Page 29 of Because the Night

“Consent again. It’s not like I can see anything the way you’re sitting.” He kneels by the tub and rests his arms on the side and makes himself right at home. Okay, itishis home, but still.

“Why did you come in here, Lucas? What do you want?”

“I don’t know.” His forehead furrows as if he’s genuinely mystified. “I just couldn’t sit out there doing nothing while you cried.”

“Since when do you care?”

“Again. I don’t know. It’s not like me.” He thinks it over. “It would seem I’ve undergone some changes during my sleep.”

“What was it like?”

“Painful for a while. The hunger for the first few months was fierce, but I was determined to wait it out. Then my body started to weaken, and my mind began to drift, going over old memories and such. It was similar to what I remember dreaming to be.”

“Why did you do that to yourself?” I ask. “Just because you were bored?”

His smile is small. “No. I was…upset about something. Turning my back on this world for a while seemed safest.”

I nod. Not that I understand a damn word.

“Now and then, one of the old ones loses their grasp on reason. They turn savage, slaughtering their families and anyone else nearby. Causing chaos until they can be stopped.”

“You were worried that would happen to you?”

He shrugs. “My anger was very great.”

“And now?”

The side of his mouth kicks up just a little. “Much better, thank you for asking.”

While I am not ashamed of my body, hanging out with random, uninvited dudes while naked is a new thing. “Okay. I’ve stopped crying. You can go now.”

“You don’t need my assistance again with…” He just stares at me, waiting.

“Believe it or not, Lucas, I know how to masturbate just fine. And I thought you said that was a one-time thing. Something about a newborn’s infatuation being yucky and inconvenient?”

He rises to his feet, all grace and strength. The expression on his face, however, is pure fuckery. “What did you call it, pity sex?”

“Get out.”

“Skye,” he says, waiting until he has my attention. Then, he says, “You were never homely. I was just being an asshole.”

“I know.”

At this, he nods his head. “Enjoy your bath.”

I wake up the next evening with Lucas lying on the bed beside me again. Only the pants remain of his sleek suit. All of the dips and planes of his chest are on show. His bulging biceps, in particular, call to me. But then, the whole of him is like a work of art. Guess the unnatural horniness is still a thing. Because I refuse to be attracted to the monster under normal conditions. I have to be smarter than that. Surely.

This evening, he’s busy with a digital notepad instead of a book. When I crashed, he and Henry hadBarbarellaplaying on a laptop, while occasionally reading aloud fromThe Feminine Mystique, and also discussing the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the moon landing. They seemed to have settled in for the day to discuss and debate at length each era Lucas had missed.

Having not been alive during the 1960s and with no hope of keeping up, I went to bed in my new, black silk pajamas. A definite step up from my usual panties and an old tee. And once again I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. The newborn vampire need for sleep is no joke.

“Would you say you’re Team Jacob or Team Edward?” Lucas asks contemplatively. “Because in all honesty, I’m having trouble deciding.”

“Are werewolves real?”

“Yes. Though, they’re generally not found around here because they don’t like cities. Werewolves need space to run.”

“Wow. Next question. Are you at all familiar with the concept of privacy?”

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