Page 51 of Even Vampires Bleed (Even Ever After #2)

Cassiopé

“ W hat are you doing?” Léandre asks, and I can hear the alarm in his tone.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask snarkily.

We both know the answer to the other’s question, so I don’t bother waiting for an answer, but what comes next surprises me.

Léandre drops all the dishes inside the sink, and faster than I thought a bird could be, he snatches me from the ground with my bedsheets, and before I know it, I’m inside the bedroom, bouncing on the bed.

“We agreed,” I tell him.

“I agreed to nothing,” Léandre says with amusement.

“Well, you’re hurting from sleeping on the couch…” I say.

“It’s bearable, and there is no chance I’d make you sleep on the couch. You might say whatever you want about your wings, but you’re still in recovery. Don’t think I don’t know where this loss of balance came earlier,” he tells me with narrowed eyes.

“Oh,” is all I manage.

I know, not very witty, right?

He might be right, though. It hadn’t crossed my mind that it could be because of that. Not that I think it’s the only reason… but I’m not usually known to be clumsy.

“So, you’re staying here,” Léandre says, and he sounds final—like I have no say in this.

“I’m staying here until I’m completely recovered,” I agree with him, “but then we switch positions, and you’ll be the one sleeping in the bed.”

“Not even on my dead body will you sleep on the couch,” Léandre counters.

I narrow my eyes on him.

“Don’t joke about death.”

He must see something in my eyes, because he raises his hands in surrender.

“Alright, no death joke. That still doesn’t change the fact I’m not letting you sleep on the couch.”

“Then sleep in the bed with me,” I tell him, and I have no idea where this came from because that’s the last thing I want.

I’m a freaking liar. I still love his body, and I miss the warmth of him against me, even if I know I shouldn’t want this.

“What?” Léandre sputters his mouth, eyes opening wide at the outrage, and with just that single word, I know I really shouldn’t want this.

“Yeah, bad idea,” I try to backpedal as much as I can now that I’ve seen his reaction.

“Let’s make a deal,” Léandre says, and I’m scared of what he’s about to say, but I still nod. “I’ll sleep with you in the bed when I can’t stand the couch anymore, not before. How does that work for you?”

I can see from the way he’s looking at me that in his mind, there isn’t a chance on earth this is going to happen, and my heart does a weird jump that I don’t really understand. It feels like a mix of both relief and disappointment.

Fuck you, heart.