Page 84 of How a Vampire Falls

“I think if you had to spend time in a few random minds, you’d be disappointed,” she said. “The nature of people—human or apex—is that sometimes we lose touch with reason and act on instinct or emotion instead.”

He was fairly sure he’d never done that in his entire life. Then again, two days ago Claire had accused him of having a soft side, and his friends and family sometimes proved to know him better than he knew himself. He could only shrug again.

“So what had you so immersed in your thoughts?”

“The reality that it’s going to suck when you fly home,” he said.

“Oh.” She wilted a little beside him, but then her mouth tipped up on one side, and her eyes sparked. “I know what. Until your parents get here, we could pass the time testing your theory. You could watch for patterns and solve the equation.”

“Wait, what theory?”

“That you’re never not thinking.”

“And how are we going to test—”

Leslie gave his chest a gentle shove against the couch and seized his mouth with hers. Dang, she was attractive when she took hold of what she wanted, especially when what she wanted was his kiss. Not that she wasn’t also attractive when she stopped along the path of life to absorb and appreciate and encourage him to do the same. Really, Leslie was never not attractive—

Fingers in her hair, mouth greedy against hers, other hand cupping the back of her neck, her hands on his chest, palms flat and pressing, and the humming cold vitality in their bodies, the strength of his beautiful truest match, his Leslie. Leslie, Leslie, kissing Leslie…

Against his mouth, she let out a giggle. Then she withdrew a few inches, and he groaned. “So…thoughts?”

“Kiss me,” he said.

“Ooh. Deep analysis there. Did you observe any patterns of—?”

He cupped her face and kissed her hard. Then she was straddling his lap, returning his kiss while her fingers gripped his shoulders. He pressed kisses to her jawline, behind her ear, along her neck, and she gave a soft gasp, then playfully grazed her teeth over the top of his ear on her way to his neck. Ryker froze. If she bit him…

She kissed his neck hard, but she didn’t use her teeth. Then he lost his thoughts again as her lips pressed his collarbone, as she found his mouth again and seemed to be proving something with the movement of her lips on his. Matching her intensity was easy, instinct and desire and maybe a proving of his own, how precious she was to him. He twined her hair in his hands. It was so soft. She was so soft, so deliciously cool to match his own coolness. When they finally drew apart, he kept hold of one of her hands. They sat side by side, heads tilted against the back of the couch, angling slow looks at one another. He felt a smirk take over his face. They’d nearly pushed each other over an edge this time, and knowing he could bring Leslie such pleasure was at least as much a physical high as what she did to him.

“So, um,” she said. “Wow.”

He gave a low hum that said everything, and she gave a little shiver beside him. Her eyes were wide and luminous. Even her skin seemed luminous, or maybe that was due to the leftover rush inside him. His blood wasn’t only flowing—it was fizzing,sparkling, electrifying him. He felt as if he could actually fly right now, the way the oldest legends said vampires could do.

A few minutes later, Leslie stirred on the couch. The carbonated feeling had begun to dissipate, and Ryker sat up straight to face her.

“Have any thoughts yet?” she said with a little smirk of her own.

“You. That’s all.”

She leaned in and kissed him, but briefly. “Ryker, I… When we were, and I…”

Ah. “You wanted to bite me.”

“You noticed?”

“It was noticeable.”

“It was really sudden. I’ve never wanted…to do that before.”

“Do you know what it means?”

“I thought it wasn’t real.”

Based on the gaps in her knowledge so far, she might be referring to any random human legend. “What do you know about it?”

“Vampires aren’t necessarily monogamous for life. Unless they taste each other’s blood. Once they have, it’s a covenant bond—the bloodbound covenant. It binds their life-forces; they become one another’s eternal.”

He nodded. That was the gist of it.

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