Finn wasn’t naïve; he was sharp as fuck. He was precious, but he was brave. Strong. Capable. And his anger—while I never wanted to have it directed at me again—was hot as hell. The way his eyes had blazed over, the fury on his face…
“I said I wanted you to brush your teeth. You don’t have to scrub all the enamel away, you know?”
I grinned at Finn’s snark and put the toothbrush away, then headed out to the living area.
My mate was curled up on the couch, the same blanket I’d been sleeping under now thrown over his legs. In front of him, he’d spread the takeout on the living room table.
“I already picked a movie. If that’s okay?”
“Sure.”
Finn grinned at me, his smile easy and relaxed. He truly wasn’t afraid. He was just…Finn.MyFinn.
I quickly sat down next to him, but left a bit of space between us. How did I do this? The situation suddenly felt awkward.
If nothing had happened, I’d probably pull him into my arms. But what if that was a step too far for today? Maybe waiting was the best option. Letting him take the first step.
But then again, I didn’t want to put everything on his shoulders.
Finn started the movie, then grabbed a fork and a box of chicken-fried noodles. He leaned back and dug in, a low moan escaping his throat as he started chewing. His eyes rolled back, and an expression of pure bliss flashed over his face as his stomach rumbled demandingly.
I was mesmerized. Maybe his eating shouldn’t be sexy, but he didn’t just eat the food. He devoured it. Savored every bite.
And the small noises certainly didn’t help.
I shifted, trying to get a bit of pressure off my cock.
Look at the screen, I told myself, but I was acutely aware of the way my mate happily wiggled as he grabbed a different container and took a bite.
“This is seriously good. Where did you get it from? I don’t think I’ve ever ordered from there. I’d surely have remembered,” Finn said, his tongue darting out to catch a drop of sauce that was about to run down his chin. “Do you want something too? This is more than I could eat in, like… three days.” But the way he smiled happily told me he wasn’t mad about having plenty of leftovers.
I might’ve gone a bit overboard, but then again, I still felt like I needed to grovel and make up for, well, everything.
“Wait, do vampires need food?” Finn knitted his brows, then accusingly pointed the fork at me. “Is that why your kitchen looked like you never use it? Because you don’t?”
I rubbed the back of my head and nodded. “Yeah.”
Finn nodded, ate another bite of his chicken, and chewed slowly and thoughtfully. “But your fridge was full.”
My cheeks felt hot. I wasn’t sure how that was possible for a vampire, but I was sure I was blushing. “Bennie bought groceries as a cover-up.”
Finn snorted. “Of course he did. But you can eat food if you want to, right? I mean, you and Bennie ate pizza yesterday.”
“We can. We usually don’t eat at home because it’s not worth the effort to cook and clean. If we feel the urge to eat regular food, we mostly go out.”
Finn kept eating, but I wasn’t sure he was actually paying any attention to the food or the movie. He hadn’t complained about it once, and even though I wasn’t really watching either, I’d already noticed three different inconsistencies that should have set Finn off.
“And Bennie is a vampire too. Right?”
I nodded again, reaching for the fried rice. Fuck it. I needed something to do. Might as well be chewing.
“Yeah. He’s actually my sire.”
“What is a sire?”
While I was starting to eat, Finn put his food down, reaching for a water bottle instead.
“He’s the vampire who turned me. My sire.”
