Page 54 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 1

"I thought about that all night," I whisper.

His eyes bore into me. "About kissing me?"

I bite my lip and nod.

"I was supposed to talk to you about last night, rather than just kissing you," he admits.

"Kissing me works just as well."

"Only because you want to kiss me again." He frowns. "I'm assuming that's what you want."

In answer, I lean in and brush my lips against his, not lingering for too long, but only because we're in the middle of a conversation. In any other situation, I might have pushed further.

His breath catches in his throat. "I thought I might have scared you off with all my serious talk last night."

"No." I reach in to touch his cheek. "How are you feeling today?"

"I had a headache this morning. From what I've read it's normal after..." he trails off. "I don't know if I can say it out loud."

"That's all right, you don't have to."

He pulls away, but only goes to make some drinks. "I had some blood and I felt better."

"So blood is regenerative to us?" I ask.

He nods. "Only to an extent. If you're stabbed in the chest, there's not much it can do for you, but if you've got a small cut or a headache, it'll do the trick."

"That's good to know."

"Mmm, it's going to make this a bit easier," he admits. "But it was still tempting to ask the servants to bring me some wine earlier."

"Is there anything you can do to stop it?" I ask. "Maybe something with your hands?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know...tying some knots or something."

"I've never tried that."

I tug on one of the bows on my dress, pulling the ribbon undone and holding it out to him. "Try it."

"With your ribbon?"

I shrug. "Why not? That way you can also know that I believe in you."

"I'm so glad I met you," he says as he takes it from me, his fingers brushing against mine and making me think about the kiss all over again.

"Likewise," I respond, my voice cracking. I clear my throat. "So, the book?" I ask, putting my hand on it.

Linc puts two cups of tea down on the table. He's optimistic about putting them there considering our tea was completely cold by the time we tried to drink it yesterday.

"I thought it might help with your reading," he says. "It's a novel. A romance, actually."

I raise an eyebrow. "Were you trying to tell me something?"

He clears his throat. "Erm, I wasn't, actually. I just thought you'd like it. I wrote to my sister and asked if there was anything she recommended and she sent me this."

"You told your sister about me?"