Page 43 of Across the Sapphire Sea
“That I didn’t need their help. That you wouldn’t hurt me. I lied.”
“I would never hurt you,” Valeri snapped.
Elias wavered but forced the truth out word by word. “You do. All the time.”
Valeri froze. Elias couldn’t interpret his expression. Was he angry? Of course he was. Valeri was always angry these days.
But Valeri’s face fell. He didn’t look angry; he looked miserable. Then he said two words Elias never expected to hear from him.
“I’m sorry.”
Stunned, Elias gasped. The urge to soothe rushed in all at once. Elias reached for him. “It’s all right.” He kissed Valeri’s mouth.
Valeri returned the kiss, then pulled away. “It’s not. I make you unhappy. I don’t mean to. You deserve—”
“Shh.” Elias petted his curls. “Kiss me.”
Valeri would never refuse him that.
Elias got the kisses he asked for, but next, he wanted the whole damn story. “Take me to bed and tell me what happened between you and Laurence. Even if you don’t want to. I know you don’t want to, but do it because I want you to.”
Valeri gripped his sides, pulled them together. “You’re taking advantage of my mood.”
“I am.” Elias tugged away and lay down on the snow. “Bed and story. Please.”
“Fine.” Valeri lay on him, his weight a familiar comfort. They relaxed and bid the earth to swallow them whole.
Sleeping in the ground had to be one of the best tricks in a vampire’s set. Safe, silent, dark, and always available when needed. The first time they’d slept this way, Elias had been afraid, but the fear didn’t last long. Valeri taught him how to push the earth out in an arc over them, forming space between their bodies and the dirt, their own little bubble beneath the surface. This way was less messy, and less claustrophobic than just letting the ground encase them. Once the trick was mastered, Elias never complained about going to ground.
But tonight, Valeri did it for them. Creating their nest, then flipping them over and taking Elias into his arms, Valeri dropped kisses along the crown of his head.
“You won’t escape your fate with kisses, Valeri, though I’ll take them. Go on. Tell me what happened.”
“You’re a tyrant.” Valeri’s hand smoothed down his back and settled on his ass. He squeezed.
Elias bit him on the chest through his clothes, not with his fangs, not for blood, but for the pinch of it. “Start from the beginning. The night you saw him for the first time.”
“I’ll start before that. There was no specific night it happened, I just came to realize I was lonely and began to pine for a companion.”
“How long was this after you’d left Fedor?”
Valeri’s expression grew thoughtful. “Ten or eleven years I suppose.”
“That’s quite a bit of time to be all by yourself.”
“I enjoyed the solitude at first. Fedor was naturally domineering, his methods of rearing a young vampire astoundingly cruel. Following his orders grated on me after a while.”
“You’re also naturally domineering. I can’t imagine you with another person like yourself.”
Valeri swatted his bottom for that remark, playful. “I am nothing like Fedor. You didn’t know him.”
“Sorry, sorry. Please continue. You may spank me for it later.”
“I just might.” With a sigh, Valeri continued the tale. “My gaze began to wander, searching for someone I thought would make a good companion. Someone I could turn.”
“How did you settle on Laurence?” Elias had wondered this since the day he first laid eyes on Valeri’s first fledgling. He’d always assumed his own body was Valeri’s type. Medium height, lean muscle, sleight of build. But he and Laurence looked nothing alike. Laurence was rather huge in comparison. Taller than both himself or Valeri, and bulky, with thick muscles and a barreled chest. Inky black hair, long at the top and short on the sides. Gray eyes. They literally had nothing in common aside from dark hair. Plus Laurence had to have reached forty before he was turned, and Elias had never made it past nineteen. They were different as night and day.
“I liked the look of him,” Valeri said, shocking Elias to silence. “He had a gentle way about him, kind eyes, soft spoken and polite. All that weight and yet he never threw it around. I watched him for quite a while before I chose.”
