Page 71 of Burn Falls

“What?” I blinked.

“You knew he was dying. You could have saved him—turned him—whatever!” she shouted.

“Calla, sweetheart. You know that I couldn’t have.”

She stood again out of anger. “Why?”

“For one, how the fuck was I supposed to turn a human in the middle of a hospital and have it not lead to questions? Two, why would I turn him when I didn’t know why he was being drained to begin with? And three, I’ve never turned anyone—ever.”

“So why was he being turned?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know that he was. He could have just been being fed on, and then you showed up. By the time he arrived at Edgewater, he’d already lost a lot of blood. Given that he was still alive by the time the helicopter got him there, the vampire hadn’t drunk much of his blood. He was just bleeding out from the puncture wounds.”

“So if I wouldn’t have stopped the attack then he might still be alive?”

I stood and reached for her and brought her into a hug. “No, he would be dead like me.”

“But still here,” she mumbled into my chest.

“Maybe.” We were silent again as I listened to her heart rate return to normal and her breathing even out. “Let’s get you in bed. It’s been a long night.”

“I have more questions.”

“I know, and I’ll answer them as we get you ready for bed.”

“Shower then bed.”

“Can I join?” I smirked.

She raised her head from my chest and looked directly into my dark eyes for a few breaths. “Draven …”

“Calla, it’s me. Just because you now know what I truly am, shouldn’t make things different.”

She closed her green eyes briefly. “It doesn’t. I’m just in shock.”

“I understand. Let me make it up to you.” I grinned again.

Calla swallowed hard, and then she took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Lead the way, sweets.”

“Are you going to drink my blood?”

I chuckled. “Only if you want to have sex.”

Calla stopped right before the door of the bathroom. “Why do you need to feed to have sex?”

I smirked and looked down, suggesting that I needed to get hard. “The blood needs to flow through my veins.”

“Oh. So, your blood isn’t pumping unless you drink blood?”

“Hence why I’m always cold.”

“Right.” She sighed. “And while the idea of shower sex with you is appealing, I don’t think I’m ready for you to feed off of me.”

“I don’t think you’re ready either.”

I wasn’t even sureIwas ready. What if her blood was my kryptonite? What if I couldn’t stop once I started? The night before, I’d got a brief taste, and it was the sweetest I’d ever tasted. Like the cotton candy I remembered having at a fair in 1927. It was safe to still feed from blood bags until we were both ready.