Vampires Among Us [Vampires Among Us 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

word “tonight” before taking her hand and walking back towards the party to make introductions.
    The gentle whisper held a promise, and a shiver ran down Erica’s spin in anticipation as she allowed him to lead her back to their guests.
    The couple started making their rounds, arms linked around one another, bodies touching as much as possible. Kevin introduced her to everyone they came across. Most of the VCTF team was there, along with Jordan, Davidrick, Kevin’s three sisters, and other family friends. Several family friends who had not met Erica yet wanted to know the usual questions: when the couple met, Erica’s life history, etc. Kevin smoothly took over answering most of the questions thrown at the couple. He knew Erica was a bit timid around strangers. He also knew she was not comfortable discussing her past.
    When Kevin became tied up talking to another couple, Jordan entertained her with hilarious stories of the VCTF.
    “Ask Kevin sometime to tell you the story of when he was shot in the rear. Trust me, it is hilarious, and I would tell you myself, but he might not ever let me speak to you again!” Jordan laughed. She merely gave Kevin a wide grin when he stopped speaking and turned to glare at her.
    “Or you should ask him about the time they had a mad vampire on their hands. This idiot managed to knock Joshua out cold, and then tried to overdose him on some drug concoction he had come up with! I thought I was going to have to kill Joshua myself before I could get him transported back to the office! Do you have any idea what a vampire is like, drugged? Not a pretty sight! It took Kevin and Marshall just to hold him down for the ride to the office, and then Dr. Carlson had to extract as much of the crap out of his system as possible.”
    Jordan glanced over to the other side of the room where Jennifer and Joshua were standing. Leaning down to Erica’s ear, she continued softly. “That incident is why Joshua is having such a hard time with Jennifer. She had stopped by the office shortly after bring him in, and in his drugged up state, evidently said something pretty crude. Although I am fairly certain Jennifer forgave him as soon as she realized he was under the influence, he has yet to forgive himself.”
    Jordan went on to explain her job and affiliation with the VCTF. “If a vamp accidently kills a human, the VCTF get involved first, but then it became my job to make sure there was no evidence to find. Or, if something happens while the team is on assignment that would not look normal to humans, I get called in to clean up. They also use me for ambulatory care, as they did earlier this week with you and Jennifer.”
    When Davidrick joined them, Erica excused herself and walked over to the bar and requested a glass of white wine. The bartender gave her a knowing smile, and Erica assumed Jennifer must have already alerted him. She took a quick glance around the room, and was a little surprised as to how comfortable she felt in the midst of at least thirty vampires. She was fairly sure she was the only human in attendance tonight.
    As she waited for her drink, she spotted Jennifer and Joshua standing next to one another, chatting amicably. Erica hoped that Joshua was finally getting his nerve up to act on his feelings toward Jennifer. Come to think about it, ever since Jennifer had been injured, Joshua had stuck to her like glue. Maybe her injury was what was needed to prod him in action.
    She was still standing at the bar sipping on her wine, when Kevin suddenly appeared at her side, wrapping his arm around her waist. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, “I’ve done without you in my arms long enough. You’re not going to get rid of me so easy.”
    Erica smiled up at him, as she turned to face him, the front of her body flush up with the front of his. “I second that motion. In fact, I need to find a bottle of superglue, so that we won’t have to be separated again,” she replied in a teasing tone to him.
    “Be careful what you wish for, my love,” he crooned in her ear. Just having his breath in her ear was making her insides do funny things. He glanced down at the glass of wine. “I’m glad you ordered white. I meant to warn the bartender that you would be here, but it slipped my mind.”
    “Jennifer took care of the situation for you,” Erica assured him.
    The get-together was considered a success by all guests, and by the time it had wound down about 10:30, Erica’s long day