Free Blood of the Maple by Dana Marie Bell Page A

You’ll see.” Ken disappeared into the back room and returned with a cone with one scoop of something swirling with colors. Reddish-brown, dark green and tannish-gold warred with one another. The scent had Amara wrinkling her nose, but Parker practically salivated. “My Goddess. That actually smells good.”
    Ken looked relieved. “Thanks. My dad came up with the recipe. We modified the standard How Green Is Your Love? by combining it with Here’s Blood in Your Eye. Oh, and there’s some Maple Madness in there too.”
    Parker gaped, his expression reverent. “It’s the supernatural Ben and Jerry’s.”
    Ken laughed as Parker got down on his knees and prostrated himself before the counter. “Thanks! I’ll tell my dad to keep it in stock.” He rang them up, and he waved goodbye when Parker paid. “Enjoy your ice cream, Dr. Hollis. Amara.”
    Parker waved his cone. “You can call me Parker.”
    The kid nodded and waved to the next person in line. “Hey, Mr. Wulfenbach. What can I get you?”
    Amara was careful not to bump into the werewolf alpha. He didn’t snarl and snap at her like some of the others, but she’d hardly call him warm and fuzzy either. And he’d never done anything to make the rest of the pack back off when they took it into their heads to get really annoying. “Hair of the Dog, kid.”
    “Coming right up.”
    Parker held open the door for her. “Wow. You guys take your ice cream seriously.”
    Amara licked her cone. Yum. “You have a problem with that?”
    “Hell no.”
    She didn’t understand his rough tone. She licked another side of the ice cream, allowing the rich flavor to burst on her tongue. She moaned at the rich, creamy goodness. “Mmm. This is delicious.”
    “Remind me to buy an ice-cream maker.”
    She looked up at him. His gaze was glued to her mouth. His cone was beginning to drip down his hand. “Lick it.” He blinked, and she realized what she’d said. She could feel her cheeks heating. “Your ice cream—it’s melting. Lick it.”
    He did, moving his tongue along his hand and back up to the ice cream, circling the creamy tip. His eyes never left hers. Amara’s nipples were rock hard by the time he was done.
    “You’re right. This is incredibly good.”
    Somehow she knew he wasn’t talking about the ice cream.
    “Uh. Yeah.”
    He smiled, the look so smug, so male, she wanted to kick him. “So. The curse. Greg. The idea that dryads are tasty morsels. Inquiring minds want to know.”
    He cleared his throat. For the first time since she’d met him, he looked uncomfortable, and she had to wonder why. “Let’s finish our ice cream first, shall we?”
    “It’s going to take a while, I gather.”
    “You gather correctly.”
    They walked in silence, each concentrating on their cones. Okay, Parker was concentrating on his cone. Amara’s attention wavered between her treat and Parker’s mouth.
    She was really coming to like his mouth.
    He finished first and tossed the cone into one of the trash cans that lined the streets, then licked the sticky mess from his hand. “That was good. Thank you for taking me there.”
    She blushed in pleasure. “Make sure you let Ken know if you think it could be better.” She looked up at him from under her lashes, shy now that they were almost home. “And you’re welcome.”
    “I will.” He stretched, the fabric of his shirt pulling taut over his chest, and Amara’s heart rate sped up again. “Are you all right?”
    “Mm-hmm.” She devoured her ice cream, barely tasting it before it was gone, and tried to ignore his slow grin. They walked up the steps to Amara’s home. “May I come in?”
    “Will you explain everything to me? And I mean everything. ”
    “I’ll do my best.” His thumbs were hooked in his belt loops, and his sexy grin morphed into an embarrassed one.
    “You’d better.” She didn’t know why, but damn it, she not only wanted him, she trusted him. He intrigued her, and she was determined to