Page 90 of Burn Falls

“Feeding before you fuck?”

“You know I do.”

“I mean not with me.”

“Oh. No. While we haven’t talked about being exclusive or whatever the kids are calling it these days, I wouldn’t do that to you. Plus, I haven’t had time. I work and then keep an eye on you.”

“Do …” I hesitated. “Do you want to be exclusive?”

His dark eyes stared back at me, and he reached up to cup my cheek. “There’s something about you that’s addicting and makes it hard for me to stay away, sweets.”

I pressed my lips to his. “Good.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Once we made it to Burn Falls, we went to the twenty-four-hour storage facility and unloaded everything Calla owned. It didn’t take Athan and me much time to empty the truck, but we had to move at human speed because of the security cameras. Afterward, we dropped Calla off at her house because it was almost daybreak, and then Athan and I headed to mine to rest for the day.

The next evening before I headed to Anchorage for my shift, Athan and I discussed what would happen now that Calla was back in Burn Falls.

“Same plan as before?” he asked as we drank mugs of blood I’d heated in the microwave.

“Yeah. After my shift, I’ll go there and stay with her until almost sunrise.”

“You do know I need to head back to Russia and see if my club is still standing?”

“I know. I didn’t plan for any of this. You think I’d know that after eighty-nine years of being a vampire I’d be in a relationship with a human? Let alone a human who might be in danger because we have no idea why her father was attacked?”

“I get it. But I also think that since it’s been a few weeks since her dad was attacked that the vampire has moved on. I think it was a random attack by a Fledgling and they left because they got scared or was only passing through.”

“If it were any other human besides Calla, I would take the chance and be okay with you leaving, but I’m not sure I’m ready. If anything were to happen to her while I was in Anchorage, I wouldn’t get back here in time. No matter how fast I can run.”

He paused for a brief moment. “Do you love her?”

I blinked at him. I knew I cared deeply for her, but there was no way I could spend the next sixty some odd years with her until she took her last breath. That was why I never got close to humans except for Martin and his family. I didn’t want to think about the day I’d have to tell them goodbye for good. I also got the feeling that Calla wanted kids one day since most women did. If we stayed together that could never happen. But I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Calla either. I needed to make sure she was safe before I’d be able to let her go.

“I have loveforher,” I stated.

“Are you going to break her beating heart?”

“I’m going to try not to.”

Over the next few days, I didn’t see Calla. My nights were spent at the hospital, and when I wasn’t there, Calla was sleeping. We, of course, talked on the phone, but that wasn’t the same. I’d thought about crawling into her bedroom window after my shifts, except I didn’t want to freak her out by just appearing next to her.

Tonight I wanted to surprise her—and Athan bitched that he wanted the night off—so I decided to show up at the distillery and take her to dinner. When I got to the office, she was wearing a tight, knee-high skirt, and was bent over a pile of papers. I thought about not saying anything while I admired her backside, and I did for at least a minute, running my gaze over her curves that I was getting accustomed to.

“Is the view always this good?”

Calla whirled around and clenched her chest. “Oh my God. You scared me. What are you doing here?”

She wrapped her arms around my waist and placed her head on my chest. I kissed the top of her head. “Came to take you to dinner.”

“I’ve been so swamped, I’m not even sure what time it is.”

“It’s almost six.”

“Where’s Athan?”

“Taking the night off since I don’t need to be at the hospital.”