All the while, my mind makes a firm decision—I will fucking burn down anything that dares to take her from me.
Kylie
I wake up smiling.
The fire in the hearth has burned down to embers, painting the cabin in low orange light. Rook’s arm is still wrapped around me like a steel bar, heavy and sure, as if it hasn’t moved once since I fell asleep.
The clock on the nightstand reads3:14 a.m.
I wiggle just enough to test a theory, and he doesn’t stir. Not even a little. And I tilt my head back and find him already looking at me.
“Were you just…watching me sleep?” I ask on a whisper.
“Yes.” He smiles, and there’s no embarrassment or hesitation.
“Oh boy.” I giggle. “That’s either incredibly romantic or incredibly creepy.”
“Depends how you feel about it.”
“Definitely romantic. Though, maybe it should be a red flag?” I roll onto my side, propping myself up on my elbow so I can see him better. “Pretty sure most serial killer documentaries start with someone creepily watching another human being sleep.”
His chest shifts with a surprised laugh, and that leads to several hearty chuckles escaping his lips. Grumpy, surly, always-super-serious Rook Slater laughing? Man, I love that sound. Want to spend the rest of forever hearing that sound.
“I can assure you, I’m not a serial killer,” he says with an amused smile. “But I won’t deny I love watching you sleep. I also love watching you smile.” He reaches out to run his index finger across my currently smiling mouth. “And laugh. And talk. And do pretty much anything at any given moment of the day.”
“So…you’re obsessed with me?” I ask, my smile turning teasing.
“Oh baby, I’m more than obsessed with you.”
I don’t miss the fact that he looks exactly the same as he did hours ago—alert, calm, eyes dark and focused like the night hasn’t touched him at all.
“You’re not tired tonight,” I note.
“No.” He smiles again. “Vampires don’t get tired.”
“What do you mean by that exactly?”
“I mean, we don’t need to sleep.”
I search his eyes. “Like at all?”
He shakes his head.
“So…every time I’m sleeping…you’re just awake? Holding me for hours?”
“Yes.” He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “And there’s no other place I’d rather be.”
Warmth presses against my rib cage, and I touch my palm flat to his chest, feeling the solid heat and steady strength of him.
“You know, that feels wildly unfair,” I murmur. “You don’t need to eat, you’re basically running on unlimited batteries,andyou’re, like, a supernatural weighted blanket.”
His mouth twitches. “Not everything in life is fair, baby.”
“No, not everything in life is fair,” I say. “But at least we have each other.”
“Forever,” he agrees, and the urge to kiss him, to touch him, to be as close to him as I physically can, overcomes me.
I kiss him. My mouth light and teasing and my teeth playfully nipping at his bottom lip.
