Page 48 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Heather

I woke up to an insistent buzzing, which my half-asleep brain registered as my phone vibrating. Grabbing it from the nightstand with Laith’s arm clamped tightly around my waist was another matter.

He spooned me from ankle to chest, his breath puffing softly on my nape. I’d fallen asleep to him kissing me there. Even in sleep, he clung to me. Maybe some people would have found it annoying or too much, but I could never get enough of his affection.

Except, maybe, when I couldn’t reach my phone.

“Laith?” I wriggled in his grasp, trying to loosen myself without disturbing him.

“Mmm.”

My stirring did the opposite of what I intended. He curled around me tighter, sleepily brushing kisses against my neck and upper back.

I couldn’t help but grin. My bloodthirsty, protective vampire was also the cutest snuggle bug in the world. “Laith, honey. I need to check my phone.”

“Mmm.” His grip did loosen this time, allowing me to slide to the edge of the bed while his hand remained on my hip. “Never had honey, but I bet you taste like it.”

If it weren’t for the name that repeated itself across my screen, I would have answered him with a cute quip. But my blood turned to ice, rendering me unable to move or think.

Laith sensed my distress immediately, his warmth covering my back as he scooted closer. “Heather?” His hand came to my arm and a kiss dropped to my shoulder. “What’s wrong? Is it Justin?”

The phone shook in my hand, as did the breath leaving my mouth. “No. Not Justin.”

“Then who?” He rubbed my upper arm, which must have erupted in goosebumps. “Temkra’s fate, you’re shaking like a leaf. Who’s blowing up your phone?”

I turned numbly to face him, dropping the phone on the mattress between us. “I’m so sorry, but there’s something I haven’t told you.”

Laith’s face was full of pure concern. “Okay. What’s going on?”

It felt like forever before I could get the words out. “I wasn’t honest with you in the beginning. The first few times I came to see you…I wasn’t really planning on breaking up with Justin. Originally, I had no intention of becoming your blood mate.”

Laith’s expression turned guarded. “But that changed?”

“Yes, I swear to you.” I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled forward to kiss him. “I did leave him and I do want to be with you. I am yours, Laith. Every bit of that is true. I think I had feelings for you from the start, but like an idiot, I was fighting them until you saved me in that alley.”

Laith relaxed, although a deep furrow remained etched between his brows. “So, what’s wrong?” He pushed away strands of messy bed hair from my face, every touch so tender and careful.

I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs remained tight. “You remember those bruises on my arms? The ones that looked like fingers?”

Magenta eyes flashed with rage. “Yes.”

“They were from a guy named Soren, who’s been stalking me because I’ve made contact with the vampire world several times.

He’s part of some shadowy government operation in the human world.

They know vampires exist and they’re gathering information on you guys.

” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “He wanted me to keep coming back to Sanguine for information. That was why I kept seeing you at first. But listen, Laith.”

I touched the side of his face, making his darkening, rage-filled eyes focus on me.

“Meeting you at the club was an escape I desperately needed. With you, I could enjoy myself for once and not think about Soren, Justin, or any of the other bullshit in my life. My feelings for you are real, even if my intentions weren’t at first. I’m so sorry, Laith. ”

To my shock and utter relief, Laith leaned in and kissed me deeply.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Heather.” He touched his fingertips to the back of my arm, as if reimagining the bruises that had been there.

“This Soren guy hurt you. I imagine he threatened you too? If you didn’t provide the information he wanted? ”

I nodded, the lump in my throat becoming a suffocating knot. “He even showed up at my work. We have really good security, but I guess he has clearance because he’s a Fed. I just couldn’t get away from him…unless I came to Sanguine.”

“And now he’s blowing up your phone?” Laith glanced down at my screen lit up with notifications. “What does he want?”

“Well, I basically ghosted him. He’s probably pissed about that and wants the information I owe him. I’m pretty sure he bugged my apartment, so he knows I’m not there. But…shit.” I raked a hand through my hair. “All my stuff is there. I had to leave so quickly because of Justin.”

“We can get you new things.” Laith rubbed my arms. “Because you’re not going back there. Nothing is worth your safety.”

“I know, but it’s not just stuff. I need my glasses and contact prescriptions. Some documents and sentimental things. I might need to sort something legally with the apartment manager since it’s in my name.”

“None of that matters,” Laith insisted. “We can set you up fresh here. A brand new start.” His hand moved to my waist and squeezed lightly. “You do realize you’re moving in with me, right?”

“I figured that.” I chuckled. “And I’m excited to, but I’m still worried. What if Soren can track my phone here and find his way to Sanguine? He had some crazy technology that I didn’t even know was possible.”

“He won’t find you here,” Laith said on a low growl. “It doesn’t matter what resources your human government has. Human-world rules don’t apply here. Even if they find their way in, Thorne will be on them if they step one toe out of line.”

“I don’t know, Laith.”

“I do.” His hand returned to my cheek. “I bet that’s why this guy used you. Because he didn’t have the means or was too fucking scared to investigate Sanguine himself.”

“Maybe you’re right.” I sighed.

“I am right.” He nipped my nose playfully. “As much as I love having you all to myself, I actually don’t want to completely uproot you from your life. Are there any friends or family you want to keep in contact with? We can arrange something.”

Grateful for a temporary change in topic, I thought for a few moments. “Honestly, not really. I lost touch with a lot of friends when Justin and I got more serious. Then I got buried in work. My work friends, I only really saw at work.”

“What about family?”

I shook my head. “I’m an only child and my parents were older when they had me. They passed when I was in college and I don’t have any extended family.”

Laith’s face crumpled. “Fuck. I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. And it’s okay. They hadn’t been in good health since I was a teenager. Maybe it’s a bit morbid, but I had kind of been preparing myself for years already.”

“It’s such a shame humans are so short-lived.” Laith brought one of my hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “The more time I spend with them, the more fascinating and lovely they are.”

I thought back to one of our earliest conversations when he explained blood mates to me. “But I’m going to live as long as a vampire now, right?”

“Yes. Once we complete the mating ceremony, your lifespan will be attached to mine. We’ll age at the same rate and when it’s our time, we’ll die together.” Laith turned my hand over and kissed the center of my palm. “How does eight hundred-plus years sound?”

I shook my head on a soft laugh. “I can’t even imagine the next ten or twenty years, let alone eight hundred.”

Laith smirked. “How’s that for a taste of forever?”

“It’s a pretty good taste.”

“Fuck yeah, you are.” He dragged me into him and went for my neck with his talented mouth.

I shuddered at the memory of his fangs in that same spot last night, although now he only gently nipped and kissed me there, his solid hand and forearm supporting my back. Without his bite driving me to another orgasm, I was able to keep my wits and circle back to our conversation.

“I need to go back to the apartment, Laith.”

He groaned against my neck. “No.”

“Please? It’ll just be a quick trip. I’ll pack a bag in like ten minutes.”

“And if this Soren guy is watching the place and ambushes you?” Laith pulled back with a hard stare. “He already hurt you once.”

“You could come with me,” I suggested. “I don’t think he’ll come near me if you’re around.”

“Obviously I’d go with you. That’ll be the only way I let you go back,” Laith bit out. “But I don’t want you going there at all.”

I chewed my lip. “Okay, look. The only thing I really want is an old photo of me with my parents. It’s the only copy I have.”

Laith sighed heavily. “You’re killing me, Science Barbie.”

“Vampire Ken,” I cooed, kissing his jaw. “I know exactly where it is. It won’t take but a minute.”

“What if Justin’s there?” he grumbled.

“I don’t think he is.” I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the messages. “He texted me just once saying he packed his stuff and left for his parents’ house.”

“Let me see.”

I turned the phone screen toward Laith, and he smirked when he read the entire message. “‘ Hope you’re satisfied ’, he says.” His magenta eyes lifted to meet mine, hand stroking over my thigh. “Well, are you?”

“You know I am.” I leaned into him, our lips meeting in a long, lingering kiss.

That kiss rolled into another one, and then another. Laith grabbed my thigh and drew my leg over his hip, the two of us rolling on the mattress in a tangle of arms, legs, lips, and tongues.

When we parted for a breath, I was on top of him. My forehead snuggled into his neck, legs draped on either side of him. His arms wrapped around my back, palms making soothing passes up and down my spine.

“We’ll go back for your picture,” he murmured. “And nothing else. In and out.”

I kissed his neck happily. “Thank you.”

“As if I could say no to you.”

My lips pulled into a grin. “Does that mean we could grab my laptop, too?”

A smack on the ass made me squeal with laughter.

“Don’t push your luck, Science Barbie.”

“Fine, fine.” I resettled against body, snuggling into him for the most comfortable position. “Speaking of science, is there any kind of work I can do here?”

“I’m sure there is.” Laith curled a lock of my hair around his finger.

“Novak would love help with whatever nerdy science projects he has going on. The blood bank would probably have something for you, too.” His lips brushed across my forehead.

“But only if it’s something you enjoy. You don’t have to work to live anymore. ”

“I do enjoy it. Plus I want to stay busy and keep my mind sharp. And, if I get sick of lab work, maybe I can try a different field of study.”

“That’s essentially what Bea does. I think she’s helping Tavia with the winemaking a lot lately, but for the past twenty years she’s just been taking courses in whatever seems interesting.”

I lifted my head from his chest. “What is Bea’s deal? When I was meeting the girls, she was pretty cagey about whether or not she had a vampire mate.”

Laith let out a long sigh. “It’s her story to tell, but everyone assumes she and Kalix had a thing.”

“Kalix? The friend you’re trying to break out of prison?”

Laith nodded. “He’s the one who turned her into a brusang. Right before he got taken away.”

“Oh…wow. Did he…”

“He did not kill her. He’d never harm a woman. But he saved her life. He got taken away before she woke up so he probably has no idea if the turning worked. A human only awakens as a brusang maybe fifty percent of the time.”

I returned my cheek to Laith’s sternum. “Wow. That is complicated.”

“She hasn’t been with anyone else, so the unspoken assumption is that she’s waiting for him.

Sometimes I feel like someone should tell her to move on.

Nobody would blame her if she did. Twenty years is a long time, even for us.

But we are trying to get him back. Which, even if we succeed, who the hell knows what kind of state he’ll be in. ”

“Yeah.” I ran a light touch up and down his torso. “It’s a sad situation. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Laith squeezed my shoulder. “Thank you. Assuming we can get him out, he’ll probably need some kind of intense drug detox. More than the usual draitrium addicts we see.”

“Not my field, but I can get started on the research.” I pressed up, as if planning to start right that second.

Laith immediately pulled me back down with a laugh. “Later,” he grunted, wrapping around me tightly. “We’ll leave at dusk to get your picture. Then we’ll get you settled in with your new family.”

I smiled against his warm skin. “That sounds great to me.”