“So are you going to become one of us?” Colin asks.

The room falls silent and the tension becomes thick. Goosebumps spring up on my arms and I have the urge to run. I rub my arms and the simple movement draws the eyes of all the men. They look at me, each expression blank. Then Eric looks disgusted and Max gives a smile. Aaron seems curious and he is looking at me with an expression that suggests he wants to know me well. I can’t help but give a slight smile.

“I’m not going to become a freak,” Eric says. He doesn’t surprise me, nor does the fact that he is cuddling the shotgun in his hands. That man smells of nothing but fear.

Max looks at Aaron, and his expression is not pleasant. “What about you? Think we’re freaks?”

Aaron looks at me. “No, but I need to…

It’s all happening! The cover for the picture book is finished… This is for the paperback, the ebook will be slightly different.

Max leads me into a room that I must have been carried through but I don’t remember it. I do remember the people though. The lisp is looking at me with a bland expression but the other is scowling. Colin smiles.

“You alright?” he asks.

I nod. “One bit me.”

The lisp moves his hand closer to the gun slung across his shoulder.

“Careful,” Max says.

Colin plasters a grin on his face. “Now, guys, I did say that she wouldn’t turn.”

Tall and thin steps away from the wall and walks toward me. He moves with a grace that tells me although he doesn’t have a gun, he is the more dangerous of the two men.

“Hi,” he says and offers his hand to shake. I take it. “My name is Aaron.” His hand is warm and his grip is firm. I like him and can’t help but smile.

He pushes his way inside and I back up just enough to let me feel that I’m safe from being pulled into his arms.

“What’s this about?” he asks.

He looks worried and I try to smile. I want him to feel happy and not worried. I want him to feel I’m capable, but how can he when he saw.

“You saw me.”

“I do.”

I shake my head. “In the shower.”

His eyes darken and I see lust and also concern. He lusts after me… The thought surprises me. I’m no perfect picture. I know that my belly is more rounded than is fashionable, and that my thighs don’t have the sort after gap between them. They touch as I move, but he looks at me as though he could eat me.

“I did, and it took all my control not to go over and hold you.”

I look…