Page 44 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Three

God, how far back do they go?

“Can I join you?” I ask my sister.

“Of course.”

I kick off my shoes and climb onto the bed. She opens her arms for me and I snuggle into her side like I used to when I was a kid.

Her hand absently trails along my hair.

“So…a vampire.”

She sighs and the breath tickles at the hair along my crown causing me to shiver.

“Once upon a time, I wanted a family,” she admits.

“Really?”

I feel her nod against my forehead.

“But…” I coax.

“But then…Mom died and I had you to take care of and Julian…” She sniffs. “I stopped wanting a family a long time ago so it doesn’t matter now.”

My heart aches for my sister, for all of the things she wanted and never got. All of the paths she wanted to take but couldn’t.

And now…

“Do you want to be with Damien? He’s rather broody.”

She laughs. “He is. More than he was when we first got together, but part of that is my fault.”

“Why?”

She sighs. “Because I broke his heart.”

I frown, trying to realign everything I thought I knew about my sister and the older Duval.

I guess it’s easy to think vampires don’t have hearts, and especially not vampires like the Duval brothers. But I know Bran does. Somehow, I managed to wiggle my way through his cold, unaffected exterior. It stands to reason my sister found a way in through Damien’s aloofness.

“Has he forgiven you?”

“I think we’re getting there.”

I immediately go back to the sight of them in a tight embrace and think they might be closer than Kelly realizes.

“So are you going to do it?” I ask. “Are you going to let him give you his blood?”

“I don’t think I have a choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

“I’m not leaving you. And I’m not going to break Damien’s heart a second time.”

“He doesn’t want you to do it though.”

“Only because he asked me once before and I told him no.”

I lurch upright, propping myself up on my elbow. “He did? When?”