Page 58 of Taste of Forever (Vampires of Sanguine #3)

Laith

M y entire body felt made out of stone. It took a tremendous amount of effort to crack my eyelids open, and even more to lift my hand to rub them. I groaned with the movement, and my throat rasped like sandpaper.

“Laith?”

“Heather?”

I turned toward her voice and didn’t have to reach far. Her hands were already around my neck, soft lips fusing to my dry ones in a hard, hungry kiss. Her whole body pressed to mine, finding contact at every possible point. The feel of her brought life, lightness, and warmth to my stiff limbs.

My hands found her back, her waist, and pulled her into me as if we could meld into one being. There were no words and not enough kisses or intimate touches to express how fucking relieved I was that she was safe and alive.

Her lips broke away abruptly and I chased her mouth for more contact, more of her perfect, beautiful taste.

“How do you feel? Do you need blood?” She pushed her hair aside and lifted her face, extending the most gorgeous neck I’d ever had the privilege of drinking from.

I leaned in, already aching for the comfort of her flavor on my tongue. Her blood would be another reassurance that she was still here, still mine.

But something was wrong. My front teeth touched down on her skin, but my fangs didn’t fully descend and pierce through.

“What…” I was still drowsy, my mouth dry enough to stick my tongue to the roof. But I was awake enough to know that the inside of my mouth just felt weird.

“Let me see.”

Heather held my face and gently lifted my upper lip. She smiled, looking pleased at what she saw. A hell of a contrast to the memory that hit me right then—the sight of one my fangs held in a pair of metal pliers. Running my tongue over a bloody, sore gap between my teeth.

The pounding ache in my gums, my whole head. The shock settling in as Soren’s face came into focus, triumphant and smug as he held up those pliers. And the burning humiliation of it all.

“It’s okay, love.” Heather kissed me, drawing me back to the present. “They’re growing back. It’s going to take some time, but I can see your new ones coming in.” She edged a fingertip into my mouth and pressed it to a hard, dull point coming out of my gum.

“How?” My voice was hoarse as I felt them for myself. “These are my adult fangs. They’re not supposed to grow back.”

She smiled and drew her hands back to wiggle her fingers in the air. “Magic. The others are theorizing it’s because we’re blood mates. My blood is helping you regenerate damage that wouldn’t have been repaired otherwise.”

It was only then that I noticed small cuts on the sides of her neck. I grabbed her hands and turned her wrists over. Band- aids covered the delicate blood vessels just below her palms. An overwhelming swell of emotion created a knot in my throat, and the loss of fangs became utterly insignificant.

“You’ve been hurting yourself to feed me?”

Heather’s face hardened. “It’s nothing compared to what you did for me. We almost lost you, Laith.” Her eyes shone with unspent tears. “I would bleed myself empty if it meant keeping you alive.”

I peeled back the band-aid, brought her raw wrist to my mouth, and kissed it before sliding my tongue over the wound to heal it. I repeated the motion on her other wrist, then leaned forward to kiss the tears falling down her cheeks.

“I love you, Science Barbie.” My forehead leaned on hers. “And I would face that basement again in a heartbeat to keep you safe.”

Heather shook her head. “You didn’t expect to make it out of there, did you?”

“It seemed like a long shot,” I admitted. “All that mattered to me was that you got away.”

She lifted her head, bringing her hands to the sides of my neck. “How about neither of us get involved in dangerous, crazy shit like that again?”

“That sounds like a fine idea to me.”

A full-on grin spread across her beautiful face. “I love you too, Vampire Ken.”

“Temkra above, I love you so much.”

I pressed up to sit against the headboard and drew her into me. She followed eagerly, sliding her legs over my lap to straddle me. While our kiss moments ago was one out of desperation and relief, this one was unhurried. Slow and melting.

I wanted to show her how grateful I was to be alive by savoring her for hours. But she pulled away, reaching for the small knife on the nightstand.

“No, don’t.” I pulled the blade from her grip and kissed her again to stop any argument. “You’re not using that anymore.”

Heather scoffed. “Like hell I’m not. I just want to help you get better.”

My arm settled around the small of her back, keeping the knife out of her reach. “How long was I out?”

“Almost a week.” A sigh left her mouth. “They think all the silver in your system put you in a coma. Your organs were in danger of shutting down.”

I thumbed the tip of the knife. It wasn’t silver. Just run-of-the-mill stainless steel. “And how often did you cut yourself with this to feed me during that time?”

“At least once a day.” Her chin lifted. Her eyes were defiant but calm. “And I’ll keep using it until your fangs grow back.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Laith.”

“Heather.” My free hand slid up her back to grip the hair at the base of her skull. “The blood bank has better tools. Proxy fangs are used by elderly vampires sometimes if they can’t get a proper bite. They’re more sanitary and will better replicate the punctures for drinking.”

Heather snorted. “You could have just said that.” Her fingers dragged deliciously over the back of my head. “Fine. We’ll get you some grandpa fangs, then.”

“Don’t you start with that.” I tickled her ribs, loving her surprised shriek of laughter.

“Stop! I’m telling Des,” she wheezed, squirming to get away.

“Ugh. You don’t love me at all.” I held her in place and leaned in to suck at the base of her throat.

Heather’s laughter turned to soft moans.

Her squirms slowed to a gentle rocking in my lap as I laved on her neck and collarbones.

Her skin was the warm, yielding softness I fell in love with at the first taste through that screen.

The fluttering pulse beneath the surface thrummed like a kiss against my lips.

That beautiful, precious life force that saved and sustained both of us.

When my mouth reached the edge of her shirt, I realized the actual depth of my hunger.

“Take this off.” I tugged at the hem of her shirt while my other hand tightened around the knife’s handle.

We’d get to the blood bank soon enough, but I couldn’t wait for proxy fangs right then. Not while I needed to worship every inch of her skin more than I needed to breathe.

Heather had just lifted the shirt to her bra when a knock came to the door and someone started to push it open.

“Fuck!” I yanked Heather’s shirt back into place just as Thorne poked his head in.

“Hey, you are awake. I thought I heard your voice.” He stiffened the moment he noticed our position. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay.” Heather, my love, my betrayer, slid out of my lap. “I should have come to get you the moment he woke up.”

“No, no. You two deserve alone time while Laith recovers.” Thorne’s lips lifted in a rare smile. “It’s good to have you back.”

“Thanks.” I arranged the bedcovers to hide my erection. “So, clean-up at the scene went well, I imagine?”

Thorne rubbed his jaw. “Yes and no. We were in a rush to get you out because it was so close to dawn. So we had to do clean-up the following night and…” His eyes flicked briefly to Heather. “One of the bodies was missing.”

“What?” Heather and I said in unison. “You’re sure?” I added.

He nodded, regret souring his face. “It was obvious. There were drag marks and a blood trail that we definitely didn’t leave behind.”

“Who was missing?” I could hear the apprehension in Heather’s voice.

“The one who was working Laith over in the basement. Seemed like he was the one leading things.”

“Soren?” Heather’s apprehension turned to outright disbelief. “Only Soren was missing? You’re sure he was dead? What if he was injured but escaped?”

“He was dead before he hit the ground,” Thorne said. “I saw the light leave his eyes myself. There’s no possible way he left that scene by himself.”

“Fuck.” Heather drew her knees up, distress and confusion on her face.

I scooted until I was pressed to her side and draped my arm over her back. “Maybe the government picked up his body when he didn’t check in. An operative is essentially government property right?”

She didn’t look convinced. “I guess. But then why not recover all the bodies? Why not have the whole cabin taped off and guarded for an investigation?”

Thorne approached until he reached the foot of the bed.

“I don’t want you to worry about it, Heather.

It could have been some other person who took him, or he could have been dragged away by wild animals for all we know.

Whatever the case, he’s not stalking you anymore.

” Thorne’s lip curled into a snarl. “And he sure as fuck is not harming another vampire again.”

“Did you get their electronics?” I asked.

“Oh yeah.” Thorne’s fingers rubbed together like he was itching for a cigarette. “It’ll take a while to crack through all the encrypted shit but we’ll find out what they know about us sooner or later.”

“And Kalix?” I sat up higher. “Where are we on that?”

“Making progress, which we’ll catch you up on when you’re fully recovered.” Thorne settled for shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “Get some rest. Plan your mating ceremony. Whatever you lovesick fools do.”

“Fucking a lot,” I informed him.

He rolled his eyes. “I figured.”

“Just wanted to make sure you knew.”

“I think I liked you better in a coma.”

“Nah. Come on, Dad.” I grinned. “Admit it. You’re happy I’m back.”

“And then you open your mouth and ruin it.” Thorne smirked. “Enjoy the time off. We’ll need all hands on deck once we’re ready to extract Kalix.”

“Anything I can do to help, let me know,” Heather piped up.

“Thank you.” Thorne gave her a grateful look before turning toward the door. “I’ll leave you two to rest?—“

“And fuck.”

With an aggravated groan, he left the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Tension drained out of my body as I turned to Heather, the brilliant, gorgeous human who had taught me how precious life really was.

Clothes came off and limbs tangled in an unhurried, intimate dance. Feeling her bare skin in the low light reminded me of that night on the dance floor. Little did I know those slow, tentative touches and the unspoken language of our bodies would lead us to right here.

“As soon as I’m well enough to leave this bed,” I mumbled into the hollow of her throat, “I’m taking you dancing.”

“Oh really?” Her fingers dragged down my back, digging into stiff, aching muscles. “As soon as? No waiting around at all?”

“Hmm.” I kissed lower until I found the near fully-healed puncture marks on her left breast. “Maybe I should wait until I’m certain that I can stand and carry you.” I drew her leg over my hip, then rolled until she was on her back. “In a multitude of positions.”

Heather’s grin lit up her whole face. “You know I’m a fan of the scientific method.”

“I’m glad you agree.” Our lips met and we melted into each other, giving in to our relief and joy to be alive and together.

While I didn’t carve it into my skin right at that moment, I made a vow to always run experiments for my Science Barbie. Until my last breath, I would always seek and then implement the best methods for loving her.