Page 68 of Taste of Blood

Why does he have to say things like that? It just makes it harder to be strong.

“I need time, Asher.”

“I know. And I’m trying to be patient, but you know it’s not one of my strengths, especially when it comes to you. Plus, I worry about you.”

“I told you, I can handle myself.”

“I know that. Hell, I’ve always known that. It’s one of the first things I noticed about you. Doesn’t mean I don’t worry, especially now. With this new threat.”

“I’ll be careful.”

He sighs, and I can tell he feels the same way I do about this. We can chase each other around this tree all day going nowhere. I guess that’s why he changes the subject.

“I had to play the vampire card last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had a human follow me when I left Lupercalia and try to intimidate me into feeding off him.”

An irrational surge of protective rage clouds my vision. Someone threatened him? “What happened?” I manage to grind out.

“I think I channeled you and went all dark and scary on him. He nearly pissed himself getting away from me. I have to say, it felt…good. Right, somehow.”

“Does that mean you’re going to go darkside on me now?”

He chuckles. “Highly unlikely. But it was entertaining, if just for a few minutes. I guess it made me realize how it used to be for our ancestors.”

“They weren’t our ancestors.”

“You know what I mean. Those who went before us.”

“So now it’s my turn to ask you to be careful.”

“Are you worried about me, Cord?”

“Just be careful.”

“I will if you will.”

Touché. I walked right into that one.

“Okay, I know you need to get to sleep and I have to go to the office, but please let me know how things go tonight.”

“I will.”

He hangs up and I stare at my phone for several minutes, revisiting the memory he dredged up. As first times go, it couldn’t have been much better. Sure, it would have been preferable not to be in a cold cell, but the setting didn’t detract from the meaning of the act. If we had been inseparable before that, it was magnified tenfold after. We couldn’t get enough of each other, awakening dark appetites neither of us had been aware of.

I liked to give, Asher liked to take. Every twisted idea we came up with we acted upon. Nothing was too outrageous or taboo. It was the perfect foil for all the newly-awakened needs our transition had birthed.

Had we been human, we surely would have hurt or maimed each other, possibly permanently. But we weren’t, and that seemed to give us the freedom to try anything.

Though that only applied to each other. No one else was allowed into our games. Over the years, others had tried to insinuate themselves, but we were adamant in our determination to keep what happened between us private. We might have sported the evidence of our excesses on our bodies,but that didn’t mean we wanted or needed any help from outside.

I have entertained the thought, in the years since our breakup, of experimenting with others, but when it came down to actually doing it, I couldn’t go through with it. It just didn’t hold the same appeal as it did with Asher. Regardless of how crazy we got, I always knew he had my back. That he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. There’s something liberating about that.

I guess it’s safe to say Asher has ruined me for all other lovers.

24: Asher