Page 38 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Laith

I woke up with the scent of lilies in my nose. Instinctively, I drew closer and realized my arm was draped around something soft but solid. A pillow?

My eyes drifted open to find honey blonde hair filling my vision. It was funny how dreams filtered over to reality upon waking sometimes. Any second now, I’d snap out of it and wake up alone like I usually did.

But that didn’t happen.

With every blink I returned more solidly to the waking world and the memories of last night came rushing back. Helping Heather in the shower and her request to sleep next to her.

Next to her. Not spooning her, which was what I was currently doing.

I swallowed a curse, not wanting to wake her. How did this happen? I was firmly on my side of the bed and always, without fail, slept like a corpse.

But at some point during the day, I’d crossed the invisible barrier in the middle of the bed and buried my nose in her hair. Wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her into me.

I should have released her and scooted away the moment I figured it out. I knew, if I was going to stare at the side of her face, at her eyelashes low over her cheekbone and the adorably biteable curve of her exposed ear, I should do it at a distance.

But how could I when the dip of her waist fit my arm so perfectly? How could I be expected to pull away when her silky hair brushed over my lips and nose and her neck was right there ?

My fangs pulsed with a dull ache in my mouth. It had been nearly a week since I’d fed from her and the hunger was starting to gnaw at me. But there was no way I’d take from her until she was fully recovered.

That thought was what made me scoot away. I’d always been good about my self-control, but with her, I wouldn’t take chances. Being too close while she continued to heal was too much of a risk. I’d have to get ahold of some marrow to hold me over.

As soon as I severed the contact between our bodies, Heather stirred. She looked at me over her shoulder, and I was already a good two feet away on my side of the bed.

“Evening.” I gave a little wave. “Or do humans say ‘morning’ even when they’re waking up at night?”

“Mmm,” was her only response as she rolled to her back, rubbing her eyes.

“Sleep well?”

She stretched and I couldn’t keep myself from staring at the long, arching line of her back. Only when she opened her eyes again did I snap my gaze away. She didn’t want me looking at her too closely. It probably went without saying that she didn’t want me spooning her or smelling her hair either.

“Yeah. Amazing, actually.” Heather pushed herself up to sit against the headboard. “I feel like a whole new woman.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” She looked much better too. Color had returned to her skin and her eyes were bright and clear. Her strength had also returned, as she’d sat up with no struggle.

“Fuck.” She rubbed her face with both hands. “What day is it? How long have I been here?”

“This is the third day you’ve been here,” I said. “It’s been about five days since you came to Sanguine.”

“Shit, I need to call my job.”

My ears perked with interest that her first thought went to her workplace and not her boyfriend. “Your phone’s a bit battered, but we found it in the alley and it’s charging on the nightstand.”

“Oh my God, thank you, Laith.”

She turned toward the nightstand, pausing at the bouquet of lilies taking up most of the space. A surge of superficial pride filled me when she leaned in to smell them and lightly touched one of the soft petals.

I kept silent but watchful as she reached across for her phone, unplugged it from the charger and turned it on. Immediately, the device lit up and pinged with multiple notifications. Heather frowned at the screen and swiped with her finger but didn’t comment on what she saw.

Was her boyfriend concerned about her being missing? Was he angry that his emotional—possibly physical—punching bag wasn’t around for him to unleash his rage? Did he even care at all, or was he too busy jerking off to cam girls to notice Heather gone?

Heather tossed her phone down on the bed and sighed, then started pushing the covers back.

“Going somewhere?” I asked.

“Yeah, I gotta get back. Everything’s a mess right now. My boss is probably pissed at me. My car probably has a dozen parking tickets on it. It’s the middle of the week, so people must be wondering where I am.”

“And let me guess. You’ve got to get back to him. ” The statement came out laced with all the pent-up bitterness I’d been feeling for weeks.

Heather cast me a surprised look, but the top had blown off everything I’d been holding back and it all came rushing out.

“I can’t do this with you anymore, Heather.

You’re my blood mate. You should be with me.

End of story.” My fist curled around a piece of the blanket.

“I have been patient with you. I’ve never pushed you.

I’ve been trying to protect you from a distance since your boyfriend is so fucking useless at it.

I will never treat you like a captive, but I can’t even begin to tell you how wrong it always felt, letting you go home to him after I had your blood.

I needed to have you every time, and I could smell that you wanted me.

But still, I let you go because I respected that you didn’t want to be unfaithful.

I believed that you would choose me in the end.

And now…” My fist tightened so hard that my palm ached.

“I feel like an idiot for believing that.”

“Laith, no.” Heather started crawling across the bed toward me, but I held up a palm.

“Let me finish. Choosing me is asking for a lot, I know. I’m not gonna sit and try to convince you anymore.

You know me now. You know vampires well enough.

And I don’t want to be an asshole, but I have to look out for myself here too.

” I brought my palm to my chest, meeting her gaze firmly.

“If you go back to him tonight, do not come back to me.”

Heather let out a soft gasp. “Laith?—”

“I’m done waiting around, Heather. You’re either mine or you’re not. If you’re not going to choose me, I’d rather know now than after weeks or months of false hope.”

Silence ticked by, and Heather’s blank face unnerved me with each passing second.

“Is that all?” she said with a surprisingly dry tone. “Have you said everything you wanted to say?”

A huge sigh deflated my chest. “Yeah, that’s it.”

She scooted closer, a weird smile playing at her lips.

I frowned. “What?”

Her hand slid over my fist, gently unclenched it from the blanket and threaded her fingers through mine. “I already broke up with him.”

I stared at our joined hands and then at her face. “What?”

“After I saw you at the club, I went home and we…fought. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, just the straw that broke the camel’s back, I guess. I packed a bag and left. Then I called you because…I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than with you.”

Despite the elation spreading throughout my chest, I hadn’t seen the fight for myself and couldn’t tamp down my concern. “Did he hurt you?”

“No.” She shook her head. “He tried to stop me from leaving, but I slipped out of the backpack he was holding onto. So I do have to go back eventually for my stuff, but not for him. Never for him.” She looked up at me, her expression relaxed and open. “Because I’m yours.”

I traced her cheekbone with my knuckle, marveling at the mere fact that I could touch her.

“Why didn’t you say anything before I went off on my embarrassingly long and vulnerable monologue, Science Barbie?”

She snorted. “I tried, Vampire Ken, but you wouldn’t let me.”

“Oh, right.”

“It was a very sweet monologue, though. Lots of passion. I could feel every word.”

“You’re going to rub it in at every opportunity now, aren’t you?”

“Definitely.”

Her smile lifted and mine lowered until we met in the middle.

I fell into the kiss just as fast as I’d fallen for her.

She opened for me at the slightest flick of my tongue and I surged inside greedily.

I captured her little gasp of air as delicately as holding a bird between my palms. Her wings would never be crushed because she was wholly and completely mine.

My hand found its way to the back of her head, fingers luxuriating in the softness of her hair as I pulled her closer. Her hands on me were tentative at first, light touches of her fingertips on my neck and jaw, then grasping and holding just as desperately as I was.

Each kiss was a perfectly synchronized beat, growing braver and deeper, hungrier with each taste.

“Are you really mine?” The thought escaped in an awed whisper against her mouth.

“Yes.” Heather’s tongue darted out to meet mine, playful and teasing, before drawing away abruptly. “Are you mine?”

“Yes.” I pressed her palm to the left side of my chest where my heart felt alive and beating for the first time in my life. “This is yours. Completely yours.”

Heather smiled, then her expression shifted, becoming coy. “What else is mine?”

“Everything you want.” I brought her hands to my lips and kissed her knuckles.

Her fingers uncurled and one slid under my top lip to graze the tip of my fang. I pulled her hand away, my hunger raging at the close proximity of her incredible blood. “Except for that.”

She looked confused and even a bit rejected. “Don’t you need my blood?”

“You need it more.” I dared another kiss to the center of her palm. “To heal.”

Heather pulled her hand from my grasp and let it drop to the bed between us. “Why are you like this?”

The question was abrupt, and a complete 180 from the light, happy mood of a moment ago.

I watched her expression carefully. “Like what?”

“Why are you so…caring?” She sounded genuinely frustrated, which confused me even more. “The flowers, the way you kiss, the way you make me laugh. You helped me take a shower without sneaking a single peek. You saved my life and made me fucking soup !”