Page 130 of High Stakes and Soulmates
I stare at it.
“Do you want me to feed it to you like a momma bird to a baby bird?”
“Jesus, no.”
He laughs and I take a sip of it, and even though I was convinced the taste would be absolutely horrible, it hits me so hard. “Oh my god,” I moan before sucking as hard as I can. I can’t get it through the straw fast enough, so I rip the lid off and chug it. Like… Ezio’s blood was good, but it was just a taste, and this is like… “Fuck.”
“Do you want more?” Ezio asks as I realize I’m trying to lick the cup clean.
“No,” I say, a bit embarrassed. And even more so when I look toward the house and see everyone staring at me.
Quickly, I get in the car where I continue to lick the straw where they can’t watch.
Ezio laughs again as he starts the car and pulls out. “You can have that as much as you want now.”
“I feel like now that I know the taste, I’m going to walk into a crime scene and just like… drop to the floor and begin lapping it up. I feel like a starving man who’s been fed for the first time.”
“You don’t ever have to starve again,” he assures me.
“It’s so good,” I moan.
He smiles at me. “Good. I hope it makes you feel better like the blood at the hospital did.”
As he pulls out onto the road, I realize we’re heading away from either of our houses. “Where are we going?”
“Secret.”
“Hmm…”
Ezio drives for a bit before pulling off near some trees. Then he gets out and grabs a backpack from the back.
“This looks suspicious.”
“Don’t be suspicious!” he says as he waits for me to come around to his side. He reaches out and takes my hand before squeezing it. “Fuck, I love you so much.” He lifts my hand and kisses it. “I can’t stop wanting to just… look at you to make sure you’re really here.”
“Don’t cry again. I’m not going anywhere.”
“It’s too late,” he says as he starts dragging me off, presumably so I can’t see his tears.
I squeeze his hand and close my eyes, letting him pull me after him. And when I do, it’s like I can feel the familiarity of it. I can see his smile in the sunlight. I can see parts and pieces of a life I lived but whenever I open my eyes, it seems so fleeting.
He leads me over to a beautiful spot as I discover how clearly I can see in the dark. The moon isn’t even that bright, but I can see the flowers, I can hear the animals and smell the plants.
“It’s so beautiful,” I realize as he leads me up to a river. “It’s like… I can hear things… see things… my senses were so dulled. What else can I do?”
“We’ll have to explore it together. Traditionally, dhampirs were strong enough to be vampire hunters.”
“Uh… I have reason to believe I’m not strong enough to go against a vampire.”
“We’ll see,” he says.
“So does this mean Sansón isn’t my full brother?”
“Correct. Likely, your fathers were different. You never met your father?”
“No, my mother said he died when we were still young.”
“Maybe Sansón knows more. Come,” he says as he guides me to the water’s edge. It’s all so beautiful.
