, seek out certain situations just so they knew what it was about.

  She shoved those thoughts from her mind. Right now wasn’t the time to explain these sorts of things to the kids, anyway. Besides, that was up to Jonathon to decide.

  He ground his teeth, apparently not noticing the tangent of her thoughts. “Maggie, we were going to get an early start so we could get to sleep earlier tonight.”

  “Well, I’m not ready to get going,” Maggie insisted. “Since you didn’t even bother to make sure we were okay last night, now it’s my turn to take care of myself.”

  Mike looked a little awkward, but he smiled at her nonetheless. He offered his arm to her, which she accepted as she gave Jonathon a cool glance. He looked furious but didn’t protest any longer as Mike led her away from the table. Maggie refused to glance back, not once, even though Ned was pestering his father, asking what was happening. She’d had to tell them over and over again the previous night that Jonathon wasn’t in any danger just because he wasn’t with them. Why shouldn’t she make him uncomfortable too?

  As soon as they were in a room upstairs, a wave of uncertainty hit her. She’d been so focused on Jonathon and her petty feelings of revenge that she hadn’t actually thought about what she was doing. She swallowed hard, looking from Mike to the bed.

  Mike grinned at her as he undid his leather jacket. “Don’t look so worried, Mags. This is only going to go as far as you want. So if you want to go back down there and tell Jonny boy how you really feel about him, I’m not going to stop you.”

  Maggie’s cheeks heated, and she looked away.

  “You,” Mike said, pointing at her, “are in love with him. Am I right?”

  “Well… you’re not exactly wrong.” Her cheeks flushed deeper. “But Jonathon doesn’t feel that way about me. He has no interest in me. Last night was proof enough of that. I wasn’t lying when I said he hated it when I drink from him.”

  Mike sat on the bed. “Must be rough on you, then. I know what a good draught of blood can do to a vampire. But if he’s not interested in you, that means you have to move on, right?”

  He tilted his head back, exposing his neck to her. The thought of fresh blood in her mouth made longing rush through her. If only it was Jonathon… but she needed blood and he hadn’t given her basic decency last night. Besides which, this would spare her the embarrassment of having to ask him.

  Plus, Mike was right. She needed to move on. So, she joined him on the bed, pushing him down as she found his pulse point with her lips.

  ***

  It was hard for Jonathon to keep his mind on the tasks he had to do. He skipped the laundromat—after looking up the hotel they were supposed to stay at that night because it had a guest washer and dryer available—and just took the kids to the park. It was soon abundantly clear they were all still tired since they fought and snapped at each other more than doing any actual playing.

  Fortunately, it was only half an hour before Maggie called him to pick her up. Even though there was a sliver of hope that nothing had actually happened, he squashed it down. After all, he knew from experience that it didn’t take long once her fangs had sunk in before he could be ready to go. From the smell he’d scented on her when she drank from him, he knew it was the same for her.

  So when he pulled back to the bar and saw her sitting, waiting with Mike, his fires roared. He gripped the wheel tightly, wanting to jump out and beat the fuck out of that smug bastard. It was only because he knew Maggie would be furious with him and the kids would be terrified that he held himself back.

  “Daddy, why are you angry at Maggie?” Summer’s high voice came into his thoughts.

  Jonathon’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not angry with her, sweetheart. I’m angry at myself.”

  “Why?”

  Because I can’t tell her how I really feel. Because I want her to be your mother, not your nanny, and I want to have more children with her. And if I said any of that to her, I’d have to tell her everything else. I’d risk losing her friendship. And she is far too important to risk.

  “Because I made you worry last night,” he said, because that was something Summer could understand. “I should have been here with you kids and Maggie, but I wasn’t. And Maggie is upset because she was worried, and I’m upset because I made her worry.”

  That was good, right? He could get deeper into it, he supposed. That he had taken for granted that she would have soon gone out to the van to check on the kids. That he should never have left with Clarissa, for their sake as much as Maggie’s. He had let his emotions and desires get the best of him, and what sort of father did that make him?

  Mike walked her to the van and kissed her cheek before she climbed in. Her hair was damp from showering, but his smell still lingered around her. Jonathon averted his gaze, looking straight forward. He wanted to ask Maggie if she was good to go for a while, blood-wise, but knew if he said anything it would end up hostile. So he said nothing at all.

  “Thank you, Maggie,” Mike said as he shut the door to the van and leaned in through the window. “If you ever come around here again, just ask for me. I’ll make sure everyone knows that you’re allowed free passage through our territory.”

  He glanced past her at Jonathon. Jonathon couldn’t stop himself from lifting his lip, revealing a sharp tooth in threat. Mike burst out in laughter and walked away, shaking his head. Maggie slumped down in the seat and folded her arms. She looked upset, angry and Jonathon instantly had an urge to beat Mike up for whatever he’d done to her.

  So it was a surpris
e to him when his voice came out gentle. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. He was a perfect gentleman.” She turned her face out the window. “Let’s go, please. I’m good for blood, and I want to get out of here.”

  Jonathon hesitated, thinking about pressing the issue. Then Ronnie asked for a cookie, and he reminded himself why that wasn’t a good idea. So, keeping his mouth shut, he pulled away from the bar. They were soon on the road, the kids involved in their movie. Normally he didn’t like to have them watching so much TV but on a long trip like this, it kept them entertained. There wasn’t much else they could do besides sleep.

  Once he was certain they were engaged in the show and not going to overhear, he muttered, “Sure you got enough blood?” it came out snarkier than he wanted, and he winced.

  “I’m fine,” Maggie snarled back. “And you know what’s funny? That dating app I told you about that you said was ridiculous? I matched up with him. And it was very correct in that we were compatible. But then again… I also matched up with you.”

  Jonathon tensed.

  “So I guess maybe it is as ridiculous as you said. Though if it’s so ridiculous, why’d you join up with the agency?”

  Jonathon opened his mouth to snap back but swallowed it just in time. From what he’d been able to gather from Maggie’s night, she was tired and cranky and had every right to be angry with him. He chewed his cheek for a moment to bring himself back down and then spoke calmly.

  “I told you I’d signed up for it. I thought it was a good idea after all. Making more connections would only be helpful, right?”

  Maggie folded her arms and slumped against the seat.

  “And as for trying to get us out of here, it’s more than just the fact we were supposed to be leaving early this morning.” Jonathon kept his gaze straight ahead, so that he would keep his emotions under control as he spoke. The last thing he needed was this to turn into another fight, but she had to know everything. Maybe if she understood he was concerned for her, she would soften and take it easy on him. “I didn’t like the way Mike was looking at you, and you haven’t been in your right frame of mind. I didn’t want him taking advantage of you when—”

  “You didn’t seem too concerned about that last night,” Maggie snarled.

  Jonathon, startled, glanced at her. The fury in her gaze as she glared at the road ahead made him wince.

  “You are the one who went off with some random chick you’d never seen before.” The accusation whipped out. “You didn’t bother to ask me if I was alright. You didn’t bother to check on the kids. You just assumed that I was going to be okay, looking after them and myself while navigating a bar full of drinking bikers? Dragons, who hate vampires? You completely ignored my safety and the safety of your children so you could go slut it up. And you dare say that you were acting in my best interest this morning?”

  Jonathon opened and closed his mouth several times, not knowing how to respond to that.

  “Just admit that you didn’t want me going with Mike because my needs aren’t important enough to take time for. That you’re disgusted by the fact that I drink blood, and you think that if you can drag me along without drinking, you think I’ll somehow get better at handling it and I won’t be forced to ask to drink from you so often.”

  “That’s not it,” Jonathon argued weakly. He glanced in the mirror, but all the kids were engrossed in their movie. “It’s Mike. I didn’t like the way he was—"

  “The way he was looking at me? Like he would enjoy me drinking from him?” She turned her blazing eyes on him. “Or do you think that you get to say who I sleep with because I’m the woman and you’re the big, strong macho man? You’ve been doing this ever since we were teens. If you can go off and sleep with whatever woman you want, I can go off and sleep with whatever man I want.”

  “I’m not saying you can’t.”

  Maggie snorted. “And yet you did everything you could to stop me from drinking from Mike. So if it’s not that you think I can’t sleep with the men I want, it must be that you think me being a vampire is disgusting.”

  “What I thought,” he growled, tired of being misconstrued, “is that you haven’t been in your right frame of mind. With everything that’s been happening, there has been a lot of stress and when you get…irsty, you don’t always think—”

  “I think just fine. I didn’t go with Mike because I was on death’s door or I was drunk or high. I went with him because he was interested in me drinking from him, I would need blood fresh from the vein soon—soon, not right away—and for once I wanted to feel like I’m not a monster for what my body needs.”

  A pang hit Jonathon hard in his stomach. “You’re not a monster, you didn’t choose—”

  “And if I had chosen to become a vampire? Would I be a monster then? Camille chose to become a vampire so she can be with her mates forever. Does that make her a monster?”

  “No. No, of course, not. She’s not like the rest.”

  “You can’t say vampires are monsters, then turn around and say that I and my sister are the exceptions.” Maggie’s hand clutched tight at her seatbelt. “Either we’re all monsters for being vampires or being a vampire isn’t inherently monstrous.”

  Jonathon ground his teeth. “I have never called you a monster!”

  Maggie did not respond. Not that he expected her to, really. Her feelings were clear as day on her face and he had a feeling that anything he said or did would just make it worse. He’d only tried to intervene because he didn’t like Mike and the way he was acting around her. Like all he wanted was sex.

  But was it really so different from how he had acted around Clarissa last night?

  That’s different.

  How?

  He opened his mouth, but Maggie held up a hand, stopping him. Her voice was quieter now. “We shouldn’t be fighting in front of the kids. Especially not about this.”

  Jonathon glanced back again. They were still engrossed in their movie, oblivious to the disagreement he and Maggie had just had. That didn’t change that they had been well aware of the fight the two of them had had earlier. He flinched.

  “You’re right. But… but we do have to talk about this.”

  Maggie nodded once, still not looking at him.

  But Jonathon hoped they wouldn’t have to talk about it at all; he didn’t know what he would say. And in the end? In the end, he hoped that they’d find whatever it was that would turn her back into a human and that this conversation would become superfluous. As soon as she was no longer a vampire, everything was going to go back to normal. Then, they’d be back to where they were.

  He wanted that more than anything in the world.

  Chapter Four

  They pulled into the hotel parking lot just before dusk. All of them were tired, cranky, restless and hungry. While Jonathon went to pick up a pizza, Maggie got the kids into their swimming suits and went to play in the pool for a while. That refreshed them enough so all three were happy enough to eat their pizza, do some more swimming and be quite happy with their lot.

  Maggie wished she could say the same. The fight with Jonathon still ran a ragged hole in her chest, one she wasn’t sure how to deal with. Tears kept burning her eyes even as she fought them back.

  When she and Jonathon took the kids back to the room, he frowned. “There’s only one bed.”

  “Yeah. The hotel was overbooked, and this is the only room they had. I figure we could sleep on the air mattresses and the kids could have the bed. It’s big enough for the three of them.”

  “I don’t want to sleep with Ronnie,” Summer wailed. “She kicks! Can’t I sleep on the mattress with Daddy?”

  “You kick,” Jonathon teased back. He laughed as he ruffled her hair. “’Course you can, honey. To start with, though, I want you to be on the bed. Maggie and I have to set up the air mattresses and I want you three to start relaxing.”

  Summer pouted but relented. Sometimes she was such a challenger that Maggie was glad this time she
wasn’t fighting them. It was a sign of just how tired she was, though.

  Maggie and Jonathon tucked the three kids into the bed, laying them horizontal to each other so they’d have more room. Then Jonathon went back to the van to get the air mattresses. Maggie showered, washing the scent of chlorine off her body and trying to wash off the lingering, unpleasant feelings that she’d had ever since the previous night. Jonathon had been extra attentive all day; it was clear he felt bad for what he’d done, that he’d only done it because he wasn’t thinking.

  It didn’t make it any easier for her to forgive him, though.

  By the time she was finished showering and dressed in her PJs, Jonathon had brought the mattresses up and inflated one of them. She frowned at the other, still lying flat.

  “Hole,” Jonathon explaining, pointing to a tear along the end of the mattress. “Guess you’ll have to share the bed with Ned and Ronnie.”

  Maggie glanced at the bed. All three kids were sound asleep, tucked into their sleeping bags. If they tried to move them now, they’d wake them all up again, and it might be hours before they got them back to sleep again. Besides that, with the three of them like that, Ronnie’s kicking wouldn’t reach Summer. If Maggie tried to sleep on the bed, it was a sure thing she’d wake up to little feet in her ribs.

  “No,” she said decisively, “we’ll share the air mattress. I don’t want to wake them up to move them around. Where’s my sleeping bag?”

  A pink tinge darkened Jonathon’s ears but he nodded quickly. “Right there. I’m going to take a shower. Guess we can talk about the plans for tomorrow when I come back out?”

  “If I’m not already sleeping,” Maggie yawned.

  Jonathon stood awkwardly for a moment before he nodded once and grabbed his stuff. Maggie unrolled her sleeping bag, laying it down on the left side of the air mattress. She yawned again as she brushed her hair and put it in braids, so it would be easier to deal with in the morning. When she laid down, she hoped that sleep would carry her off quickly.