Blondie's head still hung down to his chest. He was tied to a chair.

Amaretto had plucked off the garlic strand before hauling him back to his house where he'd promptly tied the man up. Luckily, he didn't live too far away from the club and had no neighbors on either side. The rental house he lived in rested on a less traveled side street, too. The better not to hear Blondie scream for help. Which he would, once he woke up and saw who had secured him.

Amaretto couldn't leave him out there in the world. Not without some cold, hard facts. If Blondie encountered a vampire who killed for food, this Buffy wannabee would be toast. Humans couldn't kill vampires. The man wouldn't have a chance and would get picked off like a lice in someone's hair.

What drove a man to shoot someone he thought was a vampire? Not exactly a typical human. How the hell had he found Amaretto and decided he was a vampire? Not that Amaretto took extraordinary care to conceal himself, but he did take some to keep his nature secret.

He looked at the man's face. A slight grizzle of whiskers grew on the angelic looking visage. He had what others called a baby face. Probably looked years younger than he was. He was slender but his muscles were rock hard. And having carried him for several blocks, Amaretto could say he was solid. Unruly blond curls spiked up from his head. His full lips looked red against his pale skin. An earring glinted from one ear. A long gothic cross necklace hung around his neck where it had been tucked behind the garlic. He dressed in all black from his button down shirt to his jeans to his boots.

Amaretto took another sip of blood as he continued to peruse the man who'd shot him. His cock sprang to life. He blinked, looking down into his drink. "Oh. no." A spike of desire ran up his spine.

An adrenaline rush had to be causing this arousal. No way he could be attracted to Blondie, a man who'd shot him in the back.

Only that was a crock of shit. And Amaretto knew it.

As a man, Amaretto had swung both ways. As a vampire, he'd doubly swung even higher with his lusts. It didn't take much for his attraction to heighten.

Look at Bud.

He looked at Blondie again. Blew out a deep breath. The man wasn't gorgeous but it was the flaws that set him apart. That made his looks extraordinary. The divot on his chin. The too wide nose. His rough hands that had bitten down finger nails.

Amaretto's beast rose up with a decidedly snappish flair to tell him to claim the man and do it now. His heart rate tripled, as did his breathing.

His first good look at the man almost brought him to his knees.

Yeah, attraction to Blondie would go over well. He'd already gotten one arrow in the back. Try to take him and he'd probably end up with an arrow in more sensitive parts of his anatomy.

The man's eyes blinked under his lids.

The man's even breathing had become more ragged in the last few seconds. His heartbeat had elevated. While Amaretto had been checking out the stranger, the stranger had come to. "You can stop pretending. I know you're awake."

The man opened his lids slowly to reveal grayish, blue eyes. His mouth curled into a sneer, lips drawing tight. "Go to hell."

"You already tried to send me there. It didn't work." Such bravado from a human. The man had some fear. But he did well to mask his emotions. He also did well to block Amaretto from his thoughts. He couldn't sense anything in the man's mind. How unusual. That had never happened with a human before.

The man stared sullenly at him.

He was a brave little shit, that was for sure. "What made you think I'm a vampire? Why shoot me?"

No answer. Only a glare.

Amaretto sighed and turned back toward the kitchen, taking a sip from his mug. That had gone as expected. The man wouldn't talk now. Give him a few days. Then, he'd be vocalizing whatever Amaretto wanted to hear.

Which begged the question, how long was he going to keep the man?