Page 73 of Love Bites

“It’s hard not to like it when it ends like this. Emphasis onhard.”

He grinned, thrusting his hips and making me bite back a groan. “I’d say we should enjoy it a little longer, but there’s supposed to be a movie night in here tonight. I already had them push back the start time, but they’re probably getting irritated out there.”

My eyes widened. “Shit, I didn’t realize.”

“I’ll buy a round of drinks as a thank you. They won’t care.”

We slipped out of the water and pulled our clothes back on, then opened the nearest door to let everyone in.

They were all friendly, and chatted normally as they filed into the room. The group was much bigger than I would’ve expected.

“Thanks for letting us take over tonight,” the final guy inside said with a grin. I thought he was talking to Damian at first, but realized after a minute that he was speaking to me. “I was worried we wouldn’t get approved for a minute.”

“Oh, you should thank Hale.” I patted him lightly on the chest. “It’s his pool.”

The guy snorted. “You’re the one feeding him—you can claim anything that’s his. You’ve got him by the balls, Blair.” He smacked Damian on the arm before jogging over to the pool and diving in.

“Hey, lovebirds,” a woman called out from the pool. When I looked over at her, I realized she was the woman I’d met the first time I went swimming. Missy’s sister. The one who was dating Roscoe. “Go put your swimsuits on and come join us! Movie starts in twenty minutes, after we get the drinks going around!”

“We’ll think about it,” I called back, irritation striking me with the title she’d used.

We weren’tlovebirds.

We were just two people who fed each other.

And screwed.

And shared a room.

And had a mate bond.

But that didn’t mean there were feelings involved.

Damian took my hand and led me down the hallway, toward the elevator that led up to our room.

He tucked me up against his chest, resting his chin on my head as the elevator carried us upward. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Do you want to go to the movie night?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been to something like that.”

He was quiet, and I had the feeling he was considering it.

Finally, he said, “Do you think your sisters will ever take mates?”

The question caught me off guard. “I haven’t ever considered it.”

“They can’t meet anyone outside the Manor right now, but after we’ve figured out a way to make peace with Curtis, they’ll be free to come and go as they please. They’ll obviously still need to be careful, but I can’t imagine they’re going to stay here all the time.”

I frowned. “I guess if they could interact with the rest of society with vampires there to protect them, I can see a few of them eventually falling in love. I know Izzy’s already itching to get out of the Manor, so… yeah. I think they’ll eventually take mates, if just for the protection.”

“When that happens, you’ll have an easier time with it if you have friends here. Because I won’t let you go.” His arm was around my waist, his casual grip was so completely opposite of the certainty in his voice.

“I guess,” I admitted.

I was already friends with Lou and Kara, but they both had other friends. I’d need people to share meals with, other than Damian. People to swim with from time to time.

“Then I think we should go to the movie night,” he said. “It could be a good start to that.”

“Alright,” I agreed. “I’ll befriend a few vampires.”

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