Page 43 of By the Pint

Laughter tumbled out of me. “So fuckable. So gods-damned fuckable. And I tried not to go into your mind. Only see the thoughts you projected, but right at the top there were these two very tasty little morsels that kept beckoning me in further.”

“Which were?”

“The first was that you’re Killian’s familiar. And this odd mission he’s sent you on — which I will delve into another night — is not Killian. I get that people change over time, and three centuries is a long-ass time, but Killian doesn’t change. No vampire does.”

He assessed me for a few seconds. I did not dig deeper into his thoughts. “What’s the second?”

“That you have a crush on me.”

He laughed, and warmth spread across my chest. “Had a crush. Past tense.”

“Sure, okay.”

We’d reached our destination, the volcano he pinned me against yesterday. I allowed myself a nanosecond to remember the feel of his hips squashing mine to the wall. His growing erection pressed against mine. His lips, rounded and full, parting, waiting for mine. The burning look in his eyes.

I made a show of turning my back and unlocking the volcano access door so that I could adjust the front of my chinos.

“Coming in?” I said, holding the metal door open for him.

He stepped in and I let the door close. Casey squinted around in the darkness. Right, human eyesight. I flicked the light switch.

Inside the volcano was a locked cabinet which housed a variety of tools. Another, smaller box, which had some kind of electrical thingies in. About a million safety posters. A ladder to the top, a bait box for vermin, a splintered wooden door wedge, and a single flimsy plastic chair. One side of the volcano contained the pyrotechnics in a chimney flue type set up. I cranked the huge power override button and shut off the electricity to the flue. Not that we would be interrupted or that anyone could trigger the volcanic blast — which happened when someone got a hole in one on the eighteenth hole — this late at night. But better to be safe. Especially with humans around.

“Is this … What are we here for?” Casey asked, his face made of frowns.

“Just somewhere quiet for our lessons.”

“Here?!”

I couldn’t help the laughter that burst from me. I held my hand out towards the ladder. “You’re not frightened of heights, are you?” He shook his head. “After you, then.”

Casey shot me an incredulous look, thoughtthis fucking vampire,and began climbing the ladder. And I tried not to watch the tight globes of his ass, or his thighs, or the way the fabric of his suit trousers strained against them. I really did.

“Wow! Wow,” he said as his shoulders burst through into the moonlit night. Not sure if he said it out loud or in his mind.

I didn’t climb the ladder, didn’t think I knew how, so I floated up and pretended to climb the last few rungs.

“You don’t have to do that anymore,” Casey said as I stepped out onto the ledge. I raised a brow. “Fake being human to make me feel more comfortable.”

At the top of the volcanic opening, the fancy flame throwing mechanics continued to rise another seven or eight feet into the sky. At the base of the chimney flue was a platform, so that engineers and safety inspector types could get easy access to the inner workings. It made for an impressive and convenient brooding perch. Without invitation, Casey sat on the perch, his legs dangling over the side.

I’d been up here many a time. To sit, or in my case float, and brood and stare out at the view. From there, the inky grounds stretched out all around. Visible were the walls to the kitchen gardens, the road leading to the Constellations Manor, the fishing lake, and beyond that, the twinkling distant lights of downtown Remy. My apartment was nestled there somewhere. My flatmates inside it, probably arguing over some video game, or else having loud internal monologues while they had sex.

But it was the view overhead that made the trip up the volcano worth it. The sky sparkled. Like a toddler had found a glitter cannon. And though it was always rotating around me, it never changed. It was the one constant in a blink-and-miss-it world.

“Thank you.” I floated over to Casey and sat next to him, leaving as much gap between our bodies as I could.

He glanced at me, holding eye contact for a few seconds before looking out across the dark grounds and the twinkling city beyond. “It’s incredible up here—”

“I’m not done apologising to you yet,” I said, cutting him off.

“Right.” He stifled a laugh.

“I was a dick. I broke into your mind. And … it’s nothing you’ve never done before, or I’ve never done. I mean, we’reboth guilty there, but it feels wrong that I used you that way. Everything I did was because … well, I …” I stopped myself. “You have a crush on me.” Not what I wanted to say.

“Had,” Casey corrected. “Don’t anymore.”

Our soft smiles mirrored each other’s because we both knew he was lying.

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