Having grown up in a family of warriors, Astra didn’t enter the room, she just knocked on the door jamb. As she expected, Rune’s head came up and he turned toward her. The furrow between his eyebrows disappeared and he removed his headphones.
“Dinner’s ready,” she said.
He smiled. “It smells great. I was having a hard time concentrating.”
“Looked like you were doing just fine,” she said. “Did you hit your word count?”
“Yep,” he answered, his eyes going back to his computer screen as he saved the document and shut it down. “And a little more.”
“That’s good.”
He got to his feet and stretched. Astra admired the way the muscles in his shoulders shifted beneath his shirt. He may have sat at a desk all day, but it was clear he put some effort into keeping his lean form in shape.
“What are we having?’” he asked as he came around his desk and walked toward her.
“Nothing fancy. Chicken stir fry and dumplings.”
“That sounds great,” he said as he came to a stop in front of her. “Thank you for making me dinner.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “You may hate it.”
“I don’t think so.” Rune turned off the lights in his office and stepped into the hall with her, putting an arm around her waist. “If it tastes anything like it smells, it’ll be delicious.”
She found herself charmed when he pulled out her chair for her. After they were both seated and served themselves, she asked the question she’d been wondering about since she’d arrived.
“How long have you lived here?” she asked him.
“About two years.” He glanced toward the living room where he had only the couch and his television on a black stand. “If you can’t tell, I spend most of my time writing or cooking, so I haven’t bothered to do more with the place.”
She sipped her wine before she answered, “Understandable.”
Rune smiled at her. “You know, you’re the first woman who’s actually been here for an entire meal. For some reason or another, any other woman I’ve invited here has had to leave before the meal was even ready.”
Astra smiled but didn’t say anything because she knew exactly why they’d all run fast and far. The black, grey, and white décor was a bit much. Okay, more than a bit, but it was their loss because a crappy decorating job could be fixed. Finding a man as kind, intelligent, and just plain sexy as Rune was like discovering a unicorn. Something you’d only be able to do in mythology.
“Now that I think about it though, it was probably for the best because I never would have met you otherwise.”
Astra’s smile widened and she lifted her wine glass. “To destiny.”
He smiled back. “To destiny.”
They tapped their glasses together and drank.
“So, what made you decide to come over and make dinner tonight?” Rune asked. “Not that I’m complaining, just curious.” He took a bite of a dumpling.
“I wanted to have sex with you,” she answered honestly.
Rune’s eyes widened and he made a strange noise. His face turned red, and he scooted his chair back from the table. It took her a minute to realize he was choking on the damned dumpling.
Astra got to her feet and rushed around the table. She wasn’t sure vampires could choke to death, but she didn’t want to risk being wrong.
She yanked him out of his chair, wrapped her arms around his waist, and grasped her fist just below his diaphragm. It took two tries, but the bit of dumpling finally flew out of his mouth and Rune began to cough.
“Oh, my God,” Astra said. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
Rune’s face was still red as he nodded and continued to cough. After a few seconds, he reached for the glass of water next to his wine and took a few sips.
Finally, he was able to stop coughing, but his eyes were streaming with tears.
