Page 81 of Taste of Forever
That thought was what made me scoot away. I’d always been good about my self-control, but with her, I wouldn’t take chances. Being too close while she continued to heal was too much of a risk. I’d have to get ahold of some marrow to hold me over.
As soon as I severed the contact between our bodies, Heather stirred. She looked at me over her shoulder, and I was already a good two feet away on my side of the bed.
“Evening.” I gave a little wave. “Or do humans say ‘morning’ even when they’re waking up at night?”
“Mmm,” was her only response as she rolled to her back, rubbing her eyes.
“Sleep well?”
She stretched and I couldn’t keep myself from staring at the long, arching line of her back. Only when she opened her eyes again did I snap my gaze away. She didn’t want me looking at her too closely. It probably went without saying that she didn’t want me spooning her or smelling her hair either.
“Yeah. Amazing, actually.” Heather pushed herself up to sit against the headboard. “I feel like a whole new woman.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” She looked much better too. Color had returned to her skin and her eyes were bright and clear. Her strength had also returned, as she’d sat up with no struggle.
“Fuck.” She rubbed her face with both hands. “What day is it? How long have I been here?”
“This is the third day you’ve been here,” I said. “It’s been about five days since you came to Sanguine.”
“Shit, I need to call my job.”
My ears perked with interest that her first thought went to her workplace and not her boyfriend. “Your phone’s a bit battered, but we found it in the alley and it’s charging on the nightstand.”
“Oh my God, thank you, Laith.”
She turned toward the nightstand, pausing at the bouquet of lilies taking up most of the space. A surge of superficial pride filled me when she leaned in to smell them and lightly touched one of the soft petals.
I kept silent but watchful as she reached across for her phone, unplugged it from the charger and turned it on. Immediately, the device lit up and pinged with multiple notifications. Heather frowned at the screen and swiped with her finger but didn’t comment on what she saw.
Was her boyfriend concerned about her being missing? Was he angry that his emotional—possibly physical—punching bag wasn’t around for him to unleash his rage? Did he even care at all, or was he too busy jerking off to cam girls to notice Heather gone?
Heather tossed her phone down on the bed and sighed, then started pushing the covers back.
“Going somewhere?” I asked.
“Yeah, I gotta get back. Everything’s a mess right now. My boss is probably pissed at me. My car probably has a dozen parking tickets on it. It’s the middle of the week, so people must be wondering where I am.”
“And let me guess. You’ve got to get back tohim.” The statement came out laced with all the pent-up bitterness I’d been feeling for weeks.
Heather cast me a surprised look, but the top had blown off everything I’d been holding back and it all came rushing out.
“I can’t do this with you anymore, Heather. You’re my blood mate. You should be with me. End of story.” My fist curled around a piece of the blanket. “I have been patient with you. I’ve never pushed you. I’ve been trying to protect you from a distance since your boyfriend is so fucking useless at it. I will never treat you like a captive, but I can’t evenbeginto tell you how wrong it always felt, letting you go home to him after I had your blood. I needed to have you every time, and I could smell that you wanted me. But still, I let you go because I respected that you didn’t want to be unfaithful. I believed that you would choose me in the end. And now…” My fist tightened so hard that my palm ached. “I feel like an idiot for believing that.”
“Laith, no.” Heather started crawling across the bed toward me, but I held up a palm.
“Let me finish. Choosing me is asking for a lot, I know. I’m not gonna sit and try to convince you anymore. You know me now. You know vampires well enough. And I don’t want to be an asshole, but I have to look out for myself here too.” I brought my palm to my chest, meeting her gaze firmly. “If you go back to him tonight, do not come back to me.”
Heather let out a soft gasp. “Laith?—”
“I’m done waiting around, Heather. You’re either mine or you’re not. If you’re not going to choose me, I’d rather know now than after weeks or months of false hope.”
Silence ticked by, and Heather’s blank face unnerved me with each passing second.
“Is that all?” she said with a surprisingly dry tone. “Have you said everything you wanted to say?”
A huge sigh deflated my chest. “Yeah, that’s it.”
She scooted closer, a weird smile playing at her lips.
