Page 88 of By the Pint

And my heartbreak, too.

Dima push the little black intercom button. “We’re ready, Wayne.” He pulled his legs up onto the seat and crawled into the space between my chest and my arm.

What the fuck was I supposed to do?

28.

Dima

The room was shrouded in pitch blackness. At least it would be for Casey’s human eyes, but he was still asleep. The only light came from the glowing red numbers on my bedside table.14:32.Half-past two in the afternoon. Outside, the sun was blaring its usual destructive radiation, cooking everything. The lockable metal blinds in my hotel suite had been a godsend.

I rolled over in the king-sized four-poster bed I’d had installed, and there he was on his back. I affected the Eight and a Half Kingdom’s most contented sigh at the sight of his perfect, peaceful form. Casey was right, beds were the bomb. Why vampires chose coffins over these, I had no idea.

You could fit infinitely more quilts on a bed than in a coffin.

We were both naked except for the two pendants I wore. Casey’s hair fanned out in a chestnut halo on the pillow. One knee stuck up in the air like a muscular shark fin, the sheet stretched and twisted over his waist and legs, another pillowclutched to his chest as though he was cuddling a fucking teddy bear.

It was too much. He was adorable. My battered heart had already splintered into a million shards of jagged rock. I was certain by the time Casey told me he’d had enough of this, of us, and that he was ready for immortality, it would be nothing but red and black glitter dust.

Casey gave a gentle snore. He was so human. So fragile. Mine to protect. I wanted him to let me protect him for the next fifty years.

But I understood it. I really did. He had a goal. A plan.

I only had a dream.

Those things were not the same. Not equal. Hadn’t I spent my entire thirty-minute keynote speech cementing exactly that ideology?

He was perfect. In every way. I didn’t want him to change. Despite knowing what he wanted to become — a vampire and everything it entailed — because that was part of him too.

I just wouldn’t let myself think about it too much. His goals, or his perfection.

I’d been into his thoughts a few times, beyond his mind-bag and locker. Merely to check, double-check, three-bajillion-times check, it was something he still wanted. It was.

Who was I — except the lowly, hypocritical vampire in love with him — to change that?

And really, how could I expect him to give up a part of what made him him, when I wanted only him?

I just wanted him for much longer than he could give me. I was greedy. So greedy.

But Casey made me greedy.

His eyes opened. As though he sensed me, an apex predator, watching him sleep.

Hey, he said in my mind, leaving the air in the room silent. His eyes found mine quicker than I would have thought possible for a human’s eyes to adjust. A smile crossed his mouth, and he launched himself on top of me, the tangled sheets sandwiched between our bodies.

I won’t kiss you. Evening breath,Casey said.

I don’t care,I told him back, threading my fingers into his hair and guiding his lips down to mine.

He whined, this beautiful, musical, happy little whine, and melted into me, like candle wax dripping down a sconce. I was already hard. Casey was half-hard, getting fuller by the second.

I missed you,he said.

While you slept?I fought back a sob.Did you dream of me?

Casey pulled his mouth away from mine, trailing his kisses down my chest.I always dream about you. Every day.

What happens in your dreams?I asked, raking my fingers up his shoulder blades, soaking in as much of his warmth as possible.

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