Page 60 of Heathens

The puncture wounds have closed over already. I can’t help but leave kisses in my wake as I fix her up. Her skin is so warm, I want her pressed against me while I sleep.

Once we’re finished, she fixes her dress while I grab a pack of cigarettes that were nestled in my jacket. I toss it to her and she pops one in her mouth before I flop down next to her, lighting hers first before my own.

“You know I still don’t trust you, right?” She announces, staring at me like I should be surprised. “This was business, it didn’t change anything.”

I lean forward, moving my hand up to cup her cheek. She flinches a little at first, but then slowly relaxes into my touch. I enjoy watching her warm up to me.

“For someone who seems like such a smart girl, you sure are ready to get in bed with a vampire you don’t trust. Just something to think about.”

A cocky smirk crawls across her face. There’s something dark and mischievous about her that keeps my interest piqued; every time I fuck her, she shows me another piece of who she really is.

“Yes, Dominic.” She leans forward and runs a fingernail down my bare chest, almost digging it into my skin. I groan and my cock twitches. “I’m averysmart girl. They don’t just hand out PhDs in experimental medicine for nothing.”

“Experimental medicine?” I ask excitedly, dropping my mask for just a moment.

“Uh-huh. I studied hematology.”

“What’s that?”

“Blood, Mr. Duncan. I thought you’d know, considering how much you love it.”

“Blood,” I repeat, nodding as I stare into the distance. Theo can stop his search because life just handed me a big glass of lemonade.

“But I’m not just smart with blood,” she whispers. “I know exactly who to trust and who to toss out on their ass.”

“Like Rene?”

I immediately regret the question.

She bristles at his name, and her fear ripples through the room, changing the mood completely. I lean forward, knowing she’s hiding something from me. Her eyes are suddenly fixed on the ground, and my desire to rip Deschamps’ throat out returns with a vengeance.

“Did he do something?”

She examines her chipped nail polish, shaking her head as I watch the hairs on her arm stand up on end.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

I’d never blame a human for being terrified of him. Rene gets off on doing the most heinous shit without a care in the world, and this is coming from someone who has a man’s tongue sitting in a jar at home.

I drain my drink and get up to make another, sensing her discomfort. We need a change of pace. Rene is a fucking boner killer.

“So what exactly did you do? With blood, I mean.”

She holds out her now empty glass, clinking the ice cubes together.

“How ’bout I tell you after you top me up?”

I crush my cigarette out on the bar, pour us more whiskey, and sit down next to her, running my fingers playfully through her hair.

“Not sure if this is really in your wheelhouse, but I worked at the blood bank, way before all this shit went down. Tested samples when people donated, looked for blood-borne pathogens, stuff like that.”

“So you pretty much know everything there is to know about blood, huh?”

She tenses up a little.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“What about vampire blood?”

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