Page 29 of The HalloQueen

“And with me?”

He blew an exaggerated breath from his lips, “with you it is…like a circuit? I feel like I can pour energy into you just as much as I can take it away. Like you’re some kind of conduit.” I took a large bite of my dinner while he explained, “You seemed almost bottomless, not to mention you were practically throwing your emotions at me. I never risk taking more than a little from a person because they can drain so quickly that I don’t want it to ruin their day so to speak, but with you, it was like because I was able to funnel energy back into you, you were a never ending chalice. It was incredible.”

“Until it wasn’t?”

“Until it wasn’t. I think when we began to be intimate that I-,” a naughty smile spread from his lips, “- stopped channeling back into you and it…caught up with you. It felt like you were creating more and more and I didn’t think to give any back. I think you bottomed out and that’s why you fell asleep. I assure you that you were perfectly safe and fine when I left.”

I considered that. “And what would have happened if you’d kept conducting the energy through us both?”

He gave me a pathetic grimace, “I don’t know,amour, I’ve never experienced this before.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

I needed a minute to process that, so I moved on to my next thought, “You said you can just come and go as you please; if I’m mad at you, how do I keep you out of my house and out of my energy?”

“You talk to me?” He answered incredulously like it was the most ridiculous question I could have asked.

“Says the vampire! I am clearly at the disadvantage here!” I grabbed a slice of bread and mopped it through my sauce.

“You are not at the disadvantage,mon coeur, I think you will find that I am quite susceptible to your whims.”

I clicked my nails against the island’s butcher block, “I don’t like that you’re eating those kids you hired. It’s violating.”

He furrowed his brows, “Bels, I’m not eating them. They’re still fully intact at the end of their shift, I assure you. Most people never notice when they’ve had their energy tapped. The most it ever does it makes someone feel like they need a nap.” He went to fill my wine glass, but I shook my head.

“Thomas, you fed from me and it cost me my whole day - and I’m a grown ass woman! I don’t like the idea of you violating children like that.”

“Violating?”

“Do you have their consent to harvest their energy?”

He went quiet, trying to sort through his various answers, clearly stumped.

“I…don’t… but - that’s not how it works.”

“It’s not? And why not?” I firmed up my tone, leaving no room for bullshit.

“Have you ever seen a vampire movie where they pause to ask for permission?”

“And that means that you shouldn’t?”

“I just… it’s like a lion asking a gazelle for its dinner. It’s odd.” His face was scrunched up, deep in thought, his thick dark brows were drawn and twitching in distress.

“Would you rape me?” I asked bluntly.

“What?! Annabel-”

“Would you rape me?” Each word I spoke was stunted, emphasized to prove my point. “After all, I’m just a gazelle, right?”

“I would never.”

“Because it’d be against my consent?”

“I would never take from you that way. I wouldn’t-”

“Do something to someone without their permission?”

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