Page 2 of Ouch! My Vampire Doms Don't Sparkle
Maybe I should call it an undead arrangement instead of a living arrangement?
A hysterical giggle tries to break free of my throat, but I swallow it back.
“Tell me what happened to you,” Will says.“A girl who takes shelter in a library for a week isn’t usually there for fun.”
“I ran away,” I say.
He turns and stares at me while he finishes whisking the eggs, his movements mechanical but his gaze full of warmth, emotion.“There must have been a good reason for that.”
His unexpected, matter-of-fact empathy brings tears to my eyes.
“There’s a story you need to tell, isn’t there?”he says gently.
“I have a stepdad,” I say.“He’s…a bad guy.”
Will sets down the bowl and the whisk, abandoning the eggs to stand before me.“Did he hurt you?”
I remember Dale’s fist, wrapped around my arm as I tried to drive away.“Just once,” I say, gesturing to my forearm.“He tried to grab me when I left.I’m fine, though, I was just bruised.”
Jaw tight, Will cradles my arm in his large palms, handling it as if it were broken.
“Will, I’m fine,” I say.
“He hurt you,” he growls.“What else did he do?”
Dale, on the news, flashes in my memory again.He said I had mental difficulties, paranoid delusions.Nobody’s going to believe me now—Dale got control of the narrative before I even had a chance.
“Autumn, answer me,” Will says.“What else did he do?”
“N-nothing.”
Will stares at me.I don’t know how he can tell I’m lying, but whatever.Shoulders slumping, I say, “I saw him kill someone, all right?And I think he killed my mother, when I was fifteen.So I ran away.But now he’s telling everyone I’m crazy.And you probably think I’m crazy, too.I mean, who sleeps in a library?”
“Someone desperate,” he says, practically on a growl.“Someone with no other options, nowhere to go.”
He’s so close, I can smell his woodsy scent, feel the heat of his body close to mine.There’s a faint tinge of blood between us, and the pulse in my neck speeds up as I remember his lips there, taking, taking.
“You’re staying with me,” he says with an air of finality.“You shouldn’t go anywhere, either.”
“What about my job?”
“Quit.”
“I—what?Quit?I can’t just quit, how am I supposed to earn money?”
He gives me a slow grin.“You don’t need money.You’re my little girl, I’ll provide everything you need.”
Little girl.I like the sound of that.I like the idea of being treasured, provided for.
But that’s something for the personal side of our arrangement—that shouldn’t be my real life.In real life, I need to be self-sufficient, or at least as self-sufficient as possible.
“I’m keeping my job,” I say.“I can’t let that go.”
His lips form a tight line.I wonder, idly, where his fangs go when he isn’t feeding, but that’s something I can ask about later.
“Will you allow me to escort you to and from your workplace?”he asks.
If he did, I’d be less scared.The pub isn’t in the greatest part of town, either, so having Will with me on the way home would be especially welcome.
