Chapter Three

Emma.

I smile to myself as I allow Ryker to pull me down the hall for a minute, but then it gets old. "Are you attempting to dislocate my shoulder, or are you just trying to get me away from your friend as soon as possible?"

"Definitely the latter," he says as he releases my arm. He keeps walking, and I fall into step beside him.

I'm assuming that the 'offices' he's supposedly showing me aren't offices in the typical sense, and I'm excited. Plus, I'm still buzzing from the meeting going my way. Not to mention the sexual arousal I feel being so close to Ryker.

As I was standing outside the building this morning, listening for the men I'd be meeting, I heard Ryker’s voice and was instantly wet. Part of me thought twice about the risks of mixing business with pleasure, but a larger part of me was glad to know he worked here, because it told me so much about the type of people this place employs.

I could tell by their conversation that Gabe and Drew were friends of Ryker and damn if that didn't make me trust them too.

Not to mention the fact that Gabe said 'you slept with a client' as opposed to 'you slept with a vampire' when Drew connected the dots between Ryker and I knowing each other. The fact that they hunt and kill bad vampires but still have no problem with one of their own sleeping with a vampire says a lot about them.

Ryker opens a big steel door and holds it for me to enter first. I walk through without hesitation into the large, cavernous room. There's lockers along the walls and rows and rows of every type of weapon imaginable. I take a slow look around. I can feel his gaze on me as I take in the weaponry.

"So we're all set for world war three, then." I smile when Ryker chuckles.

"We come prepared," he says casually as if we weren't standing amongst an arsenal large enough to take down all of Colorado, maybe even the entire West Coast.

"I keep a collection of my own toys," I offer and then add under my breath, "not that I need them."

"Not surprising," he says with a shrug. "But the boss told me to show you the offices."

"Is this your favorite?" I tilt my head at him and watch his reaction.

"Not quite." A sly smile creeps over his face, and I'm intrigued to find out what could be better to a Marine than a room full of fire power. "Come on."

We head back out the door and down a long hallway past several doors. We stop at another steel door, and he opens it again stepping aside to let me pass. This room is equally large but instead of weapons, gadgetry lines the shelves.

A small, wiry man pops up from behind one shelf towards the back.

"Oh!" He startles when he sees me. "Oh my."

He's taller than me, which doesn't make him tall by any means, maybe five-six. He's thin and pale and his glasses are too big for his face. Aside from that, he's a cute guy, and I like his energy already. He practically vibrates with excitement.

"Relax, Minion," Ryker says coming up behind me. "This is Fox. The big man told me to show her around."

"Fox. Oh, wow. Okay. I'm Archie. They call me Minion." He gestures towards Ryker and then starts rummaging through the pile of gadgets on the worktable. "I'm so glad you're here. I've been waiting for you. Well, not you, because I didn't know you'd be coming. But a vampire. I mean, you're a vampire right?"

I nod, but he doesn't see me as he continues to move about the room and babble. Ryker looks on with a bemused expression on his face.

"I've been waiting for a vampire and now here you are. I wasn't expecting one quite as hot as you. I mean pretty, beautiful, a girl. A girl vampire. If I had known you'd be a girl, I would've tried to make it more feminine. Aha!" He holds up a half-inch thick metal collar. "Here it is. Right where I left it."

"What does it do?" Ryker asks next to me, coming up to look at the collar. "And why are you making vampire gadgets?"

"Because vampires are hot," he says looking me up and down, assessing but not in a creepy way, more like a calculation, and then glancing at Ryker and flinching. "I mean cool. I just knew that one day we'd have a vampire ally and we could use some special gadgets."

I glance up at Ryker who's scowling at Archie. I stifle the urge to laugh and reach for the collar.

"Let me," Archie says, moving forward to fasten the collar around my neck. "As for what it does, I'm hoping Fox will tell me, but don't worry, it's perfectly safe."

I wait until the collar is fastened and then wait some more. Nothing happens.

"Can you hear outside of this room?" Archie asks.

"No." I look around at the walls. "Is this place made of reinforced steel?" That's the only thing that can damper my hearing.

"Yes. I'm going to turn it on now. Stay quiet, Ryker." He pushes something on the collar and steps back.

Slowly, I can start to make out the voices from the other rooms, above us, and below us. The smell of Archie's sweat and Ryker's aftershave overpower my nose, along with the smell of metal, oil, and traces of explosive materials. Ryker and Archie watch me closely as I absorb the overpowering senses flooding me.

I look at Ryker, my eyes refocus, and I can see every speck of gold in his sharp green eyes. I look across the room, to the farthest corner, my eyes refocus, and I can see the rivets in the steel wall and some scratches in one spot.

"Try something," Archie whispers.

I flinch because it sounds like he's screaming in my ear, but he's a few feet away. I run across the room and pick up the heaviest thing I can find like it weighs less than a feather. I run around the room a couple of times and then jump over the length of a table.

I come to a stop beside Ryker. His eyes are wide when they land on me. I turn to Archie and signal for him to turn it off. He reaches forward, pushes the button and then removes the collar.

"I feel like if someone were to speak next to me, my eardrums would explode," I offer constructive criticism. "And if that were to fall into the hands of the wrong vampire, the whole world would be in trouble."

"This is true of all of the world's most destructive weapons," Archie says nonchalantly. "What else can you tell me?"

"I can't say clinically how much stronger or faster it made me," I begin before Ryker cuts me off.

"You were moving so fast we couldn't see you," Ryker supplies.

I nod. I had figured as much by the looks on their faces.

"But I could hear Gabe talking to his secretary, Drew using the bathroom, the janitor placing some spy gear in the meeting room, and a couple having sex in the office below us." I raise an eyebrow at Ryker when he laughs.

He winks at me, and I'm immediately reminded of the eyebrow raise I gave him the night we met, and I swallow hard and look back to Archie. "Also, I didn't smell anything new, really, but the scents here were suddenly overwhelming. Just so you know, you need more red meat in your diet. You're quite anemic."

"That's kinda creepy, babe," Ryker says, but Archie doesn't look upset by it.

"It's a lifelong struggle," Archie says as he puts the collar down and grabs an inhaler. "Are you willing to test one more thing for me?"

I shrug. "Sure."

"When was the last time you ate?" he asks me, and when I don't immediately respond, he elaborates, "I mean, drank. Fed."

I glance at Ryker, but he's busy pretending to study a gadget on the table. My eating habits aren't exactly something I was prepared to discuss with anyone. "This morning."

"Do you always drink from humans?" Archie asks me the most awkward question and one of the banes of my existence within the Community.

Nobody there understands why I never drink from humans. Many of the members also take advantage of our blood bank, but I'm the only one who does so religiously. Even Everlee indulges every once in a while, but only with willing humans.

"No," I say.

Ryker has stopped looking at gadgets, and I can feel his eyes studying me.

I clear my throat and square my shoulders. "Never. We have blood banks."

"I see." Archie hands me the inhaler. "Well, this is supposed to be an aerosol delivery method of feeding. It has proteins and amino acids. I've never been able to test the effects, so I really don't know what to expect."

I raise the inhaler to my mouth, but Ryker's hand on my arm stops me.

"Maybe it's too dangerous." He frowns at Archie. "I don't know if she's the right guinea pig for this one."

"It's fine." I wave off his concerns. "I don't mind. And if I die, you can avenge me." I take a puff off the inhaler before he can stop me. It's just an inhaler, what's the worst that could happen?

"If it were anyone else, I'd say hell yes," Ryker sighs. "But Minion is the top engineer in the business, and Gabe would be pissed if he had to replace him."

I want to laugh, but I can't. The aerosol hit my lungs hard, and it's spreading throughout my body with an intense heat that takes me by surprise. My skin becomes hot and itchy, and I want to scratch and peel it off. My heart pounds erratically in my chest, and I feel like I'm suffocating. My eyes widen, and I glance frantically between Archie and Ryker.

"Looking a little crazy." Archie takes a step back. "How do you feel?"

My chest rises and falls heavily as I appear to be gasping for breath, even though I don't need it.

Ryker puts his hands on my arms, turns me towards him and studies my face. "Em–, um, Fox, are you okay?"

"I don't know," I gasp, and my voice comes out high pitched and foreign. "I don't know what I am. I feel like running. Like I need to run. I need to move. I'm a big ball of energy, and I need to use it or I'm going to explode. Explode. Boom. Like a bomb. A Fox bomb. A Fox bomb of energy. Fuck, I can't stop talking. I feel like I just did a handful of meth and then chased it with speed and then maybe some heroine, or bath salts, or something. I don't know, I don't do drugs, I don't know what drug makes you feel like this. Maybe none. My skin is on fire, and I want to rip it off. My heart is on the verge of pounding out of my chest, and I might stroke out in a minute. Does anyone know CPR? Never mind, I forgot, I'm a vampire. CPR probably wouldn't work. Aspirin to thin my blood, then I won't throw a clot, but I don't have any clots. Nitroglycerin for a heart attack. Oxygen. I don't need oxygen to live. Morphine. Fuck, not morphine. No drugs. I'm dead. My hearts going to explode, or I'm going to have a stroke."

Ryker scowls at Archie and then turns back to me. "Take a deep breath. You're okay. You're not going to have a stroke."

I take a deep breath, but the word vomit doesn't stop. "I'm sorry, I'm freaking out a little. That'll teach me to trial experimental drugs. Now I know. I definitely know. No more drugs. Drugs are bad. Just say no. Say no to drugs."

I let out a hysterical giggle. "I need to get out of here. I need to use up some of this energy. I have the sudden urge to climb you like a tree and fuck you into the next century."

Ryker's eyes widen comically, and Archie coughs behind me, but it doesn't stop me. I run my hands up Ryker's chest before he grabs them and pushes them down at my sides.

"I know you want me. I can smell it on you. It's intoxicating. The inhaler is intoxicating. The fucking inhaler completely destroyed my inner monologue, and I am going to be very embarrassed after this. Fuck, I can't stop. Make me stop." I raise my arms against his hold and desperately grab onto his shirt. "Make. Me. Stop."

Ryker pulls me into his arms and rubs my back. It seems a little awkward right now, but his gesture is sweet and it comforts me. At the same time, the muscles in his chest against me reminds me of how well we fit together, and my already wet panties flood with a new rush of moisture.

"I don't know if this is helping or not but don't stop." I rub against him like a cat, and he groans.

"How long is this going to last?" Ryker asks Archie.

There's no verbal response, but I hear a rustling of clothes, like maybe Archie shrugged.

"Great. Come on, Fox, let's get you out of here." Ryker keeps an arm around my waist as he leads me out of the room.

I curl into his side and purr. "Where are you taking me?"

"That depends." He looks down at me. "If I send you home, are you going to run around and fuck a bunch of random dudes?"

"Probably not," I admit. Random hookups have never been my thing. Except Ryker. But Ryker was special. A sort of birthday present to myself. My first birthday present in a very, very long time.

"A birthday present, huh?" Ryker grins down at me, and I realize I've been rambling out loud the whole time.

"I might have to kill Archie for this." I realize my skin doesn't feel like it's on fire anymore. In fact, I feel fine except the insane sexual desire and verbal ramblings.

I look up at Ryker, and realize he's not reacting to my current thoughts, so I must be keeping them to myself, finally. Maybe the effects are wearing off. I'm still very aware of Ryker’s hard body holding me close, but that could just be his effect on me too. I was very aware of him before the drug.

I sigh as I remember everything I said since I carelessly took a puff off that stupid inhaler. I straighten and pull away from Ryker. "Is there any chance we could just forget the past half-hour or so?"

"Ah." He nods and puts his hands in his pockets. "Starting to wear off already, is it? Well, that's too bad."

"What's too bad?" I eyed him skeptically. Did he want me to go out and hook up with randoms?

"Nothing." He nods down the hallway towards the exit, and we start walking. He pulls his phone from his pocket and hands it to me without breaking stride. "Program your number in there. We're cutting the tour short. I don't know how much more I can take."

I quickly send myself a text to exchange numbers and hand the phone back to him. We walk down the rest of the hallway in silence. I want to say something to lighten the mood, but I don't know if it's necessary or even possible right now.

We approach the elevator and Ryker clears his throat. "I guess I'll call you and let you know what Gabe comes up with."

"Sounds good." I push the down button and avoid eye contact.

The elevator doors open, and I step inside. I force myself to turn and meet his eyes.

He raises one corner of his lips. "For the record, you can climb me like a tree anytime."

"Goodbye, Ryker." I smile as the doors close.

"Later, Emma." I hear his whisper through the doors as the elevator starts to descend.

I lean back against the wall and take a deep breath. This is not the way I expected today to go. Although I accomplished my goal and it was a success in that respect, which is the most important.

My blood boils as my thoughts circle around to Sato and the purpose of today's meeting. If I accomplish nothing else before I die, I will kill that son of a bitch.

Nothing and nobody will stop me.