Warm lips touch my temple. “I’ll go hunting later, I need fresh human blood. I may be healed but I’m weak.”
“You can bite me.” The words are out my mouth before I can stop myself, but I don't regret it.
However, he’s already shaking his head. “No, beautiful. You were hurt, too and need to replenish.”
I run my fingers through his coarse chest hair as an odd twisting in my gut flares to life. “I think I’m jealous of the people you’re going to feed from.”
I expect Lucero to laugh. Instead he hums low in his throat and kisses my exposed neck. “And when…” he heaves a deep sigh. “When you are a vampire, I’ll be jealous too.”
I bolt upright. “You’re serious?”
Lucero’s lips purse. “I suppose I am. But not now, not for many years, love. Do not argue with me on that point. You’re still young. Allow me to wine and dine you first.”
My cheeks hurt with how wide I smile. “You think I’m gonna change my mind, but you’re wrong.”
“I think you don’t fully grasp what you’re asking for. You don’t eat meat, drinking blood will be a challenge.” I go to speak but he holds up a hand. “Still, let’s wait. Let me spoil you some more.”
“I won’t complain there.” Relaxing into his hold, I wrap myself around him. “But maybe you’re right…we’ll wait. I don’t have to kill people, right? Doyoukill people?”
“I have.” There is no shame or pride in his voice, just a simple truth. “Though it’s difficult to drain someone completely, the human body has a lot more blood than you’d expect and we’re distracted when feeding, vulnerable to anything. And while vampires technically don’t follow any laws, we also don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. Far easier to take a sip here and there and leave the human alive.”
“And…the people you’ve killed?” I hesitate, not because I’m scared of his answer, but because his response won’t change my feelings. And isn’t that so much worse?
“I’m no hero, Golden. I’ve not always been a gentle feeder and anyone I’ve killed has been to defend myself or my family, but I didn’t mourn a single one. Vampire’s don’t like attention.”
“So I wouldn’t have hurt anyone?” I ask, relieved that at least he isn’t a serial killer.
He kisses the corner of my lips. “The first few weeks you’re the most vulnerable to these mistakes, you’re hungry and it’s incredibly important to feed. A starved vampire is not a healthy one. But I promise to keep you safe and fed.”
“Is that what happened to Vidar? He stopped eating.”
He shakes his head. “No. He starved himself due to his apathy, that was different. But enough about vampires for now, Golden. We have more time. Would you like to see my DVD collection?”
Laughter bursts out of me. “I didn’t expect you to say that. But yeah, of course.”
He chuckles, pulling us both from the bed, and my dick stirs—but in a comfortable, lazy kind of way. Like I’d rather snuggle than rub up against Lucero. I don’t really get it, but as he leads me toward the sofa, I don’t let it bother me.
I just know that, despite all the weird shit, I’m happy. Dying and the pain of turning will be scary. But fate wouldn’t force us to meet just to take us away. We’re fucking soulmates, after all.
Lucero taps the wall next to his huge flat screen TV and a door swings open to reveal the biggest DVD collection I’ve ever seen.
“You really love documentaries—Whoa, do you have…” My eyes scan across, counting. “Six special edition box sets of all theTransformersmovies? I didn’t even know they had that many editions.”
“My proudest collection.” Lucero sounds so adorably smug that I can’t stop myself from kissing him on the cheek. Who knew my vampire loved big budget popcorn movies? “Vampires enjoy collecting, it soothes us. But let’s watch something with less action, we’ve had enough of that for one lifetime.” And he pops in a documentary about whales.
Soon we’re laying on the sofa—a pillow under Lucero’s head where the armrest is broken—and me on his chest. The room is painted in sea blue, light ripples from between the waves that dance over our bodies. I relax into him, mind drifting to follow the whales deep under water.
“When I was younger…” Lucero’s voice is a gentle caress. “The only stories we got were from my parents, storytellers or the theatre.”
“Was it cool?”
“Honestly, I found the whole thing incredibly boring.”
The corners of my mouth bury into my cheeks, and I chuckle.
“Then movies happened and I was enthralled. I loved the spectacle, the special effects blew me away. Never could I even dream of the things shown on the big screen. When I wanted to relax I could watch wildlife documentaries. My favourites aresealife. Seeing the same sea creatures from my youth on the screen made me feel…connected to a world I’ve been separate from for a very long time.”
I shift, stroke his chest and shoulders. “Even with your soulmates?”
