Page 99 of Thirsty
Charlie cleared his throat, and Lorenzo tried to take a step back, but the painting equipment didn’t leave them much room. Charlie suddenly felt a million miles closer.Touchable.
“So,” Charlie said nervously. “What do you think?”
“I—I don’t know,” Lorenzo said. “I’ve never...run an advice column—forum—before.”
“You’d be great at it.”
“Charlie,” Lorenzo said quietly, and Charlie looked up at him.
He took a steadying breath, like a skittish human, and then made himself ask. “Why did you do it?”
“Which part?” Charlie whispered. Lorenzo was close enough now to make out the texture of his stubble where he hadn’t shaved, and the dark, delicate skin under his eyes.
He didn’t answer Charlie’s question. Charlie swallowed and said, his voice small and hoarse and painfully familiar: “Because I didn’t want you to stop liking me.”
Lorenzo looked away and clenched his fists. Charlie stepped closer, even in the cramped space on the patio. Lorenzo didn’t back away.
Staring up at Lorenzo, he said lowly, “I’m so sorry. I love you, and I screwed up.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes. He could feel the warmth rolling off Charlie’s body, but he felt icy all over. He longed to touch him, and was dying to turn and run. He felt screaming and leaden; suffused with fear and sick with hope.
He hadn’t known Charlie was lying before. What if he was lying now?
Charlie was craning his head like he wanted to close the space between them. Lorenzo’s eyes flickered over his neck and caught at the edge of his collar.
He lifted a hand to touch Charlie there, making him gasp. But Lorenzo just leaned in and gently pushed on the collar of Charlie’s shirt, brushing back the fabric far enough to see his bite mark.
It was still there. In fact, it looked as fresh and tender as the day Lorenzo had given it to him. “Oh, I’m—I’m sorry,” Charlie said breathlessly. His heart thumped, sending blood flooding through his body, just under his fine skin. “I wore a collared shirt because I—I wasn’t sure if you wanted to see it.”
Lorenzo stared at the two ripe blooms of red on Charlie’sskin, remembering the night he’d made it. The night Charlie had asked for it. The taste of Charlie’s blood. The openness in his face.
Vampire bites heal quickly. Vampires are predators that look just like their prey; they’re meant to blend in among humans, and quick-healing bites help allay suspicion. Most bites like this would have been gone a day or two later.
But Charlie’s looked like he’d gotten it last night.
Lorenzo was close enough now to feel the warmth every time Charlie exhaled, a violent gust against the backdrop of soft heat that rolled off his body all the time; the brush of his shirt, the tickle of his hair at Lorenzo’s temple; and his pulse was right there, the familiar tempo of it like a song he’d gone too long without hearing. “I read online that vampire bites usually fade pretty fast,” Charlie said quietly, standing still as Lorenzo pulled back just a hair, just enough to look him in the eye. “But...every day I woke up and saw that it was still there...” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I was so happy. I didn’t want it to go away.”
Magic is intent.
And Lorenzo had forgotten that humans had their own magic too, sometimes, if they wanted something badly enough.
“Magic,” he whispered.
Charlie laughed a little, almost nervously. “What?” he asked, blinking up at him, just as lost as Lorenzo was.
Lorenzo came closer, giving Charlie a chance to back up or object. But he didn’t; he held still, looked up at Lorenzo, and then swayed closer; and Lorenzo kissed him, slowly, carefully, and fully.
When they broke apart they were both panting like humans.Charlie clapped a hand to his bite mark, swallowing, and Lorenzo cradled his face in his hands.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay.”
And he brought their lips together again, Charlie’s fist tight in his shirt, not letting go, and Charlie’s pulse warm and steady and perfect under his palm.
Chapter 32
Five Months Later
It shouldn’t have been surprising that when they got to the airport, they discovered that there was something wrong with their reservation.
