“What?”
“You want me to touch you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Arwen, there’s another way vampires are never sated.”
Arwen understood then.
“Sex.”
“Yes.”
“I want sexright now? I just found out I’m a vampire.”
“We always want it.”
“Then, why did you make me wait?”
Iro laughed, and it sounded louder, but also sweeter.
“I wanted it to happen because we loved each other, not because I wanted sex.”
“Was it not… good? Because I’m human?”
“Arwen, it was perfect.” Iro let out a breath. “I never want to stop touching you. That was true when you were human, and it’s true now, but you should know that vampires also bond with the ones who made them very easily, and I didn’t turn you. Cassiadid. I am certain that she did that on purpose, and it’s one more thing I’ll never forgive her for.”
“You think I’ll fall for Cassia?”
“Not likely, but you will be drawn to her the more time you spend together. It’s something that happens. You can’t stop it. It’s partly what happened with Zara and Gigi.”
“Gigi, the one who kidnapped me? Wait. Iro, how did I get here?”
“I went to the house and found you. They’ve probably figured that out by now, so we might be getting guests soon. I was about to pick you up when I noticed you were waking. I need you to hide, Arwen.”
“They’re coming here?”
“If they’re not yet, they will be soon. You can hide here, though. I have a couple of hidden rooms in this place.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can get you out of DC, if you want, Arwen; put you on a plane somewhere safe. It will just take time to arrange, and I’m not sure we have that. I also think Cassia will be expecting that. She might even have people waiting at the private airfield already. I can send you on a commercial plane, but it’s hard to guard against the sun. You can’t land somewhere without any energy. It wouldn’t be safe. I don’t think that Cassia would expect me to hide you here.”
“Where is here?”
“There’s a bedroom upstairs that’s full of boxes because I haven’t unpacked them yet, but I added a couple of hidden rooms when I moved in because while we can be in the sun for a while at a time, it’s draining for us. We recharge in the darkness, and quiet helps, along with sleep.”
“I hadn’t even thought about that.”
“We’ll go over all of this later, I promise, but right now, I need to hide you.”
“Hideus, you mean?”
“No. I’m going to find Cassia.”
“What? Iro, no.”
“Arwen, I need to end this. It’s been going on for far too long. And she’s turned you. She has to pay for that.”
