Page 29 of Henrikk’s Secret

It was the wrong time.

But Henrikk had squandered all the good times, and if he was going to do it at all, he may as well do it now. So that the copy, as gracious as he was to choose the harder path and stay behind, would at least get to witness the proof of it happening.

Drawn by a cord of longing, Henrikk rose to his feet, his hands still damp. At his full height, he was a few inches taller than Asher, who like most vampires, was quite tall himself.

Asher opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again, his eyes searching Henrikk’s. He swallowed, his throat bobbing in a way that was endlessly attractive.

Henrikk licked his lips.

Asher stopped breathing.

Henrikk hadn’t been breathing at all. This would be the first breath of a new life.

It was a second chance for them both.

The air hummed with promise, and Henrikk ignored all the reasons cautioning him as he leant in, startlingly close to Asher now.

Closer; their eyes drifting shut, their foreheads touching as Henrikk bent his head down, thinking, reconsidering.

The air was heavy with tension, their breathing making no sound at all because neither of them could breathe, and the copy—wherever he was—wasn’t breathing either.

“What are you doing?” Asher asked, standing frozen. As he spoke, the rumble and expansion of his chest contacted with Henrikk’s, spurring him on.

He lifted his damp hands and traced them along Asher’s cheeks, dimly aware of an unrestrained smile gracing his face. “Showing you that this is real.”

Asher’s pupils widened, gleaming like onyx. He gulped. “The water, you mean?”

“This,” Henrikk replied, and he angled his face and kissed Asher.

The world exploded into deafening silence as their lips touched. Thousands of threads had interwoven into their lives, some severed, some stitched tight, all of them carrying traces of memories of the years they’d spent in each other’s company.

Asher’s lips were still, and did not kiss him back, but that was fine. He did not pull away, either, and Henrikk rejoiced in their softness for several eternities, his being coursing with untold joy.

Was this what it was like to kiss Asher? He’d done it before, but with malintent, and he’d blocked out all emotions to the point that he had hardly felt it at all.

But this was different. This was his heart laid bare, his back and shoulders cold with shivers, his arms raised with goosebumps beneath his wet sleeves.

The kiss ended, and Henrikk slowly drew away, his eyes opening to peer at Asher.

“Is this another game?” Asher asked.

“No games,” Henrikk promised.

Only betrayal.

Like a knife in his heart, he remembered where he was, what he was doing, all that was about to happen. The horrid finality of it all.

Asher caught him by surprise, drawing him close and kissing him.

Hot lightning rippled through his skin, jerking him alive from a long sleep. Asher’s lips explored his, seeking, needing. Was there anything more divine? Just one more second of this, and he would die from happiness.

Asher deepened the kiss, and it wiped everything from Henrikk’s mind—holy fuck.

Maybe this was enough.

Of course this was enough.

A life of kissing Asher lay ahead. Didn’t it?