Page 131 of Vampires of Eden
“Why does it matter?—”
“Because itmatters, Alexander. A lot.” His voice rises and the force behind it catches me off-guard. He registers my surprise and takes a deep breath. “You forfeited something important. Something that jeopardized your autonomy and freedom in exchange for mine. I appreciate that you were willing to do that for me, but… let me be part of that decision.Talkto me about it so I can own up to it! I’m not a ‘damsel in distress’ that you needed to secretly rescue. Let me have some agency in this situation.”
The room falls still around us. I listen, feeling hollowed out. Tired.
Lazily, I lift my palms. “So… you’ve come back to tell me that I’ve fucked up, even more so?” I ask. “To point out more ways in which I’ve ruined things between us?”
“No,” Oliver breathes the word, visibly exasperated. He runs his fingers through the back of his hair. “Can we sit down? I know you’re getting ready to go somewhere, just—ten minutes. Please?”
Nodding, I step toward an arm chair as he retakes his place on the couch. I notice a smart-looking messenger bag on the cushion beside him. “Why didn’t you call first?” I ask patiently.
He raises an eyebrow. “You barely return my texts as it is, and Raphael doesn’t answer my calls at all. What else could I do?”
Raphael doesn’t care for Oliver. He never has and I can’t control his actions. As for me… “It’s not easy to be ‘chummy’ with you via text, you know?”
“I know,” he admits, slipping his hand through his hair again. Sitting and taking him in, it becomes clear that he’s very nervous. Fidgety. “I know that things are complicated between us, but you…”
Oliver drops his hand, breathes and sets his shoulders back. When he meets my eyes again, his expression is apologetic. “This is hard,” he says candidly. “I’ve rehearsed what I wanted to say to you in my mind a million times, but it’s still a mess.”
“We don’t have to do this,” I say plainly. Why walk down this path again? It’s painful for me and obviously uncomfortable for him. Why bother? Who benefits? “All that stuff is in the past,” I go on. “Let’s just leave it there.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think I can. Not if I want to move forward in a healthy way. Can we talk about this? Are you willing to listen?”
There’s no fight inside of me to decline his request. What’s more, dread sits in the pit of my stomach like a slimy and fat toad. Whatever this is, whatever else he needs from me, I just want it done.
“Say what you want to say,” I tell him quietly, then take a deep breath. “I’m listening.”
CHAPTER 30
Daniel
Freshly showered and with my hair heavy and damp, I exhale a full belly breath, then push my body into downward dog position with my eyes closed. The stretch along the backs of my thighs and spine is a welcome distraction. I focus on the sensation, clearing my head.
Alexander left this morning, but his bewitching presence has lingered across my skin like the rays of a midsummer sun. A sultry aphrodisiac to my starved nature and body.
He is mesmerizing.
He makes me fucking hungry.
The desire to feed from him pulsates angrily in my throat and retracted fangs. I haven’t felt this way in so long because I’ve learned to shut this part of myself off. To strictly ignore the primal yearning to satiate my vampiric needs.
Being with Alexander resurrects my deadened nature like lightning striking and provoking a forest fire. An awakening. Reminding me that I have neglected these inherent desires to love and give of myself. But also, the passion and yearning to indulge in another. Deeply feeding and satiating my body and being.
The memory of his fangs piercing my flesh and the pull ofhis mouth and nature sends decadent tremors up my spine. Arousing and aching.
“Ugh. This isnothelping.”
Defeated, I push up from my position because my head has run away with me yet again and now my flesh is hot. God. What is this vampire man doing to me?
My phone dings and my stupid heart leaps because I’m assuming it’s a text from Alexander. I wrote him back twenty minutes ago and he hasn’t responded. He’s heading to some ostentatious-sounding banquet this evening, so I figured maybe he’s on the way and not paying attention to his phone.
I lift the device from my nightstand. When the screen flashes on, I’m surprised. It is not a message from Alexander. It’s from his manservant-best-friend-brother.
[Hi Danny, I’m very sorry to bother you, but we have another emergency.]
My breathing falters as several thoughts fly through my head. Is it a feeding issue? Alexander was fine when he left this morning. Did his body reject my blood?
[Hey, what kind of emergency? Is Alexander alright?]
