Robert Montgomery POV:
Mine.
My wolf is rarely vocal, and this is the first time it's laid a claim so blatantly. That is something I'll have to deal with later.
Charlotte lives on the sixth floor, and when she begins to open her door, I notice the security system. Whoever set it up did a damn good job of it. I can't smell anyone's scent aside from hers, which means nobody has come to her apartment.
She flicks on the lights, and I hear a disgruntled meow. Mano is sitting in the doorway of the small entrance hall, and when she sees me, she stands up, stretches, and then trots over, completely ignoring Charlotte. She rubs herself against my legs before sniffing my chewed-up shoes with a lot of interest.
I crouched down to pet her. "Hey, girl."
She purrs loudly.
"Hussy," Charlotte scoffs, amusement in her voice. "She's just flirting with you." Completely shameless."
Mano's tail is straight as she licks my palm and then proceeds to sprawl herself across my shoes.
"Just take them off," Charlotte advises, removing her own and placing them on a shoe rack. I only wear slippers in the apartment. Easier to keep it clean."
I take off my shoes, curious now about the place she calls home. It's not a small apartment by any means, and as I look around, I notice cameras set up at different angles in the main rooms that I can see. There is also a balcony outside.
"This place belonged to Edgar Brown, didn't it?" I ask idly. My research on Charlotte's background was quite extensive.
Charlotte is quiet for a moment, then she nods. "Nobody would let a fifteen-year-old rent an apartment. I met him in a grocery store, around the block, actually. I worked there. My second job. I didn't have a place to sleep that night, and he saw me talking to this guy who was telling me he had an extra room." Her lips curved at the memory. "Edgar drove him off and scolded me. Anyway, he told me to come stay at his apartment. He had a bad leg, so all I had to do was clean up, do his grocery shopping, small things like that. He gave me my own room. He also tutored me in my classes when I needed help. I couldn't cook, either, and he taught me." I can hear the trace of grief in her voice. "He passed away three years ago. I didn't even know he had willed the apartment to me. I never got to thank him for everything he did for me."
I doubt she would be telling me all this if she weren't still a little drunk. Sober Charlotte is quite private.
"You mattered to him." There are still pictures of Edgar, and of the two of them, on the small fireplace mantel, and a cane that could only belong to an elderly man leaning behind the front door. She kept parts of him, a man who took her under his wing at a time when she was most vulnerable. "I guess he wanted to make sure that you were taken care of when he was gone. He cared about you."
"He did." Charlotte's voice is filled with love. "He was the best part of my life."
When I glance at her, she's wiping her eyes. I automatically feel guilty. "Are you—"
"I'll make us some coffee. ""I think I'm still a little drunk," she says hastily, turning her back to me and heading into the kitchen.
I follow after her, becoming curious when I see a blanket and pillow on the long couch in the living room. "You sleep out here?"
"What?" Charlotte takes two mugs from the shelf. "Sleep where?"
"On the couch," I reply, leaning against the door jamb.
"Oh." She avoids my eyes. "Sometimes."
She clearly doesn't want to divulge more information, and I choose to mind my own business.
As she prepares the coffee, the silence between us isn't awkward. Her gait isn't completely even, but she has definitely begun to sober up.
"I guess you won't be having a hangover in the morning," I murmur, watching as she bunches her hair in her hands and winds it around into a bun. The smooth skin of her nape makes my eyes linger.
Charlotte gives me a look, and it's filled with annoyance. "You knew that drink had alcohol in it, didn't you?"
I grin.
"You could have warned me."
"I tried, but you refused to listen to anything I had to say," I insist, chuckling. "A drunk Charlotte sure is handsy, you know."
"Shut up," Charlotte mutters under her breath, grabbing a chopstick from the counter and piercing her bun with it. "I'm never going anywhere with you again." You're such a jerk."
"How is this my fault?" I made my way over to her. "I kept telling you to stop, but you wanted more—"
"I thought it was iced tea!" she burst out, her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of red. "All you had to do was say, 'Charlotte that has alcohol,' and I would have stopped!"
"Sure you would have. You were already drunk after the first one."
She gives me a nasty look. "You have an excuse for everything, don't you?"
"Most of the time," I agree pleasantly. "I also didn't realize you could get drunk off the stuff humans make."
"Defective, remember?" Charlotte rolls her eyes, then turns on the coffee machine. I get drunk quickly, but it's not like my metabolism is as slow as a human's. I sober up pretty fast. An hour or so. It's weird. I've only ever tried beer, and I didn't like it. Based on that experience, I thought all alcoholic drinks tasted like pee."
Her description makes me snicker. "Now, how would you know what pee tastes like?"
"I'm hazarding a guess," she says as she shrugs. But I liked the Long Island iced tea. I should learn how to make one. I can have it when I'm alone."
"Call me over when you do," I grin.
My smile broadens when she mutters something under her breath. Teasing Charlotte is slowly becoming one of my favorite activities.
When she turns her back to me, I can sense that the silent treatment has begun.
"Now, now." I lean my back against the counter she's working on. "I'll tell you next time."
"There's not going to be a next time." She shoots me a look that is part sulky, part grumpy, and makes me want to kiss it away.
The kiss.
I'm sure she remembers it, but she hasn't mentioned it. I could always bring it up and incite a reaction from her. But as my eyes fall on the boiling coffee, my wolf advises against it. I've already got one prominent scar; I don't need to add to it.
However, something strikes me.
"The vampires who attacked me injected me with liquid wolfsbane. How did you get it out of me?"
Charlotte freezes, and her tone turns cagey. "Why would you think I had anything to do with that?"
I straightened up. "What did you do, Charlotte?"
She wets her lips. "Nothing. I really don't want to talk about this."
I am about to say something when she quickly adds, "The coffee is ready. Hand me that mug, will you?"
"I reached out and turned off the machine, "Charlotte." My voice is serious. "What did you do?"
When she looks up at me, I see a trace of fear in her eyes, and suddenly I remember that sensation of ecstasy in my body, somebody's mouth against my neck, the burning pleasure.
I know what she did.
And it shakes me to my core.
"You sucked it out of me?" I breathe.
She takes a step back, the fear in her eyes intensifying. "I was just trying to save you, I promise. I wasn't trying to do anything else. Your organs will have begun to shut down. I—I didn't know what else to do."
I'm not angry.
If anything, I'm shocked.
I remember the feeling of her hot mouth against my neck, the arousal that burned my veins as a result.
"I spat it out." Charlotte takes another step back, and I dimly realize that I've begun to cover the distance between us. "Sh—Shifter blood is very addictive. I've never tasted it before. I just removed as much of the poison as I could…"
My wolf is pleased. I don't know why. It's prowling inside of me, unable to stop. I sense its burning desire.
Charlotte's back is pressed against the counter now, and I can smell her fear. She has nothing to fear from me, but I guess she hasn't realized it yet. I'm not capable of harming this vampire with my fierce eyes and soft heart.
"How did I taste?"
The wolf is at the forefront now.
My voice is low as I caress the side of her neck, my body pressing against hers so that she is effectively caged.
"Wh—What?" Charlotte is frozen in place.
"Did you like how I tasted?" I ask, watching a blush form on her neck where my fingers are touching.
"I…" Her eyes are growing unfocused. I lower my head, feeling my teeth sharpen.
"Yes?" I ask, slowly glancing back up at her.
As soon as her lips part, I graze the sharp edge of my teeth against the side of her neck, and she whines. It's not a sound completely borne from terror or fear. I could smell her desire, thick in the air.
The little vampire isn't immune to me.
That pleases me, and my tongue darts out, leaving a little lick on the side of her neck. I'm suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to bite down. My whole body goes still in an attempt to regain control. But my wolf is pushing, adamant.
I've never seen it behave like this before. It's trying to take over my body, to push its own will.
And it terrifies me.
I'm losing control.