Page 22 of Norah

Facing the spray of hot water, I close my eyes and recall the sensations and feelings that accompanied the most amazing sex I have ever had. But more than the sex, it was the love that Ethan showed me, telling me in more than words how he feels. And in doing so, I could show my love for him, too. I still can’t wrap my head around it, Ethan accepting me and loving me unconditionally. It’s like a humongous weight shifted off me, and where I used to feel only emptiness, now I feel hope.

After falling asleep while the sun came up, I woke just before noon to find Ethan ready and waiting for round two. Which I wasn’t complaining about, given the success of the first time. Afterwards, I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and into the shower, after the grumbles of Ethan’s stomach became too loud to ignore.

I’m pleasantly surprised to see a satisfied grin stretched across my face as I gaze in the mirror, toothbrush in hand. My body feels deliciously sore in all the best ways. There’s a buoyancy within me, like tiny bubbles of happiness fizzing and bursting in my chest.All because of Ethan. To think I ever tried to escape this, to escape him, now seems unfathomable. But he didn’t give up on me, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

Dressed and heading into the kitchen, I’m struck dumb by the sight of Ethan as he whistles at the stove, looking rumpled and gorgeous. He looks over at me with a smile, and his eyes darken with lust. “I love seeing you in the morning, especially knowing what I did to you last night. And this morning.”

“Hmm. You’ll find no complaints here about what you did to me.”

He puts down a plate and walks over to me, pulling me into his arms and pressing a rough kiss to my lips. “I can’t wait to take you again. I haven’t stopped thinking about it all morning.”

I snuggle into his embrace. “Me too.”

His eyebrows raise dangerously. “Saying that makes me want to take you to the bedroom right now. Or hell, do it right here on the counter.”

Oh! That sounds interesting. Whatever expression flashes across my face must give Ethan an idea of what I’m thinking, because he presses into me and I feel his arousal. I’m a little tender still, but my desire wars with practicality. My body moves against his, grinding my hips and rubbing against him. Time to worry about being sore later.

But sadly, Ethan pulls away, with regret across his face. “Norah, if you don’t stop that, Iwillattack you right now. And as much as I want to be with you again, you must be sore after last night. I don’t want to hurt you.” My lips purse into a pout, and he laughs. “Later, I promise. For now, let’s eat, then relax and cuddle. And at some point, I’d like to ask you some more questions if it’s OK.”

I knew that would be coming. Although I told Ethan all the important stuff last night, there must be much more that he wants to know. And I’m not hiding anything from him any more, even if some questions are hard to answer. “It’s fine, Ethan. You must have a ton of questions about all of this. I’ll answer whatever I can. I want to be one hundred percent open with you.”

That’s how we end up seated on the couch, facing each other, my legs tucked between his. I’m feeling a little anxious, but more from the general sense of unease I get whenever I am the focus of questioning. Ethan takes both my hands in his and looks at me with absolute sincerity. “Norah, if you’re uncomfortable with anything I ask, just tell me. I don’t need to have everything answered today. We can go at whatever pace you want.”

“Iwantto tell you everything. I’ll be fine. Nothing else will be as hard to talk about because I already told you all the bad stuff.”

“OK… I guess the first thing I’m wondering about is the healing. How do you know what you can heal from, or not?”

“Well, I experimented a bit in the early days. Cuts and broken bones, they all heal at different speeds depending on the severity. My body doesn’t seem to be affected by medicines, at any dose.” I hope he doesn’t ask for more information about my testing process, and thankfully he doesn’t ask me to go into detail. But based on the frown on Ethan’s face, I have a feeling this is a topic that will come up in the future.

“I don’t actually knowiforhowI can die. I didn’t like the idea of trying anything more gruesome, so it’s a mystery unless I meet up with another vampire to ask.”

“I hope you’re not trying any of these so-called tests anymore?” His grip on my hands tightens.

“No. Not any more. Not for a long time, and definitely not since I met you.”

The tension in his face releases. “Good. You said you were turned about five years ago. Were you twenty-five then, or twenty-five now?”

Another straightforward question. This is much easier than I expected.“I was twenty-five when I changed. I don’t think I’m aging, but I’m not sure. My skin looks the same as it did, no new marks or freckles, and my hair doesn’t grow. So, I think I’m frozen at the age I was then, though I won’t know for certain for a while. If I’m supposed to be fifty and still look like I’m in my twenties, I think that’s pretty solid proof.”

“That’s pretty cool. Lots of people would love to stop aging.” He laughs, then sobers. “Although I’ll get some odd looks when I’m fifty, walking around with you looking so young and hot.” Something flickers across his face, and I know what he’s thinking, but neither of us decide to delve into that topic today.Thankfully.

Blood

ETHAN

“How do you get blood?”

This question is one I’m especially curious about, given all the different iterations of vampire movies and shows. “Can you eat regular food? What about blood? Can it be human or animal? And how does the process work, exactly?”

Norah grimaces, and I can tell she doesn’t enjoy talking about the whole blood thing. But she doesn’t beg off answering. “I can eat small amounts of regular food, but it does nothing for me. It won’t give me nutrients, and if I have too much, I’ll get sick. I only eat to keep up appearances.”

“As for blood, only human works, unfortunately. At first I tried animal blood, but all it did was make me feel sick and awful. I can stretch out the times between needing blood, so I only go when the pain gets terrible. I can wait about a month before I’m forced to feed.”

I hate hearing her talk about hurting so indifferently. “What do you mean by pain?”

“Well.” She sighs. “It’s hard to explain. Like if your whole digestive system was on fire. The feeling returns about three weeks after the last feeding, but it’s milder at first. If I push it past a month, that’s when the pain gets terrible.”

Something clicks in my head as she talks. “That time you were sick and had to rush home; was that because you werehungry?”

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