Rather than cupping his cheek and hauling across the counter to kiss him stupid—and maybe give him something to remind him of my existence for the rest of his evening—I let my hand trail slowly along the length of the braid. It’s too damned short and my hand drops away before I’m ready.
Nikolo licks his lips again and I swear his fangs are a little sharper than they were before.
“Well, when it needs to be redone, just let me know. I got you.”
Inhaling a sharp breath, my heart skips as memories from our kiss flash unhelpfully in my mind. Across the counter Nikolo’s pupils widen rapidly and his nostrils flare. Because of my heartbeat, or can he remember what I said, too?
“Thank you.” He says softly, and I swear our faces are closer than what they just were.
Not in any way inclined to fight it, I sink into the moment, watching Nikolo's tongue dart out again to wet his lips as we drift closer and closer together.
Right until my phone vibrates on the glass countertop, scaring the living daylights out of both of us. We jump apart like we’ve been shocked and I angrily snatch up my phone.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake… It’s Bedeer.” I mutter, angrily picking up my phone and unlocking it. My phone keeps vibrating in my hand. “And now Jax. They’re in a dumbass meme war. Give me a second.”
I fire off an equally stupid gif—the first vaguely dick and ball related joke I can find—and throw my phone back on the counter to find Nikolo smiling at me.
“What?” I ask, touching a hand to my face to wipe away some imaginary, unseen thing. It only makes Nikolo laugh and shake his head.
“Nothing. You just come across as some aloof, confident grown up now. It’s nice to see the other side of you is still there.”
“Wait. Are you calling me childish? I’m insulted. I think?” Which is a bit of a stretch because I definitely just thought of theperfectgif to send of some fae guy pretending to jerk off a sauce bottle and it exploding mayonnaise all over him.
“No. Well, yes. But in a good way.” His smile twists on his lips and his eyes wrinkle in the corners. “Layers. You have layers. It’s not a bad thing.”
My stomach drops and swoops, like I’ve just gone over the edge on a roller coaster. This reignited childhood crush is getting dangerous.
“Oh. Thank you.” I lick at my lips, trying to remember why I can’t just kiss Nikolo again, if there was ever a good reason to begin with. My heart’s close to beating out of my chest.
“I better go.” Nikolo says quietly, standing up and taking a giant step back. Like I’m tethered to him, I follow him to the door, hands buried in the folds of my oqic. “I’ll be back later this week?”
He hesitates, hand lingering on the door handle. I’m crowding him, I know, but I can’t step back. I don’t want to.
Nikolo’s eyes lock on mine and the tether that drew me to follow him pulls tight again. Cupping his jaw I close the distance between us, brushing my lips over his.
“Sounds good.” I stroke my thumb over his cheek and swallow down the urge to ask him to stay. “Have fun.”
“Thanks. I will.” He mumbles, not at all believably, on his way out the door and into the dark.
Later, in bed, after I’ve finished imagining all the things we could have done together, I send him a message.
Did you know that for centuries it was believed that vampires retained the gift of compulsion—no matter what type of being they were before turning? Then they conducted a bunch of studies about 60 years ago and found that vampires have no compulsion abilities. It was just fear, placebo effect and beings looking for an excuse when they got busted with vamps.
Sounds about right.
Thanks Willanator. Night
WILLAN
I’min the library when I find the answer to a question I didn’t even know I had—how to give a vampire magic again.
Deep within the maze-like stacks of the library the tomes have a familiar, dusty scent that’s comforting. Bound in leather and fabric and some with skins I really don’t like to consider the origins of, a lot of the books in this section are extremely rare. I’ve been here a lot recently—it’s where the vampire literature is kept.
If anyone realises just how much time I’ve spent researching vampire lore in my spare time, they’d probably be concerned. If they knew how much time I spent thinking about vampires—not just one in particular—they’ddefinitelybe concerned. Not that any of the beings I’m close to would care if I turned, but they would definitely question my reasonings.
I wasn’t even going to bother with the book—I’m sure the cheaply printed, fabric bound book had just been improperly put away at some point over the decade—but amongst the conspiracy theories and incoherent ramblings are hints of something I’ve never really considered. Something that actually seems plausible.
I want to try something. If you’re game?
