Page 137 of Bitten By Desire
“I’ll tell you whatever you want.”
“Will you give me whatever I want too?”
He lowered his eyebrows in that way that made it hard for me to breathe. I swallowed hard and my throat made a weird squeaking noise.
Callum reached out and traced his fingers down the front of my throat. “And what is it that you want?”
I knew what he was expecting me to say. That I wanted him. And that was true. But it wasn’t what I needed to talk about right now. “I want you to let Bennett keep the pocket watch.”
His eyebrows lowered even more.
“Please,” I added.
“And why would I do that?”
“Because I asked you to.”
He shook his head. “I know what that watch is used for, Emma. I have first-hand experience. And it’s not for anything good.”
“About that…” my voice trailed off as I looked up at him. “How many people have you killed, Callum?”
He took a step back from me and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s in the past.”
“How far in the past exactly? You told me that I made you want to change. But how long did that take?”
“It took me a few years.”
“Okay. So…you’ve been eating exclusively animals for like seven years?”
“More like two.”
I nodded. That wasn’t that long. “Was it because you were weaning yourself off of human blood slowly?”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “It was more like I had some…slip ups.”
He’d lost control. I stood in his cold foyer. Staring at a vampire who sometimes had slip ups. And I wasn’tscared. Because he wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t. “How many slip ups?”
“Emma…”
“Did you…um…have sex with those slip ups?”
“No.”
“None of them?”
He shook his head.
That was good. But my question had made another question pop up in my head. And I couldn’t shake it away. Even though it wasn’t fair. “How many people have you had sex with since me?”
His golden eyes bore into mine. “I told you earlier. I’ve been in love with you for ten years, Emma.”
That didn’t really answer my question. “So that means…you had more slip ups?”
“No. Not a single one. I may have had a hard time controlling my natural instincts when it came to blood. But I could control this one thing. I haven’t slept with anyone since you.”
I’m sorry, what?I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. “No one?”
“I’m a little old-fashioned sometimes.”
