The wind carried Bo’s heady scent to my nose first. As I inhaled, I felt a calm steal over me, a peace, a comfort that only Bo’s presence could bring. I could have cried with relief.
He padded quietly to the bed.
“Where?” he asked sharply.
At first I was confused, the intensity of his nearness so poignant I was nearly stupefied.
“Wh- what? Where’s what?” I asked blankly.
“Where did she bite you?”
My mind was still reeling, a bizarre disorientation muddying my thoughts.
“I- I don’t know…”
“Ridley,” Bo snapped, taking me by the shoulders. He shook me lightly.
“Think! Where did she bite you?”
Though my head was abuzz, Bo’s grip on my shoulder reminded me that the area was painful.
“My left shoulder,” I managed sluggishly.
Quickly, Bo came around and knelt behind me, pushing me forward. I felt his chilly fingers at my back and goose flesh raced across my skin. Despite everything else, my ni**les tightened in response to his touch.
“Ridley, focus,” he spat, the “s” making that familiar hissing sound. “Stay still. I have to suck the venom out before it spreads, before it’s too late.”
At that moment, I didn’t care what Bo did to me. I felt oddly detached from my mind, and my body was virtually numb but for the feel of his big hands on me, his cool breath fanning my naked skin and the intense burning at my shoulder.
Once again, he gripped my arms, and then I felt the piercing nip of his teeth.
It wasn’t nearly as painful as the female’s bite had been. Whether because of my desire for Bo or simply his tenderness, I couldn’t be sure, but it was much less unpleasant when he did it.
Only the sounds of Bo’s sucking broke the silence. After several minutes, my mind began to clear and the discomfort receded, giving way to a strange tingling sensation.
The night air, flowing unchecked through the window, had cooled my room.
As Bo drank, the increasing heat of his body scorched the chilly skin of my back.
Besides his rising body temperature, I could feel other changes in him, too, changes that made my heart dance and my stomach flutter. The way Bo held me, the way his lips moved across my skin, I knew that he was no longer entirely focused on the venom. He was tasting my blood in his mouth, feeling my body against his.
Little by little, Bo’s fingers loosened their grip on my arms and his thumbs began to move, drawing small circles on my skin. I felt the silky whisper of his tongue as it licked at the flesh of my back.
Bo’s desire was on the rise. It was like a tangible presence in the room with us. When he shifted closer to my back, pressing his chest against me and bending his body over mine, a wave of heat gushed through my body. I could feel every hard inch of him rubbing against my back side.
The knock at my door jarred me back to reality. The heat of Bo at my back was gone just as my bedroom door opened.
Mom didn’t even open the door enough for me to see her face; she cracked it just enough to ask, “Ridley, are you alright?”
My wits were slow to return, as was normal breathing. I couldn’t hide my breathlessness, so I used it to my advantage.
“I’m fine. I woke up scared. Just a nightmare. Go back to sleep,” I encouraged, resisting the urge to go and slam the door shut in her face so Bo and I could pick up where we left off.
“Okay. G’night,” she said, yawning and pulling the door shut.
I rushed to the window, hoping Bo hadn’t gone, but he had. There was no sign of him, but for the lingering scent of him in my hair and the tingle of the skin at my shoulder.
********
Throughout the next day, I wracked my brain trying to figure out why the scent of my attacker seemed familiar. I knew I’d smelled it before, but I just couldn’t identify it. It was like that elusive word stuck on the tip of your tongue. It’s there, but you just can’t get to it. I’d thought about her on and off all day, my attacker. I was still bothered by it, yes, but it was more an effort to keep my mind off Bo. I wanted desperately to see him, actually see him, to recommit his handsome face to memory. But deep down, I knew he wouldn’t make an appearance. Not in public. Not today, not ever. He couldn’t. There would be too many questions, too many inconsistencies. No, Bo would never be able to show his face in Harker again.
Acid roiled in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it, so I purposely steered my mind into more soothing waters. At least I could still feel him; that always made things seem better.
Once or twice, I’d sensed his presence. I knew he was…somewhere, somewhere close, but I never did catch even a tiny glimpse of his shimmer. The one time I’d actually seen him in his translucent state, I’d seen the way the light bent around his invisible form. It had been like looking at the trees through the heat waves that roll off of hot pavement. I found myself continually watching for that distortion, any visual confirmation that he was out there. Somewhere.
But, in the end, I knew I’d have to content myself with just knowing he was near, with feeling the tug of his presence on my heart. It would be a while before things got back to normal, and even then, it wouldn’t be in this town.
Bringing my mind back to the present, I rolled to a stop at the red light. I was on my way to Dr. Sebastian Aiello’s house and I was not having an easy time finding it.
I glanced down at the two sets of directions in my lap. One was a handwritten note in my mother’s neat cursive. The other was a print out from Google Maps. Neither seemed to be taking me exactly where I wanted to go. It was almost as if the address for my new employer didn’t exist.
I expected some confusion from Mom’s directions. That’s why I printed a set from a much more reliable, less intoxicated source, but that wasn’t doing the trick either.
When the light turned green, I proceeded straight through the light for the second time. I watched street signs to the left and right as I passed, but nowhere did I see the one I was looking for.
Frustrated, I pushed the gas pedal to the floor and zoomed past the Dead End sign, aiming to turn around and go through the directions one more time.
I swung the car in a wide right, starting to make the turn, when I saw a small road that split off behind a stand of trees. To the left of the entrance was a wrought iron sign that read Haven Drive, just the one I was looking for.
I guided the car through the trees and realized that it wasn’t a street, but a driveway. It wound through more trees and then up a slight incline. At the top sat a mammoth stone home that looked like a small castle. It crouched in the center of a ring of huge maple trees that cast a perpetual shadow over the cool gray structure.