Riley lifted his head from where he’d had it buried in the crook of Seth’s neck. He was sprawled over Seth, covering every inch of him, Seth’s duvet the only barrier between them. Riley’seyes were red-rimmed, and his cheeks were stained with unmistakable tear tracks.
“Seth,” Riley whispered hoarsely. “Your—your heart stopped.”
It was surprisingly alarming to hear that said out loud, considering Seth felt just fine now. He could hear his heart beating, same as Riley’s heart still beat, even as a vampire.
Seth would have liked to cup Riley’s cheeks, but his arms were pinned by Riley’s weight. He gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile instead. “It started up again though. My heart.”
Riley’s face crumpled, and fresh tears started coursing down his cheeks. “You were in so much pain. I—I really hurt you.”
Seth’s poor, sensitive boy.
“Not intentionally,” Seth soothed. “You warned me it would happen.”
Seth shifted under his covers. He was naked. Presumably Riley had never redressed him after the shower. Riley was naked too. He’d probably had bigger things to worry about than clothing. Like, for example, Seth’s heart stopping. But with the sheets and the duvet, there was still too much fabric between them.
Seth needed to feel Riley right on top of him. He needed the reassurance of his touch. Everything was a little too bright, or too loud, or too…intense. The bedroom light hurt his eyes, and he could hear his elderly neighbor in her yard way too clearly, and he could smell the shampoo in his own hair, clogging his nose. It was only that warm pulse inside him that was keeping him from getting completely overwhelmed. Seth kept returning to it, prodding it in his chest. It felt steady. Irrevocable.
That was Riley’s love for him, wasn’t it?
Had Riley told Seth they would feel each other’s emotions once they’d bonded? Seth couldn’t remember. It seemed like an important bit of information to impart.
Seth would freak out about that later.
“Come under the covers,” he requested.
Riley only stared at him. The tears had slowed down, though, so that was good.
Seth shifted and nudged and pushed and cajoled until Riley was wrapped in his cocoon with him, still on top of Seth but now skin to skin.
There. That was better.
Seth grinned up at him. “Hello.”
Riley dropped his forehead to Seth’s with a little wounded sound. Poor baby. It had been a lot of change in one day, assuming it was still the same day as when Seth had…turned.
Whatever day it was, Seth was a vampire now. They were bonded. It was done.
Seth had made the decision as hastily as he’d previously been determined not to, and he’d chosenright.He knew that now, as certain as he knew anything. He knew it because that love that was pulsing inside him belonged there, just as his belonged to Riley.
Something else inside Seth stirred at the thought, something covetous and hungry.
“Can you feel me?” Seth asked, wrapping his arms around Riley’s back and nuzzling his forehead against Riley’s. “Inside?”
Riley nodded as best he could, and he was too close for Seth to see his smile, but Seth could feel it anyway. “Yeah. You really like me, huh?”
“I love you,” Seth corrected. He spread his legs a little, shifted again.
“And you—you feel okay?” Riley asked. “You’re not…ravenously hungry? Aching? Ready to die if you don’t bite into someone and drain them dry?”
God, was that how Riley had felt waking up after his transformation? It sounded horrible.
Seth shook his head, liking the way their foreheads rubbed together with the motion. “None of that. I just want to be close to you.”
He shifted again, bending his knees a little. There. Now if he could just?—
Riley suddenly rose onto his hands, his brow furrowed as he peered down at Seth. Seth blinked up at him.
“Seth.”
