“Okay, less sweet now…” Foxx sighed. “Just do it!”
He felt the need to ask. “Boyfriend bonus points?”
“JUST DO IT, OLD MAN!” the vampire hissed.
“FINE!”
He definitely should have asked about the bonus points before he’d said the rest… Oh well…
As there was no way he could trick his body into panicking while staring at the man, Harlow took a deep breath in and out, and closed his eyes. He thought of the house, the spikes, the explosion, the sun. Harlow flinched at how easily the images came to him.
But instead of the past, seeing Foxx suspended on a spike, what showed in his mind was of the very yard he was standing on right now, and instead of Micah’s body burning earlier, it was Foxx’s. His vampire was splayed out on the ground as the sun ate away at him.
Harlow swallowed hard, hands clenching at his sides as he watched the man slowly fade away.
“Harlow!”
His eyes snapped open at his name, more so at the touch of another’s hand. Chest heaving, he stared wide eyed at Foxx.
“I’m fine,” Foxx said slowly. “I’m fine, Harlow.”
Swallowing again, Harlow nodded silently while a drop of sweat trailed down his face.
“Your heart is racing. Slow it down. I’ll tell you when you need to try to hold it, okay?” the vampire said gently.
He nodded, just concentrating on taking deep breaths in and out. He cursed in his head on realizing he was trembling.
“I’m fine, all in one piece,” Foxx assured him.
Foxx was fine. Calm down,he told himself. Fucking hell, Wes was right. He sort of already knew Wes was right, but… Fucking hell, this was a clear indicator that Wes was fucking right! He definitely could and didfeel.
Harlow kept taking deep breaths in and out, his eyes constantly on Foxx as he listened to his own heartbeat slowly calm down.
“Now! Try to hold it!” Foxx ordered.
Grimacing, his breathing increased in time with his heart, and he managed to keep the speed for about a minute. After that minute, his heartbeat dropped rapidly, and for a moment, it wasn’t the vampire heart rhythm he heard, it was the dhampir one. After a moment more, his heart went back to mimicking.
Slumping, he sighed. “Well…that sucked.”
“It’s a start. The goal is for you to manage to increase your heartbeat to the amount I showed you, without passing that point. So, thinking of me dying isn’t going to work long-term.” Foxx clapped. “Okay, enough of that! How about you fish, while I watch, drink some blood, and order supplies?”
“Sounds…like a plan. I just need to grab my gear, and…you need a chair, there’s only one on the dock.”
“Okay…I’ll go grab blood from the car. And you can grab your gear and a chair, then we can meet at the dock in say five-ten minutes?”
No…that didn’t work for him.
“Why don’t you come with me, and we can just grab the chair and then the blood on the way to the dock?”
They ended up needing to keep the blood bags in this jeep, as they’d discovered his fridge had died sometime between now and the last time they were here. He had his chest freezer for fish, but…it wasn’t really a good option for storing blood.
Foxx blinked, his head tilting. “Why do I need to come with you?”
Harlow stared blankly, saying nothing, as he didn’t want to admit that he’d freaked himself out.
After a few moments of silence, Foxx slowly said, “Ah…okay, I’ll go with you.”
He cleared his throat and went up the two steps onto the porch. He was about to head inside when Foxx spoke sweetly behind him. “Just so you know, you not wanting me out of your sightiscute.”
