Julien sighed, and then gave Luis a discerning look. “Are you well enough to drive home? I could drop you off, or call you a car…?”
Luis waved him off. “Uh, no. I’m fine to drive. Really,” Luis said, which was the truth. “I’ll see you Friday?”
Julien paused as though he wanted to say something further, then sighed again. “Alright, yes. I’m sorry he sprung this on you. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I am,” Luis said, “don’t be too hard on him, okay? It was… better than a stranger,” he offered.
Karim’s brows went up, and Julien looked thoughtful.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Julien said. “You have a good rest of your evening, Luis.”
Then Julien was turning and hauling Karim away by the tight clamp he had on his arm.
“Goodnight!” Luis called after them.
He stood there and watched them until they got to the car parked across the street. He could tell Julien was still speaking, even if he could no longer hear them. Karim glanced his way onelast time before dipping down to get into the passenger side of the car. Luis caught the flash of fang.
Then he spun on his heels and headed for the back lot where he was parked.
An hour later, in the harsh bathroom lighting, Luis stared at the scabbing mark on his neck. It looked like a vampire bite, two small points of puncture that had sealed up.
So, vampire saliva really did work.
Luis tried to imagine going to the bar again, but letting a stranger bite him this time. Would it be better or worse?
If it felt the same way it had tonight, he couldn’t imagine having that with a stranger. It was too intimate, too… arousing.
As strange as it had been with Karim, it would’ve been ten times worse with a stranger. Would he have grabbed at them?
He went to his bed. For the fourth time since he’d gotten home, Luis reached for his phone. The screen lit up, but there were no new messages.
He stared at the screen for a long time, and then swiped over to open the Words with Friends app. There was a new notification from Karim. Between Luis’s vertical CRETIN and ANNOY, Karim had played BITE, touching the edge of the board and putting him back in the lead.
Luis stared at it.
Bite.
He put a hand over his face, the chuckle escaping against his will.
What the fuck was hedoing?
Chapter Eleven
By Thursday morning the bite was practically gone. It had healed away to a barely-there set of pock marks only noticeable if Luis looked closely. By Thursday night, it was as though it’d never happened.
Luis spent all of the work day Friday trying to decide what he was going to do next. Karim had invited him Friday night fordinner and drinks.
Luis touched the spot on his neck again. It had become a habit, he couldn’t help the way his fingers found the smooth skin over and over again, tracing over the invisible mark as if expecting to find something.
It felt like a miracle every time that there was nothing to find.
He’d tested his levels after the bite, and he could still stand to lose more blood. One small bite was less than what he usually had to remove.
So tonight–dinner anddrinks?
Luis shifted in his seat and tugged his attention back to the email he was supposed to be writing. He tapped his fingers on his desk, the words on the screen in front of him blurring.
Memories of Wednesday slithered to the front of his mind. The way Karim had touched him so gentle but steady, the way he’d checked in to make sure Luis was okay. It had been nice. Really nice.
