“You mean rules?”I followed him into the dark space. I hated rules, but having vampire rules might be fun.
“They’re more like guidelines. First thing you need to know is don’t drink from the neck unless you don’t mind them dying. But if you don’t care, then go ahead. The neck is the best part so you might wanna let someone die every once in a while. It tastes better. Fresher.”
“I’d rather not kill anyone else,”I said.
“Weird, but okay.”
“I’mserious.” I frowned at his judgmental expression. “It’s important. I’m not killing anyone else if I don’t have to.”
“Suit yourself, but you’re missing out.”He messed with the black part of his hair before adding,“You better not turn out like one of those sappy vampire books. If you try to only drink from animals,I’ll disown you. You’ll also die if you refuse to drink human blood, so don’t do that.”
“I’m gonna drink human blood. Stop obsessing over stupid books and keep going.”
“I’ll go over the basics:if their pulse starts to weaken or their skin gets cold it means you’re taking too much, and if they go limp they’re probably dying. Any of those three and you need to stop. Also, if they’re anemic don’t even bother. Let those ones go. They’re pointless.”
“How can you tell if they’re anemic?”
“Different taste,”hesaid.“Trust me, you’ll know when it happens. It’s disgusting. It’s like watered down juice. And then they’reall weak and fragile after. It’s a waste of time.Don’tdo it.”
“Kay. No anemic people. Anything else?”
“One more thing before we go,”he paused to assess me.“If you lose control,I’ll have to restrain you.”He almost seemed happy about it, but I was too distracted by a genius idea to care.
“Can I bite you?”I asked in a rush, bouncing on my toes from excitement.
“What is wrong with your attention span? I swear you can’t stay on topic for more than tenseconds.”
“I probably could if I tried, but it’s hard because I always get distracted first. It’s part of the disorder and it gets worse when I’m happy. I wanna bite someone on the neck and you’re the only person who won’t die.”
“You really want to?”He watched until my excited bouncing died to a standstill.
Suddenly, I felt stupid.“Never mind. I don’t wanna anymore.”I was genuinely kind of sad. I turned to walk away, but he gently tugged me back.
“You can bite me. It’sfine.”
“Really?”
“I tasted you so it’s only fair,”he reasoned.
I smiled in delight.“I’m so excited. Does it matter where? Your neck, obviously, but do I need a certain vein or anything?”
“No, wherever you want. Just don’t take too much. A few sips should be enough.”
“Okay.” I stood still, not sure how to get started. He leaned against the wall and motioned for me to join, but I hesitated. What if he died like a human would?
“I’m not gonna die.Just bite me.”Hetook my hands and pulled me close.
I took a deep breath and rested against his chest.My hand ran through a blonde side of hishair,tiltinghis head for easier access. If I were still human, my heart would be beating like crazy.But it stayed the same: faint, steady, impossibly slow.
I brought my lips to his neck and forced my fangs through his cold skin. The taste was overwhelming—I instantly recognized it as what I’d been craving all night.The need became so strong it nearly hurt. I ran my nails through his hair and pressed closer. The same blood was flowing through us, connecting us on a level I never knew waspossible. After a minute hetouched my waist. I took that as my cue to let up and withdrew my fangs.
“That was so good. Is blood always that good?”
“Depends on the person.”He dropped my waist and I stepped back.
“How were you so calm when I bit you?”I was curious. Vampire or not, getting bithurt. At least in the beginning.
“I like pain.”He stepped away from the wall.
