Page 10 of Finding Our Home

That was… an odd way to put it. “You’re, uh, fine.”

He smiled a little, but after a second, it turned to a frown. “Do you know what woke me?”

My cheeks heated even further. “Um… my stomach growled.” I cringed, thinking he’d get mad.

To my surprise, he burst out laughing. “Oh wow. Okay.” He chuckled and turned to me. “You need to go eat.”

I nodded. “Okay. Uh, you want me to meet you back here later?”

“Or I can come to you. Would you like me to meet you at your quarters?”

I tried to stifle a smile, but it popped out anyway. “I don’t really have quarters. I’ve been staying in the large rec room with the others from my village and anyone that’s waiting on a home.”

“You don’t even have a room?” He frowned.

I shook my head. “No, but there are a lot of people working on building huts and things. There’s a list of people ahead of me, so it’ll be a while before I have a place of my own.”

His frown deepened. “I didn’t realize that many were still waiting.”

“Well, new people tend to arrive on the island when the ship goes to shore. They’re building fast and repairing old homes and apartments. Families get the homes first, so… there’s a whole system.” I waved it off because it wasn’t worth getting into right now. “Anyway, I’ll probably just go over to the courtyard after I eat.”

“I’ll find you tonight. Is that alright?”

I grinned. “Sure.”

He smiled, then leaned in and kissed me gently on the lips. “Until tonight, my treasure.”

“Until tonight.”

With much difficulty, I made my way out of his room, shutting the door behind me. I knew he needed more sleep, and truth be told, I did too, but there was no way I’d be able tosleep right now. Not when I was starving and excited about what happened last night and what would happen tonight.

After I ate, I sought out the other bestowers like I was told to do. I didn’t search for Dorothy, though, I searched for Remi. And once I found him, we talked for a long time. So long, in fact, I felt like he could become a good friend.

“Oh my god, Remi, it was… perfect,” I said as I fell back on an old couch beside him. I couldn’t believe I was telling him all about my night, but he’d already told me about his first time being fed from with a vampire named Jael.

Remi looked amused. “I told you it’d turn you on.”

“Mm. But it’s not only that. It was so… so intimate or something.”

“I’m glad he treated you well. It isn’t always like that with some vamps.” He shrugged when I looked at him.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s only been like that when I’m friends with him or her. There were a couple times when I let a vampire I just met feed from me, and it felt good and everything, but it didn’t feel… special.”

I nodded. “I guess that makes sense.” Sighing, I looked up at the broken ceiling. “That rumble thing he did with his chest was really sexy, and I swear it felt like my chest was trying to rumble back.” I laughed. “That probably sounds insane, but I swear that’s what it felt like. Gah! I really loved that rumble thing.” When Remi didn’t say anything, I turned my head and found him staring at me with wide eyes. “What?”

“I don’t know what rumble thing you mean.”

My brow furrowed. “It started the first time we kissed. Like, right after he fed from me, we kissed, and his chest, like, rumbled so deep, I could feel it more than hear it. Then when we wereyou know, it rumbled the whole time. And again when we were in bed or whatever.”

He shook his head. “Nope. No idea at all.”

I blinked at him and slumped down on the couch. “Oh.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. I’ve only been a bestower for about a year, and I haven’t had a ton of vampires feed from me, so it could just be a… Dorian thing or something that vamps do occasionally, I dunno.”

“Oh.”

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